
769: From Lucky Peach to the New York Times Bestseller List with Rachel Khong
From This Is TASTE by Aliza Abarbanel & Matt Rodbard
May 2, 2026 · 50 min
About this episode
Rachel Khong discusses her journey from Lucky Peach to becoming a bestselling author, exploring themes of identity and the unique power of short stories.
Rachel Khong is the former executive editor of Lucky Peach and the author of Goodbye, Vitamin and the New York Times Best Seller Real Americans. Her new short story collection, My Dear You, is her strangest and most daring work yet: ten surreal, funny, and deeply felt stories about identity, love, memory, and what happens after you die. In this episode, we talk about the legacy of Lucky Peach, Rachel’s research process for writing fiction, and why the short story can hold what the novel can’t. Subscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Hosts: Aliza Abarbanel, Matt Rodbard
Guest: Rachel Khong
Topics covered
- writing process
- short stories
- identity
- memory
- love
- death
Keywords
- Rachel Khong
- Lucky Peach
- short stories
- Goodbye, Vitamin
- Real Americans
- My Dear You
- writing
- identity
- memory
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Lucky Peach, New York Times
Books & works: Goodbye, Vitamin, Real Americans, My Dear You
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