Host Nathan Maharaj spoke with Claire Cameron, author of the novels The Bear and The Last Neanderthal. Her new book is How to Survive a Bear Attack. It’s a memoir of family, of illness, of love, and the author’s ongoing fascination with a 1991 bear attack that happened in a wilderness she knows so well.

Claire Cameron on what she's learned from studying monsters

Host Michael Tamblyn spoke with mystery novelist Nita Prose, author of the international bestseller The Maid. It’s the story of Molly Gray, a 20-something hotel maid whose job perfectly suits her need for order and predictable routine. As tends to happen in mystery novels set in hotels, Molly discovers a dead guest and finds herself a suspect in the ensuing murder investigation—an investigation which she undertakes in parallel, with the help of her friends.

In Nita’s latest book, The Maid’s Secret, Molly is riding high: she’s been promoted to Head Maid & Special Events Manager, she’s engaged to the love of her life—the dashing Juan Manuel, and she’s just learned that she’s the owner of a piece of art that might be worth millions… If, that is, she can find out who stole it on the day it was supposed to be sold at auction.

Nita Prose on saying goodbye to Molly Gray

In our latest installment in this series, hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj caught up on a book whose author they're not going to get to interview.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Meta's problem with an ex-employee's tell-all memoir
• The cognitive perils of being a billionaire
• The publishing perils of nonfiction
• Moving fast and breaking things as sage wisdom from the elders of Silicon Valley
• LibGen and the fight in the courts over Faire Use in AI models

Books mentioned:

• Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism - A Memoir by Sarah Wynn-Williams
• Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg