In Conversation with Caroline Baum & Lance Richardson

A founding editor, a spy, a monk and a bestselling author walk into a bar…

Actually, it was just one man: Peter Matthiessen. From a life of WASPy privilege, he became co-founder of The Paris Review while operating as a covert CIA agent. He then embarked on a lifetime of wild adventures, before finally settling into the contemplative life of a Zen Rōshi.

His many lives were stranger than fiction, and we are delighted to welcome Caroline Baum and Lance Richardson to unravel the extraordinary tale of the man who lived them.