Maia Kobabe's debut memoir, Gender Queer, was the most frequently banned book in 2021 and 2022. We talked with em about what it's like to be on the recieving end of so many challenges, and the importance of public libraries.Read the <a href='https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/interview-maia-kobabe'>transcript here</a>.More resources:<ul><li>Check out <a href='https://www.bklynlibrary.org/item?b=12198147'>Gender Queer.</a></li><li>Find Maia's <a href='https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NTgMLITTGQBhbN-_F7BBNWhqO7AA2NUhh2sEjRsfvMI/preview'>resources for defending Gender Queer</a>, and eir recent <a href='https://www.instagram.com/p/CwqBcghJVcB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA=='>comic about book bans and libraries</a>.</li><li>Read The Washington Post's <a href='https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/23/lgbtq-book-ban-challengers/'>article on book bans</a>.</li></ul>

Maia Kobabe's debut memoir, Gender Queer, was the most frequently banned book in 2021 and 2022. We talked with em about what it's like to be on the recieving end of so many challenges, and the importance of public libraries. Read the transcript here. More resources:Check out Gender Queer.Find Maia's resources for defending Gender Queer, and eir recent comic about book bans and libraries.Read The Washington Post's article on book bans.

Maia Kobabe's debut memoir, Gender Queer, was the most frequently banned book in 2021 and 2022. We talked with em about what it's like to be on the recieving end of so many challenges, and the importance of public libraries.Read the <a href="https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/interview-maia-kobabe" rel="noopener noreferrer">transcript here</a>.More resources:<ul><li>Check out <a href="https://www.bklynlibrary.org/item?b=12198147" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gender Queer.</a></li><li>Find Maia's <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NTgMLITTGQBhbN-_F7BBNWhqO7AA2NUhh2sEjRsfvMI/preview" rel="noopener noreferrer">resources for defending Gender Queer</a>, and eir recent <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CwqBcghJVcB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==" rel="noopener noreferrer">comic about book bans and libraries</a>.</li><li>Read The Washington Post's <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/23/lgbtq-book-ban-challengers/" rel="noopener noreferrer">article on book bans</a>.</li></ul>&nbsp;

An Interview with Maia Kobabe

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;

Society & Culture

Arts

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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An Interview with Maia Kobabe

An Interview with Maia Kobabe

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