What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books

My guest on this episode is Haley Mlotek. Haley is an author, editor, and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, Bookforum, The Paris Review, The Columbia Journalism Review, Vogue, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, and n+1, among others. She is a founding member of the Freelance Solidarity Project in the National Writers Union, and is currently the director of content at Feeld. Her first book, No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce, was published by Viking Books and McClelland & Stewart in 2025. Author Susan Orlean called the book “an ideal hybrid of rigorous reporting, social commentary, and personal reflection on the nature of love and divorce.” Haley and I talk about the brief urge she had to cancel publication of her book the night before it came out, about resisting the idea that writing a book about divorce makes her either an expert on divorce or an advocate for it, and about the importance of recognizing that books are not built upon two or three moments of inspiration, but upon hundreds and hundreds of small decisions.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Michelle Shephard. Michelle is an award-winning author, journalist, filmmaker, and podcast host and producer. She is the author of Guantanamo’s Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr and Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism’s Grey Zone. Her films include the Emmy-nominated documentary Guantanamo’s Child, The Perfect Story, The Man Who Stole Einstein's Brain, and The Way Out. Her most recent book is Code Name: Pale Horse, which she co-wrote with retired FBI Special Agent Scott Payne, and which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Kirkus Reviews called it “an eye-opening look at the small but eminently dangerous radical right-wing fringe out there in the shadows.”Michelle and I talk about the kinds of things she has witnessed while reporting in places like Guantanamo Bay, about how she—an unapologetically lefty journalist who has reported extensively on abuses by the police and other government forces—handled co-writing a book with a former FBI agent, and about the journalist/novelist she looks to as a model as she contemplates trying her hand at a work of fiction.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Antonio Michael Downing. Antonio is the author of the memoir Saga Boy and the children’s book Stars in My Crown, and is the current host of CBC Radio’s book program The Next Chapter. He also writes and performs music as John Orpheus. His most recent book is the novel Black Cherokee, published in 2025 by Simon & Schuster Canada. Author Zalika Reid-Benta said that “Downing’s prose is both lyrical and controlled and weaves together a story that is, at once expansive and intimate, expertly blending the personal with the sweeping nature of the historical.” Antonio and I talk about bringing his own perspective as an author to his work on The Next Chapter, about why he handwrites the drafts of his books, and about unexpectedly discovering a kindred creative spirit in Anne of Green Gables.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Timothy Taylor. Timothy is a novelist, journalist, and educator whose books include the novels Stanley Park, Story House, The Blue Light, and The Rule of Stephens, the story collection Silent Cruise, and the non-fiction work Foodville. His work has nominated for multiple awards, including the Giller Prize, and has been chosen as the ‘One Book One City’ selection for Vancouver and named a finalist for Canada Reads. His most recent book is the novel The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf, published by Dundurn Press in 2024. Author Kevin Chong called the book “a sumptuously written story about culinary ambition, restaurant-world vice, and the frailties of the heart.”Timothy and I talk about starting his writing career with a triple-nomination for the Journey Prize (which he ended up winning), about not wanting to be pigeon-holed as someone who always writes about restaurants and food, the subject of his most recent novel, and about the discovery of family secrets that have led to a massive podcast project with The Walrus and an upcoming book.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Tolu Oloruntoba. Tolu is the author of the poetry collections Manubrium, The Junta of Happenstance, which won the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry,   and Each One a Furnace, a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. His most recent collection is Unravel, published by McClelland & Stewart in 2025. That book was named one of the Best Canadian Poetry Books of the year by CBC Books, and has been longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Tyee called the collection “a seeker’s book, exploring making and unmaking, doing and undoing, the twin existential horrors of ending and endlessness.”Tolu and I talk about the tensions, both good and bad, that come from winning awards so early in a career, about the pressure he put upon himself while writing Unravel, and about going in a very different direction for his next book, a collection inspired in part by Keanu Reeves’s John Wick films.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Bonny Reichert. Bonny is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist and author who has been an editor at Today’s Parent and Chatelaine, and a columnist and regular contributor to The Globe and Mail. Her first book, the memoir How to Share an Egg: A True Story of Hunger, Love, and Plenty, was published by Penguin Random House Canada’s Appetite imprint in 2025, and was a national bestseller, as well as a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book, an NPR Best Book of the Year, and a CBC Best Memoir. Publishers Weekly said that “Reichert weaves a rich narrative tapestry that traces her journey toward self-knowledge in luminous prose.” Bonny and I talk about her initial resistance to writing the book that become How to Share an Egg, about how publishing a very revealing memoir can lead readers to demand that authors reveal even more about themselves, and about her newest work in progress, a work of fiction, which she is finding both difficult and a relief.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode—the first of 2026—is Robert McGill. Robert’s books include three novels, The Mysteries, Once We Had a Country, and A Suitable Companion for the End of Your Life, and two nonfiction books, The Treacherous Imagination and War Is Here. His most recent book is the short fiction collection Simple Creatures, which was published by Coach House Books in 2024, and was a finalist for the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. CBC Books called the collection "a hilarious and heartbreaking portrait of the world we live in." Robert and I talk about reading reviews of his own work, about the first short story he ever wrote, which was based on a video game he could only play on his grandmother’s Vic 20—Google that, kids—and about the previously published story he almost dropped from his most recent collection, and only kept in after changing the name of the author it repeatedly references, that author being Alice Munro.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is... nobody. Instead of a regular episode, I wanted to offer my thanks to everyone connected with this podcast, who have helped to make it a reality. Thank you to Carmine Starnino and everyone at The Walrus, to Alex Lukashevsky, to Meaghan Strimas, to all the authors who have appeared on the podcast, and to everyone who listens.I already have some great conversations lined up for 2026. Next regular episode will go up on Monday, January 5.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Rachel Reid. Rachel is the bestselling author of the Game Changers hockey romance series that includes Heated Rivalry, the TV adaptation of which has become a massive hit since it premiered in November. Her most recent novel is the standalone romance The Shots You Take, published earlier this year by Harlequin. Library Journal called the book “a beautifully written romance about finally finding oneself and a happy ending.” Rachel and I talk about how she, as someone who submitted the manuscript of her first novel without even telling her partner and her family, is handling the sudden explosion of attention, about the pressure she feels to make her next book worthy of this attention, and about her rules when it comes to writing explicit sex scenes.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Renée D. Bondy. Renée’s writing has appeared in Herizons, Bitch, Bearings Online, and the Humber Literary Review. Her debut novel, [non]disclosure, was published by Second Story Press in 2024. Author Julie S. Lalonde called [non]disclosure “a true masterclass on the power of solidarity and how community can either sustain us or drag us under.”Renée and I talk about how she is adjusting to her relatively luxurious new writing space, about swerving into literary fiction after a life spent as an academic and activist, and about how the difficulty of the issues she explores in her debut novel led her to put support structures in places at the launch event for it.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Rik Emmett. Rik is best known for being in the multi-platinum-selling band Triumph until the late 80s, after which he released many, many solo albums. Rik’s books include the poetry collection Reinventions and the memoir Lay It On The Line: A Backstage Pass to Rock Star Adventure, Conflict and Triumph, both published by ECW Press. His most recent book, Ten Telecaster Tales: Liner Notes for a Guitar and Its Music, was published by ECW earlier this year. Author Terry Fallis called the book “eloquent, erudite, entertaining, and enlightening […] a thoughtful meditation on art, creativity, and the human species.” Rik and I talk about why, at an age when most people would be enjoying retirement, he has suddenly become a published author with a new book out almost every year, about the focus and intensity he brings to all of his creative endeavours (and how he has learned to pull back a little for the sake of his relationships and his mental health), and about how, despite all he has accomplished on his own, and continues to accomplish, the machine that is his former band has a way of sucking him back in, and why he’s mostly okay with that.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Catherine Bush. Catherine is the author of five novels, including Blaze Island, which was a Globe and Mail and Writers’ Trust of Canada Best Book of the Year, and the Hamilton Reads 2021 Selection. Her other novels include the Canada Reads longlisted Accusation; the Trillium Award shortlisted Claire's Head; the national bestselling The Rules of Engagement, which was also named a New York Times Notable Book and a L.A. Times Best Book of the Year; and Minus Time, shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award. Catherine’s most recent book is the story collection Skin, published by Goose Lane Editions earlier this year. The Ottawa Review of Books called Skin “a haunting and beautifully crafted collection that solidifies Catherine Bush’s reputation as a writer of immense talent.” Catherine and I talk about the many exotic locations at which she has written, including time spent at an Italian villa with Zadie Smith as her neighbour, about writing her most recent book at a remote Ontario schoolhouse she had to break COVID protocols to get to, and about where serious literature fits within a world in which serious art of any kind is often overlooked.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Oonya Kempadoo. Oonya is the author of four novels, the first of which was longlisted for the Orange Prize, the second was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and won a Casa De Las Americas prize. Her most recent novel is Naniki, published by Dundurn Press in 2024. That novel was longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. The Montreal Review of Books called Naniki “playful, refreshing, and luminous, inspiring an almost childlike curiosity and urge for exploration, while illustrating the importance of understanding our past to safeguard our future.”Oonya and I talk about the ongoing immersive art project that inspired her to write her latest novel, about why she took such a long break from writing fiction after the publication of her third novel more than a decade ago, and about how writing and publishing Naniki has sparked a new desire in her to return to being a novelist.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Maggie Helwig. Maggie has published six books of poetry, two books of essays, a collection of short stories, and three novels, including Girls Fall Down, which was chosen as the One Book Toronto in 2012. Maggie is a long-time social justice activist, and also an Anglican priest, and has been the rector of the Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields since 2013. Maggie’s most recent book is Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community, published by Coach House Books earlier this year. It recently won the Toronto Book Award. Quill & Quire called it “required reading for anyone with a home who hopes to understand the lives of the many who do not."  Maggie and I talk about the City of Toronto forcibly removing the encampment that she writes about in the book, less than a day after it won the Toronto Book Award, about her long, unplanned, and ongoing break from publishing works of fiction and poetry, and about her next book, a selection of sermons written and delivered at St. Stephen-in-the-Fields.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Kenneth Oppel. Kenneth’s books include the Silverwing trilogy, which has sold over a million copies around the world, Airborn, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, and Ghostlight, which was shortlisted for several awards, including the Aurora and the IODE Violet Downey Book Award. His most recent book is the novel Best of All Worlds, published by Penguin Teen Canada earlier this year and nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award. It has also been named one of Best Children’s Books of 2025 by The Times (UK). Publishers Weekly called it “a sharp examination of society and isolation presented as a thriller set in a deceptively bucolic landscape.” Kenneth and I talk about the book he remembers having the biggest emotional impact on him as a kid, about his dislike of the various age groups and categories that get applied to children’s literature, and about his next novel, which just might be his first one explicitly written for adults.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Su Chang. Su’s debut novel is The Immortal Woman, published by House of Anansi Press earlier this year. Publishers Weekly called the novel “a cathartic account of a family buffeted by the winds of modern Chinese history.”Su and I talk about the cultural and political realities that cause to very deliberate in her writing, about why her father, who was himself a writer, urged her not to follow in his footsteps, and about why she has chosen not to participate in any public-facing events to promote her book.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Niko Stratis. Niko’s writing has appeared in Xtra, Catapult, Spin, Paste, The Walrus, and more. She is the co-editor of the Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology  2 Trans 2 Furious and its follow-up, Sex Change and the City. Her debut book, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, was published by the University of Texas Press earlier this year. Publishers Weekly called it a “stirring collection focused on the music that inspired the author to embrace her trans identity” and a “poignant ode to musicʼs power to change lives.” Niko and I talk about the roots of her intense connections to music, about the online chuds who have not been happy with a trans author writing about their favourite artists and bands, and about her novel-in-progress, which began life, like those award-winning anthologies, as kind of a joke.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Chelsea Wakelyn. Chelsea is a musician and author whose debut novel, What Remains of Elsie Jane, was published by Dundurn Press in 2023 and was a finalist for the Foreword Indies award. Author Emily Austin called the novel “a poignant, laugh-out-loud funny, weird, and heartbreaking window into being bereft and being in love.” Chelsea and I talk about losing track, in her twenties, of her initial plan to become a writer, about the enormous losses that finally drove her to write her first novel, and about the sick cosmic joke of losing another partner to cancer right after publishing a novel based on her real-life grief.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Phoebe Wang. Phoebe is the author of the poetry collections Admission Requirements and Waking Occupations. Her fiction and nonfiction has appeared in The Globe & Mail, The New Quarterly, Brick, The Unpublished City, and The Unpublished City: Volume II, The Lived City, which she co-edited. Her most recent book is Relative to Wind: On Sailing, Craft, and Community, published by Assembly Press in 2024. Kirkus Reviews called it “a thoughtful, illuminating look at life away from land.”Phoebe and I talk about the impact of her very first publication, about being edited, right at the start of her career, by one of the country’s best-known and most beloved poets, and about the odd and interesting places that promoting a book about sailing has taken her.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Guy Vanderhaeghe. Guy is a three-time winner of the Governor’s-General Award for his collections of short stories, Man Descending and Daddy Lenin, and for his novel, The Englishman’s Boy, which was also shortlisted for the Giller Prize and The International Dublin Literary Award. His novel The Last Crossing was a winner of the CBC’s Canada Reads Competition. He has also received the Timothy Findley Prize, the Harbourfront Literary Prize, and the Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg Prize, all given for a body of work. Guy’s most recent novel, August into Winter, won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction and the Glengarry Book Award and was shortlisted for the Writers’ Trust Atwood Gibson Fiction Prize. His most recent book, the essay collection Because Someone Asked Me To, was published in 2024 by Thistledown Press. That book won Book of the Year and the Non-Fiction Award at the 2025 Saskatchewan Book Awards. Shelagh Rogers, former host of the CBC’s “The Next Chapter”, said that “reading this volume, I felt all my circuitry light up like a flash of fireflies, as Nadine Gordimer would say. I’m just so glad somebody asked him to.” Guy and I talk about some critical advice he got from author Margaret Laurence when he first started as a writer, the enormous shifts that have happened in the Canadian literary scene since those early days, and why his most recent novel might be his last.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.