Episode 136 with Rachel Yoder, Witty, Prescient, and Skillfully-Creative Author of Nightbitch

Episode 136 Notes and Links to Rachel Yoder’s Work 

 

    On Episode 136 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Rachel Yoder, and the two discuss, among other topics, her Mennonite upbringing that was rich with books and libraries, her inspirations from her background and from college professors, and the myriad relatable and profound themes that populate her smash-hit Nightbitch, as Rachel shares the excitement that comes with the movie being adapted into a film. Rachel and Pete also discuss archetypes and double-standards and pressures both external and internal that come with motherhood and parenthood. 

 

    Rachel Yoder is the author of Nightbitch (Doubleday), her debut novel released in July 2021, which has also been optioned for film by Annapurna Pictures with Amy Adams set to star.

She is a graduate of the Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program and also holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Arizona. Her writing has been awarded with The Editors' Prize in Fiction by The Missouri Review and with notable distinctions in Best American Short Stories and Best American Nonrequired Reading. She is also a founding editor of draft: the journal of process.

Rachel grew up in a Mennonite community in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Ohio. She now lives in Iowa City with her husband and son.

Rachel Yoder's Website

 

Buy Rachel's Nightbitch

 

Review of Nightbitch-“a feral debut” in The Guardian 

 

Information from Variety about Upcoming Movie Version of Nighbitch

At about 1:50, Rachel talks about the exciting prospects for Nightbitch being made into a movie

 

At about 3:25, Rachel describes growing up in Ohio and her relationship with language and reading

 

At about 6:50, Rachel tells of the John Benton books she read as a child

 

At about 8:55, Rachel describes how writing was a “natural thing” and a hobby and how writing became essential during her time in Arizona

 

At about 11:00, Rachel cites Raymond Carver, Amy Hempel, Lorrie Moore, Hemingway, Pam Houston, and others as “formative writers” for her

 

At about 12:30, Rachel talks about short stories that changed the way she viewed the medium; she cites Amy Hempel’s “The Harvest”

 

At about 15:05, Rachel talks about contemporary writers who thrill and inspire her, include Miriam Toews, Ottessa Moshfegh

 

At about 16:55, Rachel gives background on her immediate post-college jobs and writing background

 

At about 18:05, Rachel responds to Pete’s question about how visual art and the idea of the muse work in with her writing process and writing material

 

At about 21:10, Rachel reads from the beginning of the book and discusses the genesis of the book’s title 

 

At about 25:20, Pete and Rachel ruminate on the dog from the book as a literal thing

 

At about 26:30, Pete shares the book blurb from Carmen Maria Machado in citing comparisons to Kafka’s work; Rachel then discusses the balance between writing allegory and straightforward prose

 

At about 29:55, Pete contributes to a possible future blurb with another comparison of the book to another

 

At about 30:30, Rachel explains her thought process in not giving a name to the titular character

 

At about 31:45, Pete cites a famous quote in pointing out Rachel’s work and subject matter work so well as fiction

 

At about 32:20, Pete and Rachel discuss themes of the singular focus of motherhood and “before and after motherhood”

 

At about 36:55, Pete and Rachel highlight ideas of ambition and regret and burdens carried by women intergenerationally with regard to moving scenes from the book

 

At about 40:20, Pete wonders about ideas of blame and culpability for oppression targeting women, and Rachel analyzes Nightbitch’s background and how it informed her later life

 

At about 43:35, Mommy groups (!) are discussed, along with the lasting image from the book

 

At about 44:50, The two discuss the role and importance of the “mystic, the iconoclast” who was Nightbitch’s grandmother

 

At about 45:50, Rachel discusses the stylistic choice of italicizing certain lines in her book

 

At about 47:20, The two talk about Wanda White and her Field Guide and their importance in the book

 

At about 50:00, Rachel explains background on the needs for community and their 

 

At about 51:30, The two discuss themes of art and performance and their myriad meanings in conjunction with the book

 

At about 55:15, Pete compliments Rachel’s writing that serves as informational and affecting without becoming didactic; Pete reads a profound paragraph from page 237 that illustrates this

 

At about 1:10:00, Rachel outlines some future projects

 

At about 1:02:50, Rachel gives her social media info and recommends places to buy the book, including Prairie Lights Bookstore, where you can a signed copy

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    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

    Please tune in for Episode 137 with Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and Tony-nominated producer. A leading voice for the human rights of immigrants, his best-selling memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, was published by HarperCollins in 2018. His second book, White Is Not a Country, will be published by Knopf in 2023.

    The episode will air on August 12.