The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life

Updated: 12 Apr 2025 • 676 episodes
thedrunkenodyssey.com

Join author John King for eclectic interviews with writers from a variety of genres, including fiction writing, poetry, memoirs, and journalism. From literature to genre writing to the movies, all writing is up for discussion. In particular, The Drunken Odyssey features discussion of all aspects of the writing process—not just the published manuscript, pristinely presented to the entire literate world, but also the scrawled notes and tortured drafts that lead writers there. In long-form interviews, writers discuss their process and the way that writing has influenced their lives. Besides this interview, each episode also features a short memoir essay from a writer about a beloved book, plus John King responds to listener’s questions and observations about the writing (and the drinking) life. For more information, see our website at www.thedrunkenodyssey.com.

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12 Apr 2025 • EN

668: Margie Sarsfield!

In Margie Sarsfield’s debut novel, Beta Vulgaris, a hipster Brooklyn couple take on temporary work at a Minnesota beet farm at harvest time in order to earn extra money to help them maintain their Brooklyn lifestyle. Elise, the protagonist, who suffers from anxiety that she is no longer medicated for, notices that her

65 min
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01:05:31
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On this show, correspondent Samantha Nickerson speaks with Sally Wen Mao about her story collection, Ninetails, plus Samantha speaks with Susan Mauddi Darraj about her new novel, Behind You Is The Sea.

62 min
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01:02:06
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In honor of the passing of David Lynch, John and Stephen McClurg discuss the peculiar mysteries of a screenplay for a legendary project that was never made, Ronnie Rocket.

94 min
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01:34:20
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22 Mar 2025 • EN

665: Jaydra Johnson!

In this week's show, John speaks with Jaydra Johnson about her new book, Low: Notes on Art and Trash, and the tensions and connections between class perception, politics, and creation of art.

75 min
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01:15:27
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On today’s show, I speak with the poet and editor Rigoberto Gonzales about the curation of the Library of America anthology of Latino Poetry. Then Richard Blanco reads "Como Tú," his poem that is collected in that anthology, and he and I catch up a little bit.

39 min
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39:00
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0On #633, Rachael Tillman and I discuss the surreal paradoxes and sullen joys of Bill Knott's debut collection of poetry, The Naomi Poems: Corpse and Beans, which was recently reprinted by Black Ocean Press.

64 min
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01:04:18
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