Send us a text Jason welcomes writer & rock star Andrew Whiteman (of Broken Social Scene, Apostle of Hustle, & Bourbon Tabernacle Choir fame) for a wide-ranging interface about giant Greek eyes, secretly grooving to Sade, the glory of Prince, being possessed by the guilty spirit of Dostoevsky's Raskolninov, the split self, spontaneous eruptions, & …

Send us a text Jason welcomes writer & traveler Caroline Topperman for a ramble-chat about Poland, Paris, having a lot of houses in your brain, the glory of Judy Blume, high school prose things full of meaning, & how stories connect us. Also: Caroline tells Jason what to do. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Ins…

Send us a text Jason welcomes pilgrim & author Kelly Watt for a ramble about the secret intelligence of chickens, the power of pilgrimage, fighting the enemy Rick, learning story arcs, Alice Munro, and waitress laments. Crank up the disco & tear down all the schedules! Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram…

Send us a text Jason welcomes hunky singer-songwriter Lee Shedden for a vast ramble about getting drunk in Calgary, how books are bullshit, Martin Amis, listening to KISS on the Gravitron, the glory of Gillian Welch, & how Jason was the worst influence on wee young Lee. There isn't much old literary shit, but the episode is studded—in every way—wit…

Send us a text Jason welcomes himself for a reading of an Okanagan University College-era essay, circa 1994, on Lawrence Sterne's 'Tristram Shandy.' Should he have been allowed to pass the course? Should he have been allowed to graduate? Choose your own adventure! He now knows how to pronounce 'historiographer,' so there's that. Thanks, as always, …

Send us a text All differences are sorted & congratulations exchanged as Jason is joined by author & rocker & colleague Iain Maloney for an interface about Iain's Scottish-themed KISS character, the geeks & the posh, selling out, sticking by your decisions, having no stories to tell, and dying in Japan. Merry Christmas, everyone! Join the early sh*…

Send us a text Little Brain or Great Brain? Choose your own adventure! Jason welcomes writer & host of The History of Literature podcast Jacke Wilson for a jaw about getting addicted to travel, the glory of John Fitzgerald's Great Brain series, punching up & punching down, not recommending books, Jacke's early days as a podcaster, some important in…

Send us a text Welcome to WRTES Season 4, in all the alleys & under all the streetlamps, & join Jason and author Susan Wadds for a salubrious & contagious confab about sacred images, why we read, Yugoslavian dwarves, the different ways of telling the same story, & drinking baijiu with Leonard Cohen in Berlin. As an added attraction, Jason, in the s…

Send us a text Jason welcomes back DJ Max in Tokyo for the spectacular Season Three finale: negative influences, funky but not too funky drumbeats, Gifu vs Tokyo, Max's lurid romantic past, and what might be the very hardest kind of early shit to write. Also, as a special treat for WRTES's loyal listeners, Max unearths one of his early songs: the p…

Send us a text The tables are comprehensively turned as Jason reads some of his early, Lawrence Durrell-infused early prose to Tom. Will Tom denounce it for the pretentious bunk it is, or will he tenderly offer up his own spine to be blessed? Tune in to find out! Also: a special appearance from Maho. Big wizard beats by the incomparable DJ Max in T…

Send us a text Jason welcomes writer & Kill Scenes front-woman Meghan Lamb for a gabfest about love smacks & hate smacks, posthumous dead girls, being stuck inside cows, suggestions of obsession, cheating meat monkeys, bloody mermaids, corpse rats scurrying through the gore, writing to learn about the world, & the macabre shock of it all. Jason als…

Send us a text Something's burning, baby! Jason (who's been in trouble ever since he set his suitcase down) welcomes author Matthew Ingate (who's no pig without a wig) for a natter about Dylan's best 21st century albums, secretive gloating, stretching & moving time, Madame Godzilla, what's missing in 'The Godfather,' & a small diner in Santa Fe whe…

Send us a text Jason welcomes writer Patrick Grace for a chinwag about his debut collection 'Deviant,' the pitfalls of confessional poetry, listening to your house, anxiety dreams, the local high school's drugged-up teens, how hard it is to talk about what scares us, & backseat icicles of drool. Big wizard beats, as always, by DJ Max in Tokyo. Join…

Send us a text Jason welcomes writer Hannah Calder for an interface about chickens giving you the finger, how great Charles Dickens is, exploding kneecaps, riding horses naked down the beach, crazy parades, swollen breasts, writing the perfect book, the power & influence of early 90s music videos, and kissing viking lovers and/or dictators. It's a …

Send us a text Jason welcomes novelist Wayne Ng for a rattle about being named Wayne or Jason, starting late, whether or not scribbling is writing, the realities of self-promotion, the ballsiness of writers, ass-kicking kung-fu Asian stereotypes, and the real reason why writers are cool. Big wizard beats, as always, by DJ Max in Tokyo. Thanks to Wa…

Send us a text Jason welcomes beautifully laconic poet Tonya Lailey for an interface about wine agencies, comfort books, thin places, what's fab about Nova Scotia, Calgary's supportive writing scene, dot matrix printers, industrial agriculture, allowing the mistake, & how the trick is fun. Look for her debut collection, 'FARM: Lot 23,' out soon. Bi…

Send us a text CALM DOWN. Jason welcomes podcaster and author of '60 Songs That Explain the '90s' Rob Harvilla for a confabulation about furious moping, tongue exercises, the glory of New Kids on the Block's 'Games,' wack slacks and lame stains, not leaving your pizza burning, rad steez, clutching at borrowed pearls, and the best KISS song to sing …

Send us a text Jason welcomes Jason for a jaw about Thousand Island pirates, comfort reading, defacing books, fireworks for Hitler, getting your ego out of the way of the writing, & a naked onion in the park with Pierre Berton. Music, as always, by DJ Warm Farm Milk Max in Tokyo. Thanks to Wayne Emde for the artwork, Joe Emde for help with the intr…

Send us a text Jason welcomes Vancouver's Poet Laureate for a ramble about Emily of New Moon, writing into fear & anxiety, concrete corpses in the living room, goth trenchcoats, werewolves draped in mourning, having some feelings & a trombone, reading to dogs, & the real answer to the question "How do I get published?" Music, as always, by savage h…

Send us a text Jason welcomes author Steven Lattey for a yackety-yak about Dylan & Ginsberg, reading with patience & gratitude, hitchhiking, convenient access to suffering & struggle, glories never ceasing & glories never coming, & self-help gone bad. There’s a bit of poetry, as well, & you can check out more of Steven's stuff at www.stevenlattey.c…

Send us a text Jason welcomes Corinna Chong for a confab about when we stop regretting the people—& the writers—we used to be, plugging gaps with memories, plagiarizing ABBA, the power of end stops, the superpowers writers need, heart worms, licorice holders, & defacing pristine notebooks. Music by savage hunk DJ Max in Tokyo. Thanks to Wayne Emde …

Send us a text Jason welcomes songwriter & musician Daniel Powter for a chinwag about the mysteries of remote Vernon, British Columbia, skipping class to play piano, how Jason didn't launch Daniel's musical career, smashed violins, Prince's Lovesexy tour, not impressing your mum, not knowing who's the prime minister of Canada, and Nite Magic anti-a…

Send us a text Jason welcomes Lorna Crozier for a gab & a yak about stone angels, that shivery sense good writing gives you, being corny & earnest, unwrapping your brain, just what it is about cats anyway, Kerouac in Vernon, riding the poem wherever it wants to go, and how, by God, there is light. And then Lorna makes Jason cry. Music by savage hun…

Send us a text We're not sinking—we're crashing! Jason welcomes the titans of Season One back for a clash of cringe that runs the gamut from brambles & hassles to madness levels to walls dripping tears to using the microwave after 10 pm to the wind blowing you from behind. This is early shit that's WAY too legit to quit. Dave Antich, Victoria Taylo…

Send us a text Jason welcomes Japanese media personality Kaho Shibuya for a prismatic chat about reading novels to understand Japan, teachers turning into deer, an unusual use for Minute Maid Morning Banana jelly, being jealous of temples, & how cooking at home befriends you in the realm of your budget. Also discussed: the recent English translatio…

Send us a text Jason welcomes novelist Nathan Whitock for a waffle about Pulsar & the Six Million Dollar Man, the problem with free jazz, not being attracted to the perverse & underground, candied bile, David Foster Wallace, & Nathan's infamous take down of Oliver Stone's 'JFK.' Nathan also violates the show's premise & reads something early but de…

Send us a text Jason welcomes writer, musician, and publisher Michael Whone for an interface about the joys of the mundane, still hating Dostoevsky, last books, shoplifting Kerouac, and Jason's upcoming poetry collection, little bit die, published by Michael's Bolero Bird imprint. Special bonuses: music from Michael's new acid jazz album, The Light…

Send us a text Jason welcomes memoirist Kelly S. Thompson for a free-ranging ramble about mentoring & being mentored, shitty first drafts, lingering in the ugly, basic training of the mind, misanthropic penguins, cavemen fighting spacemen, bull terriers named Ham, & Kelly's new book, "Still, I Cannot Save You." Music by the angelic DJ Max in Tokyo …

Send us a text Jason welcomes US National Beat Poet Laureate Ron Whitehead for a freewheeling ramble about being blessed with mentors, hearing everybody's story, post office death messages, visiting Hunter S. Thompson, shotgunned Xmas trees, & unconventional sex education. Music by the delicious DJ Max in Tokyo (www.youtube.com/channel/UC2U1n0V9JT8…

Send us a text Writers Read Their Early Shit enjoys its first threesome as Jason welcomes national treasures John Lent and Jude Clarke for a wide-ranging confabulation about pirate adventures, clammy Edmonton bookmobiles, garage stations, gothic 14 point horror stories, escaping gravity's pull, murdering adjectives & adverbs, old age & treachery, &…

Send us a text Jason welcomes Chinese-Canadian poet, playwright, & essayist Dale Lee Kwong for a gas about lesbian tours of China, insulting punctuation, Tom Wayman, tech-nostalgia, being glad to have a dad, the goddess of reality, & how all of the best people have a Vernon, BC connection, whether they know it or not. Music, as always, by the dange…

Send us a text Holy doodle! Jason welcomes one of his oldest & longest-suffering pals for a nostalgia-soaked ramble about high school airbands, role-playing games, pretty good nosebleeds, trying to be Leonard Cohen, & being robbed blind by John Cobra. Roger not only bravely shares some of his high school-era poetry, he turns the table & shares some…

Send us a text "Our mistakes make the best stories, and that's why we should not think of them as failures." In the second of their already legendary chats, Jason & Susan discuss Egyptian typewriters & Italian ranch hands, evolutionary obsequies, reading with Gregory Corso in Amsterdam, vodka made from San Francisco fog, when 'vagina' is the right …

Send us a text Jason welcomes legendary Canadian poet Susan Musgrave and the two get to gabbing—about Leonard Cohen, the House of Carnage, ghosts, grief, stones, Sharon Olds, pre-traumatic stress disorder, how to read poetry, and relearning that the table isn't there—until they run out of time, long before they ever get around to any of Susan's ear…

Send us a text Jason welcomes under-qualified window-washer Dave Olson & his fantastic beard & beautiful hands for a natter about punching or hugging Dostoevsky, see-through loincloths, meeting REM, borrowing mustard from Allen Ginsberg, dodgy Greyhound stations, working out the writing life math, and how cheerleaders are people too. There's ropey …

Send us a text Jason welcomes scarily talented singer-songwriter Amanda Tiffin for a nostalgic chinwag about Amanda's musical origin story, Zimbabwean adventures, Edie Brickell phases, discovering the G augmented chord, Footloose in reverse, squeezing early shit out of annoying roommates, & watching the lights go on. Music by Amanda herself—includi…

Send us a text Jason welcomes KISS ROOM legend Matt Porter for a bombastic, fire & thunder chinwag about Mr. Mutant, learning to do things by making a fool of yourself, escaping from the apes, Duran Duran videos, The Mask saving the president from an assassin's poison-slathered knife, & having hair like melting toothpaste & legs like a piano. It's …

Send us a text Jason welcomes UBC Creative Writing prof & author of the Hillary Gravendyk Prize-winning poetry collection 'The Silk the Moths Ignore' Bronwen Tate for a barely-rescued-from-oblivion confabulation about inefficiency spaces, poetry in the body, red with flesh in it, tender cringe, soggy memories left out in the rain, picking up Squeed…

Send us a text Welcome to WRTES Season Two (& it’s a big one). Excitingly expanding the format, Jason welcomes master podcaster and philosopher-pirate Rob Kelly for a freewheeling, ninety-miles-an-hour-down-a-dead-end-street chinwag about the correct way to butter dinner rolls (according to Harlan Ellison), naming your kids after Dylan characters, …

Send us a text Jason welcomes his long-time literary chum Stephen 'Tom' McKenna for a tender ramble about bludgeoning writers they don't like, ritual suicide in porno detail, movies about writers, Hamnet, stroking flanks, birthdays at Pizza Patio, the Dukes of Hazzard, & how (all evidence to the contrary) reading has made them better people. Jason …

Send us a text Jason welcomes English songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Andrew Tyrone Rodgers for a jaw about accidentally wearing Lincoln Park t-shirts, DKPs (Duran-KISS Pleasures), fixing holes, revisiting childhood poems, cosmic hot pots, too much pop in the park on a Friday, internet cafés, & losing & finding family members. Music by both Andy…

Send us a text Jason welcomes legendary Pods & Sods co-host, Debbie Gibson enthusiast, & pop/rock/rap fantasist Craig Smith for a river deep, mountain high ramble about keyboards made of dynamite, Beatles-obsessed drug-dealing uncle-cousins, discographies of imaginary bands, the best Milli Vanilli video, the constant disappointment of heartbreak, D…

Send us a text Jason welcomes Daria Salamon, author of 'The Prairie Bridesmaid' & co-author of 'Don't Try This At Home,' for a jaw about why Winnipeg is cool for artists, the blonde awfulness of 'Sweet Valley High,' being covered in eggs & tears, the glory of handwritten letters, how as long as the writing is honest the rest can be fixed, & being b…

Send us a text Jason welcomes the refreshingly swear-y Hollay Ghadery, author of 'Fuse,' for a wide-ranging chinwag about multiple vasectomies, hangovers through the decades, feeling anxious about eternity, being a writer or being dead, getting better all the time, & semantic satiation. Hollay also shares some not-too-bad early sh*t. Music by the d…

Send us a text Jason welcomes musician & poet Bill Hickey for a ramble-yak about sharing an elevator with a pissed-off David Foster Wallace, carpet farming, fighting off ALL the members of KISS, & the sick, lip-smacked goodness of gritty early sh*t. They also reminisce about the glories of Goontown, Penguin Dust, & that one time Bill was Jason's ro…

Send us a text Jason welcomes writer & artist Kimberley Orton for a chat about the 20 best Tom Waits songs, what Toronto sounds like, how four to four-thirty is just not long enough for proper sex, the crashing pleasure of hanging up on people, getting bonked by the backspin, & eyes & teeth. Kimberley also shares some exciting excerpts from her tee…

Send us a text Jason welcomes urban Neapolitan & Scotland's best-kept secret, poet & singer-songwriter Roy Møller, for a gabfest about the Beatles, the best Bob Dylan desert island trilogy, how Eternal Thou bought a car, and Røy's unusual origin story. Will Jason pronounce Leith correctly, or will he prove himself to be a seedy little grapefruit of…

Send us a text Jason welcomes Lea Graham, poet & prof & author of 'Hough & Helix & Where & Here & You, You, You' & 'From the Hotel Vernon',' for a chat about Jack Kerouac's grave, Bob Dylan's library books, Michael Jackson in Borneo, adulterous Nazis, circumcision gods, & Lord Pork. Having slightly misunderstood the podcast's premise, Lea also read…

Send us a text Jason welcomes teacher, writer, podcaster, & pal Shea Layton for a gabfest about Rocky Mountain oysters, Pimp cologne, the main problem with guys named Chet, & fist fighting in the food court at the mall. Then, in a thrilling first for WRTES, they deliver a dramatic reading of Shea's incomplete (but compellingly gritty) early screenp…

Send us a text Jason welcomes the scarily-talented Katie Zdybel for a jaw about punctuating your thinking, the perfect literary day, magic trolleys, mermaids, writing letters as writing practice, & the power of JD Salinger's prose. There's also some early sh*t, but not much, because Katie's so good at what she does. Also: thanks to popular demand, …