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Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Episode Summary

This week: Grandmaster of crime fiction Laura Lippman joins us to talk about her delightful new mystery, Murder Takes a Vacation. The novel brings back Muriel “Mrs.” Blossom—now a wealthy, single woman in her sixties—on a river cruise where art theft, murder, and self-reinvention intersect. It’s a twisty, character-rich whodunit that also explores the power of friendship, pleasure, and starting over in the third act of life.

“Crime is interesting. It cracks the world open, and then things change.” — Laura Lippman

Then, as New Yorkers begin voting in the Democratic primary for Mayor, we revisit Francesca’s 2021 conversation with Ross Barkan about his book, The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, The Coronavirus & The Fall of New York.

“I don’t think Cuomo is Donald Trump by any means. I don’t think anyone is Donald Trump, but I do think there’s more similarities between the two than a lot of liberal left-leaning people would admit.” –Ross Barkan

Connect with WV:

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast 

You can support our show and the others you listen to by contributing through Lenny.fm. Your support helps us bring you more of the episodes, like this one, that you look forward to. Thanks for being a vital part of our community!

Key Words: Laura Lippman, Murder Takes a Vacation, cozy mystery, feminist crime fiction, ageism, fatphobia, Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster, Ross Barkan, Andrew Cuomo, Covid19 in New York.

You Might Also Like: Ross Barkan, THE PRINCE, Claire Coughlan, WHERE THEY LIE

And check out Francesca’s new podcast about creating a new land ethic, Changehampton Presents: Changing the World One Yard At A Time

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Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Episode Summary

This week on Writer’s Voice, two authors of speculative fiction explore what it means to be human in a world shaped by crisis, autocracy, and extinction.

First, Ray Nayler discusses Where the Axe is Buried, a gripping novel that imagines a future governed by AI prime ministers and mass surveillance. It’s a chilling look at authoritarianism, technocratic “solutions,” and the erosion of personal freedom. Yet it holds out hope for the eternal human drive for freedom.

“Dissatisfaction with things as they are is the engine that will always eventually undermine autocracy.” — Ray Nayler

Then, Tim Weed talks about The Afterlife Project, a haunting story set in the aftermath of a climate-engineered catastrophe. A lone scientist awakens 10,000 years in the future to discover whether humanity—and the planet—has survived.

“Maybe we will come to take what I consider to be our destiny as a species… to become the stewards of life on Earth.” — Tim Weed

Both novels ask big questions: Can systems change? What will artificial intelligence do to our democracies? And what kind of afterlife awaits a species on the brink?

Connect with WV:

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast 

You can support our show and the others you listen to by contributing through Lenny.fm. Your support helps us bring you more of the episodes, like this one, that you look forward to. Thanks for being a vital part of our community!

Key Words: Tim Weed, The Afterlife Project, speculative fiction, climate collapse, human extinction, ecological fiction, Ray Nayler, Where the Axe Is Buried, AI autocracy, surveillance state, artificial intelligence, authoritarianism,

You Might Also Like: Ray Nayler, THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SEA, Cary Groner, THE WAY

And check out Francesca’s new podcast about creating a new land ethic, Changehampton Presents: Changing the World One Yard At A Time

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Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Episode Summary

This week: journalist Brian Goldstone joins us to talk about his powerful new book, There Is No Place For Us: Working and Homeless in America. It’s an eye-opening, deeply reported portrait of families who work full-time yet are unhoused, navigating a system that often punishes them for being poor.

It’s a conversation that will challenge how you see housing, inequality, and what it means to live on the edge in one of the richest countries in the world.

“We have allowed housing in America to basically become a luxury, to become a commodity that can just be hoarded by the few at the expense of the many.” — Brian Goldstone

Connect with WV:

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast 

You can support our show and the others you listen to by contributing through Lenny.fm. Your support helps us bring you more of the episodes, like this one, that you look forward to. Thanks for being a vital part of our community!

Key Words: Brian Goldstone, There Is No Place For Us, working homeless, housing crisis, homelessness in America, racial housing inequality, housing policy reform, affordable housing crisis, tenant rights,

READ THE TRANSCRIPT ON SUBSTACK

You Might Also Like: Bernadette Atuahene, PLUNDERED

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Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Episode Summary

Mich​èle Gerber Klein discusses Surreal, her revelatory biography of Gala Dalí, the forceful and fascinating woman behind surrealist master Salvador Dalí. Gala emerges not just as a muse, but as a powerful shaper of modern art and identity.

“She wasn’t just a muse, she was an artist in her own right… she created a persona and curated a life.” — Michèle Gerber Klein

Then, Anthony Horowitz returns to the show with The Marble Hall Murders, the latest installment in his popular Atticus Pünd series. Blending classic mystery style with postmodern flair, Horowitz discusses the literary sleuthing of character Susan Ryland and the Agatha Christie-inspired brilliance of fictional detective Atticus Pünd.

All the tropes of the murder mystery are in there, but because of the nature of these books, which are both modern and old fashioned, I always have a certain self-questioning aspect going on. — Anthony Horowitz

Connect with WV:

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast 

You can support our show and the others you listen to by contributing through Lenny.fm. Your support helps us bring you more of the episodes, like this one, that you look forward to. Thanks for being a vital part of our community!

Key Words: Gala Dalí, Michèle Gerber Klein, Surreal biography, Salvador Dalí, women in surrealism, surrealist movement, Anthony Horowitz, The Marble Hall Murders, Atticus Pünd mystery series, Susan Ryland, metafictional crime novel, British mystery fiction,

You Might Also Like: Anthony Horowitz, MAGPIE MURDERS, Anthony Horowitz, MOONFLOWER MURDERS

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Episode Summary

We explore two speculative fiction novels that challenge our understanding of consciousness, communication and the human condition.

First, we speak with Cary Groner about The Way, a post-pandemic road novel that blends adventure, Buddhist philosophy, and a hopeful vision of the future after our current civilization has been largely swept away.

“It’s not all doom and gloom. Unlike most post-apocalyptic novels, I wanted to show a world where life adapts, and maybe even gets better.” — Cary Groner

Then, we welcome Silvia Park to discuss Luminous, a hauntingly prescient novel about AI, identity, and the blurred line between human and machine.

We build robots to love us—but does that love mean anything if we programmed it? — Silvia Park

Both stories wrestle with profound questions: What does it mean to live ethically in a fractured world? And can technology truly replace—or surpass—our humanity?

Connect with WV:

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast 

You can support our show and the others you listen to by contributing through Lenny.fm. Your support helps us bring you more of the episodes, like this one, that you look forward to. Thanks for being a vital part of our community!

Key Words: Speculative fiction, post-apocalyptic, robots, human-animal communication, consciousness, AI, Buddhist ethics, Cary Groner, Silvia Park, sci fi, The Way novel,

You Might Also Like: Sci-fi Imagines Climate Change: Paolo Bacigalupi’s THE WATER KNIFE & SHIPBREAKER