Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby speaks with Tom Rosshirt about his poignant and transformational new book, CHASING PEACE: A Story of Breakdowns, Breakthroughs, and the Spiritual Power of Neuroscience. Tom shares his extraordinary journey from debilitating chronic illnesses, depression, and anxiety to healing through the latest practices in brain science. He explains how self-directed neuroplasticity—a daily practice of ret...

Zibby chats with author Nancy Reddy about THE GOOD MOTHER MYTH, an incisive, meticulously researched, and beautifully written book that blends science, cultural criticism, and memoir to challenge the unrealistic expectations placed on mothers and advocate for a more compassionate, community-driven approach to parenting. Nancy unpacks the damaging "supermom" ideal and explains why understanding mot...

Celebrated Harvard Business School professor and leading expert on the psychology of conversation, Alison Wood Brooks, chats with Zibby about TALK, a groundbreaking and immediately useful book that reveals the hidden architecture of our conversations and teaches us how to be better at them. Alison shares her personal and professional journey and then introduces her framework for better conversatio...

Special re-release: In support of authors who have lost their homes in the tragic LA fires, we will be resharing their podcast episodes. Zibby chats with  New York Times  bestselling author Sarah Mlynowski, the creative force behind popular children’s and teen book series like WHATEVER AFTER and UPSIDE-DOWN MAGIC. Sarah shares her journey from adult chick lit to middle-grade ma...

Special re-release: In support of authors who have lost their homes in the tragic LA fires, we will be resharing their podcast episodes. Zibby interviews Harvard MBA, best-selling author, and “queen of unsolicited advice” Samantha Ettus about her 2016 self-improvement guide for working women, THE PIE LIFE: A Guilt-Free Recipe for Success and Satisfaction. Sam talks about the importance of nurturin...

Zibby speaks with writer and former film editor Lisa Cheek about her heartfelt and quickwitted memoir, SIT, CINDERELLA, SIT: A Mostly True Memoir. Lisa shares her story, from her groundbreaking career in TV commercial editing to her extraordinary adventure flying to rural China and editing a film about the origins of the Cinderella story on the Tibetan border with a Mandarin-speaking crew—a job sh...

Debut author Sarah Hoover joins Zibby to discuss THE MOTHERLOAD, an unflinchingly honest and brutally funny motherhood memoir that turns the ecstatic narrative women have been fed on its head. Sarah reflects on her harrowing journey through postpartum depression, navigating identity shifts, new motherhood, marriage challenges, and a complex relationship with her own mother. She shares how the trau...

Zibby is joined by  New York Times  million-copy bestselling author Alice Feeney to discuss her magnetic, jaw-dropping new thriller, BEAUTIFUL UGLY. Alice delves into the story, which follows struggling author Grady Green a year after his wife’s mysterious disappearance, and what happens when he travels to a tiny Scottish island to get his life back on track... and sees a woman who looks...

Award-winning  New York Times  reporter Elizabeth Harris chats with Zibby about her witty, whip-smart, and compulsively readable debut, HOW TO SLEEP AT NIGHT. Elizabeth delves into the interconnected stories in the novel: a suburban mom struggling with lost ambition, a political reporter questioning her career, and a gay couple navigating political differences and addiction. She touches...

Theater director and debut author Sash Bischoff joins Zibby to discuss SWEET FURY, a wildly imaginative, subversive, and breathlessly fun literary thriller about a beloved actress who is cast in a feminist adaptation of a Fitzgerald classic, only to find herself the victim in a deadly game of revenge. Sash explains how her acting and directing background helped shape the novel’s complex narrative—...

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens ! ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highlights , which includes a free weekly newsletter, event livestreams, most anticipated book lists, personal essays, and a new essay platform with stories from all of you about what chapters you're in (inspired by my upcoming book Between Chapters: H...

New York Times  bestselling author Fiona Davis returns to the podcast to discuss her utterly addictive new novel, THE STOLEN QUEEN, transporting us from New York’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo. Fiona shares how a viral photo of Kim Kardashian inspired this story and then describes her fascinating research, from tours of the Met’s secret tunnels to interviews with sec...

Zibby chats with sociologist and bestselling author Martha Beck about her fascinating, groundbreaking new book, BEYOND ANXIETY: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose. Martha shares her transformative tools, explaining how simple practices—like kind self-talk and “sense drenching”—can calm anxiety and unlock creativity. Together, they discuss the brain’s left-right balance, the sci...

Zibby is joined by award-winning journalist Jenny Anderson and the Brookings Institution’s global education expert Rebecca Winthrop to discuss THE DISENGAGED TEEN, a ground-breaking exploration of stressed-out teens who have lost their love of learning, and what to do to support their academic and emotional success. The authors discuss systemic issues in schooling, the impact of technology, the ro...

Zibby Books author alert! Amy Wilson returns to the podcast to discuss HAPPY TO HELP: Adventures of a People Pleaser, a hilarious, insightful, transformative, and incredibly relatable collection of essays about how women are conditioned to be “happy to help”—and what happens when things don’t go that way. Amy reflects on her life as a people-pleaser, from her childhood as the eldest of six sibling...

My husband Kyle and I discussed my Most Anticipated List of books coming out in 2025!! We talked casually in the car as I read through the draft of my list and shared details about select titles. I'll publish the list, which includes the books I talked about and more, on zibbyowens.substack.com soon -- so you don't have to write all of these down! But you heard it here first. Make sure you're sign...

Zibby is joined by  New York Times  bestselling author Olivia Campbell to discuss SISTERS IN SCIENCE, the extraordinary true story of four resilient women physicists who escaped Nazi Germany and made groundbreaking contributions to science. Olivia describes her fascinating research process and then shares the untold impact of systemic misogyny, anti-Semitism, and fascism on scientific pr...

Get ready for the new year! Listen to guru, coach, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Gabby Bernstein as she helps us through anything using a technique that she found to be extremely useful herself!! Thanks, Gabby! Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3VX6UJh . Share, rate, and review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens ! ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign...

Special holiday re-release! Broadway superstar Kristin Chenoweth joins Zibby to talk about her picture book, WHAT WILL I DO WITH MY LOVE TODAY?, which was inspired in part by her beloved dog, Thunder. The two discuss why Kristin decided to incorporate heavy themes like loss, adoption, and perseverancel, as well as how the pandemic played a role in the story. Kristin also shares her favorite passag...

Do you watch "Abbott Elementary?!" Have you heard of it?! Maybe you watch the Golden Globes and have seen her accepting awards? Zibby interviewed Quinta Brunson BEFORE the show about her memoir. Listen in to learn all about Quinta! Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/4gN2nRs Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens ! ** Want more? Become a part of my commun...

In honor of the new movie version of "Wicked," here's a replay of Zibby's conversation with the first actress to inhabit the witch's costume on Broadway, Idina Menzel!! Her sister, Cara Mentzel, contributed an essay to On Being Jewish Now, Zibby's anthology. Purchase on Bookshop: bit.ly/3CtApZN Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens ! ** Want more? Become...

Sutton Foster has been all the rage on Broadway! Listen to her conversation with Zibby from several years ago about her hobbies, her career, and more! Purchase on Bookshop: bit.ly/3mkaHyP Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens ! ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highlights , which includes a free weekly newsletter, event live...

One of the best things that happened in all of Covid? Zibby got to interview Alicia Keys about her memoir, More Myself . If you haven't listened, now's the time! Purchase on Bookshop: bit.ly/41Qle6z Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens ! ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highlights , which includes a free weekly newsletter,...

Natalie Portman shared her children's book, Fables, with Zibby. They spoke about motherhood, literature, and more! Purchase on Bookshop: bit.ly/3pQ6MP3 Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens ! ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highlights , which includes a free weekly newsletter, event livestreams, most anticipated book lists...

One of her most exciting episodes ever! Zibby spoke to Matthew McConaughey about his memoir Greenlights, his children's book, and his career. She was basically sweating the whole time and tried not to show it. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3r84wmG Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens ! ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby...