My guest on this episode is Liann Zhang. Liann is a former social media content creator whose debut novel, Julie Chan Is Dead, was published by Simon & Schuster Canada in 2025, and was an instant bestseller. It has been translated into multiple languages, and was longlisted for Canada Reads 2026. Chatelaine called the book “a delicious and outrageous exploration of influencer culture [that] has both Yellowface and Yellowjackets vibes.”
Liann and I talk about how she manages her own online profile, now that she is a published author, about the unsavoury behaviour she witnessed in the influencer world that inspired her novel, and about she deals with worries that, given all the success she’s had so far with her debut, she may have peaked as a writer.
This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.
Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.
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