Journalist and author Omar El Akkad (One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This) explains why book clubs don’t work for him and how growing up in media-censored Qatar led him to read anything he could gets his hands on — from Little Women to Dennis Rodman’s autobiography. Plus, Omar and Elena bond over the power of the perfect book title. 

Legendary travel writer Rick Steves reflects on his days adventuring down "the hippie trail" from Istanbul to Kathmandu... and we discover why you might find him eating at McDonald's in Paris; plus The Lullaby Project brings together singer-songwriter Stephanie Schneiderman and the Oregon Symphony to perform a song co-written by an incarcerated mother for her child. 

Music critic Ann Powers (Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell) dishes about her oddball reading journey, from staging puppet shows as a library-dwelling misfit kid to struggling to keep up with her favorite writers on Substack. 

Poet and Kirkus Prize winner Saeed Jones unpacks his newest collection Alive at the End of the World and why Billie Holiday had a bone to pick with Maya Angelou; writer Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic) explains how her love of horror at a young age found its way into her latest book The Daughter of Doctor Moreau; and indie folk duo The Lowest Pair perform "Pear Tree" from their first record 36 Cents. Plus, host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello discuss our strange childhood obsessions.

Slate writer Scaachi Koul (Sucker Punch) reveals her delinquent beginnings as a serious reader and which reading behavior she finds inexcusable. Plus, Elena unpacks “hysterical realism” as a literary genre and Scaachi explains why the Bible's biggest sin isn't its content.

Award-winning author Karen Russell takes us inside her "dust bowl epic" novel The Antidote, which employs the fantastical to comment on memory, climate change, and the nation's troubling history of land ownership; stand-up comedian Sam Miller finds sidesplitting humor in his own experiences with addiction and incarceration; and singer-songwriter David Ramirez explains how he pulled himself out of a rut and into solitude to write his latest album All The Not So Gentle Reminders, before performing the track "The Music Man."

Podcast star Aubrey Gordon (Maintenance Phase) discusses what a bookstore’s poetry section reveals about its true nature, the thrill of a literary “rug pull," and how sometimes the solution to “too much work reading” is… more reading? And Elena shares her go-to hack for getting your reading mojo back. 

Actor and cult film icon Bruce Campbell delights in playing age-appropriate roles and explains why horses are such high maintenance actors; comedian Sara Schaefer tells us a tale from childhood about losing her best friend (her blankie) during a Christmas vacation; and Puerto Rican pop-punk artist Emi Pop performs her self-released single “Lo Sé."

Award-winning author Karen Russell (Swamplandia!) chats about the joy of reading a book you love written by someone you love, how Stephen King led to sleepless nights as a child, and those “little black dress” books you always loan to a friend. Plus, Elena reveals her latest vacation read as a murder mystery starring "existential sheep." 

Podcaster and writer Kelsey McKinney (You Didn't Hear This From Me: Notes on the Art of Gossip) "spills the tea" on all things gossip — from prayer circles to AI tattle; award-winning author Omar El Akkad discusses his first book of nonfiction One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, which traces his disillusionment with the West and the failure of its promises; and indie folk band Kuinka perform their tune "Living Room Floor."