Best Max Staley Podcasts (2025)

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Wagner By The Park (with special guest Greg Jackson ) 3:15:14

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2y ago3:15:14

3:15:14

It's a repulsively glorious fall day in Brooklyn. Seeking respite from his upstate rustication, Greg Jackson comes to the city to ask us, "Who are you guys?" In trying to answer him, we discuss Conrad, infantile ejaculation, polite literary readings, and nested storytelling. We take frequent breaks. Drew becomes rather maudlin. Lauren eats Port Sal…

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About A Guy, With Some Guys (Featuring Willy Staley, Dean Kissick, and Sam Kriss) 2:49:11

2y ago2:49:11

2:49:11

We're so back, as they say, and we've recruited some struggle favorites to join us for a most unseemly return. We gather in Park Slope with 3 microphones, 4 dudes, and 1 Lauren. We talk about the text, for once. We talk about sojourns abroad and encounters with Kentuckian gastronomy. We perform close readings then forget our reading entirely. We si…

1
P***Y For the Meter With Max Lawton 2:02:21

2+ y ago2:02:21

2:02:21

Drew finally lifts his editing embargo and the show recently described as "your boyfriend's favorite podcast" returns with a special guest-- the esteemed, humble, and oddly jacked translator Max Lawton. We talk about...what the hell did we talk about? Many arcane Russian writers we don't know about, non-binary bombs, a bizarre fascistic musical (al…

1
White Chocolate Guys (ft. Sam Kriss) 2:18:56

2+ y ago2:18:56

2:18:56

In this episode with cult fave 6'4" writer SAM KRISS, all motifs are on the table - literally. Drew has been heroically managing dry January by replacing alcohol with weird food and on the Wednesday evening we gathered at the Park Slope Manse, he presented Sam and Lauren with the most deranged assortment of snacks imaginable. As we loudly munched o…

1
No One’s Beautiful and We’re All Gonna Die W/Alex Dimitrov 1:59:17

3y ago1:59:17

1:59:17

Love is boring and breakups are banal. Flight attendants are gay and have extraordinarily high body counts. We’re calling for a New Sensualism! Have you read The Line of Beauty? Drew’s getting into astrology and martinis, Lauren’s still running the show. Alex Dimitrov is, in fact, a respected poet–published in The New Yorker, no less. He likes gett…

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Well, There You Have It (ft. Andrew Martin) 1:45:10

3y ago1:45:10

1:45:10

We're back! Really! Having revived ourselves with grapefruit Spindrift and coffee following our lackluster 2nd anniversary show, we invited Andrew 'actually Armenian' Martin, author of the novel Early Work and the short story collection Cool for America, to join us at Lauren's Park Slope manse for a rollicking discussion of Book 2's famous face-sla…

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Vagaries and Vicissitudes: A 2nd Anniversary Call-in Special 1:51:43

3y ago1:51:43

1:51:43

As that haunting summer feeling takes hold, Lauren and Drew languidly reflect on another year of podcasting and readerly fellowship. Along the way they read some KOK and respond to calls from the usual band of dilettantes, devotees, and detractors. A goblin-schnozzed Czech puppet called Mickey makes a special appearance as well.…

1
Colonel Mustard with the Gerbil (ft. Jon Lindsey) 53:06

3y ago53:06

53:06

Good news: it's our first in-person recording in half a year. Bad news (a la Teddy St. Aubyn): Audio interface ran out of battery so it cuts off sorry Buy Jon's book: Body High We'll get back to Karl Ove soon we promise. Have brain damage? Consider donating to our Patreon: patreon.com/ourstruggle

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Bildongsroman (ft. Gary Shteyngart) 1:53:38

3y ago1:53:38

1:53:38

We're back! We're talkin schlong! We're on Patreon, finally! It's season 4....after taking a month and half off from the show to work on their tans, Lauren and Drew return, joined, this time, by the beloved novelist Gary Shteyngart, zooming in from his Rolex-stuffed country estate in the Hudson Valley. Knowing that many of our listeners are fans of…

1
Cafe Society (ft. Felix Biederman) 1:50:40

3+ y ago1:50:40

1:50:40

We're back! And joined by Felix Biederman, a promising young podcaster recently arrived in Los Angeles whom we condescended to let on the show. Although by no means a "bookhead" -- to appropriate his charming coinage -- Felix is a longtime fan of Karl Ove Knausgaard. The Norwegian author became a source of strength for Felix when he first encounter…

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BONUS EP: The Northman (ft. Alec Niedenthal) 1:42:35

3+ y ago1:42:35

1:42:35

A lot of people when they realize that Drew is not on this episode are going to say I betrayed him but what you need to know is that we're actually POLY now and I can podcast with any man I choose. Also Drew was supposed to show up to this recording and didn't. WE HAD A LOT OF FUN WITHOUT DREW! My good friend Alec Niedenthal and I went to see The N…

1
Rhythm Time (ft. James Griffiths) 1:35:19

3+ y ago1:35:19

1:35:19

Finally! It's Rhythm Time! To discuss one of the most notorious and worst written passages of Book 2, we invited back our homie James Griffiths, the Welsh warrior and three-time struggle King, who told us that these pages made him "want to get a vasectomy." Also in this episode: A "lover's quarrel" between Lauren and Drew (saga to be cont.); we unc…

1
Conception (ft. Andrew Lipstein) 1:55:42

3+ y ago1:55:42

1:55:42

Welcome back! This is a classic struggle, in which we were joined by our new friend, yet another Jewish writer named Andrew. You can buy his (Andrew Lipstein's) novel LAST RESORT out now. It's getting good reviews. Lauren's half awake notes: 0:00 – marc maron-style appeal to buy mug 3:30 - geriatric pregnancy, half of face paralyzed, run into a pol…

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Love Qua Love (ft. Oded Even Or and Krithika Varagur) 2:36:15

3+ y ago2:36:15

2:36:15

In which we discuss Mating (Norman Rush's luminous 1991 novel), and mating. Happy Valentine's Day PS. Please buy our mug

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Clown Hour 1:06:45

3+ y ago1:06:45

1:06:45

Alright folks - we finally got equipment for IRL recording but the catch is, we did too much IRL hanging out this weekend so by the time we figured out the equipment we were out of things to say. I mean there's some good stuff in here but shouldn't be any kind of priority unless you're some kind of freak who's desperate to hear the EXQUISITE TIMBRE…

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Fanny and Alexander and Karl Ove (Xmas special) 1:50:56

4y ago1:50:56

1:50:56

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, HELP US WORSHIP MAMMON! Link to store ---- In this end of the year Christmas special, our two Hebraic hosts convene to discuss the Yuletide-set Part One of Ingmar Bergman's 1983 masterpiece, Fanny and Alexander. What resonances does this warm, nostalgic account of a Swedish boy's fantasy life have with our Jesus in the sea seei…

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Free Associating at the Dog Park (ft. Kyle Chayka) 1:36:33

4y ago1:36:33

1:36:33

He was late; he always is. - Kyle C. doesn't seem too put off my his riff about misogyny in the kitchen, at least. - My Struggle, minimalist or maximalist? Is all autofiction minimalist? Is it funny to call her "Rachel Cuck"? A lot of questions, not so many answers. - Vanja puts on her golden shoes and goes to Stella's birthday party. Vanja shows o…

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Beyond the Discourse of the Wind (ft. Mason) 1:25:19

4y ago1:25:19

1:25:19

A rainy Sunday night in ---. Two broadcasters, a man and a woman recently arrived from Central Park, convene in the cramped kitchen of the man's lodging with Malbec and Port Salut. There is much to speak of - the Kinks, a mangled papaya dog, an invective against tweets by Wallace Shawn (Swan?) - but as their trivial chatter progresses, a mystery em…

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Live from Family Brooklyn (ft. Willy Staley) 2:22:32

4y ago2:22:32

2:22:32

October 31, 2021The autumn has been long; and the weather, a mood. The leaves are perfectly gold here on the Gold Coast (that swathe of Brooklyn lining the East River - Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens -- where the bourgeois-bohemian class reproduces) and soon I, William Staley (more commonly and phallicly known as Willy)…

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Le Quotidian Pain (ft. Dasha Nekrasova) 2:02:53

4y ago2:02:53

2:02:53

She showed up smoking marlboro lights and talking about a ribbon store nearby. This was on west 38 street, where I’d rented, for 250 dollars, a studio for the recording sesh. My voice was ragged, frayed, like late period Dylan, on account of a cold I acquired in Greenpoint, at a play, and three classes a day on the Metamorphosis: I encouraged my st…

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Intimate Drizzle (ft. Emmie Francis and Luke Brown) 1:51:50

4y ago1:51:50

1:51:50

I have to go to Dayton Ohio in a second to visit my Aunt Bunny but long story short it was the afternoon of the Brooklyn Tote Bag Fest, Drew took shelter in the den of the Wizard of Remsen Street fka Christian Lorentzen and he podded from there while the Cousins beamed in from across the POnd. (I was back in the finished basement of the Old House.)…

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1ST ANNIVERSARY CALL-IN SHOW (PT. 2) 2:06:30

4y ago2:06:30

2:06:30

Drew is shirtless and eating 5% Fage. Lauren walks us through her coffee making process. We respond to a series of increasingly deranged missives and talk Marguerite Duras, Pirates of the Caribbean, Little Rascals, situationism, Morrissey in Sweden, spinach, fapping to Wallace Shawn. We promise to not do this again for another year.…

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1ST ANNIVERSARY CALL-IN SHOW (PT. 1) 1:25:35

4y ago1:25:35

1:25:35

Well we were GOING to do this all in one go but then Drew supposedly got recognized at local watering hole Clandestino by a listener who took him to the underworld (brooklyn) and I guess something unspeakable ensued because Drew showed up an hour late to our recording session and looked and sounded like absolute death. It actually made for some pre…

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Free On The Inside (ft. Donald Morrison) 2:43:39

4y ago2:43:39

2:43:39

We're back! After their triumphant NYC debut, Lauren is back in DC, Drew's moved into Morningside Heights with his Jane Goodall-fancying roommate, and they're ready to chat Grandma's shit death house with their pal Donny Morrissey, an investigative journalist and fan of the show who was first K-pilled some years ago during a stint in county jail fo…

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Vanguard of the Supplicants (ft. Torrey Peters) 2:12:23

4y ago2:12:23

2:12:23

We were a little perplexed when Torrey Peters came groveling before us to come on the show. She’d written a best-selling novel with big topical themes--and other odd things like scenes, characters, plot. Why did she want to talk to two people who’ve devoted their own discourse to a seemingly shapeless, semi-essayistic inventory of one Norwegian’s l…

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Episode 14: Idol Talk pt. 2 1:58:37

4+ y ago1:58:37

1:58:37

We complete our discussion of iconoclasm, monuments, and statues. How do symbolic and material inequalities interact in the public sphere? What is the relationship between statues of racist Americans and structural racism in America today? Ethan schools Max on structuralism in order to make it all make sense. This wraps up a yearlong journey for th…

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Longing, Death, Form (Season 1 Sparknotes: Themes and Motifs) 1:11:25

4+ y ago1:11:25

1:11:25

In the wake of their newfangled fame, Lauren and Drew look back at the themes and characters of Season 1 and attend to correspondence from fans and detractors. Sample of Drew’s “intricate notes”: -Cold open w/Drew’s senioritis suicide note -game of pricks --season 1 finale montage badinage --things we can’t talk about; a final solution for goldendo…

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Sheepdog Brain (ft. Dean Kissick) 2:36:34

4+ y ago2:36:34

2:36:34

Surely one of our most Knausgaardian episodes yet - we spent four hours last Sunday afternoon - a rainy, unseasonably cold day in the mid-Atlantic - chatting with brilliant art critic and prolific croissant eater Dean Kissick. Manhattan traffic hummed outside of Dean's window, we took a yogurt break followed by a coffee break, there was a brief dra…

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Minutt for Minutt 1:10:23

4+ y ago1:10:23

1:10:23

WE ARE BACK! After a dire situation earlier this month, Our Struggle returns, as lo-fi and perfunctory as ever! It's just us boys again this ep but be assured we have some VERY prestigious and intellectual guests on the horizon, so if you're one of those dweebs who listens to our show for so-called "literary criticism" and "thoughtful discussion of…

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Seersucker Semiotics (Trauma Processing Special) 1:33:07

4+ y ago1:33:07

1:33:07

After a run of well-received episodes with prestigious guests and a Bookforum mention we are ready for our slow decline! It's just us boys on this pod, testing out our new mics and recording software, beginning to drift imperceptibly away from our lo-fi roots & thus our scruffy charm and ultimately, our integrity. But for now we're talking about tr…

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Johnson's Johnson (ft. James Griffiths) 1:20:06

4+ y ago1:20:06

1:20:06

IT'S THE RETURN OF THE WELSH WARRIOR! The Duke of Cardiff himself, prestigious CNN journalist James Griffiths is back on the pod and folks?? We got a little off topic!! But who gives a shit, you don't pay for this (yet) and what is a Knausgaard podcast without copious digression (the imitative fallacy can fuck right off)!! Due what I am self diagno…

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On Whale Steaks and Quinoa (ft. Alicia Kennedy) 1:15:09

4+ y ago1:15:09

1:15:09

If you have listened to even one episode of this show you know that we are obsessed with Karl Ove's meals, from the open sandwiches and rissoles of his youth to the smug quinoa salads he avoids as an adult in Stockholm. Well guess what? We somehow got prestigious food writer (and KOK superfan) Alicia Kennedy to agree to come on the pod to talk spre…

1
Game of Pricks (struggle) 2:39

4+ y ago2:39

2:39

Drew's cover of our theme song, Guided by Voices' "Game of Pricks", recorded from his desolate boarding school cloister in PennsburgBy Our Struggle

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Parquet Elegy (ft. Christian Lorentzen) 1:21:06

4+ y ago1:21:06

1:21:06

Our Struggle returns, and this time with highly prestigious guest Christian Lorentzen! In addition to being our new token Gen X friend, Christian is a famous literary critic whose work appears regularly in Harper's, the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement and other high falutin venues. He has not only reviewed book 6 of My Struggl…

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In The Land Of The PSYOPs 1:18:13

4+ y ago1:18:13

1:18:13

After a nearly two month hiatus, Our Struggle returns! Lauren and Drew are back and spicier than ever, delivering for you our timely review of KOK's new essay collection "In the Land of the Cyclops" (which to be clear neither of us have read) before getting on with struggle session 1.2 covering Karl Ove's My Struggle book 1 reflections on his diape…

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Episode 13: May Contain Putsch-Like Substance 1:17:45

4+ y ago1:17:45

1:17:45

Ethan and Max literally make a podcast about people literally storming the US Capitol Building instead of going to therapy. The triumphant return of Literally Everything is overshadowed by troubling events in Washington D.C. Continuing a debate we have had in private over the past four interminable years, we discuss how the "events" of January 6th …

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Taking the K-pill ft. James Griffiths 1:18:48

5y ago1:18:48

1:18:48

Happy Thanksgiving (and to our Romanian listeners: happy thursday!) Last week we welcomed our friend, Hong Kong-based CNN correspondent James Griffiths, to the pod for what may be our smartest episode yet. Apparently the scintillating genius of our show is what spurred James to finally crack open My Struggle: A Death in the Family, so we interviewe…

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Nut cheese (struggle session 1.1) 1:11:08

5y ago1:11:08

1:11:08

Future recipient of the Kamala Harris Grant for Literary Podcasts is back! In this episode we finally get into the belly of the mackerel with a scene-by-scene breakdown of the first 15 or so pages of Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle: A Death in the Family. This is a new thing we're trying because we realized we hadn't actually talked about MS yet.…

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Come From Away ft. John Cullen 1:25:10

5y ago1:25:10

1:25:10

The struggle continues in the third episode of OS as we attempt to bridge the America/Canada cultural divide in a conversation as wide-ranging as the breadth of the interior between Vancouver and St. Johns! Our guest is our new friend John Cullen, a Canadian, comedian and co-host of the Blocked Party podcast, which is by some metrics actually a mor…

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Salmon Diplomacy ft. Brendan O'Kane 1:16:58

5y ago1:16:58

1:16:58

It's our sophomore slump! In the second episode of Our Struggle, we welcome guest Brendan O'Kane, a renown sinologist and literary translator who has not only not read Knausgaard but adamantly refuses to. Can we convince him that early modern Chinese literature and My Struggle have more in common than he'd think? 0:00 - More fish talk. Drew had a c…

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Episode 12: Idol Talk pt. 1 1:03:17

5y ago1:03:17

1:03:17

Literally Everything is back with a two-part discussion of iconoclasm: the destruction of statues. The topic is in the news today, with monuments around the country and indeed the globe coming down, either toppled by protestors or removed quietly by local governments. But this phenomenon has deep roots in our history, which is what we discuss in pa…

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Our Struggle To Start A Podcast ft. Robert Rust (a Real Norwegian) 1:20:56

5y ago1:20:56

1:20:56

NOTE TO LISTENERS: DREW'S AUDIO GETS BETTER IN THE SECOND HALF I PROMISE Call this episode the opposite of Norwegian cuisine because boy is it SPICY! In the pilot episode of Our Struggle we put the following institutions on blast: quinoa, Sweden, the New Yorker, and august literary critic James Wood (for being a beautiful genius :) ). This is a jam…

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TRAILER - OUR STRUGGLE TO PRONOUNCE "KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD" 1:49

5y ago1:49

1:49

IN this preview our friend Rob (a real Norwegian) teaches us how to say the great man's name in the AUTHENTIC style of the fjord peoplesBy ourstruggle

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Episode 11: Epistemological Contagion 1:44:02

5+ y ago1:44:02

1:44:02

Ethan and Max discuss the CoVid-19 crisis "as an epistemological event." Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge — what do we know to be true? What criteria do we use to decide what is a fact? How do we organize our knowledge? We all have intuitive answers to these questions, but they have been put under tremendous pressu…

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Episode 10: Eschatological Fixation 1:17:41

5+ y ago1:17:41

1:17:41

Max and Ethan discuss the history of apocalyptic thought, from its roots in post-exilic Hebrew literature, to its central place in early Christian thought, and finally its secularized modern form. To what extent is our understanding of contemporary crises shaped by religious ideas from thousands of years ago. We use climate change as an example, be…

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Episode 9: Our Favorite Topic 1:43:32

5+ y ago1:43:32

1:43:32

It's a supersized episode this week! First, Max and Ethan debrief after watching their hometown teams go head-to-head in the Big Game, the Literally Everything Bowl. Ethan's Chiefs won, but it's okay because Max is already over it — so over it, in fact, that he doesn't even bring up how problematic the Tomahawk Chop is. Then, we have a long convers…

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Episode 7: Just the Tip 1:06:51

6y ago1:06:51

1:06:51

A deep dive on circumcision! We talk about the various contexts that intersect on this highly sensitive issue — much more sensitive than other issues, to hear some people talk about it. From public health to religious freedom, we cover, or uncover (depending on your preference) it all. Most of all, we try to understand: why is it that European libe…

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Episode 6b: "The Secular Gaze" 48:37

6y ago48:37

48:37

At long last, the fabled second segment from our most recent episode! We discuss Mohammad Hassan Khalil's excellent book, Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism. Khalil persuasively argues that the New Atheists — a group of "rationalist" critics of religion who hold that Islam commands its adherents to kill unbelievers — uncritically adopt the radi…

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Episode 6: Israeli Election Special 1:00:50

6y ago1:00:50

1:00:50

Israel is holding an election and we go deep on its implications for the future of the country itself, the occupation, and American Jews' relationship with Zionism. What is Netanyahu's position within the Israeli right? What abou the Israeli left — remember them? And what are American Jews supposed to think about it all? We go long on this topic, s…

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Episode 5: Blast from the Past 1:13:29

6y ago1:13:29

1:13:29

Lately it seems like our world is headed back to the Middle Ages, with its brutal violence, strict hierarchies, and absolute monarchs. Worse yet, some people on the alt-Right think this is a good thing! We discuss how scholars of the Medieval period grapple with the use (and abuse) of their field of study, and whether identity politics can help sor…