April is, as it turns out, a great month for book lovers: the first big wave of pre-summer titles arrives, St. Jordi Day (and Shakespeare's birth/death-day) is April 23rd, and of course Independent Bookstore Day is the last Saturday of the month. And while every day can and should be Indie Bookstore Day, we're getting into the spirit of the holiday this week—just in time for you to hit up your local(s) on Saturday 4/26!

Kicking things off, it's Shelf Awareness editor-in-chief John Mutter, here to tell Drew about watching and reporting on the indie bookstore scene for nearly 20 years. Then, another bookseller roundtable, this one featuring bookstore-bar-coffee-shops, including:

* Jennifer Caspar, Village Well Books & Coffee (Culver City, CA)

* Catherine Johnson and Lani Martin, Flyleaf (Grosse Point, MI)

* Amanda and Anthony Stromoski, Rough Draft Bar & Books (Kingston, NY)

Plus, James Folta reads Sappho and Jonny Diamond reads Jonny Diamond for National Poetry Month!

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We're continuing our celebration of National Poetry Month this week with special guest Lisa Willis, executive director of Cave Canem! She's here to tell Drew about the wide-reaching, first-of-its-kind field study Magnitude and Bond: A Field Study on Black Literary Arts Organizations—it's a must-read for anybody interested in any part of the literary arts ecosystem.

Plus, Brittany Allen on some organizations and organizers pushing back against the Trump administration's assault on the historical archive—and new poetry!! Julia Hass reads "Passerine," an unpublished poem by Sophia Stid, and Oliver Scialdone reads one of their own poems, "Help, Am I Watching a Commercial Break or Just Living in One?" plus "The Garden" by H.D.

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If you didn't hear the song earlier this week, it's Lit Hub's 10th birthday! Double-digits, y'all! It's exciting stuff and so obviously Jonny Diamond had to drop by to tell us a bit about the occasion as well as some site-lore. (PS it's always a great time to become a Lit Hub member...)

Then, Traci Thomas comes on to chat about her podcast TheStacks and the amazing STACK THE SHELVES event she's putting up in LA on May 4th to support those who lost libraries (and more) in the wildfires earlier this year.

Plus, poetry from Olivia Rutigliano (reading Philip Sidney's "Sonnet 1" from Astrophil and Stella) and Dan Sheehan (reading W.B. Yeats's "The Fisherman")!

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Well books are about to get a lot more expensive, as is everything else, and there's no hiding from the fact that these tariffs really suck! But we're going to talk (mostly) about other things this week—like the trailer drop for the new season of The Cosmic Library, like some upcoming weird books you should pre-order as suggested by Molly Odintz, and the first in a run of Lit Hub staffers reading poetry in celebration of National Poetry Month!

* Listen to The Cosmic Library—new episodes Wednesdays starting April 16!

* Molly's suggested reading/pre-ordering:

- Crafting for Sinners

- Friends of the Museum by Heather McGowan

- Leverage by Amran Gowani

- The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw

- The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling

- Murderland by Caroline Frasier

The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub Radio

hosted by Drew Broussard

music by Dani Lencioni

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You might be mistaken in thinking that it's a real high-culture/low-culture episode this week, but really it's an all-joy-culture episode. Drew kicks things off with a quick nod to National Short Story Month before talking to Michael Kelleher about the 2025 Windham-Campbell Prizes and what makes the prize so special. Then, he chats with Sammy Loren about the new literary tabloid On the Rag and why pitching a broader, messier tent is a good idea. Go chase something that makes you (and, ideally, other people too) happy, damn it!

The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub Radio

Hosted by Drew Broussard

Music by Dani Lencioni

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This week, we embrace (surprise surprise) the power of books!! But seriously, Drew is in a tizzy about the latest AI-scraping news (tldr they got ALL of the books), Brittany Allen talks about the joys of learning about how they pick the books on The White Lotus, Sophie Gee & Jonty Claypole tell Drew about the joys of discovering (and hosting! the Secret Life of Books (listen now!), and Josh Cook shares a few more ideas for how publishing can do better to fill the information gap. Books: powerful stuff.

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It's a big one this week, kicking off with a quick exhortation to (metaphorically) tell Meta/Facebook/Zuckerberg to pound sand by buying a copy of Careless People! Then, Drew talks with Masie Cochran of Tin House and Molly Stern of Zando about the exciting news of the Voltron-esque team-up that is Zando's acquisition of Tin House. Next, James Folta and Oliver Scialdone drop in to discuss the past week in bracketology—reminder: the villains bracket final is open through Sunday!!—and finally, Erika Swyler (We Lived on the Horizon) picks up an ongoing conversation with Drew (now in pod form) about genre, wonder, and the algorithm. Something for the whole family!

The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub Radio

Hosted by Drew Broussard

Music by Dani Lencioni

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There's an Amazon boycott on, from today until the 14th! But really, publishing should stop linking to Amazon now and forever. Drew explains why!

Then, Brad Johnson from East Bay Booksellers drops by to talk about his essay "The Things We Learned in the Fire:

On the Destruction (and Rebirth) of a Bookstore" and then Emily Temple and James Folta chat with Drew about kicking off the Best Villain in Literature bracket. Round One is open through Sunday!!

The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub Radio

Hosted by Drew Broussard

Music by Dani Lencioni

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First up this week: Dan Sheehan recently had the chance to chat with Omar El Akkad about One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This and we're thrilled to bring you an audio excerpt from that conversation. Then, Calvin Kasulke drops in to grill Drew on his apparent disdain for the recent wave of Lady Macbeth novels. And finally, Olivia Rutigliano brings us more "Culture Schlock"—this time, looking Oscar-forward...

The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub Radio

Hosted by Drew Broussard

Music by Dani Lencioni

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Drew finished re-watching The Lord of the Rings over the weekend and it has probably influenced a bit of the episode. But he also chats with bookseller-libromancer Josh Cook about how the publishing world can respond to the second Trump presidency and why we could all do with a bit more doing what actually energizes us, and with Jordan Kisner about the return of Thresholds in collaboration with the Black Mountain Institute!

The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub Radio

Hosted by Drew Broussard

Music by Dani Lencioni

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.