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The Chills at Will PodcastAuthor: chillsatwillpodcast
The Chills at Will Podcast is a celebration of the visceral beauty of literature. This beauty will be examined through close reads of phrases and lines and passages from fiction and nonfiction that thrills the reader, so much so that he wants to read again and again to replicate that thrill. Each episode will focus on a different theme, such as "The Power of Flashback," "Understatement," "Cats in the Cradle," and "Chills at Will: Origin Story." Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Episode 326 with Yiming Ma, Author of These Memories Do Not Belong to Us, and Reflective, Skilled Worldbuilder and Craftsman of "Constellation Writing"
Episode 356
Tuesday, 3 March, 2026
Notes and Links to Yiming Ma’s Work Born in Shanghai, Yiming Ma spent a decade in tech and finance before writing the dystopian novel These Memories Do Not Belong to Us, named a Spotify Editors' Pick, longlisted for the Goodreads Choice Award, and featured on Best Book of 2025 lists by Electric Literature, Debutiful, PEN America,and elsewhere. Yiming attended Stanford for his MBA, and Warren Wilson for his MFA. His stories and essays appear in the New York Times, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, Florida Review, and elsewhere. His story “Swimmer of Yangtze” won the 2018 Guardian 4th Estate Story Prize. Buy These Memories Do Not Belong to Us Locus Magazine Review of These Memories Don't Belong to Us Yiming Ma's Website Interview with Michael Zapata for Chicago Review of Books: “Mirrors, Memories, Rebellions: An Interview with Yiming Ma” At about 2:10, Yiming shares the feedback he’s gotten and the ways in which These Memories Do Not Belong to Us has “resonated” with readers At about 4:20, Yiming talks about his relationship with “home” and reading as a kid At about 5:15, Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is highlighted as a formative and transformative read for Yiming At about 8:15, Yiming expands on how his immigrant background informed his career choices, agency, and adaptive skills and outlook on capitalism-he connects these to his book’s plot and themes At about 10:25, Pete reflects on the book as science fiction/speculative fiction At about 11:25, Yiming responds to Pete’s question about contemporary books that “flipped the switch” At about 12:50, Yiming reflects on the dearth of fiction read by people in his former work life, as well as ideas of empathy and the changing landscape of diversity in authorship At about 15:00, Yiming talks about AI and men reading (or not reading) fiction, and differences between his writer friends and tech friends At about 18:00, Yiming describes the structure of the book in conjunction with seeds for the book, largely coming from the pandemic and ideas of what is remembered and not remembered and how At about 21:55, Yiming explains how his award-winning story “Swimmer of Yangtze” and the idea of “constellation writing” At about 23:00, Yiming lays out the book’s opening/exposition At about 24:40, Yiming responds to Pete’s questions about early connections and memories between Jill and Hao At about 28:00, Yiming recalls the early question about seeds for the book in reflecting on the motif of watches in the novel At about 30:15, the two discuss “Easter eggs” in the book regarding “Ri-Ben” (China in Japanese), and Pete reflects on geopolitical tragedies that frame the “constellation writing” At about 32:10, Pete asks Yiming about the book’s “Memory Epics” and ideas of art vs. commercialism and censorship in connection to today’s similarities At about 36:40, Yiming expands on the story “Chankonabe” and its connections to real-life and its fit in the novel’s “constellation” At about 37:35, Yiming talks about the importance of mantras in his book as guides for his storytelling At about 40:00, Yiming talks about research on sumo wrestling and the resulting questions and reflection that brought out some profound scenes At about 43:15, The two discuss the book’s first-person accounts from the main narrator, and Yiming expands upon ideas of agency and resistance against systems At about 45:30, Yiming reflects on connections between the Chrysanthemum Virus and the coronavirus At about 51:00, The two discuss the story “Swimmer of Yangtze” At about 52:10, Yiming tells of the beautiful homage to his grandmother in the book At about 53:10, Yiming turns the tables and asks Pete probing questions about the ever-encroaching AI At about 56:40, Yiming talks about the “incredible” students he’s spoken with and reflects on a “biased sample” and the “paradigm shift” between disparate groups he speaks with regarding AI and its implementation At about 1:01:00, Yiming reflects on the “worry” he has over critical thinking skills and employment in a future focused on AI At about 1:02:20, Pete asks about “+86 Shanghai” and its immigration stories At about 1:03:20, The two discuss the balance between changing the system and ideas of assimilation and Yiming talks about personal connections to “mining [his] own immigration story” and changing immigration narratives At about 1:07:50, The two reflect on Kaveh Akbar’s brilliant work that Yiming riffs off in the book; Pete shares a story about Kaveh’s profundity in action, and Yiming talks about censorship and the timing of the release of his book You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow Pete on IG, where he is @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he is @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both the YouTube Channel and the podcast while you’re checking out this episode. Pete is very excited to have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. His conversation with Jeff Pearlman, a recent guest, is up at Chicago Review. Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting Pete’s one-man show, DIY podcast and extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This month’s Patreon bonus episode features an exploration of formative and transformative writing for children, as Pete surveys wonderful writers on their own influences. Pete has added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show. This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting what he’s convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form. The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com. Please tune in for Episode 327 with Adolfo Guzman-Lopez. Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has been a reporter at LAist 89.3, the Los Angeles NPR affiliate since 2000. He reported and hosted Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary, a true crime podcast looking into the death in 1994 of Chicano college activist Oscar Gomez. He has reported on L.A. politics, education, art, museums and other topics. His stories have also aired and published nationally on NPR, The Washington Post, and other media, and his poetry, especially from time with the Taco Shop Poets, has been awarded and anthologized. The episode airs later today, March 3. Please go to ceasefiretoday.org, and/or https://act.uscpr.org/a/letaidin to call your congresspeople and demand an end to the forced famine and destruction of Gaza and the Gazan people. You can also donate at chuffed.org, World Central Kitchen, and so many more, and/or you can contact writer friend Ursula Villarreal-Moura directly or through Pete, as she has direct links with friends in Gaza.
