The Stacks

Maggie Smith and Saeed Jones join us this week on the Stacks to discuss their anthology, The People’s Project: Poems, Essays, and Art for Looking Forward. With original work from twenty-seven authors exploring hope in times of difficulty, Maggie and Saeed discuss what inspired them to start the book and how they picked

This week on The Stacks we are joined by Denne Michele Norris, the editor and chief of Electric Literature. She is the first Black, openly trans woman to helm a major literary publication. She is also behind two 2025 books, her debut novel, When the Harvest Comes and the anthology Both/And: Essays by Trans and Gender-N

It's The Stacks Book Club Day, and we're talking about the plant world and nature with this month’s pick, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The wonderful journalist and author Alexis Madrigal is back for this conversation on this modern nonf

*Patreon and Substack-only bonus episode teaser, click here for the full episode* Another bonus episode this month? Heck yes! We're doing a deep dive into oral history with friend of the pod, journalist, and oral historian, Garrett M. Graff. He has written three stellar books of oral history: The Devil Reached Toward t

Debut novelist, Addie E. Citchens, joins us this week to discuss her book, Dominion—a Black Southern family drama told through the eyes of two women. Addie talks about how growing up in the church in Mississippi inspired her writing, and why she feels like she’s been writing this story her whole life. We also talk abou

This week on The Stacks, essay writer and culture critic, Tre Johnson, joins us to discuss his debut book, Black Genius: Essays on an American Legacy, which examines how black American culture has driven American ingenuity. Tre shares how his grandfather inspired him to write Black Genius and how the book has evolved o