The Lit Hub Podcast

Community. Community, community, community, now more than ever. We kick things off this week with a special guest: Leila Green Little, lead plaintiff in the ongoing Little v. Llano County book-banning case, chats with both Drew and Anthony Aycock, whose piece about the case ran this week on the site. Then, Drew talks to Benjamin Davis of Chill Subs about their Lit Mag Incubator Program that's going to give away $1000 a piece to five lit mags who need it. And finally, a little suggestion to read Diana Oh's My H8 Letter to the Great American Theater and to hug the people you love.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oh another bad week in the world, and what's a book podcast to do but... talk about Hamlet! Seriously, though: theater belongs in the literary conversation and there's something about the confluence of text and audio that we obviously take very seriously here at Literary Hub or else we wouldn't be doing this podcast!So, this episode is primarily Make Believe Association's Jeremy McCarter sitting down with Drew for a warm reunion (they've known each other for a long, long time) and a discussion of MB's new production of Hamlet—which takes place entirely from the point of view of the prince. Yeah, it's very cool and you can listen to the whole thing now wherever you get your podcasts. Will it build empathy? Maybe. Will it teach you how to understand character and motivation and direction differently? Absolutely.Then, as a little treat, James Folta explains the difference between his book recommendations... and your book recommendations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you have one of the ~iconic~ Joan Didion Lit Hub totes? (You can still get one, ps.) Were you also interested, and then maybe confused, by the 'new' Joan Didion book? Don't worry, we've got you covered this week. We've also got some writer-beware tips for those hoping to get their work out into the world while avoiding a mess like the one at Unbound/Boundless—and also there's a bit of meta/twee fun! A true summer jawn!First: Evelyn McDonnell (The World According to Joan—coming in paperback this summer!) talks about her essay "Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? On Notes to John and the Selling of Didion's Privacy"Then: Kate McKean (Write Through It—out next week!) offers some agent-level advice to writers about what to watch out for when looking at agents and publishers.Finally: Brittany Allen drops in to mutually adore Wes Anderson with Drew, inspired by her "All the Fake Books in Wes Anderson's multiverse, ranked" list before we all (and I do mean we all) go see The Phoenician Scheme this weekend.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you solve a problem like romantasy? What is it like to have written the most banned book in the country? Jenny Hamilton chats about her Reactor essay "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Romantasy?" and George M. Johnson talks banned books, being banned, and their new podcast Fighting Words. * "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Romantasy?"* "Natalie's Theory of Urban Fantasy" * Fighting Words* All Boys Aren't Blue* The ALA's Top Ten Banned Books ListSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Memorial Day Weekend is upon us and that means: summer reading! Yes, it's true, you can wear white and it's officially summer. Even if it's already been summer where you live, temperature-wise or white-clothing-wise. Drew kicks us off with a bit of a tear about the AI-generated summer reading lists that got syndicated to papers this week (and mentions his own ongoing summer-reading-rec Bluesky offer, which has become unmanageable in a great way) before bringing on Molly Odintz to talk about some books that are exciting for summer.Then, Calvin Kasulke talks to friend and writing buddy Isaac Fellman about their unique writing relationship and how it helped influence both Calvin's Several People Are Typing and Isaac's latest book Notes from a Regicide. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mrs. Dalloway turns 100 this week and it has Drew thinking about old books—and, more specifically, discovering old books. After a lightly eerie reverie, he chats with Nathan Connolly of Dead Ink Books about the pleasures of running a small press and creating a real-life, real-time literary hoax with the Eden Book Society. (If you aren't backing the 1993 collection on Kickstarter, do you even like literary joy?) Then, James Folta chats with Shea Dunlop and Sarah Robbins from Abrams about the in-process unionization vote at Abrams, their experience with a weird union-buster, what they're reading, and why unions make us strong.* Mia Manzulli on teaching Mrs. Dalloway to high schoolers in 2025* 100 covers of Mrs. Dalloway* Dead Ink Books* The Eden Book Society — 1993 on Kickstarter* James' "The Abrams Union wants a "more equitable, ethical, and transparent” publisher."* The Abrams Union on Instagram* "The Persuaders: Workers Wanted A Union. Then The Mysterious Men Showed Up." by Dave Jamieson on HuffPostSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week saw the announcement of the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes—which, if you've been following along at home, I had some questions regarding! Unsurprisingly, that's also where we start the show this week. Then, Marie-Helene Bertino (Exit Zero) drops by to talk about vampires, Sinners, and the pitfalls of immortality and Meg Reid of Hub City Writers wraps up with a helpful explainer of just what it means that the NEA has suddenly cancelled funding for non-profit presses and other arts organizations. No Pope stuff, though. Missed the filing deadline by a couple hours."Did the Pulitzer Board just overrule the Jury to give Percival Everett the prize?""Viola in Midwinter" by Marie-Helene Bertino (from our "One great short story..." series this month)SinnersHub City Writersthe NEA Grant Termination Spreadsheet from Annie DorsenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Yesterday was May Day and it was a big one for us: Lit Hub finally got to add to the canon of "Why I'm Leaving Twitter" posts! Jonny Diamond kicks us off to explain the rationale behind why and why now. Then, we wrap up our National Poetry Month coverage with a small-press interview: Eric Amling and Sarah Jean Grimm of After Hours Editions tell Drew about running a small poetry press and looking for the strange pizzas. And finally, we thought we'd add to the "books for men" discourse by getting some guys together to talk about guys and books. Listen closely for a great business idea, because Calvin and James and Drew are waiting by the phone.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

April is, as it turns out, a great month for book lovers: the first big wave of pre-summer titles arrives, St. Jordi Day (and Shakespeare's birth/death-day) is April 23rd, and of course Independent Bookstore Day is the last Saturday of the month. And while every day can and should be Indie Bookstore Day, we're getting into the spirit of the holiday this week—just in time for you to hit up your local(s) on Saturday 4/26!Kicking things off, it's Shelf Awareness editor-in-chief John Mutter, here to tell Drew about watching and reporting on the indie bookstore scene for nearly 20 years. Then, another bookseller roundtable, this one featuring bookstore-bar-coffee-shops, including:* Jennifer Caspar, Village Well Books & Coffee (Culver City, CA)* Catherine Johnson and Lani Martin, Flyleaf (Grosse Point, MI)* Amanda and Anthony Stromoski, Rough Draft Bar & Books (Kingston, NY)Plus, James Folta reads Sappho and Jonny Diamond reads Jonny Diamond for National Poetry Month! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're continuing our celebration of National Poetry Month this week with special guest Lisa Willis, executive director of Cave Canem! She's here to tell Drew about the wide-reaching, first-of-its-kind field study Magnitude and Bond: A Field Study on Black Literary Arts Organizations—it's a must-read for anybody interested in any part of the literary arts ecosystem.Plus, Brittany Allen on some organizations and organizers pushing back against the Trump administration's assault on the historical archive—and new poetry!! Julia Hass reads "Passerine," an unpublished poem by Sophia Stid, and Oliver Scialdone reads one of their own poems, "Help, Am I Watching a Commercial Break or Just Living in One?" plus "The Garden" by H.D.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.