The Critic and Her Publics

Welcome to Season Two of The Critic and Her Publics: The Art of Editing. This season, in a series of live conversations, Merve Emre asks the smartest and savviest editors how the sausage gets made. What happens behind the scenes at a magazine? How does an idea become a book? And how do you work with those strange and difficult creatures we call writers?Hosted by Merve Emre • Edited by Michele Moses • Music by Dani Lencioni • Art by Leanne Shapton • Sponsored by Alfred A. KnopfThe Critic and Her Publics is a co-production between the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing and Criticism at Wesleyan University, New York Review of Books, and Lit Hub.

Recent Episodes

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Recent Reviews

lee Lozano

Hmmm

This was so great until the truly tedious bit on Zoe Leonard’s incredible piece.
Heatherz70

Learn more with each episode!

Would I consider myself a literary person, no.. Do I enjoy learning about the subject, different pieces of work and those who critique, absolutely! I enjoy the back and fourth between Merve and her guest. I enjoy the entire process and have actually purchased more than one book either mentioned or based on the author mentioned. If you love learning this is an easy listen and something for everyone. I do love to read and learn about topics I may not go to naturally. This is a great podcast for women who want to challenge themselves.
Shutongh

Please, more of the guests!

I really appreciate the idea of this show and I do enjoy reading Emre’s writing. But she conducts each interview as if she is the teacher and inevitably brings the conversation to be about her or her own teaching /writing. This is fine for an episode but gets repetitive week after week. Please keep the focus on the guests.
joe appel

such a disappointment

This really is quite poor. I so wanted to like it, be captivated, be enlightened. But the tone is close to unbearable: cloying, self-absorbed, unctuous. And there hasn’t been a single moment that goes anywhere beneath the surface. The questions are beyond bland and anodyne, and the guests respond in kind. Everyone comes off seeming like the most self-absorbed, shallow bores I’d run screaming from at a party. The pity is that I’m sure at least some of the participants are far more interesting than they seem here.
johnnyjonyzz

Are the publics really plural ?

Immense respect for this project, but the vibe… ça m’énerve
nunuhola

entertaining!

I really appreciated the subtle takedown of Andrea Long Chu, the queen of the nasty takedown. Chu did not hold up under questioning. It was also painful to hear her try to improvise about Zoe Leonard’s fabulous manifesto.
tfitz08

Really wanted to like this but

Believe the bad reviews. The host Merve Emre is awkward and off-putting and the show doesn’t feel like it’s about criticism or the guests. It feels like it’s about self promotion and her.
DC Couples Counselor

to perform criticism

I love this! Who knew criticism could be so lively, so joyous? Together the two speakers generate a thought world of astonishing vividness and precision. I’m tripping over my words because they feel clumsy compared to Emre and Long Chu. But I want to thank you, Merve Emre, for designing and conducting this unique experiment. I can’t wait for the further episodes to come! PS: You may be privileging woman-identified critics here, but I’m hoping terribly that you’ll get Daniel Mendelsohn to join you for an episode.
thisaintit1

grim

I quite Iike Andrea Long Chu but that interviewer is unbearable