Finishing February at Off Square Books!

Stories of technology run amok, with classical violin and original tunes from Memphis!

Live from Off Square Books February 27, 2020 at 6 pm

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour performs live, Feb. 27 at 6 pm at Off Square Books (129 Courthouse Square, Oxford, MS 38655). FREE admission.

Guests: Alexander Weinstein and his short story collection, Universal Love, with music by songwriter-multi-instrumentalist, Stephen Chopek and classical violinist/flutist Jiwon Lee.

Hosts: Jim Dees and our house band, the Yalobushwhackers

Radio: WUMS 92.1 FM (Oxford)
Online: http://myrebelradio.com/

This show will be heard on Mississippi and Alabama Public networks:
Mississippi: Saturday, Mar. 7 at 7 pm: http://www.mpbonline.org/
Alabama: Saturday, Mar. 7 at 9 pm: http://www.apr.org/#stream/

Featuring

Author

Alexander Weinstein

In his newest collection of stories, Universal Love, (Henry Holt) science fiction author Alexander Weinstein (Children of the New World) explores the effect technology has on human compassion and even how we love. The result is equal parts funny and terrifying. The characters in these stories wrestle with what it means to stay human in an increasingly cybernetic future, and how love can endure even the most alluring upgrades.

Troubling and compassionate… Channeling Ray Bradbury with contemporary allegories, Weinstein will make readers think twice about their relationship to technology.
–Publishers Weekly

Alexander Weinstein is the author of Children of the New World, which was named a notable book of the year by the New York Times, NPR, and Electric Literature. (Weinstein appeared on Thacker Mountain Radio Hour in October 2016 to read from it).

He is the Director of The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and a professor of creative writing at Siena Heights University.

Music

Stephen Chopek

Former John Mayer drummer Stephen Chopek moved to Memphis in 2014 (from his longtime Jersey City home) and has since written and produced his own his albums, EPs and singles. His latest album of originals (on which he also played all the instruments) is 2018’s Begin the Glimmer. The album was named one of the year’s best by The Memphis Flyer who called it, “a shimmering folk-pop gem that leaps from the speakers.”

Chopek’s latest EP, again with him on all instruments, is Songs of Shane, Vol. I – Music by the Pogues.

Jiwon Lee

Born in Daejeon, South Korea, Jiwon Lee arrived in Oxford as an infant in the 1990s, moved back to South Korea in 2000, before moving back to attend Oxford High School and Ole Miss.

Lee was a drum major for the UM marching band, principal flutist of the UM Wind Ensemble, and ensemble violinist for the local symphony orchestra. She graduated in 2018 and was named to the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame.

She is currently pursuing a master’s in music education with an emphasis in violin performance.