Today we're sharing one of our favorite podcasts, LARB Radio Hour. For all you lovers of living writers, enjoy! Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher speak to writer Haley Mlotek about No Fault: A Memoir of Divorce and Romance. The book blends the history of divorce law and custom in North America over the last century with cultural criticism on the way divorce has been portrayed in literature, film, and online. Mlotek also records her own experience of ending a marriage, and the front row seat she had growing up to the dissolution of many other unions through her mother’s work as a divorce mediator. At a time when it’s easier than ever before to access divorce, No Fault looks at the many questions that still persist around “what divorce should be, who it is for, and why the institution of marriage maintains its power.” Explore more episodes of LARB Radio Hour at https://lareviewofbooks.org/podcasts/ New episodes drop every Friday morning. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Tess and Brock dive into the unconventional life of Sarah Orne Jewett by first venturing to Berwick Academy, the school that Jewett attended. As an alum, Jewett was somewhat of a “patron saint”, and there are still students there who read and relate to her wild ways. At Jewett’s house, Tess and Brock are fascinated by her desk due to its unexpected position and discuss Jewett’s lover, Annie Fields.

Tess and Brock explore Nathanial Hawthorne’s childhood home in Raymond, Maine. Hawthorne’s writing colors the house as an idyllic childhood summer home and so it remains. Today, the local community uses the house as a space to come together—like it or not, Hawthorne! Tess and Brock remain persistent in their attempts to reveal the true story of Hawthorne and his house, but Hawthorne manages to keep up his image as a mysterious, and intensely private writer.

Tess and Brock travel to Wiscasset, ME, to investigate the scene of James Weldon Johnson’s tragic death in a train accident. Author Russell Rymer gives us a glimpse of Johnson's life as a Black poet, diplomat, novelist, and activist—Johnson was a jack of all trades, master of all. Poet C.S. Giscombe discuss Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and finds surprising similarities to the tv cartoon Futurama. Tess and Brock also meet with Melanie K. Edwards, Johnson’s great grandniece, who gives some insight into what her famous uncle was doing in Maine in the first place.

Tess and Brock put the spotlight on Edna St. Vincent Millay, the 20th-century poet and feminist icon. Millay was notorious for her active “social life” among the NYC art scene during the height of the roaring ‘20s, but Tess and Brock focus on her prolific writing. Poet Gillian Obsorne has admired Millay for her eloquent expression of feminine angst since she first read Millay as a teenager. And as an educator, she sees how it still speaks to young women today. Whether it’s because of her compelling success story or her well-served, cold disses, Millay is an author who’s easy to fall in love with.

Tess and Brock try to get on the same wavelength as Edwin Arlington Robinson, also known as EAR, by visiting his birthplace in Gardiner, ME. To get inside the head of the poet they talk with Richard Russo. Russo and EAR share more similarities than their status as Pulitzer prize winning Maine authors—both of their work focuses on growing up in small towns with big dreams. Today, EAR may not be the biggest name, but his work remains timeless in its ability to connect to the inner misfit in all of us.

Tess and Brock get to know Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow, the so-called hometown poet of Portland, ME. To find out whether Longfellow’s fame is justified, Tess and Brock head down to the Wadsworth-Longfellow house in the center of town. Longfellow wrote his first poem and other works in the house, but the house doesn’t just honor him but the whole Longfellow family.

Tess and Brock stay close to home while studying Harriet Beecher Stowe, the 19th-century author famous for writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Susanna Aston tells the harrowing story of how Stowe harbored fugitive slave John Andrew Jackson, and how one decision can change the course of history.