web02.fireside.fm Sun, 05 Apr 2026 14:12:34 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Story Behind the Story - Episodes Tagged with “Non Fiction” https://story.fireside.fm/tags/non-fiction Sat, 07 Aug 2021 15:00:00 -0700 Host Clara Sherley-Appel interviews authors about their creative process, from the inspiration behind the books they write to specific choices they make. en-us episodic Stories about stories and how they came to be Clara Sherley-Appel Host Clara Sherley-Appel interviews authors about their creative process, from the inspiration behind the books they write to specific choices they make. no books, book show, author interviews, interviews, stories Clara Sherley-Appel clara@ksqd.org Episode 30: Alice Sparkly Kat - POSTCOLONIAL ASTROLOGY https://story.fireside.fm/30 75ad5d2a-1de6-4881-b14e-71b1db8964b3 Sat, 07 Aug 2021 15:00:00 -0700 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to astrologer and writer Alice Sparkly Kat, author of POSTCOLONIAL ASTROLOGY. 55:51 no I talk to astrologer and writer Alice Sparkly Kat, author of POSTCOLONIAL ASTROLOGY. alice sparkly kat, authors, non-fiction, astrology, interviews I talk to astrologer and writer Alice Sparkly Kat, author of POSTCOLONIAL ASTROLOGY.

]]> I talk to astrologer and writer Alice Sparkly Kat, author of POSTCOLONIAL ASTROLOGY.

]]> Episode 12: Carmen Maria Machado - IN THE DREAM HOUSE https://story.fireside.fm/12 472ab7f6-c35f-4b9f-bee5-66d3b8d2ab02 Fri, 07 Feb 2020 18:00:00 -0800 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to author Carmen Maria Machado about her 2019 memoir, IN THE DREAM HOUSE. 1:00:18 yes CARMEN MARIA MACHADO is the author of the sparklingly surreal short story collection Her Body and Other Parties, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and a winner of the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize. Her memoir, In the Dream House, was named “Best Book of the Year” in 2019 by just about every major media outlet, including The New Yorker, TIME Magazine, The New York Times, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and Vogue. It is a bold, captivating account of the violence and abuse Machado endured in her first relationship with another woman, told in her inimitable voice. This episode was recorded at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, as part of an event hosted by Kepler's Literary Foundation and produced by Amber Clark. <hr> As a content note, our discussion includes descriptions of psychological abuse and intimate partner violence. Resources for queer survivors of domestic violence are available here (https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/4/499bf883-a80e-4bc2-8e36-b66e2a455ef6/zcjmEVl6.png). Special Guest: Carmen Maria Machado. carmen maria machado, authors, non-fiction, interviews, abuse CARMEN MARIA MACHADO is the author of the sparklingly surreal short story collection Her Body and Other Parties, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and a winner of the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize. Her memoir, In the Dream House, was named “Best Book of the Year” in 2019 by just about every major media outlet, including The New Yorker, TIME Magazine, The New York Times, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and Vogue. It is a bold, captivating account of the violence and abuse Machado endured in her first relationship with another woman, told in her inimitable voice.

This episode was recorded at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, as part of an event hosted by Kepler's Literary Foundation and produced by Amber Clark.


As a content note, our discussion includes descriptions of psychological abuse and intimate partner violence. Resources for queer survivors of domestic violence are available here.

Special Guest: Carmen Maria Machado.

]]> CARMEN MARIA MACHADO is the author of the sparklingly surreal short story collection Her Body and Other Parties, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and a winner of the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize. Her memoir, In the Dream House, was named “Best Book of the Year” in 2019 by just about every major media outlet, including The New Yorker, TIME Magazine, The New York Times, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and Vogue. It is a bold, captivating account of the violence and abuse Machado endured in her first relationship with another woman, told in her inimitable voice.

This episode was recorded at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, as part of an event hosted by Kepler's Literary Foundation and produced by Amber Clark.


As a content note, our discussion includes descriptions of psychological abuse and intimate partner violence. Resources for queer survivors of domestic violence are available here.

Special Guest: Carmen Maria Machado.

]]> Episode 8: Adam Becker - WHAT IS REAL? https://story.fireside.fm/8 cc24d8e0-5f2b-4f26-be42-bbe72168f28e Fri, 25 Oct 2019 14:00:00 -0700 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to science writer Adam Becker about the controversy at the heart of quantum physics and how fiction has influenced his approach to writing about science. 1:00:00 no In What is real?, Adam Becker details the century-long fight over the interpretation of quantum physics -- what this enormously successful theory, which has given us so much of the technology we use today, is actually saying about the world. Becker first encountered this controversy when, as an undergraduate student of physics at Cornell, a professor pooh-poohed his concerns over the implications of the standard model of quantum theory, developed by Bohr and others in the early 20th century, writing them off as philosophical questions, irrelevant to the study of science. But as Becker soon discovered, those questions were at the heart of a scientific debate that had been raging for nearly a century. In our conversation, we talk about the social and political factors that have governed the understanding and application of quantum physics since its inception, as well as the people on both sides of the debate. Becker also talks about borrowing techniques from fiction writing to turn a true story about a complex and opaque area of scientific inquiry into an engaging narrative populated by distinctive characters. Special Guest: Adam Becker. adam becker, authors, non-fiction, interviews, science, quantum physics In What is real?, Adam Becker details the century-long fight over the interpretation of quantum physics -- what this enormously successful theory, which has given us so much of the technology we use today, is actually saying about the world. Becker first encountered this controversy when, as an undergraduate student of physics at Cornell, a professor pooh-poohed his concerns over the implications of the standard model of quantum theory, developed by Bohr and others in the early 20th century, writing them off as philosophical questions, irrelevant to the study of science. But as Becker soon discovered, those questions were at the heart of a scientific debate that had been raging for nearly a century.

In our conversation, we talk about the social and political factors that have governed the understanding and application of quantum physics since its inception, as well as the people on both sides of the debate. Becker also talks about borrowing techniques from fiction writing to turn a true story about a complex and opaque area of scientific inquiry into an engaging narrative populated by distinctive characters.

Special Guest: Adam Becker.

]]> In What is real?, Adam Becker details the century-long fight over the interpretation of quantum physics -- what this enormously successful theory, which has given us so much of the technology we use today, is actually saying about the world. Becker first encountered this controversy when, as an undergraduate student of physics at Cornell, a professor pooh-poohed his concerns over the implications of the standard model of quantum theory, developed by Bohr and others in the early 20th century, writing them off as philosophical questions, irrelevant to the study of science. But as Becker soon discovered, those questions were at the heart of a scientific debate that had been raging for nearly a century.

In our conversation, we talk about the social and political factors that have governed the understanding and application of quantum physics since its inception, as well as the people on both sides of the debate. Becker also talks about borrowing techniques from fiction writing to turn a true story about a complex and opaque area of scientific inquiry into an engaging narrative populated by distinctive characters.

Special Guest: Adam Becker.

]]> Episode 6: Andy Couturier - THE ABUNDANCE OF LESS https://story.fireside.fm/6 e6cffa6d-13cb-435c-b157-a8d7e9340edf Sun, 04 Aug 2019 02:30:00 -0700 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to local author Andy Couturier about his book, THE ABUNDANCE OF LESS, in which he profiles ten men and women who have chosen a life of abundant time and limited material wealth. 58:08 no When Andy Couturier was in his 20s, he and his wife Cynthia traveled to Japan to teach English and raise money to buy their own home. While there, he became friends with a group of people who organize their lives differently from the way most of us are used to. Instead of working full-time for a corporation, they grow their own food and work just enough to get by, spending their abundant free time on subsistance farming, environmental activism, art, music, and time spent with family and friends. In this interview, I talk to Andy about his book, The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan, in which he profiles ten of the men and women he met and befriended. I hope you enjoy it. Special Guest: Andy Couturier. andy couturier, authors, non-fiction, interviews, local, japan When Andy Couturier was in his 20s, he and his wife Cynthia traveled to Japan to teach English and raise money to buy their own home. While there, he became friends with a group of people who organize their lives differently from the way most of us are used to. Instead of working full-time for a corporation, they grow their own food and work just enough to get by, spending their abundant free time on subsistance farming, environmental activism, art, music, and time spent with family and friends.

In this interview, I talk to Andy about his book, The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan, in which he profiles ten of the men and women he met and befriended. I hope you enjoy it.

Special Guest: Andy Couturier.

]]> When Andy Couturier was in his 20s, he and his wife Cynthia traveled to Japan to teach English and raise money to buy their own home. While there, he became friends with a group of people who organize their lives differently from the way most of us are used to. Instead of working full-time for a corporation, they grow their own food and work just enough to get by, spending their abundant free time on subsistance farming, environmental activism, art, music, and time spent with family and friends.

In this interview, I talk to Andy about his book, The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan, in which he profiles ten of the men and women he met and befriended. I hope you enjoy it.

Special Guest: Andy Couturier.

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