Severance Radio is an on-air book club dissecting Ling Ma’s satirical, dystopian novel Severance. The novel is a moving family story that explores loneliness, corporate monotony, and survival in the midst of a global health crisis.

Listen Live

Severance Radio airs every Sunday on the following stations:

LAS VEGAS: 7 PM at KUNV 91.5 FM
Stream it live from anywhere in the world: kunv.org/listen

RENO: Noon at KWNK 97.7FM 
Stream it live from anywhere in the world: kwnkradio.org/listen

Missed the show? Catch a rebroadcast every Monday at 11 AM PT on KUNV 91.5 HD-2 and therebelhd2.com/live. Listen again on Wednesdays at 6 PM PT on KWNK 97.7FM and kwnkradio.org/listen.

Episode List

Episode 1: Lisa Ko & Ling Ma
July 5, 2020

In this episode, novelist Lisa Ko interviews Ling Ma, the author of Severance. Two masters of the novel discuss the significance of Severance in the time of COVID-19. Follow along on pages 3 – 23 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 2: Katherine Fusco & Stephen Pasqualina
July 12, 2020

In this episode, two scholars of English literature, Katherine Fusco and Stephen Pasqualina, investigate one of the most unsettling signs of the apocalypse in popular culture: the rise of the undead. Follow along on pages 23 – 42 of the  Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 3: Jennifer Carson & Marya Shegog
July 19, 2020

In this episode, Severance Radio host Heidi Kyser interviews two public health experts, Jennifer Carson and Marya Shegog, as they examine who is most vulnerable in a pandemic.  Follow along on pages 42 – 62 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 4: Tim Gauthier & Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan
July 26, 2020

In this episode, two scholars Tim Gauthier and Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan delve into the Us/Them paradigm that reveals itself throughout the story.  Follow along on pages 62 – 85 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 5: Dana Lee & Vi Khi Nao
August 2, 2020

In this episode, a long-time Las Vegas community partner Dana Lee and experimental writer Vi Khi Nao discuss how a pandemic brings out familiar–and unsettling–ways of talking about race. Follow along on pages 85 – 106 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 6: Jenna Hanchey & Erica Vital-Lazare
August 9, 2020

In this episode, Jenna Hanchey and Erica Vital-Lazare – two scholars who study language – talk about the new voices needed to imagine new worlds. Follow along on pages 107 – 127 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 7: Karen Gu & Jean Munson
August 16, 2020

In this episode, two voices in academics and publishing, Karen Gu and Jean Munson, trace connections between Candace’s experiences and the millennial struggles to break into an industry and survive in the workplace. Follow along on pages 127 – 147 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 8: Kristen Arnett & Scott Dickensheets
August 23, 2020

In this episode, novelist and twitter comedian Kristen Arnett and Desert Companion editor Scott Dickensheets discuss the value of satire in the middle of a pandemic. Follow along on pages 148 – 168 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 9: Nasia Anam & Bonnie Chau
August 30, 2020

In this episode,  Nasia Anam interviews writer Bonnie Chau. Follow along on pages 169 – 187 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 10: Brent Holmes & Lance Smith
September 6, 2020

In this episode, artists Brent Holmes and Lance Smith delve into art as a vehicle for imagining a new world and the current social order. How does the apocalypse inspire their art? Follow along on pages 187 – 207 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 11: Hugh Shapiro & Claytee D. White
September 13, 2020

In this episode, Hugh Shapiro and Claytee D. White talk about memory, loss, the politics of forgetting our past when we look for ways to live during a pandemic. Follow along on pages 220 – 228 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 12: Shelley Kelley & Natalie Pennington
September 20, 2020

 In this episode, Severance Radio host Heidi Kyser interviews Professor Shelley Kelley and Natalie Pennington on the effects of a solitary life amid a pandemic. Follow along on pages 228 – 252 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 13: Christopher Coake & Claire Vaye Watkins
September 27, 2020

Does the end of the world as we knew it make room for new worlds and new ways of living? Host Heidi Kyser interviews expert speculative fiction writers Christopher Coake and Claire Vaye Watkins on the imaginative work of starting over again. Follow along on pages 252 – 270 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Episode 14: Lisa Ko & Ling Ma
October 4, 2020

In this last episode, novelist Lisa Ko interviews Ling Ma, the author of Severance. Two masters of the novel discuss how fiction offers an ability to reflect and provides a heightened idea of what is truly meaningful. Follow along on pages 271 – 291 of the Severance paperback. Learn More

Severance Radio: A Nevada Reads Book Club is jointly produced by Nevada Humanities and the Black Mountain Institute, and is part of Nevada Reads, a statewide program of Nevada Humanities. This program is made possible with the support of Nevada Humanities, Black Mountain Institute, Nevada State library, Archives and Public Records, The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Nevada Center for the Book. The Nevada Center for the Book is a program of Nevada Humanities and is the state affiliate of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress.