For Real

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For Real episodes

  • Not Throwing Away Our Moonshot

    This week Alice and Kim talk about the Space Race, recommend books to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, and laugh at moon conspiracy theories.

    This episode is sponsored by Pre Loved Podcast, Becoming Superman by J. Michael Straczynski and Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.

    NEW BOOKS

    The Weil Conjectures by Karen Olsson

    They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

    Beneath the Tamarind Tree by Isha Sesay

    In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond by John Zada

    THE MOON

    Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

    Moonbound by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

    American Moonshot by Douglas Brinkley

    Galaxy Girls by Libby Jackson

    Apollo’s Legacy by Roger D. Launius

    Destination Moon by Richard Maurer

    READING NOW

    For the Love of Books by Graham Tarrant

    If All the Seas Were Ink by Ilana Kurshan

    The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

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    43 min
  • YA Nonfiction, or "Nonfiction for Busy Adults"

    This week Alice and Kim talk assassins, night witches, and the serial killer who was almost impossible to catch.

    This episode is sponsored by the Pre-Loved Podcast. Check it out on the podcatcher of your choice! And don’t forget to share For Real with nonfiction-loving friends/family/long-forged acquaintances on social media, tagging @bookriot.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.


    Follow Up

    John Oliver did a segment on climbing Mount Everest and how the “expedition industry has devalued a once-historic achievement” and also made it a lot more dangerous.

     

    New Books

    Broken Places & Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected by Nnedi Okorafor 

    Reading Behind Bars: A Memoir of Literature, Law, and Life as a Prison Librarian by Jill Grunenwald 

    The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India’s Quest for Independence by Anita Anand 

    American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan 

    Three Women by Lisa Taddeo 

    Outspoken: Why Women’s Voices Get Silenced and How to Set Them Freeby Veronica Rueckert 

     

    Young Adult Nonfiction

    Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson

    We Say #NeverAgain: Reporting by the Parkland Student Journalists, edited by Melissa Falkowski and Eric Garner

    Roses and Radicals: The Epic Story of How American Women Won the Right to Vote by Susan Zimet

    A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein

    Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

     

    Reading Now

    ALICE: Love Thy Neighbor: A Muslim Doctor’s Struggle for Home in Rural America by Ayaz Virji

    KIM: Rough Magic by Laura Palmer

    Leaving the Witness by Amber Scorah

     

    CONCLUSION

    You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork 

    RATE AND REVIEW us on ITUNES so people can find us more easily, and subscribe so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    44 min
  • #34 Ahoy, We Sail the Sea of Books

    This week Alice and Kim talk ridiculously long subtitles and books about the ocean, from the science of jellyfish to the true story of the mutiny on the HMS Bounty. 

    This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm audiobooks, Amazon Publishing, and Book Riot Insiders.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.

    FOLLOW UP

    Washington Post: “Book subtitles are getting ridiculously long. What is going on?”

    NEW BOOKS

    For the Love of Books by Graham Tarrant

    The Weather Machine by Andrew Blum

    A Death in the Rainforest by Don Kulick

    More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth

    I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum

    NATIONAL OCEANS MONTH

    Spineless by Juli Berwald

    The Bounty by Caroline Alexander

    Fisherman’s Blues by Anna Badkhen

    Poseidon’s Steed by Helen Scales

    Hawaiki Rising by Dr. Sam Low

    READING NOW

    Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

    A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

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    44 min
  • #33 Pride Reads!

    This week Alice and Kim talk about witches, Jehovah’s Witnesses, fungus-inspired crime, and what nonfiction to read for Pride Month.

    This episode is sponsored by All the Books, The Collected Schizophreniasby Esmé Weijun Wang, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, publishers of Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment by Linda Hirshman.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.

    Follow Up

    KIM: Slow Burn podcast is doing a series on The Queen by Josh Levin (one of the editor’s behind Slow Burn)


    New Books

    Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life by Amber Scorah

    Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power by Pam Grossman

    This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto by Suketu Mehta

    The Truffle Underground: A Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World’s Most Expensive Fungus by Ryan Jacobs

    Naturally Tan: A Memoir by Tan France

    Formation: A Woman’s Memoir of Stepping Out of Line by Ryan Leigh Dostie

    Grace Will Lead Us Home: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes

    The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation by Rich Cohen

    Blonde Rattlesnake: Burmah Adams, Tom White, and the 1933 Crime Spree That Terrorized Los Angeles by Julia Bricklin

    Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age by Darrel J. McLeod

    Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom by Katherine Eban


    Pride Month

    Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen

    Native Country of the Heart: A Memoir by Cherrie Moraga

    Prairie Silence: A Memoir by Melanie Hoffert

    The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals by Richard Plant

    We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib

    Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall by James Polchin

    The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E Pitman


    Reading Now

    KIM: Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs

    ALICE: The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean


    CONCLUSION

    You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork

    RATE AND REVIEW on ITUNES so people can find us more easily, and subscribe so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    44 min
  • #32 Our Favorite Nonfiction of the Year (So Far)

    This week Kim and guest host Liberty Hardy talk new books and their favorite nonfiction of the year so far.

    This episode is sponsored by Book Riot and Audible.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.

    NEW BOOKS

    Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan

    The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth by Josh Levin

    From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke

    Sisters and Rebels: A Struggle for the Soul of America by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall

    FAVORITE NONFICTION OF THE YEAR SO FAR

    Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi, Joshua David Stein

    Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep

    Parkland: Birth of a Movement by Dave Cullen

    Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer

    Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob

    The Sakura Obsession: The Incredible Story of the Plant Hunter Who Saved Japan’s Cherry Blossoms by Naoko Abe

    The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang

    Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

    READING NOW

    Southern Lady Code: Essays by Helen Ellis

    The Library of the Unwritten by by A. J. Hackwith (October 1)

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    43 min
  • #31 Francophile Bonanza

    This week Alice and Kim talk about Soviet spy cats, French history, and Harper Lee and a murder trial.

    This episode is sponsored by Kawaii Craft Life by Sosae Caetano and Dennis Caetano and Book Riot’s TBR. Check out Book Riot Insiders for the inside scoop!

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.


    New Books

    Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer 

    Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings

    The Unspeakable Mind: Stories of Trauma and Healing from the Frontlines of PTSD Science by Shaili Jain

    Nuking the Moon: And Other Intelligence Schemes and Military Plots Left on the Drawing Board by Vince Houghton

    Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep

    The Theft of a Decade: How the Baby Boomers Stole the Millennials’ Economic Future by Joseph C. Sternberg

    The Endeavour: The Ship That Changed the World by Peter Moore

    The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI by Lauren Johnson

    No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Synder

    The Castle on Sunset by Shawn Levy

     

    Nonfiction About France

    KIM: The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss

    La Belle France: A Short History by Alistair Horne

    The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar J Mazzeo

    Veuve Clicquot Podcast 

    The Little Pleasures of Paris by Leslie Jonath


    Reading Now

    KIM: Becoming by Michelle Obama (audiobook)

    ALICE: Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King

     

    CONCLUSION

    You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork on Twitter

    RATE AND REVIEW on ITUNES so people can find us more easily, and subscribe so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    42 min
  • #30 May the Fourth Be With You

    This week Alice and Kim talk about spelling bee horror stories, why you should read about ancient scrolls, and nonfiction to read if you love (or even just sort of like) Star Wars.

    This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm and TBR, Book Riot’s new subscription service offering tailored book recommendations for readers of all stripes.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.

    FOLLOW UP

    Independent Bookstore Day

    Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi

    New York Times: “A Young Chef, and a Stunning Comeback”

    Good Talk by Mira Jacob

    My Favorite Murder podcast

    NEW BOOKS

    The Regency Years by Robert Morrison

    Beeline by Shalini Shankar

    Breaking the Bee documentary

    The Da Vinci Legacy by Jean Pierre Isbouts and Christopher Brown

    Magical Realism for Nonbelievers by Anika Fajardo

    The Role of the Scroll by Thomas Forrest Kelly

    Fall and Rise by Mitchell Zuckoff

    MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU

    How Star Wars Conquered the Universe by Chris Taylor

    The Making of Star Wars by J.W. Rinzler

    The World According to Star Wars by Cass R. Sunstein

    Wishful Drinking and The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

    I Am C-3PO by Anthony Daniels and J.J. Abrams (November 4, 2019)

    Star Wars Meets the Eras of Feminism by Valerie Estelle Frankel

    READING NOW

    Without Precedent by Joel Richard Paul

    The Electric Woman by Tessa Fontaine

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    44 min
  • #29 Death and Taxes!

    This week Alice and Kim talk about the guy who got Capone, a chef who got his start selling candy on the subway, and the first people to stand up to the KKK.

    This episode is sponsored by libro.fm, First Degree from Nimbus Publishing, and The Five from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.

    Follow Up

    My Own Devices by Dessa

    Tell Me How it Ends by Valeria Luiselli

    Kate McKinnon is also going to play Elizabeth Holmes for a Hulu adaptation

    Kidlit These Days

    New Books

    Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

    Lotharingia: A Personal History of Europe’s Lost Country by Simon Winder

    The Beneficiary: Fortune, Misfortune, and the Story of My Father by Janny Scott

    Freedom’s Detective: The Secret Service, the Ku Klux Klan and the Man Who Masterminded America’s First War on Terror by Charles Lane

    Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi

    Fifty Things That Aren’t My Fault: Essays from the Grown-Up Years by Cathy Guisewhite

    Death and Taxes

    April 15 was Tax Day in the United States. In 1913, the 16th Amendment was ratified, permanently legalizing an income tax.

    A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and more Efficient Tax System by T.R. Reid

    Eliot Ness: The Rise and Fall of an American Hero by Douglas Perry

    Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh

    The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln–Teddy Roosevelt–Wilson How the Income Tax Transformed America by Steven R. Weisman

    Reading Now

    KIM: Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski PhD (Author), Amelia Nagoski DMA

    ALICE: The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

     

     You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork on Twitter

    RATE AND REVIEW on ITUNES so people can find us more easily, and subscribe so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    45 min
  • #28 Confidence Tricksters

    This week Alice and Kim talk about bookish murders, confidence tricksters, Craigslist cons and more new nonfiction.

    This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.

    FOLLOW UP

    Rise and Kill First by Ronen Bergman

    Kitlit These Days, a new podcast from Book Riot

    NEW BOOKS

    Murder by the Book by Claire Harman

    No Happy Endings by Nora McInerny

    Death in Ten Minutes by Fern Riddell

    Good Talk by Mira Jacob

    The Life and Legend of Bras-Coupé by Bryan Wagner

    Native Country of the Heart by Cherríe Moraga

    The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

    CONFIDENCE TRICKSTERS

    The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse by Piu Eatwell

    The Big Con by David Maurer

    Race Me In a Lobster Suit by Kelly Mahon

    Caraboo: The Servant Girl Princess by Jennifer Raison

    The Mark Inside by Amy Reading

    READING NOW

    Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams

    Alexander Hamilton by Jonathan Hennessey, art by Justin Greenwood

    The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    42 min
  • #27 The Ides of March Assassination Episode

    This week Alice and Kim talk about assassinations, small town murder, and why women’s bathroom lines are longer than men’s (spoiler: it’s the patriarchy!).


    This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders.

    Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kim Ukura.

    Follow Up

    The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019) (HBO documentary on Theranos)

     

    New Books

    Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez

    The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson

    The Lost Gutenberg: The Astounding Story of One Book’s Five-Hundred-Year Odyssey by Margaret Leslie Davis

    (People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks)

    Humanimal: How Homo sapiens Became Nature’s Most Paradoxical Creature―A New Evolutionary History by Adam Rutherford

    The Sakura Obsession: The Incredible Story of the Plant Hunter Who Saved Japan’s Cherry Blossoms by Naoko Abe

    Pocahontas and the English Boys: Caught Between Cultures in Early Virginia by Karen Ordahl Kupperman

    Assassination Stories!

    The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassinationby Barry Strauss

    Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

    Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

    The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport

    The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World by Greg King and Sue Woolmans

    Reading Now

    Who Thought This Was a Good Idea by Alyssa Mastromonaco

    So Here’s the Thing . . . by Alyssa Mastromonaco

    Kings of Georgian Britain by Catherine Curzon

    CONCLUSION

    You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork on Twitter

    RATE AND REVIEW on ITUNES so people can find us more easily, and subscribe so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    44 min

About For Real

From the publisher's feed

For Real is a biweekly nonfiction podcast that puts the spotlight on new books and old favorites that tell it like it is, or at least try to.

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