Susan Orlean's 'Joyride: A Memoir'
Susan Orlean joins the podcast to talk about her new book 'Joyride: A Memoir,' her literary career, and the state of journalism today
By LARB Radio HourJanuary 9, 2026
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Susan Orlean's 'Joyride: A Memoir'
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Medaya Ocher is joined by writer and author Susan Orlean, whose latest book is Joyride: A Memoir.
In Joyride, Orlean recounts how she became a writer: the strokes of luck, as well as the ambition and talent that led her from alt-weeklies to Esquire, Vogue and The New Yorker, where she has been a staff writer since 1992.
Orlean has written essays and books that have since become classics of contemporary narrative nonfiction like The Orchid Thief (which inspired the film Adaptation), Rin Tin Tin, On Animals, The Library Book as well as many others. Here she discusses her life and career, her curiosity, her approach to change and opportunity, as well as the state of journalism today.
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The LARB Radio Hour is hosted by Eric Newman, Medaya Ocher, and Kate Wolf.