The chicken is just the egg’s way of making another egg.Mary Norris

'Well,' says Mary Norris – New Yorker copy editor and author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, 'it’s true that my life has been completely squandered on words. I’ve hardly ever done anything!'

As part of The Interrobang, Norris unpicks the complex relationship between words and actions. If actions give birth to words, and words may inspire actions, does it really come down to deciding between the figurative chicken or the egg?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

<div class="pull-quote figure figure--pull-quote figure__display--left-aligned">
<blockquote class="pull-quote__quote">The chicken is just the egg’s way of making another egg.</blockquote>
<cite class="pull-quote__attribution caption">Mary Norris</cite>
</div>
'Well,' says Mary Norris – New Yorker copy editor and author of Between You &amp; Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, 'it’s true that my life has been completely squandered on words. I’ve hardly ever done anything!'
As part of The Interrobang, Norris unpicks the complex relationship between words and actions. If actions give birth to words, and words may inspire actions, does it really come down to deciding between the figurative chicken or the egg?See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

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One last question: Mary Norris, on the importance of words

What happens when the promise of reinvention collides with the ruthless machinery of reality television?

Drawing on his own experience as a two-time Survivor contestant, Stephen Fishbach’s sharply observed novel Escape! follows a washed-up reality television star and a disgraced producer, each chasing a second chance on a new survival show where every contestant has been cast as a type, every storyline has been carefully engineered and the stakes soon become far greater than anyone imagined.

Fishbach joins host Veronica Sullivan for a conversation about the blurred boundaries between performance and authenticity and what our appetite for spectacle reveals about contemporary culture. 

Originally presented on Wednesday 14 October 2026 by The Wheeler Centre.

The official bookseller was Readings.

Featured music is 'Traveling Again' by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist.

What happens when the promise of reinvention collides with the ruthless machinery of reality television? Drawing on his own experience as a two-time Survivor contestant, Stephen Fishbach&rsquo;s sharply observed novel Escape! follows a washed-up reality television star and a disgraced producer, each chasing a second chance on a new survival show where every contestant has been cast as a type, every storyline has been carefully engineered and the stakes soon become far greater than anyone imagined. Fishbach joins host Veronica Sullivan for a conversation about the blurred boundaries between performance and authenticity and what our appetite for spectacle reveals about contemporary culture. Originally presented on Wednesday 14 October 2026 by The Wheeler Centre. The official bookseller was Readings. Featured music is 'Traveling Again' by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist.

Stephen Fishbach: Escape!

Hear from one of the country’s most acclaimed authors, Kate Grenville, on her dazzling new work of non-fiction – a colonial-era cold case that’s part locked-room mystery, part captivating exploration of a writer's imagination navigating the blurred boundaries between fact and possibility.

The Country Schoolmaster: A Mystery in 88 Letters begins with the discovery of an unassuming bundle of letters in an archive. On closer inspection, they reveal a complex and curious tale of victims, villains and small-town secrets. Was schoolmaster Joseph Connor savagely beating the students in his care? Or was he the victim of a small-town vendetta? And what went so terribly wrong between him and his daughter?

Fearlessly grappling with complicated histories and the strange textures of the past, Grenville once again reveals how great stories can emerge from unassuming archival fragments. Join her in conversation with Santilla Chingaipe as she lifts the lid on this fascinating true story.  

Originally presented on Thursday 1 October 2026 by The Wheeler Centre. 

Featured music is 'Traveling Again' by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist. 

The official bookseller was Ramona Books.

 

Hear from one of the country&rsquo;s most acclaimed authors, Kate Grenville, on her dazzling new work of non-fiction &ndash; a colonial-era cold case that&rsquo;s part locked-room mystery, part captivating exploration of a writer's imagination navigating the blurred boundaries between fact and possibility.
The Country Schoolmaster: A Mystery in 88 Letters begins with the discovery of an unassuming bundle of letters in an archive. On closer inspection, they reveal a complex and curious tale of victims, villains and small-town secrets. Was schoolmaster Joseph Connor savagely beating the students in his care? Or was he the victim of a small-town vendetta? And what went so terribly wrong between him and his daughter?
Fearlessly grappling with complicated histories and the strange textures of the past, Grenville once again reveals how great stories can emerge from unassuming archival fragments. Join her in conversation with Santilla Chingaipe as she lifts the lid on this fascinating true story.  Originally presented on Thursday 1 October 2026 by The Wheeler Centre. Featured music is 'Traveling Again' by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist. The official bookseller was Ramona Books.
&nbsp;

Kate Grenville: A Mystery in 88 Letters

India’s great chronicler of memory, family, identity and belonging sits down with host Mridula Nath Chakraborty to discuss her luminous, genre-defying books and extraordinary literary career. 

Originally presented on Wednesday 12 August 2026 by The Wheeler Centre.

‘Anything worth doing transcends borders,’ writes Geetanjali Shree in her 2022 International Booker Prize-winning novel, Tomb of Sand. This sentiment also encapsulates her career to date. An author writing in Hindi, with her gaze firmly fixed on the lives and concerns of Indian characters, Shree tells the kind of polyphonic, big-hearted stories that chime with universal truth.

From Our City That Year, an evocative tale of love, loss and the indelible marks left by time, to the poetic and formally inventive short stories in the collection Once Elephants Lived Here, to the lauded Tomb of Sand, Shree’s work offers readers insight into the rich plurality of the world.

Join her for a conversation about the ascendency of South Asian literature, the life-changing impact of winning the International Booker Prize and how storytelling connects us across backgrounds and borders.

India&rsquo;s great chronicler of memory, family, identity and belonging sits down with host Mridula Nath Chakraborty to discuss her luminous, genre-defying books and extraordinary literary career.&nbsp;
Originally presented on Wednesday 12 August 2026 by The Wheeler Centre.
&lsquo;Anything worth doing transcends borders,&rsquo; writes Geetanjali Shree in her 2022 International Booker Prize-winning novel, Tomb of Sand. This sentiment also encapsulates her career to date. An author writing in Hindi, with her gaze firmly fixed on the lives and concerns of Indian characters, Shree tells the kind of polyphonic, big-hearted stories that chime with universal truth.
From Our City That Year, an evocative tale of love, loss and the indelible marks left by time, to the poetic and formally inventive short stories in the collection Once Elephants Lived Here, to the lauded Tomb of Sand, Shree&rsquo;s work offers readers insight into the rich plurality of the world. Join her for a conversation about the ascendency of South Asian literature, the life-changing impact of winning the International Booker Prize and how storytelling connects us across backgrounds and borders.

One last question: Mary Norris, on the importance of words

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