Lauren Groff's "Brawler"

Eric Newman speaks with Lauren Groff about her latest story collection, "Brawler," an intimate and tender exploration of the all-too-human struggle to balance a life between compassion and hatred, love and vengeance. Groff shares her approach to writing stories, from the inception of a gossamer idea or mood through to the editorial grunt work of arranging and sharpening characters and sentences, all while trying to let the work emerge organically. Groff also discusses Flannery O'Connor, the possibility of redemption, the importance of avoiding a moral judgment on your characters, and how she tries to balance the lightness and darkness of life on the page.

You can listen to Lauren Groff's "Brawler" online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Lauren Groff's "Brawler" is an episode from LARB Radio Hour by Medaya Ocher.

This episode is 48:00 long.

This episode was published on Feb 27, 2026.

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