The Stacks

Our guest today is lawyer, writer, activist, organizer, and author Derecka Purnell. Derecka joins us to discuss her forthcoming debut book, Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom out October 5th. Our conversation is an inspiring discussion around police abolition, imagination, and the books that have informed Derecka’s thinking. The Stacks Book Club selection for Sept...

It is The Stacks Book Club day, and we are discussing Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi. To help us talk about this YA romance we have brought back the wonderful Juliet Litman, host of the Bachelor Party and Jam Session podcasts, as well as head of development at The Ringer . Today we talk about men who are not emotionally available, important messages for young people, and the acknowledgement...

If you’re in America and you love soccer, you know and love today’s guest, Roger “Rog” Bennett, the co-host of The Men in Blazers Show . Rog joins us to discuss his book, a New York Times #1 Bestseller, (Re)Born in the USA: An Englishman’s Love Letter to His Chosen Home . We talk about what it means to consider yourself an American, the dreams of our younger selves, and of course, a little soccer....

Today we welcome Adam Serwer to the podcast. Adam is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of The New York Times bestseller The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump’s America . We talk about the historical record, Democracy as a means of managing conflict, running as creative routine, and much more.   The Stacks Book Club selection for August is Emergency Conta...

Our guest today is Juliet Litman. Juliet is the host of the podcasts Bachelor Party and Jam Session on The Ringer network . She is also the head of production at the Ringer. We talk today about the similarities between television and books, why Juliet loves “chatty” novels, and what changes should be made to The Bachelor franchise. The Stacks Book Club selection for August is Emergency Contact by...

It’s The Stacks Book Club day and we’re discussing our first ever graphic memoir on the show. The book is The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui, and our guest is graphic memoirist ( Good Talk ), novelist ( The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing ), and cultural critic, Mira Jacob. We talk today about the moment that a good book makes the reader examine themselves, books that don’t feel like reading, and the...

Today we welcome author and decluttering expert Christine Platt, also known as The Afrominimalist . We talk today about Christine’s latest book The Afrominimalist’s Guide to Living with Less . We discuss mistakes, unique aesthetics, and how the language around minimalism doesn’t have to be so scary. The Stacks Book Club selection for July is The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. We will discuss the boo...

Our guest today is Academy Award winning screenwriter and director Quentin Tarantino ( Pulp Fiction , Django Unchained ). He joins us to talk about his debut novel, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , a novelization of his film with the same title . We discuss the art versus the artist, the challenges of writing a novel, and if Tarantino really plans to retire from filmmaking after his next film. The...

Mira Jacob is a cultural critics and the author and illustrator of the graphic memoir, Good Talk . Today we talk with Mira about the ways optimism is a form of bravery, the alignment of form, function, and story, and the system that leads to authors writing blurbs for books. The Stacks Book Club selection for July is The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. We will discuss the book with Mira Jacob on Wedn...

It’s time for another installment of The Stacks Book Club. This month we’re discussing The Undying: A Meditation on Modern Illness by Anne Boyer with Mychal Denzel Smith ( Stakes is High ). Our conversation explores the commodification of cancer, the ways sexism is entrenched in the language of breast cancer, and how form and content can work together and fight against one another in the same text...

Ashley C. Ford is a host, podcaster, writer, and now author. Her debut book, Somebody’s Daughter , was an instant New York Times bestseller, and tells the story of her childhood as it relates to her coming of age and her father’s incarceration. Today we discuss therapy and her writing process, the ways anger fuels passion, and what it means to be published by Oprah Winfrey’s imprint.  The Sta...

Today we are joined by Clint Smith author of How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America . Clint is a staff writer at The Atlantic . We talk about how Clint’s poetry informs his nonfiction, the capacity to be surprised, and the recency of slavery. The Stacks Book Club selection for June is The Undying by Anne Boyer. We will discuss the book with Mychal Denzel Smi...

Today we are joined by author and activist Marlon Peterson. His book Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist’s Freedom Song is out now and is both a memoir of Marlon’s time in prison and an indictment of a system that fails its citizens. We talk today about possibility, asking different questions, and romantic comedies.  The Stacks Book Club selection for June is The Undying by Anne Boyer. We will disc...

Our guest this week is Mychal Denzel Smith, the author of one of Traci’s favorite books from 2020, Stakes is High . Mychal’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and many other publications, and now he hosts the Open Form podcast. Today we talk about the difference between accountability and punishment, abolition, and what it means to want better for America. The Stacks...

Today is The Stacks Book Club day and we’re finally discussing Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy with author Jenny Lee. Jenny’s books Anna K and Anna K Away are modern day retellings of Anna Karenina which makes her the perfect person to do a deep dive into this mega-novel. Please be warned there are a lot of spoilers in the episode. Also, a huge thank you to everyone who read along with us, it's no sm...

Our guest today is staff writer at The New Yorker , and award winning author Patrick Radden Keefe. We talk about his newest book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty , and the ways the opioid crisis was directly connected to their drug OxyContin. We also discuss Patrick’s thinking around breaking a story, writing after the success of his bestselling book Say Nothing: A True St...

Today we're joined by Chanda Prescod Weinstein, a theoretical physicist specializing in early universe cosmology. She is the author of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred . We talk today about science anxiety, the ways politics play into science, and how the cosmos are part of all of our lives. The Stacks Book Club selection for May is Anna Karenina by...

Today on The Stacks we’re talking with TV writer and author Jenny Lee. Jenny is the author of Anna K a modern retelling of Anna Karenina set in the world of New York City’s teenage elite. Her brand new book is a sequel to the bestselling Anna K entitled, Anna K Away . We talk today about adapting a classic, what happens when the source material runs out, and the very real struggle of not always li...

On today's episode of The Stacks we're talking with poet, lawyer, and activist, Reginald Dwayne Betts about The Tradition by Jericho Brown for The Stacks Book Club. We discuss poems as fact or fiction, what happens when you hear a poem out loud, and the ways different poems can take on different meanings to different people.  Click here to be part of The Stacks fundraiser for Million Book Pro...

On this week's episode we're joined by Hanif Abdurraqib. Hanif is an author, poet, music and cultural critic, and the host of the podcast Object of Sound . We talk today about his newest book, A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance. We talk today about how Hanif expanded the definition of performance, restraint as a tool in writing, and finding gratitude amidst grief.&nbsp...

Our guest today Rebecca Carroll. Rebecca is a writer, cultural critic, and podcaster. She is the author of multiple books including her memoir which came out in February and is titled Surviving the White Gaze . We discuss her life as a Black child adopted into a white family, how she continues to interrogate the white gaze, and her 2020 podcast Come Through with Rebecca Carroll . There a...

On today's episode we talk with poet, author, activist, and attorney Reginald Dwayne Betts ( Felon ). In the conversation we explore the ways we police and punish ourselves and the people around us, the conditions of worthiness, and the balance between form and word choice in poetry. Dwayne also shares about his nonprofit, Million Book Project , and the work they do to bring books into prisons. Cl...

It's time for The Stacks Book Club conversation about our March pick, 2020 National Book Award Finalist, Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh. We are joined by prolific YA author, Nic Stone ( Dear Martin , Dear Justyce ). Our conversation explores what makes a book "good" or "bad", the complexity of finding one's self, and the power and value in our bodies. There are spoilers on this episode. Be sur...

Brandon Hobson is a National Book Award Finalist, and the author of a brand new novel called The Removed . The book is about one family and the lasting impacts from the murder of their son at the hands of a police officer. Today we talk about how The Removed challenges stereotypes around Native Americans, creating a career from passions, and the writers who inspire Brandon. There are no spoil...

Today on the podcast we talk with young adult author Mary H.K. Choi about her newest book, Yolk . Mary shares with us about her struggles with disordered eating, the steps she takes to take care of herself and her body, and writing about the city of New York. We also spend time discussing having a crush and what makes someone crush worthy. There are no spoilers on this episode. The Stacks Book Clu...