Today we have Srikanth Reddy, poet and editor at the Paris Review, in the studio to discuss his early writing, his formative 3rd grade acrostic poem ABRAHAM LINCOLN, skipping school to review movies for the Chicago Tribune, deliberately losing a Spelling Bee, + more.

This is a SPECIAL EPISODE of Sad Me of the Past, where we invite young writers from the Iowa Youth Writing Project (IYWP) to talk about a ghost story they created for the Ghosts on the Radio haunted audio anthology.

On this episode, author Madeline McDonnell shares all sorts of secrets with us from being admonished in Middle English, reading in trees, dramatic countdowns to playing an evil Jack-o-lantern in a 3rd grade play with Mindy Kaling, starting three books at the same time, and the importance of friends.

On this episode, we have bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld in the studio! Curtis talks with us about the perils of boarding school, getting good juju from a used car, how her family really feels about her writing, and her new short story collection Show Don’t Tell.

Josh Parkinson reads a short story he wrote in high school. This absolute banger involves a fly, a car crash, and a response from the local authorities that you won’t see coming. Is it worth an hour of your time? We think so. It did win 3rd place in 1991.

On this episode, we are joined by Gina Welch, award winning Castle Rock screenwriter. We explore Gina's decision to ditch the mullet and reinvent herself in 8th grade, her obsession over Twin Peaks and impressing her English teacher Mr. Gould and the joy of entertaining people with story.

The IYWP presents “Ghosts on the Radio: A Haunted Audio Anthology”

On this episode, “Halloween is Here, The Living Dead, Beware of Ghosts” A series of poems by Laya Kancherla.

On this episode, Rosemary’s parents warn her of ghostly happenings, but before they can elaborate, her world is turned upside down.

On this episode, “The Forest’s Shadow” everyone knows that the Forest is dangerous. But Macy doesn’t believe it. To prove her point, she sets foot where even the bravest huntsmen refuse to go.

On this episode, “Nora” When Nora and her mom move into a new home in the odd town of Hartsville, things seem fine. The horror begins with the flickering of lights and appearances of a mysterious teddy bear.

On this episode, “The Circus is Coming” when a family of clowns moves in, the protagonist knows something is wrong. But do her parents agree?