Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by author, sociologist, law professor, and social justice advocate Dorothy E. Roberts to discuss her newest book, The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family. In this powerful memoir, Dorothy recounts her experiences growing up in an interracial family in 1960s Chicago, exploring how her parents’ marriage—and their dedicated research on interracial relationships—shaped her understanding of her own identity. We talk about why she identifies as a Black woman with a white father, how her parents’ work has shaped her work in the family policing system, and the myth of mixed kids saving the world.

The Stacks Book Club pick for February is Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. We’ll be discussing the book with Jasmine Guillory on February 25th.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/2/18/ep-412-dorothy-roberts

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We're back for the second annual Super Bowl breakdown bonus episode. That's right, we're digging into Bad Bunny's incredible performance at this year's Super Bowl. I’m joined by Vanessa Díaz and Petra Rivera-Rideau, authors of P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance, creators of the Bad Bunny Syllabus Project, and Associate Professors of two different university-level Bad Bunny courses. We share our thoughts on the performance overall, and then break it all down, beat by beat, from the flags to the telephone poles to Lady Gaga and so much more.

You can find links to everything we discuss on today’s show on The Stacks Website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/unabridged/2026/2/13/tsu-56-vanessa-diaz-petra-rivera-rideau

*This episode is exclusive to members of The Stacks Pack on Patreon and our Substack subscribers. To join a community, get inside access to the show, and listen now, click the link below.

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Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, historian, activist, and professor, Heather Ann Thompson, to discuss her new book Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage. This book explores the ways that Bernhard Goetz's 1984 shooting of four Black teenagers on the New York City subway exposed the deep racial tensions of the Reagan era and set the tone for the politics of white rage we see today. In our conversation, Heather reveals why she wanted to tell this story right now, how the media’s role in this case mirrors the fear and power of the media landscape today, and how she transforms dense historical documents into accessible nonfiction.

The Stacks Book Club pick for February is Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. We’ll be discussing the book with Jasmine Guillory on February 25th.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/2/11/ep-411-heather-ann-thompson

Connect with Heather: Website | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | X/Twitter

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Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by New York Times bestselling romance novelist Jasmine Guillory. We chat about her journey from high-powered attorney to successful contemporary romance writer, her favorite and least favorite tropes, and how people’s desire to escape through romance increases amid political unrest.

The Stacks Book Club pick for February is Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. We’ll be discussing the book with Jasmine Guillory on February 25th.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/2/4/ep-410-jasmine-guillory

Connect with Jasmine Guillory: Website | Instagram | Threads | Twitter/X

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It’s The Stacks Book Club day, and I'm joined by Emmy-nominated TV writer, journalist, and host of Pop Syllabus, Christiana Mbakwe Medina, to discuss Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert. In this book, Sophie Gilbert highlights the ways the rampant misogyny of '90s and early 2000s pop culture continues to shape attitudes toward women today. We talk today about how the book tackles reality TV, postfeminism, incel culture, porn, and more.

Make sure you listen to the end of the episode to hear what our February book club pick will be!

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/1/28/ep-409-girl-on-girl

Connect with Christiana: Instagram | Pop Syllabus Podcast | Substack | Threads

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It's time for a Stacks Unabridged favorite: Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026...at least the first half anyway. I'm once again joined by two of my favorite book people, Cree Myles (All Ways Black) and Sara Hildreth (Fiction Matters), to gush about the books we can't wait to dive into in the first half of the year, sharing our top picks month by month. Plus, we do a little post-mortem on 2025 and set some semi-realistic reading goals for 2026. Get your TBR lists ready—you’ll have a lot of new additions.

You can find links to everything we discuss on today’s show on The Stacks Website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/unabridged/2026/1/23/tsu-55-sara-hildreth-cree-myles

*This episode is exclusive to members of The Stacks Pack on Patreon and our Substack subscribers. To join a community, get inside access to the show, and listen now, click the link below.

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Connect with Sara: Instagram | Fiction Matters | Novel Pairings | Substack

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Today on The Stacks, we are joined by Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick to discuss her new book Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th. In this book, Mary Clare offers a comprehensive retelling of the January 6th insurrection through firsthand accounts from the rioters, police officers, journalists (including herself), and lawmakers who were forced to flee the violence. We talk about why she frames this as an oral history, how she captured the violence of that day, and how the narrative surrounding January 6th has evolved over the past five years.

The Stacks Book Club pick for January is Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert. We will discuss the book on Wednesday, January 28th, with Christiana Mbakwe Medina.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/1/21/ep-408-mary-clare-jalonick

Connect with Mary Clare: Website

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Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author, Jacob Soboroff, to discuss his newest book, Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster. In this book, Jacob takes us to the frontlines of the January 2025 L.A. Fires to offer a deeply personal, firsthand account of one of the most destructive fires in the city’s history. We discuss why he chose to write about what he calls “the fires of the future,” how his childhood in the Palisades shaped his reporting, and the politics behind this environmental disaster.

The Stacks Book Club pick for January is Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert. We will discuss the book on Wednesday, January 28th, with Christiana Mbakwe Medina returning as our guest.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/1/14/ep-407-jacob-soboroff

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Today on The Stacks, we are joined by Emmy-nominated TV writer, former co-host of What Now? with Trevor Noah, and creator of the Pop Syllabus newsletter and podcast, Christiana Mbakwe Medina. We talk about how Christiana became a comedy writer and culture critic, the intersections of wealth and access in celebrity culture, and what we can get out of taking pop culture seriously.

The Stacks Book Club pick for January is Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert. We will discuss the book on Wednesday, January 28th, with Christiana Mbakwe Medina returning as our guest.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/1/7/ep-406-christiana-mbakwe-medina

Connect with Christiana: Instagram | Pop Syllabus Instagram | Substack | Threads

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For the last Stacks Book Club episode of the year, we're diving into Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger with Joel Anderson, senior staff writer at The Ringer and co-host of sports & media podcast The Press Box. This book follows the 1988 season of the Permian Panthers, one of the best high-school football teams in Texas history. We discuss whether this book could exist as is today, how we feel about high school athletes getting special academic treatment, and why Joel wants to untether grades from extracurricular activities.

There are spoilers in this episode.

Be sure to listen to the end of today’s episode to find out what our January book club pick will be.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/12/31/ep-405-friday-night-lights

Connect with Joel: Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky

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