Author Hari Kunzru on his latest book, 'Red Pill'

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2020

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hari Kunzru is a novelist and journalist. He is the author of several novels including: My Revolutions, Gods Without Men, and White Tears. His latest novel is called Red Pill. The book's protagonist is an unnamed narrator. He's a writer in Brooklyn, married with kids. In the back of his mind, he can't shake this feeling: something bad is about to happen in the world. He gets a job in Berlin, a residency. The time alone only invites more demons in. It sends him on a journey around the internet, to reactionary message boards and old blogs. Then, it sends him on a journey around the world, into stone huts in Scotland and Parisian hotels. By the end of the book you might start to wonder if his fears were justified. Hari joins guest host Carrie Poppy to talk about where he got the idea for this new book, the dark web, online privacy, and similarities between his real life experiences and Red Pill's narrator.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:10.6	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn.
0:21.4	So there's a new novel out, it's called Red Pill.
0:25.1	It's written by our next guest, Harry Conzer.
0:28.3	Red Pill is a little bit satire, a little bit of a comment on politics today.
0:32.1	It's also a gripping thriller.
0:34.4	Without giving up too much, here's the setup.
0:36.6	The book's protagonist is an unnamed narrator.
0:39.9	He's a writer in Brooklyn married with kids, and in the back of his mind, he can't shake
0:44.1	this feeling that something bad is about to happen.
0:47.6	He doesn't know what, he doesn't know what he can do about it, but the growing terror
0:52.4	is beginning to consume him.
0:54.9	He gets a job in Berlin, a writer's residency.
0:58.9	The time alone only invites in more demons.
1:02.0	Is he being watched?
1:03.1	Is there an evil growing in the world?
1:05.9	To the West, he sees Nazi ruins to the East, the Stasi Museum.
1:10.4	It sends him on a journey around the internet to reactionary message boards and old blogs,
1:15.8	then it sends him on a journey around the world, into stone huts in Scotland and Parisian
1:21.0	hotels.
1:22.0	By the end of the book, you, the readers, start to wonder if his fears were justified.
1:26.6	Now, obviously, this isn't light reading, but it's compelling.
	...

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