Podcast Summary: Live Wire with Luke Burbank

Episode: Lidia Yuknavitch, Felipe Torres Medina, and Pedro the Lion (Rebroadcast – originally recorded May 2025)
Release Date: March 13, 2026
Host: Luke Burbank
Platform: PRX

Overview

This episode of Live Wire blends deeply personal storytelling, biting humor, and indie rock authenticity. Host Luke Burbank is joined by acclaimed author Lidia Yuknavitch discussing the nature of memory and grief, Emmy-nominated Colbert writer Felipe Torres Medina unpacking the absurdity of America’s immigration system through a humorous “choose your own adventure” format, and beloved indie artist Pedro the Lion (David Bazan), reflecting on faith, coming-of-age, and performing his latest song.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Opening & Best News of the Week

(04:20 – 10:03)

• Theme: Finding bright spots in the news amid tough times.

• Romance Novel Convention Gone Right (05:23)

  • Abby Jimenez, romance novelist, drew a massive crowd in Toronto—a fire alarm led to a swarm of attractive firefighters, sending the crowd into delighted chaos.
  • “Apparently Toronto firefighters can get it.” – Luke Burbank (07:07)

• Bookstore Community Uplift (08:02)

  • Serendipity Books in Chelsea, Michigan, moved to a new location with help from a community “book brigade”—people aged 6–91 passing over 9,000 books by hand.
  • “Any story about people and books and the books surviving these days is a huge W.” – Luke Burbank (10:03)

2. Interview: Lidia Yuknavitch on “Reading the Waves”

(10:03 – 27:45)

Topic: Memory, Navigation of Grief, Storytelling Beyond Plot

Notable Insights

• Non-traditional Memoir:

  • “I think it’s more an exploration of memory and our relationship to memory and where you stand in relationship to the crap that’s happened to you… Can I stand in a different place? Can the story shift? And can I shift?”
    – Lidia Yuknavitch (11:36)

• Storytelling as Survival and Connection:

  • On writing about trauma:
    • “One mustn't kill the reader… Storytelling space lets you curate or choreograph so that we're going somewhere together. And yeah, it’s sad or difficult, but we’re holding hands.” — Lidia (13:25, 13:35)

• Power of the Periphery:

  • “Sometimes the rest of the story, or perhaps the heart of the story, is carried by image, by repetition, tiny intensities not captured fully from plot and action…What if the big dramatic thud action…is only carrying a small fraction of the story?” — Lidia (17:41–21:10)

• Death and Memory Language:

  • Lidia rejects euphemisms (“passed away”) for death:
    • “What pisses me off is how passive it is…You don’t fly away. You’re remembered in the bodies and hearts of people you were close to…When someone dies, it's part of what it means to be alive.” — Lidia (22:45)

• On Film Adaptation (“Chronology of Water”):

  • Kristen Stewart is adapting Lidia’s memoir to film, emphasizing experimental, image-driven narrative:
    • “She’s not making a biopic…she’s very interested in being faithful to the experimental quality of the narrative… She riffed off of my art, and whatever it is will be its own autonomous thing.” — Lidia (25:23, 27:08)

Memorable Moment

• Lidia describes her preference for small, periphery moments over dramatic plot:
  • “What if those tiny periphery flickers and moments…are holding part of the story? For me, they’re holding everything.” (21:10)

3. Audience Q&A: “What’s More Complicated Than It Should Be?”

(29:52 – 32:36)

• College physics (“Why do I always have to assume gravity equals zero?” – 30:16)
• Navigating roundabouts (“People just keep going…”) – 31:12
• Troubleshooting printers (“It hasn’t gotten any better since the 90s.” – 32:12)

4. Interview: Felipe Torres Medina on “America Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story”

(32:36 – 44:43)

Topic: U.S. Immigration Absurdity, Humor as Resistance

Notable Insights

• Sitcoms as a Gateway:

  • Felipe dreamed of coming to the U.S. for comedy writing, fueled by shows like “30 Rock” and “Arrested Development.”
    • Hilarious misunderstanding over “30 Something” vs. “30 Rock.” (34:12)

• Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Format:

  • Developed as a way to map the branching absurdities of the immigration system—and inspired not only by the genre but also Julio Cortázar’s “Hopscotch.”
    • “I was tired of explaining the immigration process to very well meaning liberal and progressive Americans.” — Felipe (36:23)

• On Humor Versus Tragedy:

  • “Joy is a form of resistance. We all know that a lot of the things that they’re doing are illogical and absurd…lack of logic and absurdity is, to me, the seed of humor.” — Felipe (39:19)

• Difficulty Levels:

  • There is NO easy way to immigrate to the U.S.:
    • “If you pick the easy, it turns you to a page that says: incorrect, there is no easy way to move to the United States. Start again.” — Felipe (41:00)
  • Privilege—especially economic privilege—is the main way your path is less hard.

• Why Immigrate to the U.S.?:

  • “The idea of America is why people come here...immigrants make this country better because they believe in the idea. Like, we are so America-pilled, for real...We like America so much more than Americans who did absolutely nothing to be here other than be born.” — Felipe (43:16)

Memorable Moment

• “Humor’s a really, I think, fun way and non-preachy way to address things that you don’t know.” — Felipe (40:29)

5. Music Segment: Pedro the Lion

(46:25 – 54:27)

Topic: Faith, Identity, Honesty in Songwriting

• Backstory:

  • Host Luke and Dave Bazan (Pedro the Lion) reminisce about their youth group days, where Dave was a worship leader and played secular songs reimagined for church.

• On Masking and Repression:

  • “What was happening was called masking, I’ve learned recently.” — Dave (49:37)
  • Dave reflects on shoving down his emotions and trauma as a teen, and processing them now through music.

• Audience Connection through Vulnerability:

  • “It’s a huge honor…even writing about it, I thought, ‘No one’s gonna connect with this; this is just my own trip,’ and then when you put out the song or record…you have people come up and say, ‘Oh, man, I felt lonely, too, in my transition from beliefs to, you know, belief to belief.’” — Dave (50:46)

• Performance: “Spend Time”**

  • “Spend time with the energy, spend time with the enemy…”
    (Live at Benaroya Hall, Seattle) (51:41–54:27)

Memorable Quotes

• Lidia Yuknavitch:

  • “Don’t let anybody take your story from you. However, if you hold onto it so long… it might be time to consider standing in a different position to the crap that happened to you.” (12:03)
  • “I’m saying we should bring death into the story of being human.” (22:45)

• Felipe Torres Medina:

  • “I was tired of explaining the immigration process to very well meaning liberal and progressive Americans.” (36:23)
  • “Joy is a form of resistance.” (39:19)

• Pedro the Lion (Dave Bazan):

  • “What was happening was called masking, I’ve learned recently.” (49:37)
  • “You just have to be yourself, you know?” (51:22)

Timestamps – Important Segments

• Best news stories: 05:00–10:03
• Lidia Yuknavitch interview: 10:03–27:45
• Audience Q&A: 29:52–32:36
• Felipe Torres Medina interview: 32:36–44:43
• Pedro the Lion interview & performance: 46:25–54:27

Tone & Style

• Warm, witty, and deeply empathetic
• Deeply personal and confessional, especially in author and musician interviews
• Humanizing and vulnerable, yet often interrupted by wry humor and asides
• Socially conscious but accessible and hopeful

Conclusion

This Live Wire episode gracefully joins stories of healing, absurd systems, and lived creative truth. Through laughter, raw honesty, and live music, the episode uplifts listeners and offers new ways to inhabit our stories—whether grief, bureaucracy, or belief.