October 16, 2025

Take a Look, They’re Banning Books

1 hour 23 minutes

1982 was quite a year for books, censorship, and the freedom to read. That year, the Supreme Court heard Board of Ed v. Pico, Banned Books Week was founded, and Reading Rainbow was in development. In this episode, Blake and Kashif examine the state of books bans in the US. Kashif unpacks activist librarianship and the symbolic firing of Carla Hayden. Blake explores Reading Rainbow in light of the Butterfly in the Sky documentary. The boys talk their shared love of reading and how the show fostered imagination. They share their favorite children’s books.

• Banned Books Week Data

• Judith Krug | Carla Hayden | Virginia Lacy Jones | EJ Josey

• Report Censorship to the American Library Association

• Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico

• Mychal Threets | LeVar Burton

• Reading Rainbow Docu: Butterfly in the Sky

• Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter

• Rainbow Goblins by Ul de Rico

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About the show:

A culture podcast by two insufferable queer introverts in the South who really need to know who’s gonna be there before they commit to anything.

Instagram: @whosgonnabetherepod