Interview

‘Confronting the language of lies’: Masha Gessen on Pussy Riot

The Russian-American journalist talks to Hazlitt about her new book, Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot, and the perils of resistance in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

‘One Hot Nebbish’: An Interview with Gary Shteyngart

The tragicomic novelist—now memoirist—talks about his father’s harrowing upbringing, the value of asthma, modern threats to reading culture, and what he really thinks of Canadian writers.

Dreams Adapted

Paul Aikins was an actor; he ended up teaching high school music theatre. Now, with the national-champion choir he leads featured in a new documentary, an old student checks in with her teacher and former enemy.

Just Be Tavi Gevinson: An Interview with the Rookie Editor

On the occasion of her online magazine’s second anniversary—and second publication, Rookie Yearbook Two—the 17-year-old empire operator talks about art, commerce, ’90s nostalgia, and getting off the internet.

Salvage Operations: In Conversation with Jonathan Lethem

A conversation about politics as culture with Dissident Gardens author Jonathan Lethem.

Ron Mann on the Making of Comic Book Confidential

The filmmaker behind the seminal documentary, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary, talks to Hazlitt about how the project came together, underground comics in Reagan-era America, and a memorable call to Mad magazine.

Night Films, Terror Novels: An Interview with Marisha Pessl

The author, who debuted in 2006 with Special Topics in Calamity Physics, talks about crafting the dark, dense world of her latest novel, Night Film; why she prefers terror to horror; and following Woody Allen through the streets of Manhattan.

Warsan Shire Has Beef With Iambic Pentameter

The Kenyan-born British poet talks to Hazlitt about finding inspiration in life’s oddities (from finding women living in your walls to Dogtooth), telling her family’s stories, and why she hates being called “brave.”

“Who survives, who doesn’t?” An Interview with Margaret Atwood

Hazlitt talks to Margaret Atwood about her latest novel, MaddAddam, which completes the dystopic trilogy she began with Oryx and Crake. Plus everything from Twitter flirtations, military history, the state of Canadian literature, and cybersecurity.

The Human Penalty: An Interview with Adelle Waldman

Hazlitt interviews the author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. about the inner psyche of literary white-dudes, relationship insecurities, and whether the novel is being marketed too narrowly as a “Brooklyn literary book.”