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This week, we talk to author Adam Mansbach. While Mansbach is best-known for the satirical childrens book Go the Fuck to Sleep, his novels like Angry Black White Boy and The End of the Jews examine some of the thorniest issues in American life — race, culture, family, and the paradoxes and conflicts in all of them. His latest novel is the “graffiti revenge” story Rage Is Back.

We have two special guests for this show. DJ J. Period accompanied Mansbach to our studio. J is a well-respected mixtape DJ, and he created an excellent companion tape to Rage Is Back that features songs from artists like Black Thought and Talib Kweli. We were also joined by Dresden Dolls drummer Brian Viglione, who entered our conversation when it turned to his favorite drummer, jazz legend Elvin Jones, for whom Mansbach worked for almost six years as a drum tech.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/35/ for full show notes and comments.

This episode, author Adam Mansbach (Go the Fuck to Sleep, Rage Is Back) returns to the show to talk about his new book, a thriller called The Dead Run. He’s joined by Chicago poet Kevin Coval who, in addition to his awesome poetry, also runs the largest youth poetry festival in the nation, Louder Than A Bomb. Join us as we talk rap, race, Judaism, Chief Keef, which KRS album is the greatest, and what “hackles” really are.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/52/ for full show notes and comments.

Most people know author Adam Mansbach from his 2011 “children’s book for adults,” Go the Fuck to Sleep. It became a sensation and led to readings by Werner Herzog and Samuel L. Jackson, a movie deal, a popular GTFTS-themed Obama ad, and countless morning show appearances. Now he returns with a sequel, You Have to Fucking Eat — a funny and realistic take on a whole new parenting challenge.

Regular listeners know that Adam does much more than write books with curses in the title. We discussed his literary novels and life in jazz in our first talk. This time, we talk screenwriting, thrillers, middle grade books, and the best child rappers of all time.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/85/ for full show notes and comments.

Adam Mansbach is a novelist and, of course, the author of the “children’s book for adults” Go the F to Sleep. But his new project is not a book—it’s a screenplay. Adam wrote the new movie Barry, available now on Netflix. The film is a fictionalized examination of Barack Obama’s first months in New York City, as he arrives at Columbia University in 1981.

The film stars Ashley Judd, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jason Mitchell, Ellar Coltrane, Avi Nash, and the fantastic newcomer Devon Terrell as Obama. It’s been getting rave reviews and has garnered a bunch of award nominations, including NAACP Image Award and Independent Spirit Award noms for Adam. We talk to Adam about writing and filming Barry, but we also catch up about the election, his new TV show, Henny Youngman’s joke-telling philosophy, and a whole lot more.

See http://theciphershow.com/episode/182/ for full show notes and comments.

Rosback, Susie, author