The Stacks

Updated: 31 Dec 2025 • 476 episodes
www.thestackspodcast.com

The Stacks is your one stop shop to talk books and reading. Guests will join the host, Traci Thomas for lively discussions about books and the ways they have shaped their lives, and they way we all understand culture, race, politics, and more. The last Wednesday of each month Traci and guest will break down a book in detail as part of The Stacks Book Club.  Make sure to check the website www.thestackspodcast.com for more details, including upcoming The Stacks Book Club picks.

Show episodes

For the last Stacks Book Club episode of the year, we're diving into Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger with Joel Anderson, senior staff writer at The Ringer and co-host of sports & media podcast The Press Box. This book follows the 1988 season of the Permian Panthers, one of the best hi

69 min
00:00
01:09:18
No file found

It’s finally the episode we’ve all been waiting for: The Stacks' Best Books of 2025! Traci talks with two longtime friends of the show, Greta Johnsen, host of Happy to Be Here, and MJ Franklin, an editor at The New York Times Book Review, to share our top 10 books of the year. We discuss the overall year in books, why

84 min
00:00
01:24:48
No file found

We're at the end of 2025 and this year we're looking back, not at the best of the year, but at the worst, most hatable moments. To break it all down, Traci teamed up with friend of the pod, Nora McInerny, for a crossover bonus episode between The Stacks and Nora's show, Thanks for Asking. From Taylor Swift to AI slop a

10 min
00:00
10:26
No file found

Today on The Stacks, we are joined by National Book Award finalist Alejandro Varela to talk about his newest novel, Middle Spoon. Humorously exploring unconventional relationships and complexities of polyamory, this novel follows Alejandro’s unnamed narrator, a married man navigating heartbreak after his boyfriend abru

59 min
00:00
59:29
No file found

Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by James Beard Award-winning chef, TV host, and author Samin Nosrat to discuss her newest book, Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love. In this cookbook, Samin shares over 125 of her favorite go-to recipes, including ricotta custard pancakes, saffron-burnished r

63 min
00:00
01:03:20
No file found

Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Joel Anderson, senior staff writer at The Ringer and co-host of sports & media podcast The Press Box. We discuss his transition from athlete to sports journalist, how his relationship with his audience has changed alongside public perceptions of the media, whether we’re freaking out

63 min
00:00
01:03:20
No file found