Tom McCarthy’s new experimental novel Satin Island celebrates the role of the anthropologist over the novelist; John McPhee’s latest essay in The New Yorker questions the extent to which authors should use cultural references in their work; author Meghan Daum discusses a great book she just finished, Bernard Cooper’s My Avant-Garde Education; Tom Lutz talks about finding a lost city in Honduras and the dilemma that the archaeologists now face.

“The Death of Writing” by Tom McCarthy.

“Frame of Reference” by John McPhee.

“Lost City Discovered in the Honduran Rain Forest” via National Geographic.

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Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin.