David Rakoff from PRI: The Sound of Young America

David Rakoff is an essayist, journalist, and a regular contributor to This American Life. His latest book is a collection of essays called Half Empty, on taking down optimism and championing pessimism. Listen to the podcast.

John Brandon from PRI: The Sound of Young America

John Brandon is a novelist who was raised on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Citrus County is set in his home state and is his second novel, focusing on a teacher and two middle-schoolers who have their loneliness and status as outsiders in common. The book is part crime novel and part exploration of the adolescent pysche.

Download the podcast here. See also: Citrus County, Arkansas, The Searchers (John Wayne Collection)

The AV Club - December 2010 from PRI: The Sound of Young America

Keith Phipps and Nathan Rabin of The AV Club stop by to sift through pop culture and present their picks, which include a box set from Apple Records, a new cut of the classic film Metropolis, a book from The Onion columnist Jean Teasdale, and the documentary Best Worst Movie.

Download the podcast here. See also: The Onion Presents A Book of Jean's Own!: All New Wit, Wisdom, and Wackiness from The Onion's Beloved Humor Columnist, The Onion Presents A Book of Jean's Own!: All New Wit, Wisdom, and Wackiness from The Onion's Beloved Humor Columnist, Dalai Lama Renaissance (narrated by Harrison Ford) - PAL/International version

William Gibson from PRI: The Sound of Young America

William Gibson is a science fiction writer whose works, increasingly, take place in a realistic present. His latest book, Zero History, is about fashion, authenticity and identity.

Listen to the show here. Download the show here. See also: Zero History, Spook Country, Count Zero

Vocoder from PRI: The Sound of Young America

Dave Tompkins is an acclaimed music journalist. His new book, How To Wreck A Nice Beach, is a history of the vocoder from its military applications to its musical ones.

Listen to the PRI podcast here, or download it here.

Kristen Schaal from PRI: The Sound of Young America

Kristen Schaal is a comedian, actress, and author. She's best known for her role as Mel, the devoted, stalkerish fan of the band on HBO's "The Flight of the Conchords". She's recently co-authored a book, "The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex", with Rich Blomquist.

Listen to the podcast here.

"Street style from The Sartorialist" from PRI's The Sound of Young America

Photographs from the popular street fashion photography blog, The Sartorialist, now published in a new book. One of America's most popular fashion bloggers, Scott Schuman is the creator of the street fashion photography blog, The Sartorialist. His new book of the same name collects some of his favorite photos from the blog. His subjects range from Hasidim on the streets of New York to garment industry insiders in Milan. Schuman worked in the fashion industry for some time before picking up a camera. He owned a showroom that sold fashion collections into major department stores. By the time he was a teenager, Schuman knew he wanted to work in fashion, and while he was limited by geography, he was able to pursue his passion through the retail side of the business. "Where I grew up in Indiana, there was no fashion business, there really was no fashion. So, the romantic idea of that world was great. I loved the romance of that kind of idea. I didn't know any designers growing up. I didn't know what that lifestyle was like.

Download The Sound of Young America podcast here. Of course, all of the fashion blogs are ablaze and giddy over the book. For example, the Fashion Bomb blog, blogged this:

So any of my friends will tell you that I have a serious weakness for fashion and literature. My shelves and drawers are overflowing with clothes and tons and tons of books on anything from art and history to fantasy. Whilst perusing the selection at W.H. Smith, a local English bookstore, I was of course driven to distraction by all the amazing offerings in the fashion section. I’ve been a fan of the Sartorialist‘s blog for a long time, and see Scott Schuman at every fashion week. Though I could just as easily look at all his hottest street looks online, I decided to pick up his book…and couldn’t put it down.

Check that post out, here. See also: FASHION BLOGS, Characterising Successful Fashion Blogs and Their Evaluation Metrics, Photo Fashion Book - Rosemount Australian by Fashion Media, Blogs: Slashdot, Blog, Bloggingheads.tv, Xanga, Digg, Gucci Gang controversy, Sousveillance, Fashion blog, EPIC FU, History of blogging