About this episode

David Eggers discusses his journey as an author and the impact of his nonprofit work.

David Eggers is an author, publisher, and founder of nonprofit publishing company McSweeney’s. He first became widely known for A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and went on to write acclaimed books including What Is the What, A Hologram for the King, and The Circle. Beyond his writing, he co-founded 826 Valencia, a nonprofit organization that provides writing and tutoring programs for young people. Most recently, he released Contrapposto in June 2026, a novel about friendship, love, and the lifelong pursuit of art. ------ Thank you to the sponsors that fuel our podcast and our team: Anthropic https://Claude.com/tetra ------ AG1 https://DrinkAG1.com/tetra ------ Squarespace https://Squarespace.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Athletic Nicotine https://www.AthleticNicotine.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Lectio 365 https://Lectio365.com ------ Sign up to receive Tetragrammaton Transmissions https://www.tetragrammaton.com/join-newsletter

People in this episode

Host: Rick Rubin

Guest: David Eggers

Topics covered

• literature
• nonprofit
• writing
• art
• friendship
• publishing

Keywords

• David Eggers
• McSweeney’s
• 826 Valencia
• Contrapposto
• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
• literature
• nonprofit publishing

Sponsors

Anthropic, AG1, Squarespace, Athletic Nicotine, Lectio 365

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McSweeney’s, 826 Valencia

Books & works: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, What Is the What, A Hologram for the King, The Circle, Contrapposto

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