McSweeney's Issue 64: The Audio Issue(2021)

Michael ChabonAimee BenderCarol Emshwiller

Combining art, fiction, audio, and a slew of unclassifiable print objects in a custom box, McSweeney’s 64 is a riotous exploration of audiovisual storytelling, coproduced with Radiotopia from PRX (home to genius, independent audio creators including Song Exploder, Criminal, Ear Hustle, and more). Each piece in the issue establishes its own relationship between audio and print—the contributor’s unique experiment in weaving the mediums.

Included are Rion Amilcar Scott with a short fiction piece featuring two alternative audio endings; Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kate Soper with a transhumanist, interactive software upload; DeafBlind poet John Lee Clark on the limits of accessibility; Claudia Dey, Jason Reynolds, Renee Gladman, Sharon Mashihi, and more taking us on audio tours of our own homes; Aliya Pabani with a radio drama whose plot is complicated by a 24” x 30” illustrated poster; Ian Chillag with an absurdist, interactive phone tree; James T. Green, Catherine Lacey, and This American Life’s Sean Cole with voicemail dispatches to the editor; and so, so much more.