Zero to Well-Read

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Thanks to ThriftBooks for sponsoring this season of Zero to Well-Read.

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

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Jeff and Rebecca dive into John Steinbeck's epic, magisterial novel about fathers and sons, family legacies, and the question of free will. They discuss the story's biblical roots, Steinbeck's wide-ranging philosophy, the controversy that surrounded his Nobel win, and much more.

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Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This episode is sponsored by Boll & Branch. Get 15% off your first order plus free shipping at BollAndBranch.com/wellread with code WELLREAD. Exclusions Apply.

Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com/wellread. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

Thanks to our sponsor Warby Parker. Right now, buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at WarbyParker.com/BOOKRIOT.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty years after it was published, Cormac McCarthy's The Road remains a landmark work of post-apocalyptic fiction. This week, Jeff and Rebecca explore what the bleak and beautiful story has to say about hope, humanity, masculinity, and the power of storytelling.

Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content.

Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com/wellread. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

This episode is sponsored by Boll & Branch. Get 15% off your first order plus free shipping at BollAndBranch.com/wellread with code WELLREAD. Exclusions Apply.

Thanks to our sponsor Warby Parker. Right now, buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at WarbyParker.com/BOOKRIOT.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebecca and Jeff sit down with history and civics educator Sharon McMahon to recommend books—both fiction and nonfiction—to help you better understand American history and politics.

Sharon's book, The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement, is available in paperback now. You can find more of her work at The Preamble and on the socials @sharonsaysso.

Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content.

Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com/wellread. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

Today's episode is sponsored by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca celebrate Zero to Well-Read's first anniversary with a brief look at some of the show's most popular episodes. Then, they dip into the mailbag to answer listener questions about Book Riot's origin story, tips for staying focused while reading, how they manage their reading lives, spoiler etiquette, and more.

Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content.

Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Today's episode is sponsored by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca are joined by Rob Harvilla, host of 60 Songs That Explain the '90s: The 2000s, for a conversation about Jonathan Franzen's award-winning breakout novel. They discuss Franzen's singular blend of Midwestern sensibility and postmodern satire, the Oprah controversy that made him a household name, why he continues to be a lightning rod in literary circles, and how The Corrections became one of the most underrated Great American Novels of the 21st Century.

Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content.

Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Go to quince.com/wellread for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

Today's episode is sponsored by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Minor characters get main character syndrome in Tom Stoppard's Hamlet send-up filled with wordplay, philosophical puzzles, silliness, and existential questions. On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, Rebecca and Jeff discuss what made Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead such a breakout hit and why it continues to delight scholars and language nerds alike.

Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content.

Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

Today's episode is sponsored by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca take on one of the most transgressive and unsettling novels of the 21st century so far, Nobel Prize winner Han Kang's The Vegetarian. They discuss the use of art to explore questions about freedom, self-determination, sex, violence, and the limits of autonomy; the surprising public response to such a challenging literary work; and what Western readers might not understand about the story that has its roots in Korean history.

Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content.

Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Get 15% off your first order plus free shipping at BollAndBranch.com/wellread with code wellread. Exclusions apply.

Go to quince.com/wellread for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

Today's episode is sponsored by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebecca and Jeff talk with New York Times canon editor Gilbert Cruz about the project of curating the best books of the 21st century, the recent list of the 50 best thrillers of the century, and the value and meaning of expertise and curation in the modern reading landscape.

Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content.

Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Get 15% off your first order plus free shipping at BollAndBranch.com/wellread with code wellread. Exclusions apply.

Go to quince.com/wellread for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca explore Octavia Butler's eerily prescient 1993 novel, ⁠The Parable of the Sower⁠, and discuss Butler's legacy and enduring impact on science fiction.

This episode, one of our most popular to date, originally ran in November, 2025.

Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content.

Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Email us: [email protected]

Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read!

Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Get 15% off your first order plus free shipping at BollAndBranch.com/wellread with code wellread. Exclusions apply.

Go to quince.com/wellread for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices