Book Stuff

What happens when a fundamentalist cult kidnaps an obstetrician? Award-winning science-fiction writer Naomi Kritzer breaks down her latest work OBSTETRIX about a chilling possible future where OB/GYNs are scarce.  In this episode I talked with Naomi about:  How the overturn of Roe v Wade inspired the book Why a main character obstetrician was important for driving the book. You feel for the main c...

Guggenheim Fellow and prolific writer Lucy Ives has been teaching writing for many years. Her latest book THREE SIX FIVE: PROMPTS, ACTS DIVINATIONS . She joins Book Stuff to talk about her book and the power of a good prompt -- it can help you feel less lonely, and maybe help you write that novel, too. In her book, readers may encounter the difficult or impossible: write a 30-page sentence, or "wr...

There's a saying that if you don't see the thing you wish existed, you should make it yourself. In 2023, this is what brooklyn baggett did with creating new words {press} , a "trans* and gender-expansive nonprofit poetry press."  brooklyn explains why she started the press out of a sense of activism while also creating space for trans* poets. What's discussed in this episode:   Why and how brookly...

Romance is booming: millions upon millions of books are sold every year and the opening of brick-and-motor romance bookstores has skyrocketed since 2020. It's a thriving community and business is good. Allison Couture and Marie Nitschke out of Madison, Wisconsin are a part of that growth. They are co-owners of the  WanderLust Mobile Bookstore , which opened in early 2026. In this episode both Alli...

It's easy to shake our heads at cults, but in reality any one of us is one bit of circumstance from joining one. Prize-winning writer, Molly Aitken's short story THIS IS HOW IT HAPPENS published in the New Yorker explores how someone falls into the religious movement the Rajneesh that became infamous when the group moved from India to Oregon in the 1980s.  We also chat about the importance of sexu...

Acclaimed writer Robyn Ryle's idea for a novel came to her when she thought: what's the opposite of the midwest? Sex was the answer, at least to the perception of many outsiders of small-town midwestern life. So, a novel of interconnected short stories was born to challenge that perception. In  SEX OF THE MIDWEST , we're transported to Lanier, Indiana where we meet a diverse cast of people who, in...

New York Times bestseller Craig Fehrman joins Book Stuff to chat about his recent book THE VAST ENTERPRISE: A NEW HISTORY OF LEWIS & CLARK. Early on in the journey of writing his well-researched book, Craig experienced a horrible dog attack in his neighborhood while on a walk. It took him months to recover. But the experience informed him how to write the rest of this epic journey. We get into his...

Welcome to the Book Stuff Podcast!  Book Stuff explores how literature helps us live our lives and navigate our world. For writers and readers, and those who are reading curious, we dive into it all. From forgotten fiction to buzzy sci-fi, poetry readings to libraries, publishers, clubs, Substacks to journalism – all texts and literary worlds are considered.  In a so-called post-literate world, we...