Surprised there has never been a dedicated Michael Silverblatt/Bookworm thread on ILB before, considering what a beloved show it has been. Regular listeners may have noted the radio silence since last year, with no news from KCRW and many predicting the worst. Now there's a new episode, part of what sadly looks like a valedictory final feature, presented by Steve Erickson, with some snippets featuring MS meeting Gore Vidal, Maya Angelou and DFW among others
https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/bookworm/the-arc-of-bookworm
Current archive seems to stop at 2019. Hope a fuller library might appear one day. Is any older stuff floating around the interwebs anywhere?
― Piedie Gimbel, Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:08 (two years ago)
and many predicting the worst.
Do you know anything more?
I love this interview with Silverblatt as a young public relations man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xrCyAPEZmQ
― jmm, Thursday, 27 July 2023 21:41 (two years ago)
God, this is sick. The hanging bookcases, the bookcase built onto a closet door, the hidden closet full of plays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poWxsGK7TrA
― jmm, Monday, 18 December 2023 22:47 (two years ago)
wow
― johnny crunch, Monday, 18 December 2023 23:23 (two years ago)
Holy shit.
― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Monday, 18 December 2023 23:31 (two years ago)
Thanks for these videos! I remember hearing a Lannan Foundation interview with him a few years ago (posted as a podcast) where he mentioned never having food at home, which made me imagine him at L.A. delis and coffee shops.
The Bookworm archive is so essential to the past few decades of American lit. Some favorite eps are with Robert Hass, William Vollmann, and a two-part one with John Updike.
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Monday, 18 December 2023 23:59 (two years ago)
RIP, King:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-15/michael-silverblatt-dead-kcrw-bookworm-host-73
― Come On, (Eazy), Monday, 16 February 2026 15:28 (yesterday)
RIP. Man that bookshelf video from a few years back.
― a (waterface), Monday, 16 February 2026 15:34 (yesterday)
RIP. What a legend. I think about moments from his interviews all the time.
― jmm, Monday, 16 February 2026 15:57 (yesterday)
RIP — I spent a lot of time in the early 2000s working lame temp jobs and Bookworm helped those days go by.
― tylerw, Monday, 16 February 2026 16:23 (yesterday)
3 Silverblatt moments I think about all the time: --crying with Nicholson Baker, bc he had conceived a way of being funny w/o being cruel--letting Mary Ruefle read "My Own Private Property" in its entirety --extended digression re: a marzipan sculpture of a pig shitting coins— Mike Emmons (@michaeljemmons1) February 16, 2026
― Come On, (Eazy), Monday, 16 February 2026 21:32 (yesterday)
Did he ever write or record anything specifically about his friendship with Barthelme? There are glimpses throughout his work, but would love a deep dive if it exists.
― Maggy Scraggle, Monday, 16 February 2026 21:47 (yesterday)
Incidentally, while looking at the tweet above discovered this link to the full Silverblatt archive going back to 1989
https://www.reddit.com/r/RSbookclub/comments/1edundw/list_of_every_episode_of_bookworm/
― Maggy Scraggle, Monday, 16 February 2026 22:11 (yesterday)
Thanks for that! The KCRW archives work best when searching for individual authors, so definitely helpful to have that full list.
The Lanaan Foundation also has its own archive of about 40 interviews, including more poets than he typically featured on Bookworm.
Two good interviews with Silverblatt about himself here, from The Believer and the University of Iowa.
― Come On, (Eazy), Monday, 16 February 2026 23:46 (yesterday)