Happy To Be Here is a new interview podcast for the recovering perfectionist and the perpetually curious, full of conversations that make you feel right at home and allow you to learn a little bit about almost anything. Host Greta Johnsen (formerly of Nerdette ) invites you to meet journalists, chefs, authors, and all kinds of excellent humans who will delight and inspire you. Packed with recommendations for stuff to eat, read, watch, and enjoy, this show is great for helping you make sure you…
Subscribe:.rss.atom.json.md.m3u.pls
Live Last read · last published · next check
Saves to your Listen queue, to pick up on another day or another device.
As part of a monthlong series about doing less, host Greta Johnsen talks to a theater director and an author about attention, achievement, effort, and ease. First, Greta speaks with Michaela Goldhaber, a Bay-Area playwright, director, and dramaturg who is also involved in disability justice work through her theater company Wry Crips Disabled Women’s Theater Group . Then, she talks to Cathy Haynes,…
Host Greta Johnsen starts a month-long miniseries for the 87% club with an interview with author Veronica Roth . She’s written more than a dozen books, most notably the Divergent series.Her latest book is called Seek the Traitor’s Son ( print | audio ), a book that she approached very differently from her other projects. Here’s what she says about it in the acknowledgements: “I started writing…
The July GRETAGRAM book club selection is Paige Lewis' Canon , a nonbinary hero's journey that has all the elements of an epic: Good Guys vs. Bad Guys, a fickle god, and, of course, a talking whale! Host Greta Johnsen discusses the book with Molly McGhee, the author of Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind . They discuss structure, narrative presence, earnestness, and the futility of glory. SHOW CREDITS…
Host Greta Johnsen talks with City Cast Chicago host Jacoby Cochran and Margaret Willison , the newest member of the Culture Study newsletter and podcast team. They play the extremely low-stakes game Burden or Delight with three of the biggest pop culture touchstones of the summer: The World Cup, Taylor Swift’s wedding, and Christopher Nolan’s newest blockbuster, The Odyssey . (Did Margaret make a…
Host Greta Johnsen talks with Sarah Wilson about her new book, I Eat the Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World . As the title suggests, Sarah's book explores the idea of sysrem collapse, a metacrisis we're already experiencing through climate crises, political upheaval, cultural isolationism, and fossil fuel consumption. This book isn't necessarily easy to read -- after…
Today’s episode is about public television, classic literature, and an extremely charismatic Jack Russell Terrier. Yes, we are talking about Wishbone , the iconic children’s PBS show that aired from 1995 to 1998. It was about Wishbone the dog, who imagined himself as the star of many canonical texts such as The Odyssey , Romeo and Juliet , Oliver Twist , and Cyrano de Bergerac . The shoe aired for…
Host Greta Johnsen talks to author and poet Paige Lewis. Their novel Canon is the GRETAGRAM book club selection for July. Canon is difficult to describe -- it pays homage to many classic epics and is deeply rooted in the Bible, But it’s also extremely irreverent, funny, and weird. Ultimately, it’s a nonbinary hero’s journey with Good Guys and Bad Guys and a wonderful talking whale. Greta and Paige…
The June GRETAGRAM book club selection is Julia Langbeing’s Dear Monica Lewinsky , a novel that explores sainthood, desire, the legacy of Monica Lewinsky, and the history of horny nuns. Host Greta Johnsen discusses the book with Gwen Kirby, the author of the wonderful short story collection Shit Cassandra Saw . Together, we unpack what makes this book SO GOOD, from tone to topic to setting to…
It’s the first Friday of the month, which means it’s time for a new book to read! This month’s selection is Julia Langbein ’s phenomenal novel Dear Monica Lewinsky, and Julia is today's guest on the show. The book is about Jean, whose life was derailed the summer after her sophomore year in college. When she travels to France to study medieval religious history, she meets a charismatic professor…
It’s the last Friday of May, which means it’s time to discuss T Kira Madden’s novel Whidbey ! Host Greta Johnsen talks to self-professed T Kira stan Kristen Arnett, the author of several novels. (Her most recent book, Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One , is especially wonderful!) They unpack what makes this complex novel so readable: nuanced themes, compelling characters, tangible sense of place,…