Two guests this week, as we're joined by the co-hosts of the literary nonfiction podcast I'll Find Myself When I'm Dead. Though Elena and Justin are also quite accomplished nonfiction authors in their own right. Justin St. Germain is the author of the memoir Son of a Gun, and more recently a book-length essay about Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. Elena Passarello is the author of the essay collections Let Me Clear My Throat and Animals Strike Curious Poses.

The book they chose for us to read is a collection by Donald Hall, former U.S. poet laureate, called Essays After Eighty. We talk about the occasional essay as a form, what makes an essay an essay--as opposed to a random assortment of thoughts--and lots, lots more.

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We're joined by Michelle Hart, author of the novel We Do What We Do in the Dark and a former editor for Oprah Daily. For our reading this week, Michelle chose a short story by Leopoldine Core, "Hog for Sorrow," about a young sex worker with complicated feelings towards one of her clients and toward one of her coworkers.