New Yorker: Outloud

Adam Gopnik and James Wood on atheism and religious belief.

Adam Gopnik and James Wood on atheism and religious belief.

Ariel Levy on Diana Nyad and writing about women and gender

This week in the magazine, Ariel Levy profiles the endurance ...

This week in the magazine, Ariel Levy profiles the endurance swimmer Diana Nyad. Here, Levy speaks with Sasha Weiss about her piece and her interests as a writer. Levy has written about several female athletes, including the runner Caster Semenya and the boxer Claressa Shields, but says she's not really a sports fan. "Female athletes interest me because what you're talking about is strength and power," Levy says. "And that takes a certain amount of chutzpah to be female and say, 'I'm going to cultivate strength and speed and power and physical prowess.' So, from a sort of feminist point of view, that excites me." Levy has written about a range of subjects, including fashion, radical lesbian separatists, exotic cat breeding, and Silvio Berlusconi. Weiss asks if she sees herself as having a particular beat, and Levy says that, to some extent, she writes about gender and sexuality, but that that's only a starting point. A good story also needs a strong dramatic arc, Levy says, as well as a counterintuitive element, something that you don't see coming. "The trick is to find those things with a great story," she says. "It's no good, just, 'I'm going to go for a wallow in the sex and gender mud.' If there's no weird, crazy story, then it's just mud." Levy and Weiss also talk about how she finds the crucial twists in her stories, and about her recent personal account in the magazine about having a miscarriage while on a reporting assignment in Mongolia, what it was like for her to write about that experience, and what the response has been.

Peter Schjeldahl on William Burroughs

Peter Schjeldahl is the magazine's art critic, but this week ...

Peter Schjeldahl is the magazine's art critic, but this week he takes on a literary subject: William S. Burroughs. A new biography of Burroughs was recently published, and next month is the centenary of his birth. Schjeldahl writes that Burroughs is always being rediscovered by "properly disaffected young readers," and, on the podcast, he tells the editor Sasha Weiss that "reading Burroughs is a sort of rite of passage, which is most effective in your late teens, early twenties, but you can do a remedial one later on." For Schjeldahl, who was an aspiring poet in New York, in the nineteen-sixties, Burroughs and his "cut-up" writing style were an important influence. Here, Schjeldahl and Weiss listen to archival recordings of Burroughs reading from his first novel, "Junky," and discuss the transformative effect that Burroughs and the Beats had on American literature.

Rebecca Mead and Daniel Zalewski on gender and literature.

In the January 13th issue, Rebecca Mead profiles the hugely ...

In the January 13th issue, Rebecca Mead profiles the hugely successful and popular fiction writer Jennifer Weiner, whose books have sold more than four and a half million copies. She's also known for her ongoing campaign against sexism toward female writers in the publishing industry. Here, Mead and the New Yorker editor Daniel Zalewski talk with Sasha Weiss about Weiner's effect on literary media, the porous distinction between commercial and literary fiction, and the pleasures to be had (or not) from comfort reading. Mead also talks about her forthcoming book about reading "Middlemarch" throughout her life. Also on the podcast, you can take Sarah Larson's dialect quiz.

Evan Osnos on his years reporting from China.

Between 2008 and 2013, Evan Osnos was The New Yorker's ...

Between 2008 and 2013, Evan Osnos was The New Yorker's China correspondent, reporting on everything from the country's increasing demand for psychoanalysis to a Profile of the artist Ai Weiwei. Since the fall, he's been reporting for the magazine from Washington, D.C., but he hasn't left China completely behind. In the current issue of the magazine, Osnos reports on the revival of Confucianism in the country, after many years when it was in disfavor with the Communist Party. Here he discusses Confucianism, reporting from China, and his new Washington, D.C., beat with the editor of The New Yorker's Web site, Nicholas Thompson. In addition, Maria Konnikova explains how she plans to keep her New Year's resolution to cut back on Internet use.

Elizabeth Kolbert on the sixth great extinction.

Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer who is perhaps best ...

Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer who is perhaps best known for her reporting on global warming. In 2006, after a series on the subject in the magazine, she published her book "Field Notes from a Catastrophe." Her reporting on climate change led her to investigate species extinction, which climate change is exacerbating. According to many scientists, we are now in the midst of the sixth great extinction, a massive die-off of species around the globe. In recent issues, The New Yorker has published pieces by Kolbert on species extinction, from chapters in her forthcoming book, "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History." Here, she talks to Sasha Weiss about the enormity of the problem. Also, Calvin Trillin samples the hot tamale on the Delta.

James Carroll and Joan Acocella on Pope Francis.

This week in the magazine, James Carroll writes about Pope ...

This week in the magazine, James Carroll writes about Pope Francis, who, since his election in March, has made headlines with his humble acts of kindness, his gentler tone on social issues like contraception and homosexuality, and his pointed critiques of inequality and capitalism. Joan Acocella has previously written in the magazine about the Pope's namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. Here Acocella and Carroll talk with Sasha Weiss about the crisis within the Catholic Church, and whether Pope Francis will be able to effect real change. Also on the podcast, David Remnick talks to Roger Angell about Angell's award from the Baseball Hall of Fame for his baseball writing.

Sasha Frere-Jones on the year in music.

This week in the magazine, Sasha Frere-Jones reviews the latest ...

This week in the magazine, Sasha Frere-Jones reviews the latest album from Britney Spears. Frere-Jones has written about many of the big pop releases this year, including music by Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Katy Perry, and Lorde. But he's also written about lesser-known acts like King Krule and the artists on the Tri Angle record label. Here, Frere-Jones talks with Sasha Weiss about his favorite music of 2013, why he thinks Kanye West's "Yeezus" is the album of the year, and how a new group of young musicians is pushing music forward.

Daniel Mendelsohn on the persistence of Greek tragedies.

Daniel Mendelsohn has written extensively about how archetypes from Greek ...

Daniel Mendelsohn has written extensively about how archetypes from Greek myth and tragedy are revised and revisited in contemporary culture, most recently with the anniversary of the J.F.K. assassination. Here, he talks with Sasha Weiss about how the story of J.F.K.s death satisfies twin desiresboth to marvel at a charismatic leader and also to witness his downfall. They discuss why Greek myth and tragedy are still so resonant when we read the news today, and Mendelsohn gives an anecdote from his upcoming book in which he retraces the journey of the Odyssey with his father.

Nick Paumgarten and Peter Schjeldahl on the art world.

The recent sale at auction of a Francis Bacon triptych ...

The recent sale at auction of a Francis Bacon triptych for $142.4 million has people talking, including Peter Schjeldahl and Nick Paumgarten. Paumgarten was at the auction, and, in this week's issue, he profiles one of the biggest players in the international art market, David Zwirner. Schjeldahl, the magazine's art critic, has also written about dealers and gallerists. In this week's podcast, they talk about art-market excess with the literary editor of The New Yorkers Web site, Sasha Weiss. Also, a song celebrating Thanksgivukkah.