Arts

The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast

by Trevor Berrett

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Latest episodes

Episode 141: A City Built of Books: Our Literary Londons

October 15, 2026 · 1 hr 24 min

Long before we ever set foot in London, we had already wandered its streets through books. From Shakespeare’s playhouses and Dickens’s foggy alleys to Virginia Woolf’s bustling streets and the hidden magical worlds of Paddington and Mary…
Episode 140: A Change of Scenery: Where Have We Been?

September 30, 2026 · 1 hr 9 min

It’s been a busy few weeks for both of us! With Paul off exploring England and Trevor moving house, we’ve still managed to do some reading. One thing we learned in our brief time away: we missed this! In this episode, we catch up on where…
Episode 139: Finding the Ending: The Closing Movement of Books

August 20, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min

We’ve talked about the promises made as a book opens as well as the strange territory of its middle. In this episode we turn our attention t o the closing movement of a book. How do we know when a novel has started to close? Why do some…
Episode 138: No Reading Life Is Behind Schedule

August 6, 2026 · 39 min

In this episode (another walk with Trevor and Paul) we explore a simple guiding principle for the reading life: no reading life is behind schedule. We discuss the pressures that can make us feel like we're falling behind, from canons to…
Episode 137: Another Summer Walk

July 23, 2026 · 30 min

Once again our summers have taken on a life of their own, and we’ve been busy. But we weren't about to skip a bookish conversation! So we took a walk around our neighborhoods together and talked about books for half an hour. So come along…

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Episode 136: So Many Books, So Little Time: Our Most Anticipated Books of the Last Half of 2026

July 9, 2026 · 1 hr 15 min

Every season we tell ourselves we’ll be more selective. Every season publishers respond by announcing another avalanche of books we want to read! In this episode, we look ahead to the second half of 2026, sharing the forthcoming novels…
Episode 135: William Faulkner

June 25, 2026 · 1 hr 33 min

Every ten episodes, Trevor and Paul pause their usual reading discussions to spend time with a single author. This time: William Faulkner. After recent journeys through As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, Light in August, and Absalom…
Episode 134: Authors' Lives

June 11, 2026 · 1 hr 40 min

What draws us beyond a writer’s books and into their life? Why do some authors inspire us to seek out letters, journals, interviews, and biographies while others remain known to us only through their work? In this episode, Trevor and Paul…
Episode 133: Life Between the Beginning and the End: On the Middle of Books

May 28, 2026 · 1 hr 18 min

For the second installment in our series on the three pieces of a book, we turn from beginnings to that more difficult territory: the middle. What happens in the middle of a book? Is it simply the space connecting a strong opening to a…
Episode 132: Our Nightstands, Ourselves

May 14, 2026 · 1 hr 29 min

In this episode, we take a look at the books we have on our nightstands and what they say about us! From the current reads, the aspirational tomes, the comfort books, the neglected books that somehow never leave the stack, and the…
Episode 131: Trust the Spine: On the Pleasure and Riches of NYRB Books

April 30, 2026 · 1 hr 17 min

This week, we’re joined by Nick During and Abigail Dunn from New York Review Books for a wide-ranging conversation about the world of NYRB. From Classics to Kids, Comics to Poets, we explore what gives these books their distinct spirit and…
Episode 130: Opening Movements: Entering the World of a Book

April 16, 2026 · 1 hr 16 min

In this episode, we begin a three-part series on the movements of a novel, starting with the opening. Not just the first line or even the first chapter, but that early stretch where a book begins to take shape, sets the tone, introduces…

Full episode archive on Apple Podcasts →

About the show

In each episode Trevor Berrett and Paul Wilson have a pleasant conversation about books and reading. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse and @bibliopaul. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. mookse.substack.com