The History of Literature 790 Madness and Myth (with Natasha Joukovsky) | My Last Book with Kimberly Lau
Apr 6, 2026
Kimberly Lau, scholar of fairy tales and author of Spectres of the Marvelous, picks her last-read book and teases fairy-tale depths. Natasha Joukowsky, novelist of Medium Rare, blends March Madness, Greek myth, and Washington, D.C. life. They talk bracket obsession, mythic tones, Icarus imagery, and why averageness makes for dramatic rise-and-fall stories.
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Train Platform Epiphany About Modern Panic
- Jacke describes standing on a train platform while everyone else sprinted to catch a train two minutes earlier and he stayed behind, refusing to join the panic.
- The moment becomes a small personal epiphany about modern civilized panic versus calmer living, used to introduce themes of averageness in Natasha Joukovsky's novel.
Perfect Brackets Are Much Rarer Than Popular Odds
- Natasha explains that perfect March Madness brackets are far rarer than common media figures suggest because bracket seeding and historical upset probabilities distort the simple 2^63 coin-flip model.
- She cites varying expert estimates (optimistic ~1 in 2 billion, media's 1 in 9.2 quintillion is misleading) and notes asymmetric matchups like 1 vs 16 seeds change odds.
Three Protagonists Drive The Perfect Bracket Plot
- Natasha outlines her three protagonists: Phil Fayetan, an hyper-average Washington lobbyist; his wife Raleigh, an ER nurse; and Cassandra, a college acquaintance and omniscient first-person narrator.
- Phil's near-perfect 2019 bracket catalyzes life changes and re-entangles Cassandra with his household.
