Patchett, Kingsolver & Lee on the Art—and Uncertainty—of Being a Modern Novelist

Barbara Kingsolver (0:00)

No matter what book you're reading, whether it's The Dragon Gets the Girl, or Moby Dick, or what, if you're reading, you are engaging with that capacity to imagine another life.

Kara Swisher (0:25)

Hi everyone from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This is On with Kara Swisher and I'm Kara Swisher. We've got a really special episode for you today. I'm speaking with three of the most celebrated American novelists of our time. Their careers span decades and combined, they've won pretty much every prestigious literary award you can think of. Lucky for us, they've all released new books in the last few months and I thought, let's just bring them together. Often you do separate interviews with these people, but I don't care. It's my podcast. I can do what I want and we have done it. Barbara Kingsolver is the author of more than a dozen books including Demon Copperhead, which won her a Pulitzer Prize. Her latest novel, Partita, is about an aspiring concert pianist whose life is upended by love and tragedy. It hits on some of her favorite themes like class divides, ambition and the power of art.

Min Jin Lee is the author of the novels Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko. The latter was a finalist for the National Book Award. Lee just released her third novel after nearly a decade, American Hagwon. It follows a formerly middle class Korean family as they try to rebuild their lives and find financial stability in California. And Ann Patchett is the winner of this year's Library of Congress prize for her body of fiction, including best sellers like The Dutch House and Bel Canto.

Her latest novel Whistler is about a woman who reconnects with her stepfather after decades of separation and a tragic accident that changed their lives. Patchett also owns her own independent bookstore in Nashville. Why do I want to talk to these authors together? Because there's a lot of topics about the business, the publishing industry, making a life with art and the books themselves. And because it's really interesting when you bring people together. I'm very excited.

One more thing before we dive in. I'm doing a tour with the one and only Scott Galloway.

Very different from these women. That's right. This November, we're bringing our show Pivot on the road. We're stopping in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, and New York. We'll get into AI, the midterms and every billionaire behaving badly in social media. I'll also do my best to keep Scott in line in front of the live audience. God help me. So if we're coming to a city near you, grab tickets before we sell out and bring your best questions for the live Q&A.

Get tickets at pivottour.com. That's pivottour.com. All right. Let's get to my conversation with these three amazing authors and legends. Our expert question comes from New Yorker staff writer and book critic, Becca Rothfeld. She was previously the non-fiction book critic at the Washington Post. It's not every day you get to sit down with three titans of the literary world like this.

So now you can and don't go anywhere.

SPEAKER_3 (3:39)

You know that feeling. Too many updates, too many meetings, too many things falling through the cracks. monday.com was built for that gap. The AI work platform designed from the ground up for people and agents to work side by side and deliver more together. Drafting the brief, flagging risks, running a competitive scan, your agent can do it all. The best part, anyone can build one. Even you, try it. Create your first Monday agent today at monday.com.

SPEAKER_4 (4:10)

Support for the show comes from TikTok. There is a scientifically documented correlation between listening to podcasts and curiosity. So since you're here, you probably enjoy discovering new things. One great place to indulge your curiosity is TikTok. Whether it's how to forecast volcanic eruptions, strange phenomena that the James Webb Space Telescope picked up near the beginning of time, or a literal deep dive on the ocean's deepest reefs, TikTok has a wealth of fascinating videos just waiting to be discovered.

Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. Learn more at tiktok.com/discover more.

Kara Swisher (4:55)

Barbara, Min and Ann, thank you for coming on on.

Min Jin Lee (4:58)

Thank you for having us. You're welcome. Thanks so much for having us.

Kara Swisher (5:02)

So it's a real treat to have you all together. I wanted to have this conversation because I want to talk about what it means to write and sell a novel right now, and obviously all three of you are quite successful at all these things.

Now, all three of your latest novels have some broad themes in common, family bonds, trauma, and how past influences the present. We'll get into how each of you specifically tackles these ideas, but broadly, why do you think these are important themes to explore right now in 2026? Let's start with Barbara and then Min and then Ann.