About this episode
John Darnielle has always had a facility with words. As singer and songwriter behind the Mountain Goats, Darnielle has made pop poetry about lonely outsiders and cultural marginalia. Now, in his second novel, Universal Harvester , he explores the lives of desperate people in a small Iowa town. He also talks about a song title so good that no singer could ever do it justice. In the Spiel, how competent people are quietly undoing Trump. Today's sponsors: ZipRecruiter.Post your job listing to all the top job sites with a single click. Try it for free by going to ZipRecruiter.com/gist . Green Mountain Coffee. Green Mountain Coffee is passionate about making a smoother tasting cup. Try it today with$4 off when you buy two boxes of most Green Mountain Coffee K-Cup pods at Keurig.com with code TRYGMC. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices