Erik Larson on journalling, fatalism, and time travel

Nerdette

Greta Johnsen

Tv & Film, Self, Nerd, Books, Technology, Tv, Improvement, Culture, Wbez, Society & Culture, Pop, Nerdette, Nerds

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2015

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Erik Larson, who brings history to life in his nonfiction, discusses how he documents his own life, how he makes his own luck, and where he'd go if he had a TARDIS. Plus, how the bicycle informed feminism and some transatlantic homework.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This fall, W bez invites you to our upcoming live events.
0:05.0	Join us in person for smart discussions, heartfelt storytelling, and more.
0:09.0	Check out the full calendar now at W be easy.org slash events.
0:15.0	Hello you're listening to Nurdette from W be easy in Chicago. I'm Greta
0:19.7	Johnson. And I'm Tricia Bobita. This week we talked to author Eric Larson.
0:24.0	He's perhaps best known for his book The Devil in the White City, which is especially well loved here in Chicago.
0:28.0	It tells the parallel stories of this super creepy serial killer and the construction of the world's
0:32.6	Colombian exposition in Chicago in 1893. Some people call his work
0:37.2	narrative non-fiction which is a term he takes issue with. We'll talk to him
0:40.5	about that. Whatever you want to call it, his books are not dry
0:43.6	toms with lots of boring quotes and exposition. His newest book is
0:47.0	called Dead Wake. It's about the sinking of the Lusitania that's coming
0:49.8	up. All that and more this week on Nurdett, because everybody's a little nerdy about something.
0:55.0	Make it snappy, nerd!
1:00.0	Nurd!
1:02.0	Greta, you and... nerds.
1:14.8	G by most traditional history books or documentaries or these kinds of things and it's always fun when we find a kindred spirit in that pursuit and Sue Macy is definitely one of them.
1:19.4	Sue Macy writes books about women in history for young readers but her books are a fun poppy read about history no matter what age you are.
1:27.0	We wanted to talk to her a little about one because it's spring and that is her book about
1:30.4	women and cycling.
1:32.4	It's called Wheels of Change Change how women rode the bicycle to freedom
1:35.3	with a few flat tires along the way. I love this title. We all have a few flat tires
	...

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