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

Updated: 23 Aug 2025 • 694 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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This conversation with Samantha Nickerson, Brian Salmans, and Rachael Tillman will give you some idea of the mischief you are missing out on, and the pain John is putting himself through.

92 min
00:00
01:32:43
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16 Aug 2025 • EN

683: Eugenio Negro!

This week, John speaks with the fiction writer, cartoonist, and musician Eugenio Negro about his new novel, Despair Priorities, the long term project, and figuring out what will be deeply satisfying as a writer and reader.

51 min
00:00
51:15
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Sophia Ferrara joins John down the rabbit hole of Charlotte Brontë's early private storytelling.

80 min
00:00
01:20:52
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In this week's show, John teams up once again with his friend Matt Peters to discuss the second book of William S. Burroughs's original quartet of novels. They also discuss the recent film adapation of the same.

44 min
00:00
44:14
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26 Jul 2025 • EN

680: Katharine Coldiron!

On today’s show, I speak with the essayist Katharine Coldiron about how the way we watch movies are sometimes our autobiographies, sometimes our philosophies, and sometimes our humanity.

61 min
00:00
01:01:56
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19 Jul 2025 • EN

679: Keith Mackenzie!

On 679, John speaks with the novelist Keith MacKenzie about how to plan an unplannable thriller, and how body horror and comedy and existentialism are awfully close neighbors.

63 min
00:00
01:03:08
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