What makes a book dangerous?

In this episode of Transatlantic Bookmarks, we discuss banned books, censorship, school libraries, Pride Month, LGBTQ literature, free speech, and the role books play in helping us understand lives different from our own. From John Steinbeck and Upton Sinclair to Alice Walker and Andrew Sean Greer, we explore why certain books become cultural battlegrounds and who gets to decide what belongs on the shelf.

We also discuss book bans in the United States, the difference between age-appropriate reading and censorship, the role of librarians, LGBTQ representation in literature, and why societies often seem more comfortable with violence than with sex. At the center of the conversation is a simple question: what do we lose when access to books becomes restricted?

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED:
• No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs (with David Roberts)
• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• Das Kapital by Karl Marx
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
• The Works of Immanuel Kant
• Less by Andrew Sean Greer
• The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
• Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
• The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
• The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker

💌 Our Substack & Show Notes:
https://transatlanticbookmarks.substack.com/

📚 Read Ksenija’s Novels:
https://transatlanticbookmarks.substack.com/p/publications

📚 Ksenija on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6449766.Ksenija_Popovi_

🎙️ ABOUT TRANSATLANTIC BOOKMARKS

Hosted by European novelist Ksenija Popović and American engineer Sue Graham Johnston, Transatlantic Bookmarks uses books as the starting point for conversations about culture, history, psychology, morality, politics, and the questions hiding between the lines.

New episodes every Saturday.

👉🏻 CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
02:49 What We’re Reading
05:21 The Fear of a Different Opinion
08:54 The Role of Literature in Critical Thinking
09:20 Pride Month and LGBTQ Representation
16:23 Cultural Divides in America
21:23 Book Banning in the United States
25:55 The Case for Censorship
33:46 The Hypocrisy of Censorship
38:03 Censoring Socialism
43:36 LGBTQIA+ in the Balkans
49:28 Unexpected Events and Personal Stories
51:13 Pride Marches: Corporate Influence vs. Authenticity
52:45 The Role of Librarians in Democracy
56:13 Both Sides Are Banning