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Fresh Air Weekend: Novelist Mat Johnson; Comic Joel Kim Booster

Mat Johnson is the Philip H. Knight Chair of Humanities at the University of Oregon. His previous books include <em>Pym</em> and <em>Loving Day.</em>
Courtesy of University of Oregon
Mat Johnson is the Philip H. Knight Chair of Humanities at the University of Oregon. His previous books include Pym and Loving Day.

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

Real life or satire? Novelist Mat Johnson says it can be hard to tell the difference: Set in the future, Johnson's new satirical novel, Invisible Things, takes place on one of Jupiter's many moons, where humans have created an artificial ecosystem designed to replicate life on Earth.

'Reality' podcasts draw on the appeal of reality TV — with mixed results: The podcast world is abundant with shows about reality TV. Now a few podcasts are trying to capitalize on reality TV popularity more directly, by emulating the genre's conceits, mechanics and style.

Joel Kim Booster reflects on the 'Pride and Prejudice' of Fire Island's party scene: Booster's film Fire Island, which he wrote and stars in, was inspired by the Jane Austen novel. The movie is a rom-com about a group of gay friends and explores racism and classism in their community.

You can listen to the original interviews and review here:

Real life or satire? Novelist Mat Johnson says it can be hard to tell the difference

'Reality' podcasts draw on the appeal of reality TV — with mixed results

Joel Kim Booster reflects on the 'Pride and Prejudice' of Fire Island's party scene

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