Striving for Optimism with Brad Listi

Brad Listi, best known as the host of the otherppl podcast, tried to write a few different books before he settled on the unique form of Be Brief and Tell Them Everything (Ig Publishing, 2022). It is a book written in defiance of the idea of writing the perfect book: a collection of punchy paragraphs; a document designed to release thoughts, impressions, loose recollections; a middle aged attempt to make sense of your life. That's a really hard sell for people who think of books and reading as an escape, or as a finely honed thing that requires certainty to sculpt. Brad's Book turned two a couple months ago and Brad himself will turn fifty on August 1st. I've been a fan for a long time and I was surprised and delighted that he was willing to come on my tiny podcast. We talk about work, about politics, about Gen X and autofiction.