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The Chills at Will Podcast is a celebration of the visceral beauty of literature. This beauty will be examined through close reads of phrases and lines and passages from fiction and nonfiction that thrills the reader, so much so that he wants to read again and again to replicate that thrill. Each episode will focus on a different theme, such as "The Power of Flashback," "Understatement," "Cats in the Cradle," and "Chills at Will: Origin Story."
Episodes
Monday Aug 17, 2020
Monday Aug 17, 2020
*This is not a new episode-it's just in a different format for my Spotify people! This is my most downloaded episode, and one that is very closely related to the ongoing racism that is an ugly legacy of United States history.
In this episode, Pete explores the festering and righteous and justified anger felt by many over the continued oppression of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and society as a whole. This anger is made visible through a close read of Langston Hughes’ incredibly-powerful poem, “The Colored Soldier,” in which he talks to his brother, killed in France in WWI, in a dream.
Authors Mentioned and Allusions and Songs Referenced During the Episode:
Rage Against the Machine’s “Freedom”-with “Anger is a gift” lyrics
Song at beginning and end of episode: “Wicked” (Instrumental) by Ice Cube
Monday Aug 17, 2020
Monday Aug 17, 2020
This is not a new episode-it's in a different format for my Spotify users!
Monday Aug 10, 2020
Monday Aug 10, 2020
On Episode 14, Pete discusses “MAD Writer Skills: Characterization Edition,” as seen in writing by Khaled Hosseini, Denis Johnson, and Elie Wiesel. Hosseini’s description of the protagonist’s father is ridiculously evocative and visual and powerful. Denis Johnson’s description of a majorly minor character packs so much into a dozen or so words. His writing is the equivalent of James Harden scoring 25 points on ten shots from the field, with no turnovers in 20 minutes played. Wiesel’s characterization comes through a mix of action, an unforgettable setting, and unspeakable tragedy.
Like, share, and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Spotify.
You can follow Pete on Instagram, where he’s @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he’s @chillsatwillpo1.
This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.
You can find the literature referenced today in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, published by Riverhead Books in 2003. Denis Johnson’s A Tree of Smoke was published in 2007 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Elie Wiesel’s Night was published in 1960 by Hill and Wang.
The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other cool song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental Version”) by Matt Weidauer, used through Arches Audio. Matt’s artist page can be found here.
SHOW NOTES: On Episode 14, Pete discusses “Mad Writers Skills: Characterization Edition,” as seen in writing by Khaled Hosseini, Denis Johnson, and Elie Wiesel. Hosseini’s description of the protagonist’s father is ridiculously evocative and visual and powerful. Denis Johnson’s description of a majorly minor character packs so much into a dozen or so words. His writing is the equivalent of James Harden scoring 25 points on ten shots from the field, with no turnovers in 20 minutes played. Wiesel’s characterization comes through a mix of action, an unforgettable setting, and unspeakable tragedy.
Like, share, and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Spotify.
You can follow Pete on Instagram, where he’s @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he’s @chillsatwillpo1.
This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.
You can find the literature referenced today in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, published by Riverhead Books in 2003. Denis Johnson’s A Tree of Smoke was published in 2007 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Elie Wiesel’s Night was published in 1960 by Hill and Wang.
The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other cool song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental Version”) by Matt Weidauer, used through Arches Audio. Matt’s artist page can be found here.
Authors Mentioned and Allusions and Songs Referenced During the Episode:
Pete's Short Story "Beauty," where for once he was proud of characterization-particularly of the protagonist's mother
Tony Soprano (explicit language)
Training Day’s Alonzo Harris (explicit language)
Don Draper (explicit language)
“The Revelator” by Jim Lewis in New York Times
Monday Aug 03, 2020
Monday Aug 03, 2020
SHOW NOTES: On Lucky Episode 13, complete with a new theme song for the podcast, Pete discusses Mad Writers Skills,” as seen in writing by Ocean, Vuong, David Foster Wallace, and Tobias Wolff. While Foster Wallace’s lines reference something lighthearted, they are nonetheless stunningly true to life. Vuong’s work rings out with beauty, so talented is he with his phrasing, in lines deal with trauma and acceptance. Wolff’s lines have every word in the best possible placement to display a sad truism of the world. These are writers whose work titillates, entertains, and puts the reader in awe.
Hopefully this 13th episode will bring Pete luck in having you, dear listener, subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leaving a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Spotify starting August 5. You can follow Pete on Instagram, where he’s @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he’s @chillsatwillpo1.
This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.
You can find the literature referenced today in Ocean Vuong’s novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, published by Penguin Press in 2019. David Foster Wallace’s essay “A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again” can be found in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments, published in 1998 by Back Bay Books. Tobias Wolff’s “The Chain” is from the July 1, 1996 issue of Esquire Magazine, and/or his collection.
The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other cool song played on this episode was “Simple Math” (Instrumental Version” by Jake Haws, used through ArchesAudio.com.
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
Excited to present my interview with 2/3 of the Nervous Ghost Press team, Matthew Mejia and Michael Nicholson, proud grads of Mills College MFA. These dynamic writers and readers and I discussed philosophy and influences, the power of writing and reading, the craft of writing, and their upcoming virtual readings that coincide with today’s publication of The Writing for Life anthology.
Check out Episode 12 on Apple Podcasts, or at chillsatwillpodcast6.podbean.com
More info on Nervous Ghost Press at www.nervousghostpress.com
Also, you can ask Alexa to hear the podcast!
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
In this episode, Pete discusses Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, building on the ideas of righteous, historical, and justified anger felt by African-Americans over their oppression throughout American history. The book’s opening scene, the infamous “battle royal chapter” is the focus of the episode, as it is highly allegorical in symbolizing so many parts of the African-American male experience.
Tuesday Jun 16, 2020
Tuesday Jun 16, 2020
In this episode, Pete explores the festering and righteous and justified anger felt by many over the continued oppression of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and society as a whole. This anger is made visible through a close read of Langston Hughes’ incredibly-powerful poem, “The Colored Soldier,” in which he talks to his brother, killed in France in WWI, in a dream.
Authors Mentioned and Allusions and Songs Referenced During the Episode:
Rage Against the Machine’s “Freedom”-with “Anger is a gift” lyrics
Song at beginning and end of episode: “Wicked” (Instrumental) by Ice Cube
Tuesday Jun 09, 2020
Tuesday Jun 09, 2020
Pete is honored to have as his first interviewee his former college professor and standout writer, Claudia MonPere McIsaac. They talk about the writer's life and literature that has inspired and moved them. They also discuss giving and receiving constructive criticism in and out of writer's workshops, writing and reading and their evolution in these trying times, finding writing inspiration, the college writing environment, and tips for creating dialogue and realism. They finish with a close read and conversation about the genesis and mechanics of Claudia's beautiful story, "All Sweet Things Float," published in 2003 by The Prairie Schooner. Pete is especially moved by the story's ending and is fortunate, as is the listener, to hear Claudia read her own words from this ending and explain their significance.
"All Things Float" can be read here: muse.jhu.edu/article/41665
Claudia MonPere McIsaac writes fiction, poetry, and memoir. Her work appears in many anthologies and literary magazines, including the Kenyon Review, New Ohio Review, The Cincinnati Review, and River Teeth. Awards include The Georgetown Review Fiction Award and a Hedgebrook residency. She’s taught at Santa Clara University for many years.
Friday May 15, 2020
Friday May 15, 2020
This episode deals with incredibly joyful endings that capture a “moment in time” depicted with great passion and imagery. I discuss Tobias Wolff’s short short “Powder,” about a father and son’s last trip before the parents’ divorce, and Khaled Hosseini's thrilling depiction of a carefree and innocent and redemptive bonding moment between an adoptive father and son.
Thursday May 07, 2020
Thursday May 07, 2020
This episode deals with “O’Henry” endings from Ernest Hemingway’s “A Day’s Wait,” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” and Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Gospel According to Mark.” The meaning of this type of ending is explained, and the stories are explained as ones for which a second reading is such a pleasurable experience, as this second reading is so different than the first, once one is armed with knowledge of the thrilling plot twists that accompany the endings. Discussion further centers on archetypal masculinity as illustrated in Hemingway’s story, Pete’s doubly-pleasant surprise in reading Jackson’s story, and the power of Borges’ ending being built through his finely-placed literary breadcrumbs. Allusions to Marge Simpson’s love for Bart, Ethan Hawke’s involuntary reaction to betrayal in “Training Day,” and a subtle Sopranos reference help to illuminate the powerful endings, and are in no way gratuitous...right?
Authors Mentioned and Allusions and Songs Referenced During the Episode:
"Plot Twist" by Marc. E Bassy (Marc. E Bassy)
"The Gospel According to Mark" found in the October 23, 1971 Issue of The New Yorker
Marge and "Little Boy Barty" (#6 on the list)
Saturday May 02, 2020
Saturday May 02, 2020
Pete muses on the absolutely over-the-top video for Master P’s “Make ‘Em Say ‘Uhh,’ “ which is in line with the lavish descriptions used by the great writers featured in the episode. Pete describes his experience in that most exaggerated and operatic of Italian cities, Naples (his poem written during his 2009 trip is below), and discusses the work of the “Naples of writers”: Mario Puzo, Gay Talese, and Niall Williams. Though sometimes close to the line of “purple prose,” these writers stick to the rules outlined by the great Anne Lamott and craft thrilling prose that adheres to the “one-inch picture frame” of Lamont’s book Bird by Bird.
Authors Mentioned and Allusions and Songs Referenced During the Episode:
Master P's "Make 'Em Say 'Uhh.' " (Dirty Version)
“Just Visiting (Napoli: July, 2009)”
Los Angeles Times Article about Mario Puzo upon his 1999 Death
Gay Talese and "New Journalism"
"You Can Act Like a Man!" from The Godfather, Part I
Gay Talese's "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" from Esquire Magazine, 1966
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
On this episode, Pete talks about minimalist and understated lyrics and prose that thrill with the images that they call to mind. He's excited to make his first foray into music lyrics with a close read of "Astronomy" (8th Light)" by Blackstar (Talib Kweli and Mos Def), with its ruminations on the effects of racism on successive generations. He explores gratitude and appreciation through the evocative lines of Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays." Lastly, a well-placed Darko Milicic/LeBron James reference helps to illuminate the deceptively simple "Indian Education" short story by Sherman Alexie, a funny and profound criticism of The United States' Native American "reeducation program."
Authors Mentioned and Allusions and Songs Referenced During the Episode:
Zen Buddhist Koans: https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/what-is-a-koan
Blackstar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_Def_%26_Talib_Kweli_Are_Black_Star
Marcus Garvey's Shipping Line (Black Star Lines): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Star_Line
Rodney King's Story about a Cleaned-Out Swimming Pool after African-Americans Swam There, and Overall Racism Associated with Pools: https://www.amazon.com/Riot-Within-Journey-Rebellion-Redemption/dp/0062194437 AND https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/sports/black-people-pools-racism.html
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Man
Robert Hayden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hayden
"Those Winter Sundays"-via Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46461/those-winter-sundays
Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men Talking about Providing Protection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z_zgMZ14Uc
Socratic Questioning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning
Sherman Alexie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Alexie
American and Canadian Policy for Native American "Reeducation": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_the_Indian,_Save_the_Man
Darko Milicic and LeBron James-Different Paths for Two from 2003 Draft: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/darko-milicic-responds-dwyane-wade-carmelo-anthony-joking/lgfojggksbzd1jfx2365jfu2o
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
On this episode, the second of three on understatement and its power, death is a theme of the three texts discussed. The first text, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Someone's Been Disarranging these Roses" short story is a beautiful story of friendship and loyalty and those left behind by tragedy. A muted sense of magical realism in the story includes the ghost of a child who died many decades ago in a freak accident as the narrator. Pete also tells the story of Garcia Marquez's magic in writing his Novel Prize winning "One Hundred Years of Solitude." The idea of a person being the sum of his/her experiences and living as that person on a daily basis brings up an allusion to Sandra Cisneros' lovely "Eleven."
Pete recounts the pendulum of emotions felt in teaching Elie Wiesel's Holocaust memoir, Night, for ten years. He focuses on an excerpt in which the absolute doldrums of human dignity is reached, and the atrocities Elie has had to see at the young age of sixteen.
The third text is from Deborah Thomas, a talented writer who worked magic with "There's No Point in Getting Sentimental about It." Pete relays the story of the serendipity of finding out about this story. He then talks about how the story's subtlety grows emotion and empathy and profundity, and he references Delmore Schwartz's "In Dreams Become Responsibilities," with its idea of seeing past experiences, happy and tragic, on a sort of internal film strip.
Authors Mentioned and Allusions Made and Songs Played during Episode:
"Schindler's List-Violin": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWrt0m-cOkU
Gabriel García Márquez: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Garc%C3%ADa_M%C3%A1rquez
Article about Garcia Marquez's Process in Writing One Hundred Years of Solitude: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/12/gabriel-garcia-marquez-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-history
Dance of Life • Relaxing Celtic Music for Relaxation & Meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiqlZZddZEo&t=4896s
Elie Wiesel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel
Sandra Cisneros' Story, "Eleven": https://www.sps186.org/downloads/basic/777685/Eleven%20.pdf
"There's No Point in getting Sentimental about It," by Deborah Thomas: http://www.paumanokreview.com/4.4/thomas.html
Delmore Schwartz Story, "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Dreams_Begin_Responsibilities
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
This episode focuses on the thrill-inducing writing that is produced, paradoxically, by understated and straightforward writing. What a pleasure to explore Ernest Hemingway's "Old Man at the Bridge," Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," and Juan Rulfo's "No Oyes Ladrar los Perros." Pete shouts out his former college professor Francisco Jimenez, the great writer of among others, Breaking Through/Cajas de Carton, reads some of Rulfo's original Spanish, drops another Godfather reference (!), and details the awesome and possibly apocryphal story of Hemingway spinning the most-famous six-word short story of all-time.
This episode will be followed by Part Two later this week.
Authors Mentioned and Episode Allusions and Songs:
311, "Amber" Instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXX2w8I1G6U
Michael Corleone Gets Hit by the "Thunderbolt": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iXfa2unYY
Ernest Hemingway-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway
Hemingway's Famous Six-Word Story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_sale:_baby_shoes,_never_worn
Robert Frost: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost
Francisco Jimenez: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Jim%C3%A9nez_(writer)
Juan Rulfo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Rulfo
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
This episode focuses on the (very) short and (very) profound story, "Bullet in the Brain," by Tobias Wolff. The ending of the story is the inspiration for the origin of the podcast, and the impetus for the title specifically. There is examination of the story's focus on memory and nostalgia and innocence and the text and analysis is coupled with the beautiful "Bookends" by Simon and Garfunkel.
Authors Mentioned and Allusions and Songs During the Episode:
Tobias Wolff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobias_Wolff
Prologue and Plot Spoiler for Romeo and Juliet: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/quiz/openinglinesquiz/openinganswer3.html
"Bookends" by Simon and Garfunkel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCdNqQN4BCU