In Part 2 of our annual best-of-the-year show, Dave and Matt talk about their favorite reads of the year. As usual, it comes with a playlist:

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/best-of-2025/pl.u-55D6zM5h8VMBkG

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Tzs7v76kjU0IFjsOfVw4N?si=9BjOJdkTR9mXIZmAnKrD-A

Stay tuned for our bonus episode in which we discuss some of the music featured above, along with movies, TV, podcasts, and other gems from the year.

Contact Concavity Show:

Email us at concavityshow@gmail.com

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In Episode 89, Dave and Matt have the insane privilege of talking to PUP's remarkably well-read frontman, Stefan Babcock, whose year-end reading list hit PUP's Substack on December 28th, and is full of great books.

In addition to talking about Stefan's year in reading, we delve into the literary influences and qualities of PUP's discography, discuss skateboarding in mid-life, and manifest a Tim Robinson/PUP collaboration for 2026.

Dave and Matt will be back soon with a Part 2, talking about their year in reading, and you can look forward to 30 more bonus minutes with Stefan through our Patreon, coming in about two weeks' time.

N.B. this episode probably breaks our record for most swearing, as expected. 🤘

Show Notes:

Stefan’s Substack post

Stefan’s Instagram

PUP's Instagram

PUP's Substack

PUP's website

PUP's Tour Dates (go see them live, pronto)

Contact Concavity Show:

Email us at concavityshow@gmail.com

Patreon

Instagram

Threadless Merch Store

YouTube

In Episode 88, we welcome Brandon back to the show to talk about his new novel, The Devil Is a Southpaw, out now from HarperCollins. We discuss things like metafiction, abjection, doppelgängers, alt-country, and much more.

You can buy the novel here or here online, or ideally at your local independent bookstore.

Brandon's website

Brandon's Instagram

Contact Dave & Matt:

Email - concavityshow@gmail.com

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/

Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbt2QjzmrwakXQtH08WZ6-rSaeEVcSknI

For Episode 87, Matt and Dave are joined by the Jonathan Lethem, who has a new short story collection out on September 23rd, A Different Kind of Tension. We discuss it, many of his novels and his non-fiction writing, his committment to craft, teaching, bookselling, and much more.

You can order his new book here, or at your friendly local bookseller.

Visit Jonathan's website.

Visit Jonathan's Instagram.

Contact Dave & Matt:

Email - concavityshow@gmail.com

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/

Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow

In Episode 86, Matt Bucher not only co-hosts, but guests as the author of interest, whose new novel, a follow-up to The Belan Deck, has just recently released. Matt's latest book is a Marksonian treatise on the marking, measuring, and allocation of time, and is sure to delight listeners of our show.

You can purchase Matt's excellent sophomore release here:

Bookshop.org

Barnes & Noble

Alienated Majesty Bookstore (Austin, TX)

Book People (Austin, TX)

Matt's Websites:

mattbucher.com

simpleranger.net

buchrtumblr.com

Contact Dave & Matt:

Email - concavityshow@gmail.com

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

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In Episode 85, we're joined by Camille Bordas, whose recent novel The Material explores what a fictionalized MFA program in stand-up comedy might look like. It's funny (as you might imagine) and philosophical, exploring some of the great cultural questions of our (and just about any other) time.

You can find out more about Camille on her website, where eight of her New Yorker short stories are linked.

Her English language novels are both available on bookshop.org.

Camille's Chicago piece we mention on the 2024 Democratic National Convention is here.

Camille is on Instagram a little bit here.

Contact Dave & Matt:

Email - concavityshow@gmail.com

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/

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In Episode 84, the incredible Sergio De La Pava joins Dave and Matt to talk about his latest novel, Every Arc Bends Its Radian, out now from Simon & Schuster. We also discuss David Lynch and his recent passing, deep sea life, and haunted hotels, among many other things.

You can find Sergio's website here.

Contact Dave & Matt:

Email - concavityshow@gmail.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

Join Matt and Dave as they look back at the best of their year in reading during 2024, each with a list of ten(ish) books they found compelling and noteworthy.

Dave's top 10:

Dayspring by Anthony Oliveira Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar Prophet Song by Paul Lynch The Bee Sting by Paul Murray Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem Coexistence by Billy-Rae Belcourt What Remains of Elsie Jane by Chelsea Wakelyn Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park Assembly by Natasha Brown

Matt's top 10:

SUNDAY by Olivier Schrauwen

Blood of the Virgin by Sammy Harkham

The Horse by Willy Vlautin

Caged by Brandon Lamson

The Book of Losman by KE Semmel

Avid Reader by Robert Gottlieb

You'll Like it Here by Ashton Politanoff

A Primer for Forgetting by Lewis Hyde

The Notebook by Roland Allen

Al rio / To the River by Zoe Leonard

Stay tuned for the Patreon bonus episode in two weeks that covers all other things we liked this year in pop-culture.

As always, this episode comes with a playlist of our favorite songs of 2024:

Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/concavity-show-best-of-2024/pl.u-pMylAeRi4KoErM

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5fVLMtsQSVBCLQUbDxhUFM?si=FaHzQsz8ThCZLMtAWO81tg

Contact Dave & Matt:

Email - concavityshow@gmail.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/