The Stacks

Today on The Stacks, we have author and feminist Rachel Overvoll joining us to discuss her book Finding Feminism , which is a memoir about her upbringing as a fundamentalist Evangelical Christian, her split from the church, and her personal journey toward feminism and empowerment. Rachel shares her own definition of Feminist, her perspectives on leaving religion, and then we go off on a The Bachel...

Today on The Stacks Book Club, we're taking it to the backlist of American Fiction with Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson. Our guest is New York Times Best Selling author Dave Cullen ( Columbine , Parkland ). On this episode we discuss chasing highs, what makes a good cover, and who gets to tell what stories. There are spoilers on this episode.   You can find links to everything we talk about on to...

Miracle Creek is The Stack s Book Club pick for July 17th, and today, we have the author of the book, Angie Kim to give you a spoiler free look into this courtroom drama meets literary fiction about family and obligation. Kim explains how this book is influenced from many different parts of her own life, how she came up with names for her characters, and how Miracle Creek got its title. There are...

Our guest today is two-time New York Times Best Selling author Dave Cullen. His first book, Columbine , is one of host, Traci Thomas', favorite books. Cullen is most recently the author of Parkland: Birth of a Movement . Today we talk about following journalistic instincts, crafting a compelling narrative, and then we get a sneak peek into Dave Cullen's forthcoming book, Soldiers First . There are...

New York Times Best Selling author Lori Gottlieb ( Maybe You Should Talk to Someone ) is back to discuss The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams for The Stacks Book Club. The book provides the reader with a range of emotions as it navigates Yip-Williams' terminal cancer diagnosis and struggle to die with grace. We discuss our ave...

For the first time ever we have two authors on The Stacks at once, and we are thrilled about it. Today we talk to Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin the co-authors of How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance . We discuss the importance of diverse Black voices being represented in the book, how Solomon and Rankin worked together to create it, and the importance of a book proposa...

Today our guest is therapist andauthor Lori Gottlieb, whose new book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed , is a New York Times Best Seller. We talk about how this fascinating book took shape, the importance of mental health, and different kinds of therapy. Then we dive into Lori's reading taste, which can be summed up by her catch phrase, ABAB aka A...

Today on The Stacks we're discussing Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation by Robert W. Fieseler. Author ( Elizabeth Taylor, A Life for Passion ) and former book publicist Joseph Papa, is our guest and he helps us break down this book. We discuss the use of the acronym LGBTQIA+, how society criminalizes human beings, and some of the most incredible...

Etaf Rum is a debut author, whose book A Woman is No Man , is one of the buzziest of the year. The story follows three gerneations of women in a Palestinian family, and throughout we are asked to grapple with the themes of identity, self worth, abuse, and empowerment. Rum shares with us what it is like to hear from her readers, some of her goals, and what books she keeps around for inspiration. Th...

Our guest today is Joseph Papa, author ( Elizabeth Taylor, A Passion for Life ), activist, and former book publicist at Harper Collins. Joseph brings his years of experience to the show to explain how book publicity works, what it is like working with celebrity authors, Kris Jenner's reading taste, Scientology and more! You can find links to everything we discuss on today's episdoe on The Stacks w...

Beloved is a classic American novel by one of the greatest novelists of our time, Toni Morrison. It is also The Stacks Book Club pick this week, and we are lucky to have author and scholar DaMaris B. Hill ( A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing ) to help us break it down. We talk about the legacy of slavery on Black Americans, how to discuss great works that we don't personally enjoy, intimacy as it...

We're joined today by Robert W. Fieseler author of June The Stacks Book Club Pick, Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation . In our conversation we get to know Fieseler, how this tragic event came into his life, where he found his sources, and the toll writing about trauma can have on an author. Our conversation is spoiler free, and serves as a great...

DaMaris B. Hill is an author and scholar, and her latest book, A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing , is a collection of poetry dealing with the incarceration of Black women. Today on The Stacks she talks with us about how she came to be a writer, her perfectionist spirit, and the books that have inspired her along the way. You can find everyhting we talk about on today's episdoe including a full li...

Keltie is back! That's right, its time for The Stacks Book Club, and Keltie is here as we take a deep dive into Cheryl Strayed's collection of advice, Tiny Beautiful Things . We talk about this fantastic book, the best advice we've received, dealing with grief, being ambitious, and weddings. Basically, we're talking about it all. And the best part? There are no spoilers this week.  You can fi...

On today's episdoe of The Short Stacks our guest is Damon Young. Damon is the co-founder of Very Smart Brothas, a senior editor at The Root, and the author of What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker . We talk today about the anxieties of releasing a memoir into the world, public apologies, and getting blurbs from people you admire. There are no spoilers today. You can find everything we talk about...

The Stacks is thrilled to announce we are now part of The LadyGang Network on PodcastOne . Don't worry, there are no changes for you, we're still the same bookish podcast you love. In order to kick off our new partnership, we've got co-host of The LadyGang and correspondent on Entertainment Tonight , Keltie Knight. We talk about starting your own business, the value of a good first impression, and...

In honor of National Poetry Month, we're talking all things poetry for The Stacks Book Club. We're joined again by author, performance artist, and poet Gabrielle Civil, and we're discussing Ntozake Shange's poetry collection, Wild Beauty . If you're intimidated by poetry, you'll love today's episode. We talk about how to approach poetry, where to start, and if there is such thing as a "good" poem...

On this episode of The Short Stacks our guest is award-wining author, Miriam Toews. We are discussing her new book, Women Talking , which is inspired by true events of a series of rapes within a Mennonite community in Bolivia. We talk about the differences between a first and eighth book, what other jobs Miriam might like to have, and what authors you should check out if you like Women Talking . T...

Today we have performance artist, author, poet, and professor Gabrielle Civil on the podcast to discuss the creative process, books that bite, overachieving Black girls, and books in translation. We spend time discussing Performance Memoir as a genre and we hear about Gabrielle's books Swallow the Fish and Experiments in Joy . You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Websi...

Ben Blacker is back and we're talking all things theatre and oral history today on The Stacks, as we breakdown The World Only Spins Forward by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois. The book is an oral history of Angels in America , a classic American play about the AIDS crisis by Tony Kushner. We discuss government funded art, human rights, and so much theatre geek goodness. Plus, no spoilers. Listen and enj...

Today on The Short Stacks we're joined by debut author, Bryan Washington, whose debut book Lot is a short story collection set in Houston. Bryan talks street names as titles, his "day job", and what is next for him (trust me its exciting).  You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2019/04/08/ss10-bryan-washington Connect with Brya...

Today marks one full year of The Stacks , and what an amazing year it has been. The Stacks has every intention of making year two even better. To kick it off we have a real life renaissance man; author, comedian, and podcaster, Ben Blacker. We talk today about the importance of literature as a way to see the humanity in others, the types of anger you can feel toward books, and about Ben's life as...

Today we are dissecting our first thriller ever on The Stacks Book Club, and to help us do it, we have actress and comedian Niccole Thurman ( The Opposition with Jordan Klepper ). The book is Iain Reid's debut novel, I'm Thinking of Ending Things , and it tells the story of a relationship on the brink. We talk about male authors writing female characters, what we like in a thriller, and who we thi...

On April 10th, we will be discussing The World Only Spins Forward by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois for The Stacks Book Club. To get you ready for that conversation, we have co-author Isaac Butler on The (not-so) Short Stacks to talk about his background in theatre, how this oral history came to be, the logistics of writing as a duo, and about Isaac's Shakespeare podcast, Lend Me Your Ears . We cover a...

Our guest today is actress and comedian, Niccole Thurman, who is best known for being a citizen journalist on The Opposition with Jordan Klepper , among other things. Niccole talks with us today about finding a creative outlet, dating challenges, and the need for more empathy. Fans of Oprah's Book Club get ready, you may hear some familiar titles as we dive into Niccole's faves. You can find every...