Private Life is a podcast from The New York Review, hosted by contributor Jarrett Earnest. Each episode offers intimate, in-depth conversations with distinguished voices from across the literary landscape—about their lives, their work, and the ideas that shape both. Along the way, they revisit pieces from the The New York Review of Books's robust sixty-year archive (some episodes of the podcast will feature newly recorded readings of these classic essays) to situate arguments within contemporary culture. The show also includes discussions of titles from our book publishing arm, New York Review Books, featuring talks with translator Mark Polizzotti on Andr...
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Sep 30, 2026 · 1:03:18
In this episode of Private Life , the actress Holland Taylor reads Renata Adler’s essay “ The Perils of Pauline ,” an expansive assessment of Pauline Kael’s film criticism from…
Sep 23, 2026 · 54:44
In the second season premiere of Private Life , host Jarrett Earnest is joined by the writer and critic Lucy Sante to discuss Pauline Kael’s career, pop culture writing, and…
Jul 22, 2026 · 34:51
This episode is a reading of Daniel Mendelsohn’s essay,“ A Little Iliad ,” a review of the film Troy, an adaptation of the Iliad , from the Review ’s June 24, 2004, issue. It is…
Jul 15, 2026 · 1:11:00
In this episode of Private Life , Daniel Mendelsohn joins Jarrett Earnest to discuss his 2025 translation of Homer’s Odyssey and Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming film adaptation,…
Jul 8, 2026 · 26:53
In this episode of Private Life, the poet and writer Eileen Myles reads Geoffrey O'Brien's essay on Frank O'Hara, ” The Mayakovsky of MacDougal Street ,” from The New York Review…
Jul 1, 2026 · 50:45
In this episode of Private Life , Robert Glück joins Jarrett Earnest for a conversation about his books, the characters that shaped his stories, and Geoffrey O’Brien’s essay “…
Jun 24, 2026 · 51:50
In this episode of Private Life , Langdon Hammer reads Helen Vendler’s essay, “ Chronicles of Love and Loss ,” from the May 11, 1995, issue of The New York Review of Books . The…
Jun 17, 2026 · 23:56
This episode of Private Life is a reading from the forthcoming New York Review Books collection of Eve Babitz’s writing, Too L.A.: Letters Never Sent (But Some Were) , edited and…
Jun 10, 2026 · 1:08:31
In this episode of Private Life , Matthew Aucoin joins Jarrett Earnest to discuss the state of music criticism, the work of music composition, and the life and writing of…
May 27, 2026 · 57:07
In this episode of Private Life , Lili Anolik joins Jarrett Earnest for a conversation about the life and legacy of Eve Babitz, in honor of the publication of New York Review…
May 20, 2026 · 34:01
In the May 27, 2010, issue of The New York Review of Books , Ingrid D. Rowland wrote “Radiant, Angry Caravaggio,” a look at the tempestuous life and brilliant art of the painter…
May 13, 2026 · 54:16
In this episode of Private Life, the art historian Ingrid D. Rowland joins Jarrett Earnest for an in-depth discussion about art history and disegno , an Italian word for “design”…
May 6, 2026 · 36:26
Private Life presents a bonus episode from our friends at Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast . Produced by the eponymous art gallery, Dialogues brings together artists,…
Apr 29, 2026 · 41:07
In the October 21, 1999, issue of The New York Review of Books , Martin Filler wrote “Ghosts in the House,” about Frank Gehry’s life and work at the turn of the century,…
Apr 22, 2026 · 1:10:19
In this episode of Private Life, Martin Filler joins Jarrett Earnest for a conversation about architecture criticism, Frank Gehry, and the art that makes us weep. Martin Filler…
Apr 15, 2026 · 28:19
In March 2019 Namwali Serpell wrote for the NYR Online about a choose-your-own-adventure-style episode of the television show Black Mirror , Karl Ove Knausgaard, Hannah Arendt,…
Apr 8, 2026 · 1:15:57
In this episode of Private Life , the writer and New York Review contributor Namwali Serpell joins Jarrett Earnest to discuss her new book, On Morrison , a collection of essays…
Apr 1, 2026 · 51:21
In this episode of Private Life , the writer, translator, and editor Gini Alhadeff reads excerpts from Mark Polizzotti’s recent translation, for NYRB Classics, of André Breton’s…
Mar 25, 2026 · 1:15:45
In this episode of Private Life , Jarrett Earnest is joined by Mark Polizzotti to discuss André Breton’s surrealist novel, Nadja , originally published in 1928 and translated…
Mar 18, 2026 · 38:33
In this episode of Private Life , Richard Hell reads from his novel Godlike (2005), which was reissued last month by NYRB Classics with a new afterword by Raymond Faye. Godlike…
Mar 11, 2026 · 58:10
In this episode of Private Life , Richard Hell joins Jarrett Earnest to discuss his novel Godlike (newly reissued by NYRB Classics), his creative process, the love of poetry, and…
Mar 4, 2026 · 47:32
In the June 24, 1999, issue of The New York Review of Books, Joyce Carol Oates wrote about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey and dissected America’s fascination with “the category of…
Feb 25, 2026 · 1:03:26
In the third episode of Private Life , Joyce Carol Oates joins Jarrett Earnest for an expansive conversation on everything from Joan Didion to serial killers. They discuss “New…
Feb 18, 2026 · 1:01:37
In the May 4, 1972, issue of The New York Review of Books , Elizabeth Hardwick wrote about the lives and work of the Brontë sisters on the occasion of Winifred Gérin’s then-new…
Feb 11, 2026 · 51:03
In the first episode of our podcast Private Life , Darryl Pinckney talks with host Jarrett Earnest about his close friend and former teacher Elizabeth Hardwick. Pinckney…
Feb 6, 2026 · 1:19
We are thrilled to present Private Life , a new podcast from The New York Review that delves into that creative, exhilarating moment where ideas first appeared on the page.…
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