Lauren Groff on book bans, artificial intelligence and what novels set in the past reveal about the present

About this episode

Lauren Groff discusses book bans, artificial intelligence, and the insights novels set in the past provide about the present.

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and short-story writer Lauren Groff. Lauren is the bestselling author of the novels "The Monsters of Templeton", "Arcadia", "Fates and Furies", "Matrix" and "The Vaster Wilds", and the short-story collections "Delicate Edible Birds" and "Florida". "Fates and Furies", "Florida" and "Matrix" were all finalists for the National Book Award in the United States. In 2024 Lauren and her husband opened a bookshop, The Lynx, in Florida, which has an emphasis on books that are currently challenged or banned in the state. We spoke to Lauren about the position of short stories in the literary marketplace, working as a bookseller as well as an author, and her latest collection of stories, "Brawler". In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes. We’ve also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We’ve added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker…

People in this episode

Hosts: Rachel, Simon

Guest: Lauren Groff

Topics covered

• book bans
• artificial intelligence
• novels
• literary marketplace
• bookselling
• short stories

Keywords

• Lauren Groff
• book bans
• artificial intelligence
• short stories
• literary marketplace
• The Lynx
• Fates and Furies

Sponsors

Scrivener

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Lynx, New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, Guardian Long Read

Books & works: The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, The Vaster Wilds, Delicate Edible Birds, Florida, Brawler

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