A time of celebration is now upon us: the literary awards year has closed, which means that it's basically gravy from here til the end of the year. That's right, with the National Book Awards this week, we really see the end of the road for 2025 and now we can all just chill out a bit. Right? Right?? (plus a shout-out to the Goldsmiths and Cercador Prizes, two lesser-known prizes that you should all be following.)Anyway, in the spirit of celebration, James Folta and Oliver Scialdone drop in to talk about the latest Literary Bracket ("What Was Literary Twitter?", running now through next Tuesday) and to eulogize those heady days of Lit Twit. Then, Peter Coviello chats with Drew about his piece for the site "Maybe Don't Talk to the New York Times about Zohran Mamdani" and expounds on why it is we need to be much more wary of the things elite institutions are trying to sell us. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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November 14, 2025
We're heading towards the end of the year, inexorably and completely — but it ain't over yet! There's still reading time, certainly... but there's also still creativity time. Anna Hogeland drops by to talk about her recent piece, "Creating Without Inhibition: In Praise of Making Bad Art" and then Celia Mattison tells Drew all about the burgeoning trend of sheep on book covers, which she covered in her aptly titled piece: "What's With All the Sheep on Book Covers?" Plus: Ryan Chapman calls in about this year's Booker Prize winner!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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November 7, 2025
The world is ending... the world is ending... but if the world is ending, that means it hasn't ended yet. After seeing The Seat of Our Pants at The Public Theater (running thru at least the end of the month!), it's never been clearer that Thornton Wilder is America's great under-appreciated literary trickster. His keen playful writing combines magical realism, genre-busting humor, literary zip—and there are few people better suited to adapting Wilder than Ethan Lipton. He joins us this week alongside Jeremy McCarter, Wilder's literary executor, for a look into the man's genius, this play's still-vital themes, and why human art will always be the best thing about humanity.Speaking of humanity: contracts! Aron Solomon explains some of his recent piece, "Writers Beware: On the Dangerous Fine Print of Creative Contract Law" — and then Dayna Totorici of n+1 calls in to tease this year's Bookmatch quiz! (It's open now, you should do it, you should let Drew know what books you got.)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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October 31, 2025
It's Halloween! Drew's favorite holiday! And so in lieu of a proper episode this week, here's Drew reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" — hope that's a treat and not a trick!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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October 24, 2025
Having done this show for a full year, it means we have some traditions now—and the first one we ever set up, really, was having Ryan Chapman (The Audacity, Riots I Have Known) to join Drew for a chat about the year's Booker Prize shortlist in advance of his big piece forthcoming in the Winter Issue of the Sewanee Review (SUBSCRIBE!)... so, that's basically this episode! They did it again, again recorded live at Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston, NY. Tune in for their predictions on the winner, their feelings about the year in fiction, their feelings about the Booker jury's feelings about the year in fiction, and ambient coffee-shop ASMR in the background! Plus, a voicemail from Nicole Brinkley about why we should bring back the mass-market paperback.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
A weekly behind-the-scenes dive into everything interesting, dynamic, strange, and wonderful happening in literary culture—featuring Lit Hub staff, columnists, and special guests! Hosted by Drew Broussard.The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub RadioMusic by Dani Lencioni of EvelynEngineering and production by Stardust House
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