<p>In June, writers Rachel Cusk and Ben Lerner joined <em>Harper’s Magazine </em>editor Christopher Carroll for a conversation and Q&A in front of a live audience at the NYU Skirball Center in downtown Manhattan. Listen to Cusk and Lerner read from their recent <em>Harper’s </em>essays and discuss the state of contemporary fiction, Cusk’s use of artists’ biographies in her newest novel <a target="_blank" href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374610043/parade"><em>Parade</em></a>, reading in a second language, parenthood, the role of ego in writing, and much more.</p><p>Subscribe to <em>Harper’s</em> <em>Magazine </em>for only $16.97 per year: <a target="_blank" href="http://harpers.org/save">harpers.org/save.</a> </p><p>* “<a target="_blank" href="https://harpers.org/archive/2023/12/the-hofmann-wobble-wikipedia-and-the-problem-of-historical-memory/">The Hofmann Wobble</a>” by Ben Lerner, from the December 2023 issue of <em>Harper’s</em></p><p>* “<a target="_blank" href="https://harpers.org/archive/2023/10/the-spy-cusk/">The Spy</a>” by Rachel Cusk, from the October 2023 issue of <em>Harper’s</em></p><p>* 11:31: “You can’t be both an encyclopedia and a news source without some kind of contamination.” —Ben Lerner</p><p>* 19:09: “First of all, I thought, God, if I’d never told anyone who I was, starting with my parents, if I hadn’t accepted that containment in myself, what would I have created? What would my relationship to reality be?”  —Rachel Cusk</p><p>* 25:18: “I mean this as a total compliment, but I read your books with a lot of dread.” —Ben Lerner to Rachel Cusk</p><p>* 26:36: “What the novel has tried to do, kind of wrongly, I guess, in the end, is for the act of reading to also be an act of shared experience.” —Rachel Cusk</p><p>* 28:34: “Being a good parent in the moment of composition, if you’re trying to take care of those imagined readers, can be deadly for the work – not always, but sometimes.” —Ben Lerner</p><p>* 28:49: “On the other hand, having kids for me, especially young kids, it does refresh your wonder before language.” —Ben Lerner</p><p>* 29:43: “If your work can change in the way you change, or people change, when you have children, I think that’s a really powerful thing.” —Rachel Cusk</p><p>* 32:10: “I’m really into animal vocalization stuff.” —Ben Lerner</p><p>* 34:23: “French has completely changed my English.” —Rachel Cusk</p><p>* 40:24: “My dad told me never to learn to type because I would end up being someone’s secretary, which was kind of feminist of him I guess, but typing is the thing I’ve done the best with in my whole life.” —Rachel Cusk</p><p>* 41:23: “I think there’s a lot of ego involved in the claim to disavow ego in writing.” —Ben Lerner</p><p>* 42:45: “What is a shame is the idea that examination of self is egotistical.” —Rachel Cusk</p><p><p>Thanks for listening to The Harper’s Podcast. </p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://harpersmagazine.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">harpersmagazine.substack.com</a>