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. 46 - The Woman Ahead of the Women Who Were ...
How do you write a trailblazing woman back into history after her iconic colleagues wrote her out? Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner--founder and executive director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and Center for Social Justice Dialogue; a founder of one the first college-level women’s studies programs in the United States; and author of The Women’s Suffrage Movement and Sisters in Spirit--introduces Eve and Julie to Matilda Joslyn Gage, the should-be household name of the suffrage movement...
37 min
102
Ep. 45 - The Push and Pull of Ashley Audrain's ...
What’s it like to delve into the origins, psyche, and after-effects of evil, and set it all on the page? Author Ashley Audrain, whose debut novel The Push became an instant New York Times bestseller, shares with Julie and Eve her thinking behind her remarkable thriller...
25 min
103
Ep. 44 - Allegra Goodman on Why Families are Fa...
Family is forever, and so, it appears, is our fascination with reading about them. Allegra Goodman--author of The Family Markowitz, Kaaterskill Falls (National Book Award finalist), Intuition, Paradise Park, The Chalk Artist, and short stories included in The New Yorker, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and Best American Short Stories--dishes with Eve and Julie about why families remain such a compelling subject for literature...
26 min
104
Ep. 43 - You, Yes You, Contain a Future of Mult...
Can a compelling novel positively and radically change the way we think about living? Matt Haig--author of the bestselling memoir Reasons to Stay Alive; the novel and upcoming major motion picture A Boy Called Christmas; and, most recently, The Midnight Library, a New York Times bestseller, winner of the Good Reads Choice Award for Fiction, and a Good Morning America Book Club pick--shares his philosophy on the futility of regret with Julie and Eve...
27 min
105
Ep. 42 - Medical Lore and Unsung Women Trailbla...
How can books help us discover uncelebrated trailblazing women? Janice P. Nimura--author of the biography The Doctors Blackwell, for which she received a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities--shares with Eve and Julie the long neglected history of Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell...
32 min
106
Ep. 41 - Recommending Books We Love, with Eve a...
MINI EPISODE: After 40 episodes of book dreaming together, Eve and Julie know each other’s preferences as well as they know their own. In this one-on-one conversation, our two best book friends swap book recs...
21 min
107
Ep. 40 - Heartwarming Tales from the Bookstore,...
Couldn’t we all use some heartwarming tales from bookstore aisles right about now? Eve and Julie have plenty to share after speaking with VaLinda Miller--the owner of Turning Pages Bookshop, the only African-American female-owned bookstore in South Carolina--and Jamie Rogers Southern--the interim executive director of Bookmarks...
27 min
108
Ep. 39 - How a Seemingly Small Topic Expands in...
There’s no place like home, but does it need to have an address? Deirdre Mask--lawyer, academic, and author of The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power--explores with Julie and Eve how the seemingly narrow...
30 min
109
Ep. 38 - When "History" is Fiction, with Bethan...
How do you use historical and speculative fiction to tell the truth when America has fabricated its own fictions about its history, and particularly its ongoing racial inequities, for centuries? Bethany C. Morrow--one of USA Today’s “100 Black novelists...
25 min
110
Ep. 37 - Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer ...
30 min
111
Ep. 36 - Found in Translation, with Romy Hausma...
It takes one language to write a book; it takes many to share it with the world--so how exactly does the process of translation work? Romy Hausmann, debut German author of the thriller novel Dear Child, and Jamie Bulloch, German-to-English translator of...
32 min
112
Ep. 35 - adrienne maree brown on How Science Fi...
How can science fiction help us radically improve the world we’re living in now? Author and activist adrienne maree brown discusses with Julie and Eve how the principles of science fiction--and particularly the work of Octavia E. Butler--can help shape ...
29 min
113
Ep. 34 - Book Dreams Past, Present, and Yet to ...
In our last episode of 2020, Eve and Julie reflect on some of the moments, books, guests, and friendships that have brought us (and we hope you!) joy this year. They also share a sneak peek at what’s in store for Book Dreams in 2021. Find us on Twitter...
9 min
114
Ep. 33 - Speculative Fiction and Sensitivity Re...
How can we turn to fiction for a reality check? Mark Oshiro, the award-winning YA author of Anger Is a Gift--winner of the 2019 Schneider Family Book Award and finalist for a 2019 Lambda Literary Award--and the newly released Each of Us a Desert,...
23 min
115
Ep. 32 - Bryan Washington's Memorable Path to B...
Bryan Washington, the author of Lot: Stories--one of President Obama’s Favorite Books of 2019--and Memorial--a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, a TIME Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020, Good Morning America’s November 2020 Book Club read, and nominee...
30 min
116
Ep. 31 - Illuminated Manuscripts for Ignoramuse...
In one of our most illuminating conversations to date, Eve and Julie explore ancient texts with Michelle Brown, Professor of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study of the University of London and former Curator of Illuminated...
31 min
117
Ep. 30 - Are You There, Harper Lee? It's Us, Bo...
It’s the question that launched Book Dreams: What did Harper Lee do all day in the fifty-plus years between the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird and her death? Finally, after years of speculation, we have an answer! Casey Cep--staff writer at The...
33 min
118
Ep. 29 - A Memoir, an Investigation, and a Mani...
Michelle Bowdler, Executive Director of Health at Tufts University, joins Julie and Eve to discuss her recently released book, Is Rape a Crime?: A Memoir, an Investigation, and a Manifesto, which was long listed for the National Book Award. They talk...
34 min
119
Ep. 28 - Really Need a Distraction? Romance Nov...
In desperate need of a distraction from 2020, Eve and Julie turn to ROMANCE. Jane Igharo--a Nigerian-born immigrant to Canada and author of the newly released debut romance novel Ties That Tether--joins to discuss why romance readers are such avid fans,...
22 min
120
Ep. 27 - Great Recs for Great Reads from Great ...
What are the books that have shaped some of the most famous authors writing today? Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager, co-authors of the newly released The Writer’s Library, share with Eve and Julie recommendations they’ve collected from writers such as Luis...
32 min
121
Ep. 26 - Finding Hope, Even Now, with Dr. Edith...
Dr. Edith Eger--eminent psychologist, Auschwitz survivor, author of the New York Times bestseller The Choice: Embrace the Possible and the newly released The Gift: 12 Lessons to Change Your Life--talks with Julie and Eve about how to escape the prison...
29 min
122
Ep. 25 - It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Write,...
After 25 episodes together, Eve and Julie are wondering: What’s it like to collaborate on writing a book? What makes a writing team successful? And when is it better to work alone? In this week’s episode, they get a between-the-lines look at two very...
30 min
123
Ep. 24 - The Fans Who Made Harry Potter Their O...
Welcome to Fandom 101. Get your wands ready! In his debut episode, Gianfranco Lentini--Book Dreams associate producer, news reporter for The Leaky Cauldron, LGBTQ+ journalist, and Hufflepuff--gives Eve and Julie a Potter-centric crash course on why...
29 min
124
Ep. 23 - Test-driving the A.I. That Claims to P...
Since our episode on what makes a book a bestseller, Julie and Eve have been eager to determine: Can artificial intelligence help authors get to the top of the New York Times bestseller list? Marc Acito--novelist, cultural critic, playwright, Broadway...
31 min
125
Ep. 22 - Notes from an English Teacher's Desk, ...
School is back in session, and Eve and Julie have their hands raised high for Sara Beasley, an English teacher of 34 years. They discuss why studying fiction is crucial, how teachers can make the pages Dostoevsky fly by, the unexpected secret to...
31 min