Weird Era

Dedicated to asking authors the right questions.

About the show

Hosted by Sruti Islam and Alex Nierenhausen
Theme Songs by Gino Visconti and Michael Jaworski (@mikejaws)
Audio Production by Kyel Loadenthal

Weird Era on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 83: Weird Era feat. Lauren Oyler

    April 19th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 8 mins
    #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #laurenoyler, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #nojudgement, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Lauren Oyler returns to the pod! She talks to Sruti about drugs, caring what your friends think, why affairs are still exciting, and so much more in this sprawling episode. Tune in now.

  • Episode 82: Weird Era feat. Cameron Russell

    April 12th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  38 mins 49 secs
    #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #cameronrussell, #howtomakeherselfagreeable, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    This week, Alex talks with renowned supermodel Cameron Russell about her book, How To Make Herself Agreeable To Everyone, dismantling capitalism, eclipses, New York VS Montreal, and so much more.

  • Episode 81: Weird Era feat. Alexander Sammartino

    April 5th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  50 mins 1 sec
    2024books, alexander sammartino, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, last acts, literature, montreal, mtl, weirdera, weirderapod

    Sruti talks to Alex about his debut novel Last Acts, if there is such a thing as a, "last act" in our lives, the American dream, commercialism, gun control and the opioid crisis, and somehow, it turns into one of the most uplifting conversations Sruti has had the privilege of sitting through, yet.

  • Episode 80: Weird Era feat. Brontez Purnell

    March 29th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 22 secs
    2024books, authors, bookclub, books, brontez purnell, cowboy carter, fiction, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, ten bridges, weirdera, weirderapod

    This week, Alex talks with returning Weird Era guest Brontez Purnell about his memoir in verse, Ten Bridges I've Burnt, twink death, Cowboy Carter, OnlyFans, how Black dialect has always been THE North American dialect, and so much more.

  • Episode 79: Weird Era feat. Eliza Barry Callahan

    March 15th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  47 mins 39 secs
    2024books, authors, bookclub, books, eliza barry callahan, fiction, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, the hearing test, weirdera, weirderapod

    Alex talks with Eliza Barry Callahan about her literary novel, The Hearing Test, writing autofiction, the language of "internet novels", and what dictates composure in the face of adversity.

  • Episode 78: Weird Era feat. Mariah Stovall

    March 7th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  59 mins 39 secs
    2024books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, i love you so much, interviews, literature, mariah stovall, montreal, mtl, weirdera, weirderapod

    Sruti talks to Mariah Stovall about her favourite Jawbreaker album, how music wants you, and how some of us can get love so wrong, even when intended with purity.

  • Episode 77: Weird Era feat. Alexandra Tanner

    March 1st, 2024  |  Season 1  |  45 mins
    2024books, alexandra tanner, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, weirdera, weirderapod, worry

    Sruti and Alexandra talk about her debut novel Worry, all about sisters (rivals? best friends? BOTH), what if we only communicated intended love, what a non-job is and how it's uniquely millennial, and much more.

  • Episode 76: Weird Era feat. Sarah Mintz

    February 23rd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  49 mins 29 secs

    Sruti talks to Sarah Mintz about, "terrible freedoms," if we can old without getting wiser, the definition of parasocial, and why watching someone watch tv is so embarrassing.

  • Episode 75: Weird Era feat. Rebecca May Johnson

    February 16th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  51 mins 51 secs
    2024books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, rebecca may johnson, small fires, weirdera, weirderapod

    Sruti and Rebecca discuss how sit down meals serve as the root of discourse, how cooking is gendered, how pleasure and a delight in living is revolutionary, and much more.

  • Episode 74: Weird Era feat. Katya Apekina

    February 9th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  46 mins 28 secs
    2024books, authors, bookclub, bookish, books, bookstore, fiction, interviews, katya apekin, lit, literary, literarypodcast, literature, montreal, mother doll, weirdera, weirderapod

    Sruti talks to Katya Apekina about mean ethnic humour, if exclusively, "wanting" is the definition of purity, living as different versions of yourself in one lifetime, and the underrated joys of motherhood.

  • Episode 73: Weird Era feat. Marie-Helene Bertino

    February 2nd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  43 mins 47 secs
    2024books, authors, beautyland, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, literature, mariehelenebertino, montreal, mtl, weirdera, weirderapod

    Alex returns for season six of the pod with Marie-Helene Bertino in an episode about her novel Beautyland, where Alex asks big questions about the meaning of life, Marie recites an Edna St-Vincent Millay poem on the spot from memory, and both laugh about crying at the end of books.

  • Episode 72: Weird Era feat. Lexi Freiman

    October 27th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  54 mins 28 secs
    2022books, authors, ayn rand, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, lexi freiman, literature, montreal, mtl, randian, the book of ayn, weirdera, weirderapod

    Tune in to our episode and hear us consider why more people should be embarrassed to be the same, what an unflushed turd is in contemporary social discourse, and why Rand was an intellectual top and a sexual bottom.

  • Episode 71: Weird Era feat. Anna Biller

    October 19th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  37 mins 6 secs
    2022books, anna biller, authors, bluebeard's castle, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, the love witch, verso books, weirdera, weirderapod

    Sruti talks to the director of The Love Witch, about her debut novel, Bluebeard's Castle. They consider glamour, romance novels, Sruti's "little girl theory," why women often seek singularity, and how the adventure of sex that can sometimes trump the actual experience of sex.

  • Episode 70: Weird Era feat. Melissa Broder

    October 12th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  35 mins 9 secs
    2022books, authors, bookclub, books, death valley, fiction, interviews, literature, melissa broder, montreal, mtl, weirdera, weirderapod

    This week, Alex chats with Melissa Broder about her latest novel, Death Valley, finding humour in grief, subverting the typical hero’s journey, love for Best Western hotel chains, and forfeiting control.

  • Episode 69: Weir Era feat. Chris Oliveros

    October 6th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  42 mins 33 secs
    2022books, authors, bookclub, books, chris oliveros, drawn and quarterly, fiction, flq, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, quebec, weirdera, weirderapod
  • Episode 68: Weird Era feat. Isle McElroy

    September 27th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  52 mins 24 secs
    2022books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, isle mcelroy, literature, montreal, mtl, people collide, weirdera, weirderapod

    Sruti talks to Isle for the second time on the Weird Era podcast about their second novel People Collide, if a body is anything but limits, how we can own our sexuality with the knowledge gender is fluid, mothers, never truly knowing anyone masculine and female emotional capacities, and if anyone marries for love.