As 2024 comes to a close, we wanted to share with you an episode that we produced all the way back in 2020. That year, we went to Coney Island to record the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the group of swimmers that congregate on Coney Island every Sunday in winter to swim in the frigid ocean as a way to renew themselves. It’s a fun one, and we hope you enjoy! Further resources:<ul><li>Look at historic photos of the <a href='https://www.bklynlibrary.org/digitalcollections/items?search=polar%20bear'>Polar Bear Club</a> and <a href='https://www.bklynlibrary.org/digitalcollections/items?search=coney+island&q=items&page=1'>Coney Island</a>.</li><li><a href='https://coneyislandpolarbearclub.com/annual-new-years-day-plunge/'>Take the plunge</a> with the Polar Bear Club this New Year's Day.</li><li>Help us shape our next podcast series! Fill out <a href='https://forms.gle/HMpvC9wYXvbo9LtJ7'>this survey</a> and let us know what books you think changed America. </li><li>Check out the <a href='https://discover.bklynlibrary.org/?booklist=716805'>books we loved in 2024</a>.</li></ul>

As 2024 comes to a close, we wanted to share with you an episode that we produced all the way back in 2020. That year, we went to Coney Island to record the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the group of swimmers that congregate on Coney Island every Sunday in winter to swim in the frigid ocean as a way to renew themselves. It’s a fun one, and we hope you enjoy! Further resources:Look at historic photos of the Polar Bear Club and Coney Island.Take the plunge with the Polar Bear Club this New Year's Day.Help us shape our next podcast series! Fill out this survey and let us know what books you think changed America. Check out the books we loved in 2024.

As 2024 comes to a close, we wanted to share with you an episode that we produced all the way back in 2020. That year, we went to Coney Island to record the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the group of swimmers that congregate on Coney Island every Sunday in winter to swim in the frigid ocean as a way to renew themselves. It’s a fun one, and we hope you enjoy! Further resources:<ul><li>Look at historic photos of the <a href="https://www.bklynlibrary.org/digitalcollections/items?search=polar%20bear" rel="noopener noreferrer">Polar Bear Club</a> and <a href="https://www.bklynlibrary.org/digitalcollections/items?search=coney+island&amp;q=items&amp;page=1" rel="noopener noreferrer">Coney Island</a>.</li><li><a href="https://coneyislandpolarbearclub.com/annual-new-years-day-plunge/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Take the plunge</a> with the Polar Bear Club this New Year's Day.</li><li>Help us shape our next podcast series! Fill out <a href="https://forms.gle/HMpvC9wYXvbo9LtJ7" rel="noopener noreferrer">this survey</a> and let us know what books you think changed America.&nbsp;</li><li>Check out the <a href="https://discover.bklynlibrary.org/?booklist=716805" rel="noopener noreferrer">books we loved in 2024</a>.</li></ul>

A New Year’s Plunge (Rebroadcast)

Brooklyn Public Library is full of stories. Borrowed brings the best of them to you. Current podcast series: Launching July 8, 2025, Borrowed &amp; Returned is a new podcast series that examines what our reading public borrowed in the past, and what we’re all reading now. In conversations with library workers, authors and readers across the country, we’ll return to the books that changed us, and changed America, too.&nbsp; Previous podcast series:&nbsp;Borrowed and Banned is our limited series about America's ideological war with its bookshelves. From September to December 2023, we released ten episodes featuring the stories of students on the frontlines, librarians and teachers whose livelihoods are endangered when they speak up, and writers whose books have become political battleground. &nbsp; Borrowed, BPL's flagship podcast, is a narrative series about superhero librarians, neighborhood stories and what it means to be a free, democratic place in today’s changing world. We tell stories about libraries during natural disasters, the challenges of homelessness, and NYC’s fraught relationship with trash. For transcripts, pictures, book lists, and resources, please visit our web page: bklynlib.org/podcasts&nbsp;

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Books

Brooklyn Public Library is full of stories. Borrowed brings the best of them to you. Current podcast series: Launching July 8, 2025, Borrowed & Returned is a new podcast series that examines what our reading public borrowed in the past, and what we’re all reading now. In conversations with library workers, authors and readers across the country, we’ll return to the books that changed us, and changed America, too.  Previous podcast series:   Borrowed and Banned is our limited series about America's ideological war with its bookshelves. From September to December 2023, we released ten episodes featuring the stories of students on the frontlines, librarians and teachers whose livelihoods are endangered when they speak up, and writers whose books have become political battleground.   Borrowed, BPL's flagship podcast, is a narrative series about superhero librarians, neighborhood stories and what it means to be a free, democratic place in today’s changing world. We tell stories about libraries during natural disasters, the challenges of homelessness, and NYC’s fraught relationship with trash. For transcripts, pictures, book lists, and resources, please visit our web page: bklynlib.org/podcasts 

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A New Year’s Plunge (Rebroadcast)

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