Nonfiction Episodes

In this interview, Alex and I discuss Seventy Times Seven, what constitutes justice, eliminating the death penalty for children, her title and its meaning, forgiveness, how different individuals approach a tragedy and why, and much more.

In this interview, Rory and I discuss There Will Be Fire, creating a roadmap regarding the history of the British/Irish conflict, how religion is really a social and political signifier in the conflict, writing true crime, how security changed in the United Kingdom after Brighton, and much more.

In this interview, Laura and I discuss Stash, why she decided to write this book, how tricky memory is, overcoming her addiction to Ambien, providing input on her book's cover, her podcast The Only One in the Room, and much more.

In this interview, Christie and I discuss B.F.F., all of the book's great pre-publication press, why friendships were so hard for her, social media's impact on relationships, how the title and cover came about, how her family responded to this book, and much more.

In this interview, Erika and I discuss Windfall, how she decided to write this book and the ways it changed over time, how everyone yearns to know where they come from, her internal conflicts about her family's inheritance, her book cover, climate change, her visits to North Dakota, and much more.

Elizabeth and I discuss our favorite narrative nonfiction books, our auto-buy nonfiction authors, categorizing the genre, the categories we gravitate toward, and more.

In this interview, Joe and I discuss Blood and Ink, timing the publication of his book with the 100th year anniversary of the crime, the birth of tabloid journalism, his long-term interest in historical true crime, his research and the documents that he helped uncover about the case, how the title and cover came about, our fascination with true crime, and much more.

In this interview, Arianna and I discuss Declassified, her feelings about medieval music, the origin of the book's chapter titles, Mozart's obsession with poop, her stellar cover, why she decided to create this guide to classical music and weave her own story into it, how absurdly expensive some violins are, and much more.

In this interview, Zibby and I discuss Bookends, how her podcast influences her writing, writing to process the events in her life, how important it is to find your passion, how she decided which book would open each chapter, and much more.

In this interview, Ellen and I discuss Rebel with a Clause, her grammar table and how it all began, how grammar appeals to people from all walks of life, creating a documentary about the grammar table, organizing the topics in her book, what surprised her the most about her adventure, and much more.

In this interview, David and I discuss The Movement Made Us, his father's role in the Civil Rights Movement, getting his father's story down and how the format of the book came about, the hardest part of writing the book, what surprised him the most about it, how the cover came about, and much more.

In this interview, Delia and I discuss Left on Tenth, how she decided to write this book, her work with The Empathy Project which works to teach doctors empathy, combing through thousands of pages of her own medical records, the relevance of the book's title, and much more.

Mary Laura and I discuss Bomb Shelter, her life changing moment, focusing on why loving someone is not enough to keep them safe, grappling with growing older and letting go, embracing the little feel-good things to keep anxiety at bay, incorporating musical theatre into this memoir, the importance of practicing kindness, and much more.

In this interview, Tiffany, Leon, and I discuss It's Not Just Cookies, the fact that this is the first time that they are publishing any of their recipes, telling their story and sharing about the business and how much it has grown, why they decided to write the book now, sone of their favorite "Warm Moments" in the book, and much more.

Azar and I discuss Read Dangerously, how she selected the authors to include in this book, the reemergence of book banning, coming up with the format she used for the book, how curiosity leads to empathy, the importance of fiction in our lives, and much more.

David and I discuss What's So Funny? A Cartoonist's Memoir, how he started creating cartoons for The New Yorker, using cartoons to process his emotions, how writing this book was cathartic and helped him better understand his parents, trying to connect to people through feelings, creating the cover, and much more.

Meriel and I discuss The Lost Cafe Schindler, trying to better understand her father by delving into his past, researching her family's history, the current Cafe Schindler and its place in history, and much more.

Bob and I chat about Nailing It, his desire to inspire and encourage the younger generations to see the many opportunities available to them, how hard it was to narrow it down to 25 people, the people he wished he could have included, and much more.

Karen and I chat about her new book The Lightmaker's Manifesto, her studying and writing about the intersection of joy and activism, her own claiming of the term activism, how stories provide an amazingly resonant way to connect with people, performance activism, and much more.

Anne and I chat about her latest cookbook A New Take on Cake, why she decided to do this cookbook, how cake mix baking is more common today than when she first started out with this concept, updating some of her favorite recipes, how she approached this project, and much more.

Jenna and I discuss Woodrow on the Bench, what Woodrow taught her and others that interacted with him, how each chapter of the book contains a lesson from Woodrow, writing a memoir versus fiction, the book that inspired her cover, A Mighty Blaze and what's on tap for it in 2022, and much more.

Laurence and I discuss Capote's Women, the illusion these women created for the world and how happiness was elusive for them, what surprised him the most while writing this book, the carefully chosen cover photo, his favorite of the books he has written, and much more.

Deborah and I discuss her book The Tell-All Guide to Airbnb Hosting, her encore career, serving as an Airbnb Superhost by renting rooms in her home, some crazy Airbnb stories, tips for being a great host and a fabulous guest, her podcast Calm the Chaos, and much more.

Todd and I chat about his book Little Pieces of Hope, celebrating all of the things that bring us joy in life, how and why he started these lists the day WHO declared a global pandemic, looking to his daily life for inspiration, the bright and sunny cover, working in book publicity, and much more.