Educator and author Carolina Ixta joins The Stacks to discuss her debut novel Shut Up, This is Serious. Set in East Oakland, the story explores teen friendship, generational cycles and authenticity. Carolina talks about the process of writing about sex in Young Adult fiction, and confronting anti-Black racism in Latine communities. 

The Stacks Book Club selection for January is Erasure by Percival Everett. We will discuss the book on January 31st with Zach Stafford.

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2024/01/17/ep-302-carolina-ixta

Connect with Carolina: Instagram | Twitter | 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.

Chef, restaurateur and media personality Sohla El-Waylly joins to talk about her debut cookbook, Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook: A Cookbook. We find out how Sohla balances difficulty, time, and ingredients while writing recipes for home chefs. She also shares how having a child has changed the way she thinks about food and feeding people, and shares tips for cooking related resolutions (including one that Traci is committed to).

The Stacks Book Club selection for January is Erasure by Percival Everett. We will discuss the book on January 31st with Zach Stafford.

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2024/01/10/ep-301-sohla-el-waylly

Connect with Sohla: Instagram | Website

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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

Writer, Vibe Check cohost, and Tony winning Producer, Zach Stafford joins The Stacks to discuss being a journalist, his many jobs over the year, and of course, books!. Zach reveals his surprise problematic favorite book, explains how his love of geography has informed his entire professional career and addresses the challenge of squaring his upbeat personality with being a serious journalist.

The Stacks Book Club selection for January is Erasure by Percival Everett. We will discuss the book on January 31st with Zach Stafford.

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2024/01/03/ep-300-zach-stafford

Connect with Zach: Instagram | Twitter | Vibe Check

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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

*patron-only bonus episode teaser*

This edition of The Stacks Unabridged features audio from our Los Angeles stop on the Live in The Stacks tour. We were joined by Chelsea Devantez, Rachel Lindsay and Sam Sanders in a discussion of celebrity memoirs, pop culture gossip and book recommendations.

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

JOIN THE STACKS PACK TO LISTEN

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2023/12/29/tsu-29-la-tour

Connect with Chelsea: Instagram | Twitter | Website | Glamorous Trash

Connect with Rachel: Instagram | Twitter | Higher Learning

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Twitter | Into It | Vibe Check

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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

Author and Shakespeare scholar Farah Karim-Cooper returns for our final book club episode of the year to discuss the Bard's most famous play - Romeo and Juliet. We ask questions around why this play became William Shakespeare's most well known, and why we teach it in schools. We also share the characters we love and hate, and unpack the way race plays into the text.

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://thestackspodcast.com/2023/12/27/ep-299-romeo-and-juliet

Connect with Farah: Twitter

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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

New York Times Book Review editor MJ Franklin and Debutiful's Adam Vitcavage join The Stacks for our annual best books of the year episode. We reveal our personal picks for the ten best books of 2023, and predict trends we anticipate for 2024. Plus, we discuss all the books we're most looking forward to reading in the new year. 

The Stacks Book Club selection for December is Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. We will discuss the book on December 27th with Farah Karim-Cooper.

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2023/12/20/ep-298-best-books-of-2023

Connect with MJ: Instagram | Twitter

Connect with Adam: Instagram | Twitter | Website | Debutiful

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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

Journalist and author Nathan Thrall joins us to discuss his book A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy. Nathan explains why he wanted to tell this story in 2023, and how the events of October 7th changed how his book about life for a Palestinian family was received. Nathan also shares what folks can do to impact change in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The Stacks Book Club selection for December is Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. We will discuss the book on December 27th with Farah Karim-Cooper.

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2023/12/13/ep-297-nathan-thrall

Connect with Nathan: Twitter | Website

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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

*patron-only bonus episode teaser*

We're back with friend of The Stacks, Kiese Laymon, with audio from the second New York live show on our national tour. Kiese discusses writing about real people in his life, and reveals what he would change about his memoir Heavy if he could revise it. Plus, we talk about first kisses, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift.

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

JOIN THE STACKS PACK TO LISTEN

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2023/12/08/tsu-28-nyc-tour-2

Connect with Kiese: Instagram | Website

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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

Author and professor Farah Karim-Cooper joins The Stacks to talk about her book The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking about Race. Farah reveals how she came to be a Shakespeare and race scholar, and how her work has been received thus far. We also discuss her favorite plays by Shakespeare, and the ways in which his legacy doesn't match up with who he was in his life. 

The Stacks Book Club selection for December is Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. We will discuss the book on December 27th with Farah Karim-Cooper.

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2023/12/06/ep-296-farah-karim-cooper

Connect with Farah: Twitter

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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

Author Mitchell S. Jackson returns for our book club discussion of Ling Ma's post-apocalyptic novel Severance. On this episode we try to piece together the story's timeline, unpack the ending, and we cast the TV show adaptation. We also discuss quote marks, capitalism, and the role of religion throughout the novel.

There are spoilers on this episode.

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

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

https://thestackspodcast.com/2023/11/29/ep-295-severance

Connect with Mitchell: Instagram | Twitter | Website

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

SUPPORT THE STACKS

Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.

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