Mars Review of Books Podcast

Live from Pubkey studios . . . In our longest video podcast ever, Noah and Let Me Try Again author Matthew Davis discuss Matthew’s pharmacological stack, what it’s like to be a Jewish humorist, AI, Kanye West’s new album, why Zohran should listen to Matthew’s inventive policy ideas, the replacement of Sister Lúcia, and why you’re probably going to Hell. We also discuss my own internationally famous novel Stop All the Clocks. I’ll be reading from it in London on August 7th at Verdurin. If you’re in London, come to that and say hi. If you’ve read and enjoyed Stop All the Clocks, please give it five stars on Amazon or Goodreads. If you work for a publication or run a BookTok account or whatever, reply to this email and I’ll get you a copy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marsreview.org/subscribe

Filmed at Pubkey March 11th.Check out our new YouTube channel.Magdalene J. Taylor is a writer and critic of culture and sex, and the author of the excellent Many Such Cases newsletter. Magdalene and Noah discuss a possible recession, X.com/Twitter vs. Substack in 2025, dangers and benefits of AI for writers, advice for younger writers, Anthony Weiner, dick pics, Osho, the 4G Movement, “becoming the sucking,” Ashley St. Clair, Elon, polygyny, Andrew Tate, macroeconomics and the sexual marketplace, the “Stripper Index”, OnlyFans, Lily Philips, microchimerism, London vs. New York, writing for a “soy boy liberal men’s magazine,” the reemergence of Playboy, Magdalene’s “pay pigs,” what’s good for the wallet and what’s good for the soul, whether there’s a chance today for young people to be normal?, advice for Zoomer men and Zoomed women, Tumblr, love. At the end Noah remembers that he doesn’t believe in advice. We begin and end with a Morrissey quotation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marsreview.org/subscribe

Matt and Noah discuss zoomers, doomers, and boomers, SF vs. NYC, their high-stakes plan to settle their literary beef, theater, aliens, the fourth dimension, sociopathy, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marsreview.org/subscribe

Thank you Ehud Neor, Gnocchic Apocryphon, Henry Begler, Quinn MacRorie, Adam Pearson, and many others for tuning into my live video with John Pistelli! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marsreview.org/subscribe

Veteran literary critic Christian Lorentzen comes by the Pubkey studios to discuss why he was wrong about Trump v. Biden; how he knows Ivanka & Jared; an early Observer story in which he spoke to Martin Amis, Tao Lin, and as many literary Jonathans as he could muster; “literary consumerism” and his deservedly famous piece “Like This Or Die”; the subtle art of the book review; the author whom Lorentzen called “subliterary”; Donna Tartt and Yanagihara; top younger writers today; the New York scene; Beckett’s and Sov House; why he moved to Albania; his MRB piece on Logo Daedalus and BAP, and more. Subscribe to Christian’s Substack here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marsreview.org/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit marsreview.orgRecorded at Pubkey Bar & Media House. Free subscribers can listen to the audio Part 1 here at the MRB , or watch Part 1 in beautiful technicolor at the Pubkey Rumble. To watch the full video episode, become a paid subscriber and scroll down. Subscriptions are 35% off through Friday, so best to act fast.August Lamm is a visual artist and writer who has self-published a compact, powerful pamphlet (link below) which details why you don’t need a smartphone. I found its unvarnished directness persuasive and moving. I’ve also been delighted by August’s short fiction when we’ve read together at a few different venues. So her novel is definitely something to watch out for. In this conversation we talked about city vs. country, smartphone vs. dumbphone, the perils of being an influencer. Toward the end we have an interesting conversation about different luddite-friendly or anti-corporate tech projects, including Urbit. You’ll want to become a paid subscriber to hear. Enjoy!You can buy August’s pamphlet “You Don’t Need a Smartphone” here.And you can follow her work on Substack here.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit marsreview.orgMendel and Noah sit down with n+1 co-founder, Tablet columnist, and all around gentleman scholar Marco Roth. In the first half, we discuss what was cool in old New York, what it means to be a writer on Substack vs. an “old-fashioned” writer, Marco’s apprenticeship with Derrida, and the early days of n+1. In the second half, we discuss n+1 in its later “institutional era,” the famous n+1 takedown of James Wood, why founding editors left (or were made to leave) n+1, shifting standards after October 7th, and more.Become a paid subscriber to listen to the full podcast and watch the full video version (below the paywall).Erratum: the Alice Gregory piece Noah mentioned appeared in the New Yorker, not n+1. Buy Marco’s book here.

Mars Review Podcast #5Subscribe now.* Analysis of the Eric Adams situation* Is Kanyeezy a genius though?* Etymology of “Lucifer”* Robert Coover: In Memoriam. * Why are postmodernists so sadomasochistic? It’s because of Nazis* Genet, Cocteau, and Jünger walk into a bar* May ‘68 is about the return heterosexuality* How de Motherlant went blind* Mendel & Noah big guests on the docket* The body counts of 20th century novelists* Living under the military regime of New York State* Noah tells a story about meeting a Nabokov fanatic at the chess club who quizzes him about Lolita * Mendel tells a story about attending services at a Coptic Church* Noah gets negged by a Rabbi* Noah theorizes the genesis of one of his obsessional neuroses* Pascal’s Radical Irgunism * Lessing v. Wincklemann This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marsreview.org/subscribe

The other day I was on a long drive with my friend Mendel Uminer and I asked him to explain the Israel-Palestine conflict to me. He began by explaining to me the theories of the 18th century German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder. Several centuries of history and several hours of our drive later, I realized I had just heard a perspective that wasn’t being offered anywhere else. So I asked Mendel to come to my apartment and say it all again into a microphone. This conversation is the result of that request. We chatted a bit about literature and theories of the novel first. Skip to the 21:00 mark if you want to miss all that.If you enjoyed this, or want me to do more podcasts, let me know. I’m not against it, I suppose.Music by Thomas Amedeo This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marsreview.org/subscribe

Music by Thomas Amedeo This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marsreview.org/subscribe