The Stacks

The Stacks


Latest Episodes

Ep. 300 A Lover of Place with Zach Stafford
January 03, 2024

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

Unabridged: The LA Live Show with Chelsea Devantez, Rachel Lindsay and Sam Sanders
December 29, 2023

*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

Ep. 299 Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare -- The Stacks Book Club (Farah Karim-Cooper)
December 27, 2023

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

Ep. 298 The Best Books of 2023 with MJ Franklin and Adam Vitcavage
December 20, 2023

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 di

Ep. 297 It's a Policy of Neglect with Nathan Thrall
December 13, 2023

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

Unabridged: The NYC Late Show with Kiese Laymon
December 08, 2023

*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 m

Ep. 296 Gatekeeping Around Shakespeare with Farah Karim-Cooper
December 06, 2023

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 thu

Ep. 295 Severance by Ling Ma -- The Stacks Book Club (Mitchell S. Jackson)
November 29, 2023

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 mark

Unabridged: The NYC Early Show with Kiese Laymon
November 24, 2023

*patron-only bonus episode teaser*This Unabridged is a conversation with author and friend of The Stacks Kiese Laymon from our early show in New York City. We hear from Kiese about how he knows when his work is ready for an audience, and get intel on hi

Ep. 294 People Just Have Never Seen It with Ali Stroker
November 22, 2023

Tony Award Winner Ali Stroker discusses her new middle grade novel Cut Loose!, co-written with Stacy Davidowitz. Ali reveals why she avoided having friends with disabilities in her youth, how she translates choreography for her wheelchair, and how her thi