The Lit Hub Podcast

Slop-pocalypse now! Oh yes, folks, the AI nonsense continues to accelerate and Drew has some feelings about it and why you (yes you!) should also be a stick in the mud about it. Then, Sara Yasin joins James Folta to talk about launching The Key, the new lit magazine produced by the Palestine Festival of Literature. Calvin Kasulke also drops by to chat with Drew about Lit Hub's post-Pamela-Paul-corrective of thirteen book reviews that should have run at the NYTBR during the noted transphobe's tenure. To close it out, Casey Scieszka (author of The Fountain) reads her essay "When the Fountain Runs Dry" and Oliver Scialdone recommends diving into Filthy Loot Press.
IN THIS EP:
* "Horror Novel "Shy Girl" Cancelled Over Suspected AI Use"
* "The People Getting Falsely Accused of Using AI"
* The Key
* "What Was Lost: A Queer Accounting of the New York Times Book Review, 2013-2022"
* "Good-bye Pamela Paul"
* "When the Fountain Runs Dry: On Aging, Immortality, and the Illusion of Everlasting Youth"
* Filthy Loot Press
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It's the end of February already! Thank goodness! Drew's reporting in from Pittsburgh, at the annual conference hosted by the American Booksellers Association, and boy oh boy do we have a lot of bookish goodness for you, including...
* the weirdness of early-year reading
* a conversation between Lit Hub's Brittany Allen and Colette Delawalla (CEO of Stand Up for Science) about the Trump Administration's ongoing attempts to gut NASA's research library
* Drew chatting with bookseller Fisher Nash (of Carmichael's in Louisville KY) about the state of bookselling and the wildness of Winter Institute (the aforementioned conference)
* a voicemail from Adam Colman sharing insights into the new season of The Cosmic Library (hint: it involves Proust!)
* Michael Welch on "What We Lose When Our Independent Bookstores Close"
* and a book recommendation from Lit Hub's James Folta!
See you in March!
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The Lit Hub Podcast is hosted and produced by Drew Broussard
The Lit Hub Podcast theme was written and performed by Dani Lencioni of Evelyn
The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Literary Hub and a part of the Lit Hub Radio network
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When we launched The Lit Hub Podcast in 2024, we promised you a weekly dive into the behind-the-scenes of the literary world—and what a series of weeks it has been! But 2026 looks a lot different than 2024, in so many ways, and so we're going to try something new. Starting this month (February!) we're shifting the podcast release schedule to monthly, on the last Friday of the month.
It'll be the same vibe you've come to know and love, but you can expect longer episodes, with more staff voices and in-depth explorations—a monthly, instead of weekly, digest of what's been happening at the site and in the larger book-world.
Thanks so much for listening so far, and we'll see you at the end of the month!
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No episode this week, in solidarity with what we genuinely hope will be something approaching an actual widespread general strike. May you get up to some good trouble—take care of your neighbors, be good to one another!
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This week, Nick Ripatrazone joins Drew to talk about how generative AI is taking away the very dignity of life and why the process is the point of art-making. Then, Aaron Tracy stops by for a chat about his new show, The Secret World of Roald Dahl, and what it has been like to revisit the beloved childhood author as a grown-up.
Also, golly it's a weird bad time still! It's okay if you're having a hard time with it all, because honestly we are too.
PS: it is time to get the bread & milk!!!
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