Book Dreams
Book Dreams is a podcast for everyone who loves books and misses English class. In each episode co-hosts Julie Sternberg and Eve Yohalem explore a book-related topic they can’t stop thinking about, everything from the genius of your favorite picture books to books bound in human skin. Julie and Eve are both award-winning authors, which allows them to come at interviews with an insider’s knowledge as well as all the wonder associated with storytelling.
Book Dreams is brought to you by The Podglomerate and is a member of Lit Hub Radio. New episodes run every Thursday.
Find Book Dreams on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email contact@bookdreamspodcast.com.
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Ep. 70 - Combating Corruption and Generating Ch...
Bryan Christy's investigations as a reporter have led to police raids of ivory shops in Vatican City, the defrocking of a pedophile monsignor, the arrest and imprisonment of the “Pablo Escobar of wildlife trafficking,” and the closing of China's ivory market. What strategies did he use to track down criminals?
33 min
77
Ep. 69 - The Truth About the Gospel of Jesus’s ...
What happens when a Harvard professor puts the weight of her reputation behind an alleged ancient gospel with monumental implications for the Roman Catholic Church, and the gospel turns out to be a fake?
39 min
78
Ep. 68 - Living History with Freedom Rider Char...
In this episode of Book Dreams, Julie and Eve talk with Charles Person, the youngest and only surviving member of the original Freedom Riders. In May of 1961, thirteen men and women in Washington, D.C. boarded two public buses headed for New Orleans...
29 min
79
Ep. 67 - Vanessa Zoltan on What Makes a Secular...
Meet Vanessa Zoltan, faithful bibliophile and author of the recently published Praying with Jane Eyre: Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice--she’s not your grandmother’s idea of pious. A humanist chaplain with a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, Vanessa produces podcasts and runs pilgrimages and walking tours that explore sacred reading and writing...
26 min
80
Ep. 66 - The Rigorous Refusal to Waste a Reader...
Eve and Julie talk to Jo Ann Beard about Festival Days, her extraordinary new collection of essays, some of which took decades to write. Jo Ann describes her deeply reflective, painstaking process and shares why so many of the pieces in Festival Days involve life and death moments and the kinds of reminiscences that emerge from thoughts about death...
31 min
81
Ep. 65 - How to Ease Anxieties and Resist Choco...
15 min
82
Ep. 64 - The Genius of Your Favorite Picture Bo...
What’s it like to see stories through the eyes of a visual artist? Marla Frazee, multiple award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, shares her vision in a captivating conversation with Eve and Julie. The recipient of two Caldecott Honors and the Boston Globe Horn Book Award, Marla knew that she wanted to become an illustrator before she’d even found language...
33 min
83
Ep. 63 - Native Americans and Comedy, with Adri...
In this week’s episode, Julie and Eve talk to comedian, writer, and actor Adrianne Chalepah and comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff about Native Americans and comedy...
46 min
84
Ep. 62 - David Levithan on How The Baby-Sitters...
The Baby-Sitters Club. You may know the books, but do you know their story? David Levithan--Editorial Director at Scholastic; Founding Editor of Scholastic’s PUSH imprint; and New York Times bestselling author of 23 books, including Boy Meets Boy, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (co-written with Rachel Cohn), and, most recently, The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. as told to his brother--invites Eve and Julie into the Baby-Sitters clubhouse to talk about the impact and legacy of the 300-book (and counting) series...
26 min
85
Ep. 61 - "You Want Me to Read WHAT?" with Brook...
We’ll take book recommendations for $1,000, please! In a first for Book Dreams, Eve and Julie have teamed up with Brookes May--host of the podcast Books with Brookes--to play a game they’re officially calling “You Want Me to Read What?”
34 min
86
Ep. 60 - Feed Drop: Storybound, Matt Haig reads...
In this episode, Matt Haig reads an excerpt from the Midnight Library.
26 min
87
Ep. 59 - No Family Members Were Harmed in the M...
How does an author write her extended family into a madcap romantic comedy and live to tell the tale? Jesse Q. Sutanto--author of the YA thriller The Obsession; the middle-grade fantasy novel Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit; and the debut adult novel Dial A for Aunties, which is being adapted by Netflix into a film--discusses with Eve and Julie the cultural and familial components of her work...
21 min
88
Ep. 58 - Plundering Lovely, Messy, Family Stories
What strange and unexpected paths might one author take delving into his family's history? Menachem Kaiser--author of Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and People Magazine Best New Book of 2021--shares with Eve and Julie how his attempts to reclaim a building that had belonged to his grandfather before World War II led to unexpected discoveries...
31 min
89
Ep. 57 - When Fiction Is More Personal Than Memoir
How can a thriller be more personal to an author than her own memoir? Paula McLain--New York Times and international bestselling author of The Paris Wife; the memoir Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses; and the new thriller When the Stars Go Dark--shares with Eve and Julie various ways in which her childhood of trauma and survival has influenced her writing...
35 min
90
Ep. 56 - How a Book on the Human Mind Is Reshap...
How has one book that barely mentions sports reshaped the game of baseball? Joe Lemire--senior writer at SportTechie and contributor to the New York Times and MLB Network--takes Julie and Eve out to the sandlot to discuss the impact that Thinking, Fast and Slow--a book about flawed human reasoning and decision-making written by Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman--has had on our national pastime...
32 min
91
Ep. 55 - Summer of Julie Sternberg's Secrets
In this episode of Book Dreams, our very own Julie Sternberg offers a behind-the-scenes look at her brand new middle-grade novel. Summer of Stolen Secrets is Julie’s most personal book to date, set in her hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
25 min
92
Ep. 54 - Frankly, My Dear, Laurie Frankel Gives...
What happens when a novelist takes on complicated and often controversial issues that consume her? And what's the payoff for the reader when she succeeds? Laurie Frankel--a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of four novels, including the newly released One Two Three--shares with Eve and Julie some of her thoughts about the challenging and important topics that she brings to life in her books...
28 min
93
Ep. 53 - Sublime Objects of the Hoard, with Reb...
What does your collection of toilet paper say about you? Rebecca Falkoff--author of Possessed: A Cultural History of Hoarding, assistant professor of Italian studies at NYU, and stand-up comedian--unpacks the methods and madness behind hoarding with Eve and Julie...
25 min
94
Ep. 52 (Re-Release) - Finding Hope, Even Now, w...
How do we find hope even in the most difficult of times? How do we thrive after experiencing trauma? Dr. Edith Eger--eminent psychologist, Auschwitz survivor, and author of the New York Times bestseller The Choice: Embrace the Possible and The Gift: 12 Lessons to Change Your Life--talks with Julie and Eve about how to escape the prison of victimhood...
29 min
95
Ep. 51 - Jill Santopolo on Writing Bestsellers ...
What’s it like to be a New York Times bestselling author and the editor of bestselling books by authors like Chelsea Clinton, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Vice President Kamala Harris? Jill Santopolo--associate publisher of Philomel Books and acclaimed author of Everything After, More Than Words, and The Light We Lost (a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick)--shares with Eve and Julie why she only wants to edit for kids while simultaneously writing for adults...
18 min
96
Ep. 50 - It's Time to Rethink the Way We Tell S...
What are the downsides to the way we tell stories? Do we need to re-imagine the craft of writing and the way it’s taught? Matthew Salesses--English professor and bestselling author of The Hundred-Year Flood and The PEN/Faulkner finalist, Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear--takes on these questions in his new national bestseller, Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping...
28 min
97
Ep. 49 - Books Bound in Human Skin: Who, What, ...
When’s the last time a book made your skin crawl? Megan Rosenbloom--a collection strategies librarian at the UCLA library, president of the Southern California Society for the History of Medicine, research team leader of The Anthropodermic Book Project, and author of Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin--delves into the who, what, when, where, and, most importantly, why of books bound in human skin...
28 min
98
Feed Drop: Introducing Trail Weight
“Trail Weight,” a new podcast from the Podglomerate network, follows host Andrew Steven on an ambitious, surprising, and transformative journey as he tries to get in shape for a month-long backpacking trip through the Sierra Nevada Mountains...
8 min
99
Ep. 48 - Simon Winchester on Life and Death Sto...
If we humans can't own the air or sea, why can we own land? And what happens when we do? Simon Winchester--an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and acclaimed author of the New York Times bestsellers The Professor and the Madmen, The Map That Changed the World, Krakatoa, Atlantic, and Pacific--explores with Julie and Eve how he addressed the man-made notions of land ownership and dispossession in his latest book...
31 min
100
Ep. 47 - The Power of Jasmine Mans' Poet Voice
When was the last time you let yourself feel the power of poetry and a poet’s voice? Here’s the perfect chance! Jasmine Mans--author of the poetry collections Chalk Outlines of Snow Angels and, most recently, Black Girl, Call Home; resident poet of the Newark Public Library; and viral sensation behind the poem Footnotes for Kanye--talks with Eve and Julie about how she discovered her own narrative through poetry...
31 min