Weird Era

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.

Episode 67: Weird Era feat. Paola Ferrante

September 21st, 2023  |  Season 1  |  45 mins 17 secs

2023books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, her body among animals, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, paolo ferrante, weirdera, weirderapod

This week on the pod, Alex sits down with Paola Ferrante to discuss her short story collection Her Body Among Animals, how motherhood affects artists, toxic masculinity, animal behaviour, and writing short fiction vs writing novels.

Episode 66: Weird Era feat. Sean Michaels

September 14th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  49 mins 6 secs

2022books, authors, bookclub, books, do you remember being born, fiction, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, sean michaels, weirdera, weirderapod

Sruti talks to Sean Michaels about tech novels, what having kids does to the passing of time, what happens to art when commodified, and the nap ministry.

Episode 65: Weird Era feat. Jessica Campbell

September 8th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  45 mins 11 secs

2022books, authors, bookclub, books, d&q, drawn and quarterly, fiction, interviews, jessica campbell, literature, montreal, mtl, rave, weirdera, weirderapod

Sruti talks to Jessica Campbell about Christian Raves, shame, what to do with a unibrow, and what is so often misunderstood about the graphic novel form.

Episode 64: Weird Era feat. Mona Awad

August 31st, 2023  |  Season 1  |  38 mins 45 secs

2022books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, literature, mona awad, montreal, mtl, rouge, weirdera, weirderapod

This week, Alex talks with Mona Awad about her latest novel Rouge, immortal jellyfish, Tom Cruise, fairytales, and what the ultimate lie of the beauty industry is.

Episode 63: Weird Era feat. Emerson Whitney

August 24th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  38 mins 36 secs

2022books, authors, bookclub, books, daddy boy, emerson whitney, fiction, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, weirdera, weirderapod

Sruti sits down with Emerson Whitney to discuss Daddy Boy, how elders are a map, the appeal of masculinity and the simultaneous disdain for toxic masculinity, storm chasing, and how to foster independence without it resulting in isolation.

Episode 62: Weird Era feat. Hilary Leichter

August 18th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  39 mins 9 secs

2022books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, hilary leichter, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, terrasse story, weirdera, weirderapod

This week, Alex talks to Hilary Leichter (in her sophomore Weird Era interview!) about her latest novel Terrace Story, how time and space can be manipulated in writing, what constitutes magical realism, creating space vs taking up space, and so much more.

Episode 61: Weird Era feat. Kyle Dillon Hertz

August 11th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  46 mins

2022books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, kyle dillon hertz, literature, montreal, mtl, the lookback window, weirdera, weirderapod

Alex sits down with Kyle Dillon Hertz to discuss his debut novel, The Lookback Window, trauma narratives, bad MFA writing, and why it’s so easy to focus on the past and ignore the present.

Episode 60: Weird Era feat. Deborah Willis

August 3rd, 2023  |  Season 1  |  34 mins 27 secs

2023books, authors, bookclub, books, deborahwillis, fiction, girlfriendonmars, interviews, literature, montreal, mtl, weirdera, weirderapod

Sruti talks to author Deborah Willis about monogamy, megalomaniac CEOS, how, "a human being is a mystery, as dark and expanding as the universe," and why on earthlings themselves love reality TV so much.

Episode 59: Weird Era feat. Ottessa Moshfegh

June 29th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  46 mins 49 secs

2022books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, lapvona, literature, montreal, mtl, ottessa moshfegh, weirdera, weirderapod

Alex sits down with the legend herself, Ottessa Moshfegh, to talk about Lapvona, whether or not her novels exist in one shared literary universe, what makes her stories so appealing to different types of readers, and what she thinks about happy endings.