
Book Riot - The Podcast
News in the world of books and reading, including hot industry releases, adaptations, publishing industry events, and more with Book Riot’s Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Shinsky.Book Riot is the largest independent editorial book site in North America and home to a host of media, from podcasts to newsletters to original content, all designed around diverse readers and across all genres.
Latest episodes

Aug 7, 2023 • 1h 5min
Pass the Grudge Around
Jeff and Rebecca end up spending most of this episode talking about a new publishing company that is cutting influencers in on the action.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commissionDiscussed in this episode:A New Start-Up Proposes Influencer-Driven PublishingFirst Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonThe Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 31, 2023 • 1h 3min
Ninth in the Line of Cultural Currency
Jeff and Rebecca spend a long time talking about how the sheer quantity of books published is the central issue in book publishing. Plus, they hit a couple of quick news items and talk about recent reading.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonShout-out to PW’s Disability Representation in Publishing featuresBooksellers sue over Texas law requiring them to rate books for appropriateness Javier Zamora on why literary prizes should stop excluding non-citizensCongrats to Libro.fm on their international launch!BINC launches incubator for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ booksellersGRRM says HBO deal is “suspended” and Winds of Winter is still in progressCrook Manifesto by Colson WhiteheadStrip Tees by Kate Flannery Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 24, 2023 • 1h 3min
UPDATED: The Ladder of Pockets
Jeff and Rebecca talk about the best-selling books of 2023, Obama's summer reading list, The Covenant of Water, and much more.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonThanks to Charley Burlock for featuring us in this! Obama summer reading, babyyyyyyyPW: Best-selling books of 2023 so farGenerational shift at PRH as iconic editors take buyoutThe Covenant of Water by Abraham VergheseCrook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 17, 2023 • 52min
Beneficent Ben
Jeff and Rebecca talk recent book banning developments, why book awards need to change their calendars, recent reading, and more.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonSarah Silverman suing Meta & OpenAI over copyright infringement related to AILibby/Overdrive banned for users under 18 in MississippiJudge sides w/ Florida in challenge to rules about books in schoolsPennsylvania senator to propose banning book bansBritney Spears memoir will be released 10/24 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 10, 2023 • 56min
Both Eyebrows Raised, But in Different Directions
Jeff and Rebecca talk about #booktwitter, do a little "book of the year" talk, wonder about how all-in Oprah is on THE COVENANT OF WATER, novelists suing OpenAI for copyright infringement, whether TikTok is really going to do this publishing thing in a serious way, and much more.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonByteDance prepares to launch publishing operationAuthors sue OpenAI for unlawfully “ingesting” their books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 3, 2023 • 47min
You Are Your Own Lottery Ticket
Jeff and Rebecca talk Obama declaring once and for all (?) that he does read the books he says he does. Also, a discussion of the realities of author finances along with structural problems with Goodreads.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonHasan Minhaj Asks Barack Obama Who Really Curates His End-of-Year Lists: ‘Look Me in the Eyes and Be Honest’ How to Lose a Third of a Million Dollars Without Really TryingHow Review-Bombing Can Tank a Book Before It’s PublishedThe Guest by Emma Cline Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 26, 2023 • 55min
Unsocial Situations
Danika Ellis joins Jeff to talk about the last decade in LGBTQ+ books, Amazon's best books of the year so far, a recent essay about black women in publishing, and more.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonThe LesbraryOur Queerest ShelvesDespite Book Bans, LGBTQ+ Fiction Sales SoarAmazon’s Best Books of the Year (So Far)Shakeup at Indigo as almost half of company's board exits and chair Heather Reisman will also leave soonBlack Women Are Being Erased in Book Publishing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 19, 2023 • 1h 7min
We Used to Have Fun
Jeff and Kelly Jensen note the passing of two literary legends, ponder a strange pulling of a major novel, go deep on book banning legislation, and note the difficulty of paying bookstore workers a living wage, and more.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonCormac McCarthy Robert GottliebLiz Gilbert Pulls The Snow ForestNew Library Legislation in Texas and IllinoisBookstore Pay SurveyChanges at The New York Times Book ReviewNorton Celebrates 100 YearsReuters Digital News ReportBurn It Down by Maureen RyanConspirituality by Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 12, 2023 • 58min
Shorten That Funnel, Baby
Jeff and Rebecca talk about a school in Utah banning the Bible, a book-banning organization officially being labeled an extremist group by the SPLC, a new federal position addressing book banning, B&N's Books of the Year (so far), and report in on recent reading.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast PatreonBarnes & Noble’s best books of the year so farUtah school district removes the Bible from elementary & middle schoolsSPLC labels Moms for Liberty extremist, anti-governmentBiden to name Dept of Ed coordinator to address book bansAll the Sinners Bleed by S.A. CosbyThe Art Thief by Michael FinkelThe Good Enough Job by Simone StolzoffQuietly Hostile by Samantha Irby Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 5, 2023 • 52min
A Little High Falutin'
Jeff and Rebecca talk about 2022's book sales, The Ripped Bodice branching out, audiobooks keep growing, an interesting new trailer, recent reading, and much more.Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The show can also be found on Stitcher.For more industry news, sign up for our Today in Books daily newsletter!Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter featuring stories to inform and inspire readers, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox!This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Discussed in this episode:First Edition!First Edition on Twitter. First Edition on Instagram. The First Edition (free) Substack.The Book Riot Podcast Patreon2022 book sales down 2.6% from 2021 But the audiobook market keeps growingLibrarians sue Arkansas state over book banning lawThe Color Purple trailerThe Ripped Bodice is opening a Brooklyn locationWonder BoyThe Late Americans by Brandon TaylorA Guide to Midwestern Conversation by Taylor Kay PhillipsYellowface by R.F. KuangThe Ferryman by Justin Cronin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices