The Stacks

Debut novelist, Addie E. Citchens, joins us this week to discuss her book,  Dominion —a Black Southern family drama told through the eyes of two women. Addie talks about how growing up in the church in Mississippi inspired her writing, and why she feels like she’s been writing this story her whole life. We also talk about humor, a writing teacher who stifled her style, and how the ending...

This week on The Stacks, essay writer and culture critic, Tre Johnson, joins us to discuss his debut book,  Black Genius: Essays on an American Legacy , which examines how black American culture has driven American ingenuity. Tre shares how his grandfather inspired him to write Black Genius and how the book has evolved over the years. We also talk about the struggle of balancing a 9-5 job and...

*Patreon and Substack-only bonus episode teaser,  click here for the full episode * This month you're getting a  bonus  bonus   episode of The Stacks Unabridged. Because we love summer and books, Sara Hildreth of Fiction Matters is here to talk about summer reading guides. We hand out a few literary superlatives like, best book to read on an airplane and most dramatic. Plus we...

Journalist, Alexis Madrigal, joins the Stacks to discuss his debut book,  The Pacific Circuit: A Globalized Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City —the “American city” in question being Oakland, CA. Today, Alexis gives us insight into why he wanted to tell the story of Oakland in particular, and why it matters in broader national and global context. He also explains how COVID...

It’s The Stacks Book Club Day, and we're discussing Toni Morrison's  God Help the Child  with Dana A. Williams, author of Toni at Random . Together, we talk about the themes that show up in God Help the Child that have echoes from Morrison's earlier work—generational trauma and racialized beauty. We also discuss why Toni Morrison wanted to write a contemporary novel, the great names...

Haley Cohen Gillian, the director of the Yale Journalism Initiative, joins us this week to discuss her new book,  A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children ,  which chronicles the grandmothers who searched for their children and grandchildren who were disappeared by Argentina's brutal dictatorship. In t...

This week on the Stacks, journalist Megan Greenwell joins to discuss her debut book,  Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream . She breaks down the ins and outs of private equity, how it works, why it harms communities, and if there is an ethical path for the industry. The Stacks Book Club pick for July is  God Help the Child  by Toni Morrison. We will discus...

*Patreon- and Substack-only bonus episode teaser,  click here for the full episode * For this month’s bonus episode, we’re mixing things up a little—this time, Traci is the one being interviewed! The fine folks at LARB Radio Hour , Medaya Ocher and Eric Newman, speak with Traci to discuss the impact of social media on publishing, the content creator life, and the way readers discover boo...

Mandii B and WeezyWTF, the co-hosts of the  Decisions, Decisions  podcast, join us today to discuss their New York Times Best-selling book,  No Holes Barred: A Dual Manifesto of Sexual Exploration and Power . They talk about the challenges of staying sex positive while writing about their own shame and which parts of the book they were most nervous about having published. We al...

This week on the Stacks, we are joined by author and African-American literature professor, Dana A. Williams. She has written a brand new book called  Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship , which   chronicles Morrison's time as an editor at Random House. Dana shares with us the behind the scenes story of how her book title came to be, her favorite Morrison book,...

It’s The Stacks' Book Club Day, and we are joined once again by Ceara O’Sullivan to discuss  The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel. The book explores the ethos of Stéphane Bréitwieser—the titular art thief in question—who stole and kept over two billion dollars worth of art. Together, we discuss Finkel's portrayal of Bréitwieser, the myri...

*Patreon- and Substack-only bonus episode teaser,  click here for the full episode * We’re halfway through 2025 so this month on The Stacks Unabridged, we've got a literary check-in with friends of the pod, Sara Hildreth and Cree Myles! Together, we discuss the books that blew us away during the first half of the year, the titles we're most looking forward to for the second half of 2025. Plus...

Mia McKenzie is on the show this week discussing her newest book, These Heathens , a coming of age story set in 1960s Georgia. She talks about how she approached fictionalizing real figures from the civil rights movement, the importance of queer representation in her work, and how her grandmother inspired the protagonist in the novel. The Stacks Book Club pick for June is  The Art Thief: A Tr...

This week on the Stacks, we are joined by New York Times bestselling crime fiction author, S.A. Cosby, to talk about his brand new book, King of Ashes . Cosby gives us insights into being a self-proclaimed lazy writer, and his approach to violence on the page. We also talk about why he considers reading an integral part of his writing process, and what the genre of “Southern noir” means to him.&nb...

This week on the Stacks, we are joined by Saturday Night Live writer, actor, and host of the Petty Crimes podcast, Ceara O’Sullivan. Ceara talks about how writing for TV has impacted her TV watching life, the importance of editing in storytelling, and what it’s like to read a memoir by a person you know.  The Stacks Book Club pick for June is  The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime,...

It’s the Stacks’ Book Club Day, and we’re discussing  Devil in a Blue Dress  by Walter Mosley with returning guest, Kara Brown. We share our thoughts on the story’s twists and turns, especially the big reveal. Then we dive deeper to discuss the significance of this book on the literary landscape, and what about the novel does and doesn’t hold up when viewed through a modern-day lens. The...

This week on the Stacks, we are joined by author and essayist, Frederick Joseph, to discuss his newest book (and his first foray into YA fiction), This Thing of Ours . He shares with us about how he’s able to write every day without writer’s block, and why he decided not to sell his books in Target. We also spend time exploring Frederick’s favorite and least favorite book classics. The Stacks Book...

*Patreon- and Substack-only bonus episode teaser,  click here for the full episode * It's Cowboy Carter SZN and we're breaking down Beyoncé's latest tour with friend of the pod and podcast host extraordinaire Sam Sanders. We talk about Queen Bey's latest tour, the good and the not so good, plus our thoughts on Blue Ivy's exposure and the future of stadium tours. We also quickly gab about the...

Today we are joined by Daria Burke, an award-winning business leader, investor, speaker, and now author. She is here to discuss her memoir,  Of My Own Making , which is about how she healed from childhood trauma to build her life. Daria talks about how systemic and personal harms are intertwined, how she engaged with leading experts in the fields of trauma work,...

Today on The Stacks, we’re talking with screenwriter and producer, Kara Brown. She shares what she looks for when adapting a book to the screen, and the key to making sure an adaptation is a success. We also discuss Kara’s love of massive tomes, the three writers that inspired her career, and her problematic fave. The Stacks Book Club pick for May is  Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley. W...

It’s the Stacks’ Book Club Day, and we’re discussing Blessing the Boats by Lucille Clifton with returning guest, Tiana Clark. We discuss how Clifton welcomes audiences usually excluded from poetry and how her work still manages to have urgency 25+ years later. We also work through some of the poems that were challenging for us, and uncover some hidden meanings. Be sure to listen to the end of toda...

Today on The Stacks, Brian Goldstone is here to talk about his book,  There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America . The book examines the growing phenomenon of the "working homeless"—people who work full time and still remain unhoused—by following five families in Atlanta over the course of a few years. Goldstone explains how he connected with the f...

*Patreon- and Substack-only bonus episode teaser,  click here for the full episode * In this episode of The Stacks Unabridged, we are joined once again by author Kiese Laymon, to discuss his first children’s book, City Summer, Country Summer , and the emotional resonance of sports narratives. We also share how we’re staying human in the midst of so much inhumanity. You can find everything we...

This week, food and culture writer, Giaae Kwon joins us to discuss her debut book, a collection of essays, I'll Love You Forever: Notes from a K-Pop Fan . We talk about what defines K-pop and the aspects of its fandom: from parasocial relationships to the exoticization of K-pop and its "idols." The Stacks Book Club pick for April is Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988–2000 by Lucille C...

This week, we’re joined by Geri Halliwell-Horner, also known as Ginger Spice from the Spice Girls. She discusses her second installment in the Rosie Frost series, Rosie Frost: Ice on Fire . Determined to learn her family history with Bloodstone, Rosie must discover what she’s really made of as a new danger puts her new home and all she that she loves at risk. Halliwell-Horner also shares her journ...