Grace and Alvina talk about two different types of price: authentic pride and hubistric pride, and how that might apply to their work and lives. For the Fortune Cookie segment they discuss a recent executive order to defund libraries. Alvina tells...

This week, Vanessa and Casper explore the theme of Outrage in Chapter 4 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! They discuss the 6 extra Potters, Hedwig’s death, and Mundungus’s forced service! Throughout the episode we consider the question: how can a series of experiences lead us to a place of outrage? Thank you to...

Katy Hays joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her latest novel, SALTWATER, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. The book is set on the island of Capri and has the same vibes as “The White Lotus.” Katy explains the origins of the novel, as...

Author, commentator and human rights advocate Khaled Mansour joins us to talk about how reading Arab women’s memoirs can help one gain a new understanding of the region’s collective history. After he worked with Egyptian psychoanalyst and feminist Afaf Mahfouz to write her autobiography, Mansour began a journey through Arab women’s memoirs set to culminate...

Should you use a critique partner? How do you find them? What should you watch out for? Amy Nielsen spent twenty years as a youth librarian sharing her love of books with young readers. She is the author of Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder, It Takes a Village: How to Build...

Zibby interviews NBC News correspondent and anchor Vicky Nguyen about her funny, nostalgic, and poignant new memoir, BOAT BABY. Vicky describes her family’s daring escape from communist Vietnam and her unlikely journey from refugee to reporter, sharing personal stories of resilience, identity, and family. She recounts unbelievable moments—like recognizing her uncle’s murderer while dining in...

1072. Is AI coming for our jobs—or just the boring parts? This week, Samantha Enslen of Dragonfly Editorial talks about how she sees AI changing the work of writers and editors. We talked about real clients, real fears, and hope for the future. Plus, Samantha shares her favorite old-school fiction (spoiler: Agatha Christie strikes again!).

Today’s poem is Playback by Lauren Camp. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I used to believe great art emerged from intense passion, a committed discipline driven by a purity of purpose. Of late, I use the word hunger as a measure of art, as an aesthetic value. Hunger...

Author Interviews Ann Napolitano & Kirthana Ramisetti

Why does it seem so much easier to make friends when we’re younger? And how can we make friends more easily as we become adults? Hope Kelaher, author of Here to Make Friends: How To Make Friends as an Adult, shares her wisdom. We want to hear from you! Share your own experiences with friendship...