Author Hari Kunzru on his latest book, ‘Red Pill’

Episode notes

Photo: Knopf Doubleday Publishing

His latest novel is called Red Pill. The book’s protagonist is an unnamed narrator. He’s a writer in Brooklyn, married with kids. And in the back of his mind, he can’t shake this feeling: something bad is about to happen. He doesn’t know what. He doesn’t know what he can do about it. But the growing terror is beginning to consume him.

He gets a job in Berlin, a residency. The time alone only invites more demons in: is he being watched? Is there an evil growing in the world? To the west, he sees Nazi ruins, to the East, the Stazi Museum.

It sends him on a journey around the internet, to reactionary message boards and old blogs. Then, it sends him on a journey around the world, into stone huts in Scotland and Parisian hotels. By the end of the book you might start to wonder if his fears were justified.

The book is a little bit satire, a little bit of a comment on politics, today. It’s also a gripping thriller.

Hari joins guest host Carrie Poppy to talk about where he got the idea for this new book, the dark web, online privacy, and similarities between his real life experiences and Red Pill‘s narrator.