Writer and editor Thomas Beller joins me to discuss his new essay collection Degas at the Gas Station. The essays trace his experience of fatherhood through the landscapes of his own childhood, including the early death of his psychoanalyst father and Tom's later return—wife and children in tow—to the very Manhattan apartment where he was raised. We talk about some of the fundamental conflicts of personal writing, including the ethics of writing about your children and even your ambivalence about parenthood. We also discuss why some writers feel trapped inside the genres that come most naturally to them, how the literary sensibility of The New Yorker shaped the styles of generations of writers, and how Tom is feeling about New York City these days. The episode was recorded on the morning of November 4, Election Day, and Tom talks about why he's voting for Zohran Mamdani—and why he thinks some of my early writing relates directly to Mamdani's platform. Guest Bio: Thomas Beller is a long time contributor to the New Yorker and the author of several books including Lost in the Game: A Book about Basketball, also published by Duke University Press; J.D. Salinger: The Escape Artist; and The Sleep-Over Artist. A 2024-25 Guggenheim fellow, he is a founding editor of Open City Magazine and Books and Mrbellersneighborhood.com, and Professor and Director of creative writing at Tulane University.
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A Special Place In Hell Reunion, with Sarah Haider
Thanksgiving has come early! A year after bidding farewell to our much-loved/occasionally-despised podcast A Special Place In Hell, Sarah Haider joins me for a catch-up. A lot has happened in the last few weeks, not to mention the last year. We discuss the killing of Charlie Kirk, the wave of anti-Indian hate on X, the phenomenon of South Asian troll farming, the uses and abuses of AI, and, of course, the discourse around "the great feminization," which was the entire premise of A Special Place In Hell. (Did someone steal our idea?) We also discuss Sarah's new baby and whether her pregnancy was worse than my house burning down. This version of our conversation is free to all. To hear a longer version, become a paying subscriber at Substack at https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com/ or join The Unspeakeasy on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnspeakeasyPodcast
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Should We Bring Back Asylums? with Dr. Sally Satel
Why is it so difficult to find meaningful help for the severely mentally ill, including those exhibiting patterns of violence? And why has this question become politicized? Policy expert and practicing psychiatrist Dr. Sally Satel is not typically a fan of Donald Trump, but she agrees with the president's recent executive order on mental health policy. That order called for "shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment to restore public order." This issue, she says, should not be about politics but about getting both parties to grapple with the full dimensions of serious mental illness as it relates to public health. In this episode, we talk about what drew Sally to this field, why "harm reduction" can be a flimsy approach, and why we so desperately need more beds in psychiatric units. We also discuss last summer's horrific case in Charlotte, N.C., where a young woman was stabbed to death by a man whose mother had tried to have him committed for psychosis. Guest Bio: Sally Satel, M.D., a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a practicing psychiatrist and lecturer at the Yale University School of Medicine, examines mental health policy as well as political trends in medicine. Become a paying subscriber to The Unspeakeasy and get lots of perks, including access to monthly hangouts for Founding Members. https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com/ I'm teaching a Zoom writing workshop in Memoir and Personal Essay, Jan 6 through Feb 24, 2026. Apply by Dec 5. https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com/p/next-writing-course-starts-jan-6 The Unspeakeasy 2026 retreat schedule has been announced! https://theunspeakeasy.com/retreats Order my book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on Amazon or directly from the publisher https://www.nyrb.com/products/the-catastrophe-hour.
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The Making of A Gender Heretic, with Ben Appel
This week, Ben Appel joins me to talk about his new book, Cis White Gay: The Making of a Gender Heretic, a memoir about leaving one kind of cult only to stumble into another. Raised in a rigid Christian community, Ben found refuge in the gay rights movement and, later, the Ivy League—until "allyship" started to look less like solidarity and more like a loyalty oath. We discuss • Why he chose the deliberately provocative title Cis, White, Gay — and what reactions revealed about current identity politics. • How queer "community" has become increasingly moralized, hierarchical, and policed — and what gets lost when dissent is framed as betrayal. • The difference between taste and taboo — and how aesthetic preferences are now treated as political statements. • Why "representation" has replaced excellence as the highest cultural virtue. • How literary gatekeeping operates today — from publishers and prize committees to informal online watchdogs. • The loneliness of ideological nonconformity in queer and creative circles. • The professional and social costs of questioning orthodoxy — including lost friendships, lost opportunities, and subtle blacklisting. Guest Bio: Ben Appel is a writer and commentator whose memoir, Cis White Gay, traces his path from a strict Christian sect to progressive activism—and his break with movement orthodoxy; he's written for outlets like Newsweek, UnHerd, and more, and publishes on Substack. Become a paying subscriber to The Unspeakeasy and get lots of perks, including access to monthly hangouts for Founding Members. https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com/ I'm teaching a Zoom writing workshop in Memoir and Personal Essay, Jan 6 through Feb 24, 2026. Apply by Dec 5. https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com/p/next-writing-course-starts-jan-6 The Unspeakeasy 2026 retreat schedule has been announced! https://theunspeakeasy.com/retreats Order my book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on Amazon or directly from the publisher https://www.nyrb.com/products/the-catastrophe-hour.
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How Do You Want Your Life To End? with Dr. Sunita Puri
My guest is Dr. Sunita Puri, a palliative-care physician and author of That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour. We talk about what it really means to care for patients when cure is no longer the goal, why our medical system resists honest conversations about death, and how clarity and compassion can coexist at the end of life. Topics we cover: • What palliative care really provides (beyond hospice) • Why "more treatment" ≠ "more life" • Prognosis, probabilities, and telling the truth kindly • How families can ask the right questions • Documentation that matters (and what to avoid) • The moral distress of clinicians • Cultural/faith factors that shape decisions • Dignity, autonomy, and realistic hope Guest Bio: Dr. Sunita Puri is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, where she is the Director of the Inpatient Palliative Care Service. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, among other publications. She is the author of That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour, a critically acclaimed literary memoir examining her journey to the practice of palliative medicine, and her quest to help patients and families redefine what it means to live and die well in the face of serious illness.
Author, essayist and journalist Meghan Daum has spent decades giving voice—and bringing nuance, humor and surprising perspectives—to things that lots of people are thinking but are afraid to say out loud. Now, she brings her observations to the realm of conversation. In candid, free-ranging interviews, Meghan talks with artists, entertainers, journalists, scientists, scholars, and anyone else who's willing to do the "unspeakable" and question prevailing cultural and moral assumptions.
Australia