Book Riot - The Podcast

The 2025 Booker Longlist Is Here

Jeff and Rebecca break down the 2025 longlist for the Booker Prize, digest the news of a new book from Kamala Harris, lament the demise of class (behavior, not socio-economic status), and much more. Jeff and Rebecca decide what the It Book of August will be. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Book Riot is hiring a digital content specialist! If you love books and know the ins and outs of social media strategy, and especially social video, consider joining the team. Find details and apply by August 22, 2025, at riotnewmedia.com/careers. Use code BOOKRIOT to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan at https://incogni.com/bookriot This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this episode: Kamala Harris to publish memoir about presidential race in September The 2025 Booker Prize longlist And a possible conflict of interest on the Booker panel We’re getting a new George Saunders novel in January Maggie by Katie Yee The Carpool Detectives by Chuck Hogan Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza The Feather Detective by Chris Sweeney  The Brain at Rest by Joseph Jebelli Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The It Books of August

Jeff and Rebecca decide what the It Book of August will be. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations delivers reading recommendations hand-picked just for you by real human book nerds. Plans start at just $18! Discussed in this episode: We are hiring. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making a Case for Supporting Independent Media, Way Early Award Nominations, and More

Vanessa Diaz joins Jeff as he workshops a couple of takes, before they dive into IMAX scalping, way early award longlists, and more of the week's book news. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations delivers reading recommendations hand-picked just for you by real human book nerds. Plans start at just $18! The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this Episode: The Odyssey IMAX Showtimes Sell Out Instantly as Scalpers List Resales Higher Than $200 The Center For Fiction Releases the Longlist for 2025 First Fiction Prize in July, because sure  The Book Industry Study Group conducting survey on how AI is changing publishing  Spotify expanding audiobooks plans, language is confusing Audiobook walking clubs? Deep Historical Survey on Gender Split of Who Writes Fiction The Bewitching by Silvia Morreno-Garcia Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan Algospeak by Adam Aleksic Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Power Ranking the Books of 1995

It's as far back as we go with these historical rankings--30 years to 1995. Strange year, that sees Jeff pick a single copy of an individual book in his top 10. Christian dystopias, fairy tale retellings, genre-changing memoirs: there are spots for all of them in our top 10s. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations delivers reading recommendations hand-picked just for you by real human book nerds. Plans start at just $18! The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mid-Year Check-in Time. PLUS: Rodney Freeman on ARE YOU A LIBRARIAN?

Jeff and Rebecca talk about a bunch of mid-year lists: best-ofs, best-selllers, and more. Then Erica Ezeifedi talks to Rodney Freeman, former librarian and producer of the documentary Are You a Librarian, about the rich & overlooked history of Black librarianship in the US. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Sign up for the Book Riot Podcast Newsletter and follow the show on Instagram and Bluesky. Get more industry news with our Today in Books daily newsletter. Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations delivers reading recommendations hand-picked just for you by real human book nerds. Plans start at just $18! The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Discussed in this episode: Book Riot’s best books of 2025 so far The top 10 bestselling books of the year so far Bookshop’s bestsellers of the year so far Constance Grady explores whether there actually is a crisis with kids’ reading Sarah J. Maas has completed the first draft of the 6th ACOTAR book Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices