Episode 357
with George Saunders, Jay Larson, Jenny Bruso, and Horse Feathers
Luke Burbank describes his attempts to get enlightened; acclaimed author George Saunders explains how swimming in a river of monkey poop led to an illustrious writing career and opens up about his newfound admiration for Abraham Lincoln (the protagonist of this newest work, Lincoln in the Bardo); comedian Jay Larson riffs on passive-aggressive Yelp reviews; Unlikely Hikers' Jenny Bruso reflects on her journey to make the outdoors more accessible for all; and indie folk band Horse Feathers perform the first track off their forthcoming album, “Appreciation.”
George Saunders
Writer
George Saunders is the author of eleven books, including Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for best work of fiction in English, and was a finalist for the Golden Man Booker, in which one Booker winner was selected to represent each decade, from the fifty years since the Prize’s inception. The audiobook for Lincoln in the Bardo, which featured a cast of 166 actors, was the 2018 Audie Award for best audiobook. Website • Twitter
Jay Larson
Comedian
Stand up called Jay Larson to the stage and has brought him to the Big Screen in the Critically acclaimed Karyn Kusama thriller “The Invitation”. The success of the movie led to a role in the highly anticipated and long awaited second season of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” which is currently running on Showtime and parts in the upcoming indie films “Concrete Kids” and “All Square”. While playing out the roles of amazing writers is fun Jay also loves to write his life as he goes and he went everywhere when he hosted Esquire Network’s “Best Bars in America”. Website • Twitter
Jenny Bruso
Hiking Advocate
Jenny Bruso is a white, queer, fat, femme, writer, hiker, group hike leader and founder of Unlikely Hikers. She has CPTSD and it affects every part of her life. A late bloomer to the outdoors, it wasn’t until 2012 that she went on the hike that would change the course of her life from career waitress to outdoor leader and advocate for underrepresented outdoorspeople. Outside, she discovered a connection with nature, joyful movement and a sense of place in a world she struggles to fit into. She also found outdoor culture to be often hostile to those who don’t fit the white, straight-size, cishet-normative, able-bodied mold. This led to the creation of Unlikely Hikers. The outdoors should be for EVERYBODY and EVERY BODY. Website • Twitter
Horse Feathers
Musician
After fronting several rock bands in his native Idaho, singer/songwriter Justin Ringle moved to Portland, Oregon in 2004 and began focusing on acoustic music, playing open mics regularly under the moniker Horse Feathers. In 2005, multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick heard a couple of Ringle's demos and offered to help flesh them out. In February 2006 the duo went into Skyler Norwood's Miracle Lake studios and recorded their debut album, Words Are Dead, which was released that September on Portland label, Lucky Madison. Later that year, Peter's sister Heather Broderick joined the group on cello and by 2007, Horse Feathers began featuring a rotating cast of instrumentalists backing Ringle's guitar and vocals. Listen
