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.

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