The Stacks is your one stop shop to talk books and reading. Guests will join the host, Traci Thomas for lively discussions about books and the ways they have shaped their lives, and they way we all understand culture, race, politics, and more. The last Wednesday of each month Traci and guest will break down a book in detail as part of The Stacks Book Club.
Make sure to check the website www.thestackspodcast.com for more details, including upcoming The Stacks Book Club picks.
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
Ep. 445 What's a Shadow Daddy? with Jess Lee
#39 trending · Books
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Jess Lee, DEI consultant, friend of the pod, and the reader behind the Instagram, Literary Intersections. We chat about the popularit
Oct 7 1 h 02 min
Ep. 444 Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat — The Stacks Book Club (Natalie Green)
It’s The Stacks Book Club day, and Natalie Green, Director of Programs and Partnerships at The National Book Foundation, is back to discuss Edwidge Danticat’s critically
Sep 30 1 h 01 min
Unabridged: The Book Trends That Are Annoying Us
*Patreon and Substack-only bonus episode teaser, click here for the full episode*
Y’all know how much I love being a hater and how easily things annoy me, so we’re dedic
Sep 25 17 min
Ep. 443 The Dark Underside of America with Kai Bird
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, journalist, and author Kai Bird to discuss his new book, American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journ
Sep 23 57 min
Ep. 442 I Put My Readers Through the Ringer with Marlon James
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Booker Prize–winning novelist Marlon James to talk about his newest book, The Disappearers. This novel follows a brutal attack on eig
Sep 16 1 h 00 min
Ep. 441 Finding Healthy Heat with Priya Parker
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by facilitator, strategic advisor, and best-selling author, Priya Parker to talk about her new book, The Art of Fighting: The Transforma
Sep 9 59 min
Ep. 440 Books Tell a Different Story with Natalie Green
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Natalie Green, the Director of Programs and Partnerships at The National Book Foundation. We talk about what The National Book Founda
Sep 2 1 h 04 min
Ep. 439 Fish Tales by Nettie Jones — The Stacks Book Club (Sequoia Holmes)
It’s The Stacks Book Club Day, and Sequoia Holmes, host of the Black People Love Paramore and Freshly Pop’d podcasts, is back to chat about our August pick, Fish Tales by
Aug 26 1 h 05 min
Unabridged: Reading Translated Literature with Martha Adams
*Patreon and Substack-only bonus episode teaser, click here for the full episode*
On today’s bonus episode, I’m talking all things translated lit with Martha Adams, the
Aug 21 12 min
Ep. 438 Hot Odyssey Summer with Paul Yoon
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by award-winning author Paul Yoon to talk about his latest book, Etna. Told from the perspective of Etna, an ex-military dog, this book
Aug 19 55 min
Ep. 437 I Do a Ton of People Watching with De'Shawn Charles Winslow
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by award-winning author De’Shawn Charles Winslow to talk about his latest book, The Fervent Whites. Set in 1982 in the Hudson Valley com
Aug 12 54 min
Ep. 436 Intoxicated by the Microphone with Sequoia Holmes
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Sequoia Holmes, the award-winning host of the Black People Love Paramore and Freshly Pop’d podcasts. We’re chatting about bouncing ba
Aug 5 55 min
Ep. 435 Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo — The Stacks Book Club (Julianna Haubner)
It’s The Stacks Book Club day, and we're joined by nonfiction editor Julianna Haubner to discuss our July pick, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a
Jul 29 1 h 07 min
Unabridged: World Cup Recap with Brady Thomas
*Patreon and Substack-only bonus episode teaser, click here for the full episode*
You knew this episode was coming. Now that the World Cup has officially wrapped up, I'm
Jul 24 17 min
Ep. 434 Traci Turns 40 with Rachel Lindsay, Sam Sanders, Becca Tobin, and Kiese Laymon
Today on The Stacks, we’re celebrating Traci’s 40th birthday! That’s right, it’s her actual birthday today, and she’s invited her friends—media personality and Higher Lea
Jul 22 1 h 43 min
Ep. 433 A Con Man Caper with Pamela Colloff
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by ProPublica reporter and The New York Times Magazine staff writer, Pamela Colloff, to discuss her book, Catch the Devil: A True Story
Jul 15 1 h 03 min
Ep. 432 There’s No Hiding from a Sibling with Shannon Sanders
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by author Shannon Sanders to discuss her debut novel, The Great Wherever. This book follows Aubrey Lamb, a young Black woman who inherit
Jul 8 55 min
Ep. 431 What Does an Editor Do? with Julianna Haubner
Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by book editor, Julianna Haubner. Julianna is an executive editor at Flatiron Books, where she acquires narrative nonfiction, history, p
Jul 1 1 h 09 min
Ep. 430 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho — The Stacks Book Club (Mary H. K. Choi)
Today is The Stacks Book Club Day, and we’re joined by bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi (Pool House) to discuss our June pick, The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. This allego
Jun 24 1 h 01 min
Unabridged: 2026 Mid-Year Book Check-In with Sara Hildreth and Cree Myles
*Patreon and Substack-only bonus episode teaser, click here for the full episode*
Now that we’re officially halfway through 2026, it’s time for a little mid-year book ch
Jun 19 14 min
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Chart positions
Where The Stacks ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 9, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
I love this podcast. I always learn something new. Traci isn’t afraid to tackle hard subjects and hot takes, has the best guests, and is a really great interviewer!
loopjhytff · Mar 2025
I have enjoyed the stacks podcast for a long time, but I honestly don’t understand why it chose a book that so many of us literally cannot read or discuss for our mental health. Did the Lolita episode engage with the topic of what reading this book might be like for a CSA survivor? No. Did it conflate the choice not to read or platform a book with censorship? Yes. Did the episode discuss how regardless of whether an intellectual reading of the book can indict the mundane tyranny of American society, this book has been consistently and radically misread, as evidenced by the cover, and the fact that Alice Munro’s daughter’s abuser specifically cited this book when blaming a 9-year-old girl for him abusing her by calling her “a Lolita”? No. When a book is so actively harmful to CSA survivors’ mental health that when it is assigned in college classes my students and myself routinely need to ask for an alternate assignment (CPTSD is no joke!) and we sit here and just wish that more people pushing this on us understood this basic reality, and wonder why we constantly have to read the perspective of perpetrators over and over and over again in all of our classes; and when a book is, after 70 years, chronically and actively misread, mis-marketed (my copy has a Vanity Fair review blurb on the cover calling it “the greatest love story of our time”) and repeatedly used as justification by perpetrators, then do you think for a moment about maybe, just maybe, I could pick something else, other than some thoroughly canonized white man’s novel that has been read plenty enough before the Stacks announcing so loudly and clearly how little it cares about CSA survivors being able to be part of its book club?
Hope you all who weren’t raped as children had fun intellectualizing the aesthetic value of this chronically-assigned, syllabus mainstay, never-in-danger-of-going-out-of-print book so beloved of perpetrators and so terrorizing of us survivors.
nickname________ · Mar 2025
Even when I disagree with Traci’s hot takes, I LOVE this show! I’ve gotten turned on to some fresh authors and listening these last couple of years has encouraged me to embrace my inner gleeful hater 😊😊😊
Letter Crafty · Feb 2025
I have been reading WAY more since I became a regular listener of The Stacks! I love being more up to date with all things books. Traci is a fabulous interviewer and even if a book isn’t fully my thing I still really enjoy the interview and learning from the conversation.
>mimi< · Nov 2024
We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.
Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of The Stacks, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
