Fiction About Lives in Ukraine

David Hastings is a retired business executive on a grim mission: He’s going to end his life.That’s the dramatic setup of Emma Cline’s latest novel, “Switzy.”When the story opens, David is on a plane, traveling to Europe. Throughout his life, he sacrificed friendship and family t ...  Show more

Halloween is the season for scary stories, but what actually makes a book frightening? And where should you start if you’re not already a horror reader?This week on “The Book Review” podcast, Gilbert Cruz talks with two writers who know their way around the genre. Leigh Bardugo i ...  Show more

Sign up for Intelligence Squared Premium here: https://iq2premium.supercast.com/ for ad-free listening, bonus content, early access and much more. See below for details. Ukraine’s best known novelist Andrey Kurkov joins us to speak about life, literature, and the war in Ukraine, ...  Show more

What is it like living under Russian rule? We hear from Hannah (not her real name) in Crimea. She tells us how she’s coping living through the recent explosions. And acclaimed Ukrainian author, Andriy Kurkov, explains how art has helped him process the conflict in Ukraine. This e ...  Show more

This week Lilah speaks with author Elif Batuman about rethinking Russian literature given Russia’s war in Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, cultural institutions have grappled with what to do about Russian artists and works of art. Should they be bann ...  Show more