Lyndsay Rush began writing poetry to explore the confluences of emotions that happen during life’s most inexplicable moments. Instead of keeping these thoughts tucked away in her journal, Rush did the opposite—she started an Instagram account, @maryoliversdrunkcousin, and posted her words daily. Within a few months, she’d garnered thousands of followers and a book deal in the process. Her debut collection, A Bit Much (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2024) has become a USA Today bestseller.

In Ananda Lima’s debut collection Mother/land, language crosses cultural landscapes effortlessly, full of the musical rhythms and family lore that have shaped the poet’s life. Lima plaits English and her native Portuguese in luscious verses that span a range of emotions as she tells us about the terrors and joys of motherhood, her new life in the United States, and being a human in a world that is slipping through our fingers.

Maria Adelmann is the author of the short story collection Girls of a Certain Age and the forthcoming novel How to Be Eaten (2022). Her work has been published by Tin House, n+1, Electric Literature, Literary Hub, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Threepenny Review, Indiana Review, Epoch, and many others. She has been awarded prizes by the Baker Artist Awards and the Maryland State Arts Council, and her work has been selected as a Distinguished Story in The Best American Short Stories. She has an MFA in fiction from The University of Virginia. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @ink176 or visit her webpage www.MariaInk.com

Baltimore-born writer Ta-Nehisi Coates has become one of the most acclaimed voices of his generation. Coates, a correspondent for The Atlantic, is widely known for his essay “The Case for Reparations” and his first book The Beautiful Struggle. His second book, Between the World and Me, debuted in July, and he joined us to talk about how the book was written, the inspiration of James Baldwin, and his reaction to Freddie Gray’s death.

Throughout her work and life, Bich Minh Nguyen has explored identity. In her memoir Stealing Buddha’s Dinner, she describes how as a child in Michigan, she craved Hamburger Helper and was perplexed when eating bánh chung, the special sticky rice cakes her Vietnamese family enjoyed at Tet, didn’t tantalize her taste buds.

Award-winning writer and Johns Hopkins University professor Alice McDermott's most celebrated works have been set in the world of Irish Catholics in 20th-century New York. The same is true for her latest novel, The Ninth Hour, in which she explores how one event—a man's suicide—reverberates through the lives of those around him. We got the change to talk to McDermott about her latest work, real-life inspiration, and how true friends keep you honest.

You’re best known for your trilogy of books about the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, which is really different subject matter from this book. How did you come up with the idea?
Well, there actually is a connection. The first glimmer of an idea for Behind the Moon came from this Judith Thurman article in The New Yorker about the Chauvet caves.

The story of Tracy Turnblad and her quest to integrate the all-white dance program the “Corny Collins Show” has catapulted Baltimore, and its creator John Waters, further into the national spotlight. And Charm City again will have national attention on Dec. 7 when a live version of the Tony-award winning musical based on Waters’ 1988 film airs on NBC.

But if it hadn’t been for Baltimore magazine, Waters says, Hairspray may never have come to fruition.

By now, you’ve likely heard of Hamilton, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton that re-imagines our history through beat boxing, and partially sung, rap-style dialogue. You also might have heard of Leslie Odom, Jr., who, before he left the show in July, won a Tony award for his portrayal of anti-hero Aaron Burr.

For two decades, Laura Lippman has won acclaim and gained fans across the country (including comedic actress Mindy Kaling) with her spine-tingling crime novels. Her latest work, Wilde Lake, will be released in May, and Lippman joined us to talk about coming up with characters, life with husband David Simon (the mind behind HBO’s The Wire and Show Me a Hero), and her favorite cheeseburger.

For many National Public Radio listeners, his voice is a familiar one, coming across the airwaves to tell stories that explain the world to us a little more and find the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary. Ira Glass, the host of This American Life, returns to his hometown in March for an appearance at Goucher College. He joined us to talk about This American Life’s two decades, the booming podcast scene, and what he listens to.