Memoir Nation

• Molly Jong-Fast on Opening a Vein on the Page

  Molly Jong-Fast’s new memoir, How to Lose Your Mother, is celebrity memoir meets real literary merit. As fans of Molly’s podcast and political commentary, and also because we had Molly’s mother, Erica Jong, on the show back in 2023, we were eager to connect with Molly to talk about mother-daughter dynamics, the buzz and controversy this book is getting, and—importantly—opening a vein on the page (in the tradition of Erica Jong). This interview explores betrayal, reclamation, dementia, alcoholism, narcissism, the theme of bad mother/bad daughter, and so much more. As Brooke said, this is the kind of nepo baby memoir she can get behind—so come find out why. Molly Jong‑Fast is a contributing writer at Vanity Fair and a political analyst at MSNBC. She also hosts the wonderful podcast, Fast Politics. She’s the author of three previous books—Normal Girl, Girl [Maladjusted], and The Social Climber’s Handbook—and has written for The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Playboy, Glamour, Vogue, and The Forward. Her brand-new memoir, How to Lose Your Mother, just came out this month, and centers among other things her relationship with her mother, the novelist Erica Jong.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• How Illustrations and Photos Inform and Enhance Memoir

  This week Grant and Brooke consider images as enhancements to memoir. Historically publishers have tended to regard images in memoir with reservation, but that’s been changing in recent years. Guest Jennifer Croft’s recent memoir, Homesick, is accompanied by her own Polaroids. When should photos be included, or central? And what are some other memoirs that have been improved by the addition of images? Whether to include images involves many considerations—from your reader, to style, to the interplay between words and image, and Jennifer Croft offers thoughtful insights around this and more. Jennifer Croft is the author of the illustrated memoir, Homesick, and the translator of Polish of Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights, for which she won the 2018 International Booker Prize. She won a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship for her novel The Extinction of Irena Rey, the 2020 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for Homesick. She is a founding editor of The Buenos Aires Review and has published her own work and numerous translations in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Granta, VICE, n+1, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, BOMB, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Sara Kehaulani Goo on Writing as Kuleana

  This week’s Memoir Nation show is an exploration of Hawai’i, heritage, and land—part of the story told in guest Sara Kehaulani Goo’s new memoir: Kuleana. Kuleana is a word that means “responsibility” in the most broad terms, but as you’ll hear in this interview, Kuleana can be anything that you are safeguarding for the world. As such, you’ll hear about Sara’s story of Kuleana, and be invited to ponder your own Kuleana, whether that’s your writing or something else you hold sacred. A beautiful episode and invitation! Sara Kehaulani Goo is a journalist and senior news executive who has led several news organizations including Axios, NPR and The Washington Post. She is the former editor-in-chief at Axios, where she launched the company’s editorial expansion into national and local newsletters, podcasts and live journalism. Before Axios, she led online audience growth as a managing editor at NPR, overseeing the newsroom's digital news operation. Sara lives in Washington, D.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Victoria Chang on Exploring Silence

  Victoria Chang has been one of the country’s most prolific poet-writers of the past few years, with a series of books exploring universal topics of grief, shame, silence, legacy, and identity. This week Brooke and Grant chose to explore silence and its impact on families, on selfhood, and of course on our writing. Victoria’s insights and disclosures will leave you feeling validated and inspired in your own explorations of even the most complicated and emotionally challenging subjects. A true treat! Victoria Chang’s most recent book of poems is With My Back to the World, published in 2024. It received the Forward Prize in Poetry for Best Collection. Some of her other books include The Trees Witness Everything, OBIT, and Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief. She has written several children’s books as well. She has received multiple fellowships and prizes and is the Bourne Chair in Poetry at Georgia Tech and Director of Poetry@Tech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Elissa Altman on Permission

  All memoirists at some point in the writing process will grapple with what’s theirs to tell. This week's show focuses on this all-important topic of permission. When do you need it? Who gives it to you and when and for what purpose? And do you need permission at all—from anyone but yourself? Centered around topics in guest Elissa Altman’s latest book, which is titled Permission, this is an empowering, deep-felt, and permission-giving episode—and something all writers, especially memoirists, can use to stay the course and keep going. Elissa Altman is the author of the Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create and the award-winning author of three memoirs: Motherland; Treyf; and Poor Man’s Feast. Altman’s work has appeared everywhere from Bitter Southerner and Orion to The Guardian, Narrative, O: The Oprah Magazine, Lion’s Roar, Krista Tippett’s On Being, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington. She has a popular Substack, Poor Man’s Feast, and she’s also a James Beard Award-winner for narrative food writing and was a finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award in Memoir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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