Episode 591 - Stan Mack
The Virtual Memories Show
Legendary cartoonist & artist pioneered documentary comics and bought New York's multitudes to life with Stan Mack's Real Life Funnies (RLF) in the Village Voice, and now he joins the show to celebrate the publication of (Fantagraphics)! We talk about winnowing down 1,000+ RLF strips to 275 for this book, the comic's secret origin and how we share some conceptual DNA, what he learned about cartooning and storytelling, the creeping realization that people were actually reading RLF, and how he and the comic grew over 20+ years. We get into whether Real Life Funnies and its snippets of...
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Episode 590 - Jim Moske
The Virtual Memories Show
With his amazing new book, (Blast Books), archivist explores art, mortality, media, fame and our secret lives. We talk about his chance discovery in the Met Museum's archives of , his attraction to the obits' tabloid poetry, and how he fell down the rabbit-hole of figuring out the scandalous, redemptive life of their compiler, Arthur D'Hervilly. We get into what these obits — and D'Hervilly's life — can teach us about art and artistic reputation, the challenges of working with 100+-year-old newsprint, the aesthetic pleasure of historical records, and why Jim considered doing this project...
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Episode 589 - Adam Moss
The Virtual Memories Show
With his amazing new book, (Penguin Press), hall-of-fame magazine editor explores the artistic process by interviewing more than 40 creators about the evolution of a piece of their art. We talk about the archeology of early drafts and sketches, why he took up painting and how its vexations drove him into making this book, what it's like to tour artists' heads, the creative benefits of "the bounce," the differences between collaborative and solo art-making, and the dizzying iterations of a single artwork by . We get into where his 40-year magazine editing career began (and where it ended),...
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Episode 588 - Randy Fertel
The Virtual Memories Show
With (Spring Publications), author, professor & philanthropist explores the role of improvisation & spontaneity in the arts, sciences & culture. We talk about what drew him to the conflict between reason and intuition, the importance of "Yes, And" in more than just a comedic context, the neuroscience of Hot and Cold Cognition, and the moment in graduate school that started him down this path 50 years ago. We get into what improvisation really is, how it underlies creativity and innovation, how Trump embodies its dark side, and how his upbringing in New Orleans may have...
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Episode 587 - DW Young
The Virtual Memories Show
For more than 40 years, the breathtaking pictures of photographer have chronicled New York City and America (and a couple of war zones), and now the amazing new documentary (Greenwich Entertainment) by director has launched a rediscovery of James Hamilton's work, life & times. D.W. rejoins the show to talk about how James' career at the NY Herald, Village Voice, and NY Observer opened the door to a a bigger story about NYC, arts/culture and media, how NYC has changed and how the culture adapts, and how young viewers react upon learning about the city's vibrant newspaper & alt-weekly...
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Episode 586 - Jen Silverman
The Virtual Memories Show
Author-playwright-screenwriter-poet returns to the show to celebrate their amazing new novel, (Random House). We get into how Jen accidentally stumbled into the 2018 Gilets Jaunes protests in Paris and triggered this new book, the ways we're shaped by our parents' failures and secrets, the many routes of radicalization, and the theatricality of protests, how they draw people in (with a boost from ), and how they contrast with theater itself. We also talk about the role of art in understanding the times, how Jen's stories start with character, their work on and how TV writing differs from...
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Episode 585 - Leonard Barkan
The Virtual Memories Show
With (Fordham), professor blends memoir and deep reading of Shakespeare's greatest plays to explore his lifelong relationship with literature and the way(s) we use art to construct our identities. We get into what it means to read, hear, perform, direct, teach Shakespeare, why it took him a lifetime to get to this book, how he contrasts himself with a radically naive reader (and why it's important to try to capture our naïveté), the gayness of Shakespeare's two Antonios, the many stories he couldn't tell until his folks were gone, and the role Shakespeare played in Leonard's gay coming of...
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Episode 584 - Emily Raboteau
The Virtual Memories Show
After a ~10-year gap, rejoins the show to celebrate her amazing new essay collection, (Holt). We talk about her sparkbird and the in Washington Heights that center the book, her transformation into a climate activist, the joy of the flaneuse, her scavenger hunt for 's environmental art, and the idea of pain with a purpose. We also get into the differences between mothering & motherhood, the reason she put "the Apocalypse" in quotes in her subtitle, how COVID lockdown made her realize her kids' lives had been overscheduled (and how lockdown gave them some room to breathe), and the...
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Bonus Episode - Trillian Stars and Kyle Cassidy
The Virtual Memories Show
Photographer and writer and actor and model join us for a Bonus Episode to talk about their new Kickstarter, (closing May 4, 2024)! We get into their inspiration to make a book combining the poems of Pre-Raphaelite muse/model/artist with photos of Trillian (in a Pre-Raphaelite mode), how the project changed once they began shooting in East London, how they found enough costumes for all the photos they wanted to take, why Lizzie Siddal was dismissed by the peers of her husband, , and how modeling and acting overlap and differ (and why Kyle prefers shooting with actors). We also get into...
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Episode 583 - Leela Corman
The Virtual Memories Show
At long last, artist joins the show as we celebrate her breathtaking new graphic novel, (Schocken Books)! We talk about how the book brings together the women welders of WWII-era Brooklyn Navy Yards, professional wrestling, and her lifelong obsession with the Shoah, how discovering her watercolor style was like the portal between life and death opening, the art school experience that derailed her, and how the artistic ground start shifting beneath her as she got serious about her comics. We get into her life-defining visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the sacred responsibility of...
info_outlineWith his amazing new book, THE WORK OF ART: How Something Comes From Nothing (Penguin Press), hall-of-fame magazine editor Adam Moss explores the artistic process by interviewing more than 40 creators about the evolution of a piece of their art. We talk about the archeology of early drafts and sketches, why he took up painting and how its vexations drove him into making this book, what it's like to tour artists' heads, the creative benefits of "the bounce," the differences between collaborative and solo art-making, and the dizzying iterations of a single artwork by Amy Sillman. We get into where his 40-year magazine editing career began (and where it ended), the process of figuring out how to write and edit his own prose for this project, the incredible design project of bringing The Work Of Art to life as a museum of creativity (& its early life as a 'zine), what happened when he pitched Warren Beatty on this project, and his ongoing attraction to the artifacts of artists in the midst of artworks. We also discuss why I may be the ideal reader for this book, how the introspection of COVID & lockdown influenced The Work Of Art and its subjects, what he learned about interviewing (& which subject intimidated him the most), how he finally learned to stop waiting for a catharsis and learned to take joy in the making of art rather than the finished artwork, and plenty more. More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Patreon or Paypal and via our e-newsletter