Bea Setton shared how she wrote her debut novel, Berlin, at Shondaland.
Writing Berlin was not heart-wrenching. It was not agonizing — it was fun. It was one of the happiest and most absorbing and purely pleasurable experiences of my life (don’t worry; book two was agonizing and heart-wrenching and not that fun, so I’ve had my writerly comeuppance). I laughed at my own jokes and cried at my own moments of pathos. The people in the library shot me looks of compassionate concern.
Salon interviewed singer-songwriter Amanda Shires.
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Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
All Songs Considered, Bandcamp Daily, Pitchfork, and Paste recommended the week’s best new albums.
The Guardian and the New York Times recommended books by Martin Amis.
Novel Dialogue features author Erika T. Wurth and critic Leif Sorensen in conversation.
Paste interviewed Val Caulfield and Scott Fair of Mandy, Indiana.
The Maris Review, Literary Hub, and Bustle interviewed author Samantha Irby.
Irby recommended her favorite things at the Strategist.
Stream a new song by Osees.
Electric Literature recommended books to read if you enjoy the television series Yellowjackets.
Cover Me shared a collection of cover songs that feature bagpipes.
The Guardian interviewed author R.F. Kuang.
Electric Literature interviewed author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
Liz Stokes and Jon Pearce of the Beths talked songwriting with Slate.
The Los Angeles Review of Books shared a conversation between Pantheon publisher Lisa Lucas and critic Christian Lorentzen.
Stream a new song by Lord Huron.
Stream a new song by Lana Del Rey.
Aquarium Drunkard profiled Rose City Band’s Ripley Johnson.
For years Johnson longed to form a country rock band. Due to the pandemic, he released three albums as Rose City Band before ever playing a live show. As restrictions loosened, Johnson recruited a handful of local musicians to perform live as Rose City Band. “We got really tight and we played this Mississippi Studios show. Afterwards Sanae was like, ‘You did it, you got your country rock band.’” The sound in Johnson’s head had come to life, inspired by Portland summers.