Interviewing top nonfiction authors about their latest work. All after words programs are also available as podcasts. It is so good to talk to you. Another book journalist. How do you primarily think of yourself these days . Guest i still very much see myself as a book critic. This book is just sort of an extension of that work. These days i feel like i am a political journalist and just using books as a means to that kind of work. Is that something that you steered clear of . I didnt have a sense that i wanted to necessarily be an author or write a book. Reading other peoples books was plenty and i learned a little bit if i went through the process of writing a book it would be sympathetic to the authors and ruin me for my day job but i think that its been useful to see that side of the process and all the work that goes into creating that product i usually get at the tail end. Do you think its going to change . I think it almost has to. I want to see i suspected it had to in some way
Guest i still think i very much see myself as a book critic. This book is just sort of an extension of that work, but these days i feel like im a political journalist also in many ways and just using books as a means to do that kind of work. Host also an author, obviously. This is your first book. Did you know you always wanted to write a book as a book critic or is that something you steered clear of . Guest i did not have a sense i wanted to necessarily be an author or write a book. Reading other peoples books was plenty for me and i worried a bit that if i went through the process of writing a book i would end up far too sympathetic to authors and ruin me for my day job, but i think its been useful to see what that side of the process is like and all of the work that goes into creating that finished product usually just get at the tail end host do you think it will change your approach at all as a book critic . I think it almost has to. I dont know how it will, though. I went to see
Transition of power. President trump, president elect biden, whose conferences and event coverage at cspan. Org. Thank you so much for being here. It is an honor to be here. I was delighted to read your book which i have decided. First book ive ever written. It must be challenging to create factual accounts of the pandemic, talk about that process. I can understand why people would think, why are you writing this . Im writing about the things we can fight about, i did really a step back, im not fighting about these as they unfold, not fighting about this or that government, im not talking on that but im standing back and saying okay, why a pandemic and why now . That is something to do because youve been reading my work, you know, ive been fighting a book, weve been saying this will happen, these are the viruses need to worry about what we need to do. So obvious the predictions were and we havent done all of the things we need to do so this was kind of the moment to repeat all of that
To you. I still see myself as a book critic. This book is gamma extension of that work but these days i feel like i am a political journalist and using books as a means to that kind of work. Or is that something you actually steered clear of it has to in some ways beyond just sympathy for so i hope that it will give me a better sense of the decisionmaking that goes into what a book covers and how many chapters. What is it that you do during the day then you read 150 books about the trump era it is a book about books like the book about coffee tables from seinfeld but i hope it simply uses books to try to understand a moment and get a snapshot of a moment so it could have been a lot of things. It could have been film, theater, fiction so its a book about this moment in america and civic life but what do you mean about the intellectual history . There are a lot of ways to imagine. It anticipated everything and ive done some of that myself, guilty but that isnt the kind of book i wanted t
Yes i can understand wire you writing about it now hasnt happened jet. Im learning about the things we can write about now. I deliberately took a step back. Im not writing as things unfold. Im not about this or that misstep by this so that government. Im not talking that level at all. What i am doing is standing back and saying okay, why pandemic why now. That is something i could do. Youve been reading my work, you know, i like many other people been writing about this for years. Weve been saying this is going to happen. These are the viruses we need to worry about. This is what we need to do. It is already so obvious those predictions were back on. And we havent done a lot of things we need to do. This was kind of the moment to repeat all of that stuff. At a time when people can really understand it. Therefore the message might really come home to the right people. I think that point out emphasizes how strongly am how political leaders have been represented to them previously for pre