What is pulp fiction? Glad you asked! David Avallone -- son of prolific author Michael Avallone and a writer himself -- invites you on a tour through the liveliest and most popular storytelling… from the Trojan War to the 21st Century. Special guests include actor James Urbaniak (The Venture Brothers), writer David F. Walker (The Life of Frederick Douglass, Luke Cage) and actor Mageina Tovah (Spider-man 2, The Magicians.)
Latest episodes
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Episode 72: J.G. Ballard: Genre As Art
On the season finale, we read and talk about J.G. Ballard’s intro to his classic novel CRASH, in which he defends science fiction – a pulp genre – as a legitimate and worthwhile li…
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Episode 71: Faces, Masks and Cities of Glass
Paul Auster uses the detective genre to investigate questions of identity, story and reality itself in CITY OF GLASS, the first novella in THE NEW YORK TRILOGY. In a P.I. story… th…
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Episode 70: Even Babysitters Can Be Detectives
Returning guest Emily Edwards, author of the upcoming detective novel Viviana Valentine Gets Her Man, and host of the hilarious podcast “F*ckbois of Literature,” introduces us to t…
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Episode 69: Hell... and Conventions
As San Diego Comic Con 2022 approaches, David Avallone reads from Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's INFERNO, which connects the dots between fan conventions and eternal suffering.…
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Episode 68: Vera Caspary's Laura
A great mystery novel with multiple narrators, turned into a great film with just one. David Avallone discusses the life and work of Vera Caspary, blacklists and greylists, and the…
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Episode 67: Andrew Vachss vs. the Worst People in the World
Like Dashiell Hammett, Andrew Vachss walked the walk before he sat down to write about crime. Unlike Hammett, Vachss was able to write explicitly – honestly – about the kind of mon…
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Episode 66: Swashbuckling with Horatio Hornblower
Sixty-six episodes in, and we still haven't gotten around to a single swashbuckler pulp. We correct that oversight with today's reading from C. S. Forester's classic Royal Navy her…
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Episode 65: The Felony Squad, Tie-Ins, and Tough Choices
Anyone remember THE FELONY SQUAD? Has Michael Avallone’s well-regarded original tie-in outlived the memory of the TV show it was based on? Listen to a chapter and decide for yourse…
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Episode 64: Boldly Going
To celebrate the premiere of STRANGE NEW WORLDS and commemorate the passing of original STAR TREK artist James Bama, this week’s topic is the novelizations of James Blish. There is…
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Episode 63: Steampunk, the Aviation Pulps and G8
Less than two decades after the Great War, writers who lived through it were already turning their nightmarish experiences into high adventure… and fantastic science fiction. Chief…
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Episode 62: The Lost Weekend
No martinis this time, as the subject is Charles Jackson’s ground-breaking classic about an alcoholic’s five day bender. Also featured: the things you find in old paperbacks, and a…
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Episode 61: Gary Phillips Comes to Harlem
Critically acclaimed author Gary Phillips joins David Avallone to read from, and talk about, Chester Himes’ classic COTTON COMES TO HARLEM, and all things pulp. --Please leave us a…
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Episode 60: Defending Civilization at Castle Keep
William Eastlake's dreamlike World War Two classic, about modern war crashing into the priceless relics and art treasures of Europe. In all that destruction... what can be saved? A…
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Episode 59: The Man Who Was Thursday
What does a surrealist Christian allegory have to do with pulp fiction? Everything. G.K. Chesterton’s classic, influential masterpiece, subtitled "A Nightmare", echoes in every spy…
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Episode 58: Super-Chilling... with Kelly Sue Milano!
R.L. Stine is a wildly prolific paperback horror phenomenon, and comics writer Kelly Sue Milano (HEX11) joins David Avallone to talk about FEAR STREET SUPER CHILLER: SILENT NIGHT.…
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Episode 57: It’s Superman!
Can a serious author write a serious novel about... Superman? Tom De Haven answers that question with a resounding, entertaining, delightful "yes!" --Please leave us a rating on Ap…
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Episode 56: Deep Space, Doorways, and the Sense of Wonder
Some books open important doorways for you. For David Avallone, one of those was Robert Silverberg’s classic science fiction anthology DEEP SPACE. --Please leave us a rating on App…
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Episode 55: Winter Kills
Richard Condon wrote sophisticated thrillers that were as pulpy as they were smart, and influenced everyone who ever tried to turn conspiracy theories into entertainments. One of h…
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Episode 54: This Gun For Hire
Graham Greene was a master of pulp fiction and a great “literary” novelist, and THIS GUN FOR HIRE (originally A GUN FOR SALE) is one of his sharpest. Can you really put up a wall b…
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Episode 53: Modesty!
In memory of breathtaking Italian actress Monica Vitti, today we talk about the iconic character MODESTY BLAISE, and how an entertaining comic strip became a train-wreck of a film,…