Ben Tanzer wrote The New York Stories. Laura Szumowski illustrated it. Jason Pettus published it. And then the 3 of them got together at Lincoln Park's famous caffeination station The Borgeois Pig to talk about it. In a 30-minute conversation between the aforemention three, topics range from Szumowski's gorgeous illustrations, how she finds images in stories to inspire each piece, her influences as an illustrator, and some of her own work (including the forthcoming new and expanded version of her book on the clitoris, Tip of the Iceberg). Laura recalls a class on "The Wandering Uterus" she took at SAIC and dismisses the reknowned Chicago-Style Hot Dog as overcooked. The woman loves bánh mỳ! 
Meanwhile Ben remembers a quote by James Cameron on why post-apocalyptic work is great because you can just make up shit about pop culture and people can't challenge it since your work is in the future. He also fondly recalls a scintillating episode of The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams where a blind sculptor tells Grizzly that there is something inside of every log that needs to be birthed and Ben articulates a wistful void in himself due to his lack of ability to birth what's inside of each log. Jason jumps in with a few well-timed quips and poses a few questions in his salt-and-pepper baritone for Laura and Ben. The whole interview clocks in at a touch over 30-minutes and is perfect for the headphones or the car.
Click right here so you can listen in!