Journalist, Alexis Madrigal, joins the Stacks to discuss his debut book, The Pacific Circuit: A Globalized Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City—the “American city” in question being Oakland, CA. Today, Alexis gives us insight into why he wanted to tell the story of Oakland in particular, and why it matters in broader national and global context. He also explains how COVID impacted this book, both his personal writing process and the city of Oakland at large.

For the month of August, the Stacks Book Club pick will be Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. We will discuss the book on Wednesday, August 27th with Alexis Madrigal returning as our guest.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/8/6/ep-383-alexis-madrigal

Connect with Alexis: Instagram | Website

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

It’s The Stacks Book Club Day, and we're discussing Toni Morrison's God Help the Child with Dana A. Williams, author of Toni at Random. Together, we talk about the themes that show up in God Help the Child that have echoes from Morrison's earlier work—generational trauma and racialized beauty. We also discuss why Toni Morrison wanted to write a contemporary novel, the great names in the book, and who we would cast in the film.

There are spoilers on this episode.

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

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/7/30/ep-382-god-help-the-child

Connect with Dana: Instagram | Bluesky | Website

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

Haley Cohen Gillian, the director of the Yale Journalism Initiative, joins us this week to discuss her new book, A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children, which chronicles the grandmothers who searched for their children and grandchildren who were disappeared by Argentina's brutal dictatorship. In this episode, Haley gives us insight into how she came across this history and how she grappled with the moral complexities throughout. She also talks about the subjectivity of truth and details her research process and organization.

The Stacks Book Club pick for July is God Help the Child by Toni Morrison. We will discuss next Wednesday, July 30th with Dana A. Williams.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/7/23/ep-381-haley-cohen-gilliland

Connect with Haley: Instagram | Website

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

This week on the Stacks, journalist Megan Greenwell joins to discuss her debut book, Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream. She breaks down the ins and outs of private equity, how it works, why it harms communities, and if there is an ethical path for the industry.

The Stacks Book Club pick for July is God Help the Child by Toni Morrison. We will discuss next Wednesday, July 30th with Dana A. Williams.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/7/16/ep-378-megan-greenwell

Connect with Megan: Instagram | Website

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

*Patreon- and Substack-only bonus episode teaser, click here for the full episode*

For this month’s bonus episode, we’re mixing things up a little—this time, Traci is the one being interviewed! The fine folks at LARB Radio Hour, Medaya Ocher and Eric Newman, speak with Traci to discuss the impact of social media on publishing, the content creator life, and the way readers discover books today. At the end of the episode, Medaya, Eric, and Traci offer readers a rundown of recommendations for the books getting us through 2025.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/unabridged/2025/7/11/tsu-48-larb

Connect with LARB Radio: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Youtube | Podcast

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

Mandii B and WeezyWTF, the co-hosts of the Decisions, Decisions podcast, join us today to discuss their New York Times Best-selling book, No Holes Barred: A Dual Manifesto of Sexual Exploration and Power. They talk about the challenges of staying sex positive while writing about their own shame and which parts of the book they were most nervous about having published. We also talk about how the changing political landscape has impacted the kinds of conversations they have around sex.

The Stacks Book Club pick for July is God Help the Child by Toni Morrison. We will discuss on Wednesday, July 30th with Dana A. Williams.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/7/9/ep-379-mandii-b-weezywtf

Connect with WeezyWTF: Instagram

Connect with Mandii B: Instagram

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

This week on the Stacks, we are joined by author and African-American literature professor, Dana A. Williams. She has written a brand new book called Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship, which chronicles Morrison's time as an editor at Random House. Dana shares with us the behind the scenes story of how her book title came to be, her favorite Morrison book, and why she chose God Help the Child for our July Book Club Pick.

The Stacks Book Club pick for July is God Help the Child by Toni Morrison. We will discuss on Wednesday, July 30th with Dana A. Williams returning as our guest.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/7/2/ep-378-dana-williams

Connect with Dana: Instagram | Bluesky | Website

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

It’s The Stacks' Book Club Day, and we are joined once again by Ceara O’Sullivan to discuss The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel. The book explores the ethos of Stéphane Bréitwieser—the titular art thief in question—who stole and kept over two billion dollars worth of art. Together, we discuss Finkel's portrayal of Bréitwieser, the myriad of twists throughout this story, and what this book has to say about crime, ownership, and punishment.

There are spoilers on this episode.

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

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/6/25/ep-377-art-thief

Connect with Ceara: Instagram | Tiktok | Petty Crimes Podcast

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

*Patreon- and Substack-only bonus episode teaser, click here for the full episode*

We’re halfway through 2025 so this month on The Stacks Unabridged, we've got a literary check-in with friends of the pod, Sara Hildreth and Cree Myles! Together, we discuss the books that blew us away during the first half of the year, the titles we're most looking forward to for the second half of 2025. Plus we share the best backlist we've read and a few award season predictions. 

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/unabridged/2025/6/20/tsu-47-sara-hildreth-cree-myles

Connect with Cree: Instagram | Twitter | All Ways Black | Substack

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

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

Mia McKenzie is on the show this week discussing her newest book, These Heathens, a coming of age story set in 1960s Georgia. She talks about how she approached fictionalizing real figures from the civil rights movement, the importance of queer representation in her work, and how her grandmother inspired the protagonist in the novel.

The Stacks Book Club pick for June is The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel. We will discuss on Wednesday, June 25th with Ceara O’Sullivan returning as our guest.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/6/18/ep-376-mia-mckenzie

Connect with Mia: Instagram | Website | BGD Blog

Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Substack | Subscribe

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