For Real

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For Real episodes

  • LGBTQ+ Reads

    This week Alice and Kim talk LGBTQ+ reads for Pride Month.

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    For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

    This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

    Nonfiction in the News

    Roxane Gay Starts Publishing Imprint With Grove Atlantic [NYT]

    New Nonfiction 

    Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford

    Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford

    Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World by Elinor Cleghorn

    Black Snake: Standing Rock, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and Environmental Justice by Katherine Wiltenburg Todrys 

    Quick Mentions!

    The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America by Carol Anderson

    The Kissing Bug : A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation’s Neglect of a Deadly Disease by Daisy Hernández

    Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer

    As a Woman: What I Learned about Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy after I Transitioned by Paula Stone Williams

    LGBTQ+ Reads

    The Winners of the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards

    • Transgender Nonfiction: The Black Trans Prayer Book by J. Mase III and Dane Figueroa Edidi
    • LGBTQ Nonfiction: The Lonely Letters by Ashon T. Crawley
    • Bisexual Nonfiction: wow, no thank you by Samantha Irby
    • Lesbian Memoir/Biography: My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland
    • Gay Memoir/Biography: A Dutiful Boy: A Memoir of a Gay Muslim’s Journey to Acceptance by Mohsin Zaidi
    • LGBTQ Studies: Becoming Human: Matter and Meaning in an Antiblack World by Zakiyyah Iman Johnson
    • Gender: A Graphic Guide by Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele

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

      Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt

      My Sister: How One Sibling’s Transition Changed Us Both by Marizol Leyva and Selenis Leyva

      Reading Now

      KIM: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reed

      Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving of Life by Katherine E. Standefer

      ALICE: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari


      CONCLUSION

      You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork. Amazing Audio Editing for this episode was done by Jen Zink

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

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      47 min
    • History's Mysteries

      This week Alice and Kim talk books that explore unsolved historical mysteries and share new nonfiction about Black rebellion, nostalgic essays about travel, and more.

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      For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

      This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

      Nonfiction in the News

      Barack & Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Adapting Heather McGhee’s ‘The Sum of Us’ As Spotify Podcast Series [Deadline]

      Greta Lee To Star In, Write & EP Series Adaptation Of Cathy Park Hong’s Book ‘Minor Feelings’ With A24 [Yahoo]

      Film of Michael Lewis’ ‘The Premonition’ in Works [Kirkus]

      New Nonfiction

      The Window Seat: Notes from a Life in Motion by Aminatta Forna

      Electric City: The Lost History of Ford and Edison’s American Utopia by Thomas Hager

      Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen Story of Rural America by Gigi Georges

      America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s by Elizabeth Hinton

      Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice by Yusef Salaam

      Tastes Like War by Grace Cho

      History’s Mysteries

      Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar

      Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s “Girl Stunt Reporters” by Kim Todd

      Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew by Brian Hicks

      The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking by Brendan I. Koerner

      Reading Now

      Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars: Space, Exploration, and Life on Earth by Kate Greene

      All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

      Three Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton by Gail Crowther

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      46 min
    • YA Memoirs

      This week Alice and Kim talk YA memoirs for your reading ease.

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

      For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

      Nonfiction in the News

      The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones 

      Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay Writing a Personal Essay-Themed Book: ‘Ya’ll Know I Won’t Hold Back’ [People]

      New Nonfiction 

      You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience edited by Tarana Burke, Brené Brown

      Why Peacocks? An Unlikely Search for Meaning in the World’s Most Magnificent Bird by Sean Flynn

      African Europeans: An Untold History by Olivette Otele

      Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself by Chloe Angyal

      Quick Mentions

      • There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis, edited by Tracy K. Smith and John Freeman
      • The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis

        Yay for YA Memoirs!

        All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson

        Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

        Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser

        Obsessed: A Memoir of My Life with OCD by Allison Britz

        Reading Now

        KIM: A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling

        ALICE: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

        CONCLUSION

        You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork. Amazing Audio Editing for this episode was done by Jen Zink. RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts so people can find us more easily, and follow us 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

        49 min
      • Science, Nature, and the Land

        This week Alice and Kim talk about an upcoming Mary Roach book, great new memoirs, and books about nature and the land.

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

        For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

        This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission.

        Nonfiction in the News

        Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

        New Nonfiction

        The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest by Mark Synnott

        The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt by Audrey Clare Farley

        Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner

        We Are Bridges: A Memoir by Cassandra Lane

        I Am a Girl From Africa by Elizabeth Nyamayaro

        Marie Claire: “Anne Hathaway and Elizabeth Nyamayaro on Building Compassion and Gender Equity”

        The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915 by Joe Grinspan

        Science, Nature, and the Land

        The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams

        The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben

        As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker

        Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

        Reading Now

        Northern Light: Power, Land, and the Memory of Water by Kazim Ali

        City of Light, City of Poison by Holly Tucker

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        50 min
      • Religious Memoirs

        This week Alice and Kim talk Islam, Christianity, and Scientology memoirs.

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

        For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

        This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission.

        Follow Up

        April 24: Readathon and Independent Bookstore Day

        Nonfiction in the News

        Amanda Seyfried to Play Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu Series ‘The Dropout’ [Variety]

        Simon & Schuster Acquires Mike Pence’s Autobiography [Publishers Weekly]

        Why Would Anyone Pay Andrew Cuomo $4 Million for a Book? [New Republic]

        New Nonfiction 

        My Broken Language: A Memoir by Quiara Alegría Hudes

        Pipe Dreams: The Urgent Global Quest to Transform the Toilet by Chelsea Wald

        Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less by Leidy Klotz

        From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo

        Quick Mentions

        Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden O’Keefe

        Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow Cox

        Religious Memoirs

        God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America by Lyz Lenz

        Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper

        I Should Have Honor: A Memoir of Hope and Pride in Pakistan by Khalida Brohi 

        Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill

        Reading Now

        A Promised Land by Barack Obama

        Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

        CONCLUSION

        You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork. Amazing Audio Editing for this episode was done by Jen Zink.

        RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts 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

        47 min
      • Great Books by #AAPI Writers

        This week Alice and Kim fangirl over Phoebe Robinson and share some favorite stories from American authors of East Asian descent.

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

        For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

        This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission.

        Nonfiction in the News

        Entertainment Weekly: “Phoebe Robinson’s next book is coming this fall — here are all the details”

        New Nonfiction

        North by Shakespeare: A Rogue Scholar’s Quest for the Truth Behind the Bard’s Work by Michael Blanding

        Horizontal Vertigo: A City Called Mexico by Juan Villoro

        The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir by Sherry Turkle

        When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

        Books by East Asian Writers

        Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change by Ellen Pao

        The Souls of Yellow Folk: Essays by Wesley Yang

        All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung

        Time: “My White Adoptive Parents Struggled to See Me as Korean. Would They Have Understood My Anger at the Rise in Anti-Asian Violence?”

        Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

        The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee

        Reading Now

        A Promised Land by Barack Obama

        City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris by Holly Tucker

        See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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        44 min
      • Musician Nonfiction

        This week Alice and Kim talk about music nonfiction, including behind-the scenes narratives, memoirs, and guides.

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

        For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

        This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission.

        Follow Up

        Alice read Hidden Valley Road!

        Kim read Two Truths and a Lie!

        Kim guested on Get Booked.

        Nonfiction in the News

        Kate McKinnon Exits ‘The Dropout’ Hulu Limited Series about Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes [Deadline]

        New Nonfiction 

        Follow the Flock : How Sheep Shaped Human Civilization by Sally Coulthard

        Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual by Luvvie Ajayi Jones 

        Already Toast : Caregiving and Burnout in America by Kate Washington

        Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America by Alex McGinnis

        Music and Musicians

        News: Paul McCartney’s upcoming memoir [Billboard]

        More Myself: A Journey by Alicia Keys with Michelle Burford

        Opera for Dummies by David Pogue and Scott Speck

        Open Book by Jessica Simpson

        Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind the Music at the Metropolitan Opera by Johanna Fiedler

        My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love by Dessa 

        Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline by Loretta Lynn

        Reading Now

        KIM: The Fixed Stars by Molly Wizenberg

        The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir by Sara Seager

        ALICE: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

        CONCLUSION

        You can find us on social media – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork. Amazing Audio Editing for this episode was done by Dan Baker. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts 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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        49 min
      • Celebrating International Women's Day

        This week, Kim and Alice revisit a favorite holiday, International Women’s Day, with true stories about women around the world. Plus, new nonfiction about medical history, flight attendants, and more.

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

        For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

        This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission.

        Nonfiction in the News

        ‘Nomadland’: How to Watch Grances McDormand and Chloé Zhao’s New Film on Hulu for Free [Rolling Stone]

        Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey Share Their Most ‘Personal’ Stories Yet in New Book Office BFFs [People]

        New Nonfiction

        Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion by Tori Telfer

        Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey’s Head, the Pope’s Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul by Brandy Schillace

        Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am by Julia Cook

        But You’re Still So Young: How Thirtysomethings Are Redefining Adulthood by Kayleen Schaefer

        Quick Mentions

        Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir by Elizabeth Miki Brina

        Flight of the Diamond Smugglers: A Tale of Pigeons, Obsession, and Greed Along Coastal South Africa by Matthew Gavin Frank

        The Snatch Racket: The Kidnapping Epidemic That Terrorized 1930s America by Carolyn Cox

        The Girl Explorers: The Untold Story of the Globetrotting Women Who Trekked, Flew, and Fought Their Way Around the World by Jayne Zanglein

        International Women’s Day

        Freiheit!: The White Rose Graphic Novel by Andrea Grosso Ciponte

        The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang

        Things I’ve Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi

        Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni

        Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

        Reading Now

        Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan

        Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

        See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

        47 min
      • New Nonfiction by Black Authors

        This week Alice and Kim talk new nonfiction releases by Black authors.

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

        For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

        This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission.

        Nonfiction in the News

        From Michael Lewis, a ‘Superhero Story’ About the Pandemic [New York Times]

        Michelle Obama releasing a new edition of her memoir “Becoming” for young readers [CBS News]

        ‘Sex and the City’ Revival Assembles Writers’ Room, Adds Samantha Irby, Rachna Fruchbom, Keli Goff [Variety]

        New Nonfiction by Black Authors

        The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs

        Surviving the White Gaze : A Memoir by Rebecca Carroll 

        Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019, edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

        The African Lookbook : A Visual History of 100 Years of African Women by Catherine E. McKinley 

        Ida B. the Queen : The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells  by Michelle Duster

        The Black Panther Party : A Graphic Novel History by David F. Walker, illustrated by Marcus Kwame Anderson

        The Sum of Us : What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee

        Black Magic : What Black Leaders Learned from Trauma and Triumph by Chad Sanders 

        Grieving While Black : An Antiracist Take on Oppression and Sorrow by Breeshia Wade

        Reading Now

        KIM: The Mothers by Britt Bennett

        ALICE: The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America by Tamara Winfrey Harrison


        CONCLUSION

        You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork. Amazing Audio Editing for this episode was done by Jen Zink.

        RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts 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

        49 min
      • Epic (and True) Love Stories

        This week Alice and Kim share books about some of their favorite epic love stories and gush about some new (and awesome) historical true crime.

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

        For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Alice Burton.

        This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission.

        Nonfiction in the News

        Here Are the Guest Editors for the Best American Series 2021 [LitHub]

        Just Don’t Call Her a Ghostwriter [New York Times]

        New Nonfiction

        Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

        Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan

        The Rope: A True Story of Murder, Heroism, and the Dawn of the NAACP by Alex Tresniowski

        The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America by Lawrence T. Brown

        Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America’s Cheap Goods by Amelia Pang

        Epic Love Stories

        Gracie: A Love Story by George Burns

        One Hundred Names for Love by Diane Ackerman

        A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman

        Outlaw Marriages: The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples by Rodger Streitmatter

        Victoria The Queen by Julia Baird

        We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill

        Reading Now

        Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg

        The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World by Abigail Tucker

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        47 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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