Gays Reading

Molecular biologist turned award-winning chef, food writer, photographer, and bestselling cookbook author Nik Sharma shares what he's been reading lately and talks about his forthcoming cookbook, Fundamentals of Flavor.

Nik Sharma is the bestselling author of cookbooks celebrated for blending culinary science with deeply personal storytelling: Season, The Flavor Equation, and Veg-Table. A former molecular biologist, Sharma brings a unique lens to the kitchen, where flavor is both a feeling and a formula. He serves as Editor in Residence at America's Test Kitchen, where he hosts the YouTube show Flavor Forward with Nik Sharma, is a co-host of the show In the Test Kitchen on Netflix, and is a cast member on the upcoming America’s Test Kitchen show on PBS. Sharma is the creator of the award-winning blog Nik Sharma Cooks (formerly A Brown Table), and his writing and photography have been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he's always dreaming up his next recipe.
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Jason is joined by author Emily St. John Mandel to talk about her new novel, Exit Party. They share how the end of the world is going for each of them, the state of knowing and not knowing something, Emily's evolution of embracing her bisexuality in writing this new novel, among other things.

EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL is the author of six novels, most recently Sea of Tranquility, which has been translated into 25 languages and was selected by President Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2022. Her previous novels include The Glass Hotel, which was also on Obama’s list, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and has been translated into 26 languages; and Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award among other honors, has been translated into 36 languages, and aired as a limited series on HBO Max. She lives in New York City and Los Angeles.
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The internet's favorite forager, Alexis Nikole Nelson aka Black Forager, talks to Jason about what's she's been reading and shares insights about her new book, Happy Snacking, Don't Die!

Alexis Nikole Nelson, best known to most people as Black Forager, is a social media creator, vegan, urban forager, and outdoor educator who has amassed millions of followers. Her mother first showed her how to forage at the age of five by introducing her to onion grass. Now Alexis posts videos of her foraging finds in a playful, humorous way, whether she is exploring a nearby park or searching in her neighbor’s front yard, proving that anyone can try their hand at foraging. Alexis also takes these plants home with her to use in her creative vegan cooking. Her posts often address topics such as the indigenous roots of foraging in America, the history of American foraging laws, and sustainable ways for her viewers to include wild plants and mushrooms in their diets. Alexis has been featured in a broad range of media from The New York Times to Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and she was named a Time100 Creator in 2025. Alexis lives in Columbus, Ohio. Follow her on X, Instagram, and YouTube @BlackForager.
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Jason is joined by Marlon James to talk about his Booker Prize longlisted novel, The Disappearers. They cover topics like Dolly Parton, growing up gay in Jamaica, the ballet that changed his life, and much more.

Marlon James is the Booker Prize–winning and New York Times bestselling author of A Brief History of Seven Killings; the bestselling and National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf; as well as the bestselling Moon Witch, Spider King; The Book of Night Women; and John Crow’s Devil. In addition to the Booker Prize, James’s novels have won the Amer­ican Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and the Los Ange­les Times Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, and have been finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the NAACP Image Award. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellow­ship and named in 2019 one of Time magazine’s one hundred most influential people in the world, James lives in New York City.
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Jason talks to author Josh Silver about his breakout hit that everyone's talking about, Fruit Fly, this month's selection for The Nod™️ by Gays Reading with Aardvark Book Club.

Josh Silver is the author of HappyHead, which was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize and nominated for the Carnegie Medal, its sequel, Dead Happy, and Erase Me. His experience working with teenagers as a mental health nurse inspired the critically acclaimed duology.
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