Mr. Difficult

A podcast about Jonathan Franzen.

Episode 14: Season One Finale

In the season one finale, we rank all of Jonathan Franzen’s books, answer a few listener questions, and reveal what’s next for the podcast.

10-28
01:00:32

Episode 13: The End of the End of the Earth

Critic Leo Robson joins us to discuss Franzen's most recent collection of essays, The End of the End of the Earth.

09-09
45:33

Episode 12: Farther Away

Novelist Gabriel Roth joins us to discuss Jonathan Franzen's second essay collection, Farther Away.

06-02
58:12

Episode 11: The Discomfort Zone

We're joined by author Scaachi Koul to discuss Jonathan Franzen's 2006 memoir, The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History.

03-18
47:21

Episode 10: The Kraus Project

In this episode, we're joined by novelist Nell Zink to discuss The Kraus Project.

03-02
43:36

Episode 9: How to Be Alone

In this episode, we're joined by novelist Brandon Taylor to discuss Jonathan Franzen's first essay collection, How to Be Alone.

02-04
58:47

Episode 8: Crossroads (Part 2)

We're joined by New York Times national correspondent Ruth Graham to discuss Franzen's depiction of faith and Christianity in Crossroads.

01-13
52:14

Episode 7: Crossroads (Part 1)

In this episode, Erin, Alex, and Eric are joined by critic Merve Emre and poet Elisa Gabbert to discuss Jonathan Franzen’s sixth novel, Crossroads.

12-28
53:49

Episode 6: Purity

Everyone agrees that Purity is an insane mess. But what if it’s also good? Novelist Rumaan Alam joins Erin, Alex, and Eric to discuss Jonathan Franzen’s fifth novel.

12-08
45:54

Episode 5: Freedom

We're joined by novelist Jacob Bacharach to discuss Jonathan Franzen’s fourth and most Franzen-y novel, Freedom.

11-16
01:01:05

Episode 4: The Corrections Pilot

We're joined by Variety TV Critic Daniel D'Addario to discuss the unaired pilot for Noah Baumbach and Jonathan Franzen's adaptation of The Corrections.

10-28
46:47

Episode 3: The Corrections

Erin, Alex, and Eric are joined by the novelist Emily Gould to discuss Jonathan Franzen’s third novel, The Corrections.

10-15
47:52

Episode 2: Strong Motion

Erin, Alex, and Eric are joined by Matt Zeitlin and Mark Krotov to discuss Jonathan Franzen’s second novel—and Mr. Difficult-consensus worst book—Strong Motion.

09-28
50:35

Episode 1: The Twenty-Seventh City

In this episode, Erin, Alex, and Eric discuss what works (and mostly what doesn’t) about The Twenty-Seventh City, the book’s cringey racial and sexual politics, and whether or not its central plot is something out of Tucker Carlson’s fevered imagination.

09-16
53:49

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