Can ghosts use radiation to talk to us?  And what does quantum entanglement have to do with friendship? Acclaimed novelist Nell Freudenberger answers these questions, and tells Amanda the true story of a pioneering female scientist who one hundred percent should have won the Nobel Prize, but didn't (guess why). Hard science can give rise to poetry, and Freudenberger talks about her choice to go that route in Lost and Wanted--pulling back the curtain on a process of literary alchemy--and did we mention ghosts?

Nell Freudenberger is the author of the novels The Newlyweds and The Dissident, and the story collection Lucky Girls, which was awarded the PEN/Malamud Award and the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, and a Cullman Fellowship from the New York Public Library, she lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Amanda Stern is Bookable’s host. Founder of the popular literary event series Happy Ending at Joe’s Pub in New York City, Stern is also a writer. Happy Ending ran for more than a decade and was selected as New York’s best book-related series by New York Magazine, The Village Voice and NY Press. The New York Times Magazine singled out Happy Ending as a force keeping “downtown New York alive.”

This episode was produced by Andrew Dunn, Beau Friedlander and Amanda Stern. It was mixed and sound-designed by Andrew Dunn who also created Bookable's chill vibe.  Our host and co-producer is Amanda Stern. Beau Friedlander is Bookable's executive producer and editor in chief of Loud Tree Media.

Music:

"Cop Talk" by Grapefruit, "Stargazers" by Land of Legs, "The Color Up In the Hills" by The Tree Ring, "Pendulum" by Sun Shapes, "Starry Night" by Brian Sussman, "Bright Futures" by Keen Collective, "Divider" by Chris Zabriskie, "Cop Talk" by Grapefruit, "Stargazers" by Land of Legs, "The Color Up In the Hills" by The Tree Ring, "Pendulum" by Sun Shapes, "Starry Night" by Brian Sussman, "Bright Futures" by Keen Collective, "Divider" by Chris Zabriskie