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Podcast Gold: 8 Episodes About Books You Won’t Be Able to Resist Reading

Podcast Gold: 8 Episodes About Books You Won’t Be Able to Resist Reading
Podcast Gold: 8 Episodes About Books You Won’t Be Able to Resist Reading
Tertulia staff •
Jan 31st, 2025

Podcasts are a goldmine for book recommendations. The hosts and guests often dive into why a book matters, share specific passages that moved them, and discuss its emotional impact and real-world relevance. The intimate podcast format leaves a lasting impression, whether you’re driving, jogging, or doing chores. Here are 8 must-listen episodes guaranteed to have you reaching for your next read before they’re over.


Chris Hayes’s timely new book about the constant demands on our attention

Hard Fork, The New York Times podcast that features the clever banter of tech reporters Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, hits that sweet spot of providing insight about serious topics without being so wonky that you lose interests. At the end of this recent episode, they interview Chris Hayes MSNBC host about his new book which raises such provocative questions about the constant demands on our attention that you actually want to put your phone in a lockbox and read it.

A January Tertulia staff pick, The Sirens’ Call is a powerful and timely reckoning with how the assault from attention capitalism on our minds and our hearts has reordered our politics and the very fabric of our society.


Yasmin Zaher’s recent debut novel that raked in rave reviews

The beloved Parisian bookstore Shakespeare & Company hosts a regular long-form interview podcast with star authors. Last month’s episode with debut novelist Yasmin Zaher pushed us over the edge into reading (and heartily recommending) The Coin

The novel, which raked in rave reviews, follows a young Palestinian teacher in NYC as she spirals into obsession and unraveling. She befriends a homeless swindler and becomes entangled in a luxury handbag resale scheme, forcing her to confront questions of belonging, materialism, and inherited trauma in America.


Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning book has been adapted into the film event of the year

NPR’s Fresh Air is the OG podcast when it comes to author interviews and books coverage. This episode featuring an interview with literary titan Colson Whitehead focuses on his novel that critics are calling “a cinematic experience like no other” “sublime and immersive,” and “a towering achievement.” 

The Nickel Boys is based on the true story of the Dozier reform school in Florida, where many boys in the 60s were abused and even murdered. Reading this masterpiece before seeing the film is a must. 


A memoir that will bring you new empathy for the sociopaths in your life

Glennon Doyle, the Untamed author and activist dubbed the “patron saint of female empowerment” is famous for her vulnerable and open style of conversation. Her podcast, We Can Do Hard Things often goes to territory that so many people feel and think about but don’t always feel comfortable about. In this episode, she interviews a sociopath (and former therapist) about her revealing memoir. 

In Sociopath, author Patric Gagne tells the story of how she discovered she was a sociopath and embarked upon a journey to understand her condition and prove that people like her aren't the monsters society believes them to be.


Burned out? See which book Ezra Klein is using to bring a more mindful approach to the new year   

No matter the topic, New York Times podcaster Ezra Klein ends every conversation asking his guests: What are three books you’d recommend to the audience? (Here’s a trove of the books recommended over the past years.) He also drops a lot of compelling recommendations himself. In this new year-themed episode, he does a deep dive into Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman.  

One of Tertulia’s top selling nonfiction books,  Meditations for Mortals is a guide for readers seeking a more meaningful life. The book addresses the fundamental questions about how to live and tackle challenges in daily life through the lens of a guiding philosophy the author calls “imperfectionism.” 


Travel writer Pico Iyer’s memoir about his life of reflection starts with a devastating California wildfire

Renowned travel writer Pico Iyer calls in for this podcast interview with Terry Gross from the California family home that he rebuilt after the devastating wildfires after being trapped in five-story flames. He shares an inspiring story of his recovery from the disaster, and his journey to a new way of life guided by his retreats in a Benedictine monastery.

Iyer previously explored the power of stillness and in Aflame, which was one of our staff picks for January, he meditates on a similar subject. This time Iyer considers how silence can open one's eyes to the essential joys and deeper truths of life.


A book for anyone checked out from the news onslaught – or considering a media cleanse

This episode of NPR’s Book of the Day features Columbia professor Mark Lilla’s book Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know during a period when so many people are tempted ot “check out” from the relentless news cycle  

The book, and this interview, engages with the tension between feeding your curiosity and rejecting exposure to facts that will interfere with our sense of well-being or point of view. At a time of widening political polarization, the book raises a provocative questions about willful ignorance on both sides of the aisle. 


Rejection - we’ve all been there. This hysterical novel-in-stories might help you laugh about it 

Otherppl with Brad Listi has featured more than 1000 episodes of in-depth interviews, featuring authors such as Sloane Crosley, Erik Larson, Hernan Diaz, Jonathan Franzen to name just a few. In this recent interview, National Book Award longlister Tony Tulathimutte dishes on how writing this book was therapeutic for rejection in his own life, the social science research he did for the book – and why he gets a kick out of why a therapist recommends the book to her patients.

The seven interconnected stories in this book deal with the comic tragedies of identity, sex, relationships and our very online life. 

Sharply observant and outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the touchiest problems of modern life. The seven connected stories seamlessly transition between the personal crises of a complex ensemble and the comic tragedies of sex, relationships, identity, and the internet. In The New York Times magazine, Giles Harvey called the author “a master comedian with a virtuoso prose style has produced an audacious, original and highly disturbing book... an incandescent satire." 


Reading a book is not like checking out a new band, or even a new streaming series. The commitment involved in sampling a new book is more demanding than playing 30 seconds of a song on Spotify or watching a trailer on Netflix. With books, you often need to really dig into them before you are hooked—unless you get a really well-rounded and substantive recommendation from someone you trust. Well-read podcasters are a source of some of the most compelling book recommendations for offering depth and context that a written review cannot. We think that these recent podcast episodes are going to make you itching to start reading the books discussed before the episode ends.

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