The Lit Hub Podcast

Tomorrow is Independent Bookstore Day! (If you're listening to this on release day, anyway.)
So, in the spirit of heading out to support your local indie(s), we have a very indie-forward episode for you this month. First, Philomena Polefrone from the ABA stops by to explain HR 7661 (the national book ban bill) and why supporting indie bookstores and libraries is more important now than it has ever been! Then, Meg Reid of Hub City Press drops in to chat about more affordable options for hardcovers (namely: paper-over-boards!) and more thoughts on book design from the frontlines of publishing AND bookselling. And finally, Drew delivers a little recommendation corner as well as an update on the future of the pod.
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Slop-pocalypse now! Oh yes, folks, the AI nonsense continues to accelerate and Drew has some feelings about it and why you (yes you!) should also be a stick in the mud about it. Then, Sara Yasin joins James Folta to talk about launching The Key, the new lit magazine produced by the Palestine Festival of Literature. Calvin Kasulke also drops by to chat with Drew about Lit Hub's post-Pamela-Paul-corrective of thirteen book reviews that should have run at the NYTBR during the noted transphobe's tenure. To close it out, Casey Scieszka (author of The Fountain) reads her essay "When the Fountain Runs Dry" and Oliver Scialdone recommends diving into Filthy Loot Press.
IN THIS EP:
* "Horror Novel "Shy Girl" Cancelled Over Suspected AI Use"
* "The People Getting Falsely Accused of Using AI"
* The Key
* "What Was Lost: A Queer Accounting of the New York Times Book Review, 2013-2022"
* "Good-bye Pamela Paul"
* "When the Fountain Runs Dry: On Aging, Immortality, and the Illusion of Everlasting Youth"
* Filthy Loot Press
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It's the end of February already! Thank goodness! Drew's reporting in from Pittsburgh, at the annual conference hosted by the American Booksellers Association, and boy oh boy do we have a lot of bookish goodness for you, including...
* the weirdness of early-year reading
* a conversation between Lit Hub's Brittany Allen and Colette Delawalla (CEO of Stand Up for Science) about the Trump Administration's ongoing attempts to gut NASA's research library
* Drew chatting with bookseller Fisher Nash (of Carmichael's in Louisville KY) about the state of bookselling and the wildness of Winter Institute (the aforementioned conference)
* a voicemail from Adam Colman sharing insights into the new season of The Cosmic Library (hint: it involves Proust!)
* Michael Welch on "What We Lose When Our Independent Bookstores Close"
* and a book recommendation from Lit Hub's James Folta!
See you in March!
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The Lit Hub Podcast is hosted and produced by Drew Broussard
The Lit Hub Podcast theme was written and performed by Dani Lencioni of Evelyn
The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Literary Hub and a part of the Lit Hub Radio network
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When we launched The Lit Hub Podcast in 2024, we promised you a weekly dive into the behind-the-scenes of the literary world—and what a series of weeks it has been! But 2026 looks a lot different than 2024, in so many ways, and so we're going to try something new. Starting this month (February!) we're shifting the podcast release schedule to monthly, on the last Friday of the month.
It'll be the same vibe you've come to know and love, but you can expect longer episodes, with more staff voices and in-depth explorations—a monthly, instead of weekly, digest of what's been happening at the site and in the larger book-world.
Thanks so much for listening so far, and we'll see you at the end of the month!
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No episode this week, in solidarity with what we genuinely hope will be something approaching an actual widespread general strike. May you get up to some good trouble—take care of your neighbors, be good to one another!
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