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Host Greta Johnsen talks with journalist and documentary producer Lindsay Holmes. Her new book is called The Case for Quitting: The Surprising Benefits of Opting Out.  It’s an exploration of quitting in many different forms. Whether it’s a job, a relationship, or something else in your life that isn’t serving you, Lindsay builds a strong case for why life is too short to keep doing stuff we don’t love.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Greta Johnsen talks with Anna Holmes, a writer and editor who founded the feminist website Jezebel. She’s also a former advice columnist for the New York Times series “Work Friend.” In 2015, Anna was asked to give a commencement speech for an all-girls boarding high school in New York. As she thought about what to tell them, she considered the idea that young people are so often told they can do ANYTHING. And while that can feel encouraging, she worried that it might reinforce the fact that girls are socialized to be nice and accommodating. Yes, you can do anything, but also, you don’t HAVE to do EVERYTHING.  That speech was the seed for her book. In the years since then, Anna interviewed many academics and researchers in all sorts of fields --child development, linguistics, neuroscience, you name it.  And the result is The Power of No: A Celebration (print | audio), a wonderful distillation of research and wisdom. Anna is careful to say it’s not a how-to guide. She doesn’t claim to be an expert in saying no. Instead, she’s offering up ideas for how to encourage people -- especially women -- to listen more to their intuition, reflect more on what they actually want, and then confidently say no to what they don’t want.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At first glance, the question about whether you’d ever call a friend out of the blue is pretty low-stakes. But as it turns out, this is a topic that’s extremely divisive. Host Greta Johnsen talks to New York Magazine’s Kathleen Walsh, who recently wrote an essay for The Cut called “I Should Be Allowed to Cold-Call My Friends.” The episode also includes virulent opinions from a handful of Happy To Be Here listeners! This is a conversation about phone etiquette and generational differences, yes. But it’s also about connection, friendship, and how we show up for others. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This month's GRETAGRAM book club selection is Exit Party, the new novel from Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel. Like her other novels, this is a story that spans genre and time. It opens with Ari Waker, the villain from Emily's novel The Singer's Gun, as she goes to a party at the end of the world. Some very strange things happen at that party, and Ari is haunted by them for decades to come. In this spoiler-free interview, host Greta Johnsen talks with Emily about her inspiration for the novel, her writing process, and how she keeps track of all the interconnected characters from her books. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The September GRETAGRAM book club selection is Mary H.K. Choi’s Pool House, an exquisitely claustrophobic novel about a TV family and the mess that lies just under the surface. Host Greta Johnsen unpacks the novel with Inkoo Kang, a TV critic for The New Yorker. She brought many wonderful insights to the book, including this one:  “We’re coming out of this era of increased representation of diversity in Hollywood, and that has been really nice,” Inkoo said. “But a lot of it has been really sanitized. So reading something where the motivations seem really human and the author seems so wonderfully unconcerned with how likeable the characters are was incredibly refreshing to me.” Greta and Inkoo talk about the book as a coming of age story, the themes of surveillance and identity, and, yes, that ending. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This month's GRETAGRAM book club selection is Mary H.K. Choi's Pool House, a novel about mothers and daughters, about seeing and being seen, and about desiring and being desired. This novel isn’t necessarily soapy, but it’s definitely MESSY, and it's quite a ride. Mary has written several YA novels, but Pool House is her first book for adults. It's about Stevie, a young woman who lives in the llong shadow of her mom Moon, an aging former TV star. Their lives are deeply intertwined with Adam, who played Moon’s stepson in the TV show they were both in. When we meet this trio, they've just learned that Mac, who plated the TV dad, has died by suicide, and each of them reckons with his death in very different ways. In this spoiler-free interview, host Greta Johnsen talks with Mary about the origins of the novel, the obvious metaphor of living in a glass house, and what it's like to write a novel for "grown ups." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The 87% Club is a series of episodes that explore the case for giving less energy to things that don't matter, so we have more time to spend on things that do. This week, host Greta Johnsen talks to writer Priyanka Mattoo, the author of the wonderful essay collection How To Be Less Useful: The Joy of Inefficiency. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, host Greta Johnsen talks with Ayurvedic doctor, coach, and podcast host Sweta Vikram, who "helps high achievers move through burnout, grief, and overwhelm." Today’s episode is largely about perfectionism when it comes to rest. So many of us think that time off is an all-or-nothing deal -- take a long vacation, or be strung out and constantly in your email inbox. But Sweta encourages a gentle, incremental approach. Even 15 minutes of down time once or twice a day can make a big difference for your brain and body.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As part of a monthlong series about doing less, host Greta Johnsen talks to a theater director and an author about attention, achievement, effort, and ease. First, Greta speaks with Michaela Goldhaber, a Bay-Area playwright, director, and dramaturg who is also involved in disability justice work through her theater company Wry Crips Disabled Women’s Theater Group.  Then, she talks to Cathy Haynes, the author of The Fullness of Time: Marking the Day by Birdsong, Blooms, Shadows, and Stars. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Greta Johnsen starts a month-long miniseries for the 87% club with an interview with author Veronica Roth. She’s written more than a dozen books, most notably the Divergent series.Her latest book is called Seek the Traitor’s Son (print | audio), a book that she approached very differently from her other projects. Here’s what she says about it in the acknowledgements: “I started writing this book almost six years ago with no intention of publishing it. I had it in my head that a book that made all the pleasure centers of my brain fire at once just couldn’t be a serious project. But when I told two of my friends about it, they pointed out that there was no reason that should be the case. The world is too dark, and life is too short, to spend it resisting things that bring you joy. So why not write a big, romantic, indulgent, genre-straddling story?”  This conversation perfectly embodies many of the questions that define the 87 percent club -- What if work was also fun? What if I could stop caring about what other people think? How can I turn down those critical voices in my head? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The July GRETAGRAM book club selection is Paige Lewis' Canon, a nonbinary hero's journey that has all the elements of an epic: Good Guys vs. Bad Guys, a fickle god, and, of course, a talking whale! Host Greta Johnsen discusses the book with Molly McGhee, the author of Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind. They discuss structure, narrative presence, earnestness, and the futility of glory. SHOW CREDITS Creator and host: Greta Johnsen Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal Tile art: Mac Maclean See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Greta Johnsen talks with City Cast Chicago host Jacoby Cochran and Margaret Willison, the newest member of the Culture Study newsletter and podcast team. They play the extremely low-stakes game Burden or Delight with three of the biggest pop culture touchstones of the summer: The World Cup, Taylor Swift’s wedding, and Christopher Nolan’s newest blockbuster, The Odyssey. (Did Margaret make a quiz based on her rigorous examination of every possible photo of confirmed attendees? YES. Yes she did.)  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Greta Johnsen talks with Sarah Wilson about her new book, I Eat the Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World. As the title suggests, Sarah's book explores the idea of sysrem collapse, a metacrisis we're already experiencing through climate crises, political upheaval, cultural isolationism, and fossil fuel consumption. This book isn't necessarily easy to read -- after all, it presents a pretty grim future for our current way of life. But Sarah also points out that many of the systems that are currently collapsing have been oppressing us from the beginning. And to that end, this book is an invitation to consider what to prioritize as humanity moves forward. SHOW CREDITS Creator and host: Greta Johnsen Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal Tile art: Mac Maclean See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s episode is about public television, classic literature, and an extremely charismatic Jack Russell Terrier. Yes, we are talking about Wishbone, the iconic children’s PBS show that aired from 1995 to 1998.  It was about Wishbone the dog, who imagined himself as the star of many canonical texts such as The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, Oliver Twist, and Cyrano de Bergerac. The shoe aired for 50 episodes, and won 5 Daytime Emmys.  There’s a new documentary out about the show -- it’s called What’s the Story, Wishbone?. Host Greta Johnsen talks to two of the documentary’s producers, who also worked on the original show --  Betty Buckley, who also produced Wishbone, and Larry Brantley, who played the voice of Wishbone himself. As the documentary explores, the show wasn’t easy to make. The adaptations were ambitious, the production schedule was intense, and nothing like it had really been made before. But at the same time, there’s a tangible sense of curiosity and joy.  And of course, a charming dog in pantaloons is always a delight.  SHOW CREDITS Creator and host: Greta Johnsen Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal Tile art: Mac Maclean See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Greta Johnsen talks to author and poet Paige Lewis. Their novel Canon is the GRETAGRAM book club selection for July. Canon is difficult to describe -- it pays homage to many classic epics and is deeply rooted in the Bible, But it’s also extremely irreverent, funny, and weird. Ultimately, it’s a nonbinary hero’s journey with Good Guys and Bad Guys and a wonderful talking whale.  Greta and Paige talk about OCD, the nature of evil, the sensationalism of violence, and FUN ANIMAL FACTS! There are three ways you can participate in book club: Listen to this spoiler-free conversation with Paige, then read the book, then sit back and relax!Do the first two things above, but leave Greta a voicemail with your thoughts by Monday, July 27! Just record yourself on your smartphone and email the tile to greta m johnsen at gmail dot com.Listen to the podcast, read the book, and come to the Zoom discussion on Sunday, August 2 at noon Central Time! Email Greta for the link. UPCOMING BOOK CLUB BOOKS: August: Land, Maggie O’Farrell (out now)September: Pool House, Mary H.K. Choi (out now) October: Exit Party, Emily St. John Mandel (out Sept. 14) November:  Ply, Hernan Diaz (out Sept. 29)December: The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, Deesha Philyaw (out Sept. 29) SHOW CREDITS Creator and host: Greta Johnsen Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal Show art: Mac Maclean See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.