Jeff talks to rare-bookseller turned fantasy author Oliver Darkshire about his debut work of fantasy, Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil. Darkshire's breakout memoir of being an accidental rare bookseller is Once Upon a Tome. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. The Book Riot Podcast Live at Powell’s on July 9th, 2025 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affi...
Jun 26, 2025•31 min
Peter Mendelsund is a writer, book designer, musician, novelist, and painter. And he has two books coming out within just a couple of weeks of each other: Exhibitionist and Weepers. We talk about both in deep, wide-ranging conversation. This is a good one. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. The Book Riot Podcast Live at Powell’s on July 9th, 2025 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through t...
Jun 12, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Kate McKean joins Jeff to talk about her new book, Write Through It: An Insider's Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life. Kate is a literary agent at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency and writes the extremely interesting and popular Agents + Books newsletter. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. D...
Jun 10, 2025•51 min
I am working on a permanent title for this episode format, where I just run through a bunch of books I am interested in that are coming out in the current month. You get the idea. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. Tailored Book Recommendations has the chops to find the right read for your loved one this Father’s Day. Gift TBR today starting at just $18! Discussed in this episode: The Book Riot Podcast The ...
Jun 05, 2025•40 min
June new releases are hopping. Jeff talks to Susan Choi about her new novel, Flashlight. Then, Damon Young comes on to talk about his new anthology, That's How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. Tailored Book Recommendations has the chops to find the right read for your loved one this Father’s Day. Gift TBR today starting at just $18! This content contains a...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Gretchen Rubin returns to the show to talk about wisdom, aphorisms, and her new book, The Secrets of Adulthood. PLUS: a silent reading challenge coming in June that anyone can do. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. Email jeff at firstedition (at) bookriot (dot).com. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this episode: The Se...
May 29, 2025•42 min
Jeff goes over a couple dozen May new releases that he definitely might consider thinking about reading. Then, Book.io co-founder and CEO Joshua Stone comes on to talk about what the blockchain could offer the world of books and reading. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. Email jeff at firstedition (at) bookriot (dot).com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 08, 2025•54 min
Jeff talks to Jane Friedman about the new edition of her book, The Business of Being a Writer. She has been writing about the publishing industry for years (and Jeff has been reading her work for years as well), and this book is a guide for writers who don't just want to write, they want to try to make a living. It's a tremendous resource for early-career writers especially, but also has application and relevance for later-stage writers, creatives of all kinds, and people who are interested in h...
Apr 24, 2025•46 min
Jeff is joined by one of his favorite writers, Marie-Helene Bertino, and the talk about all five of her books in order, including her new short story collection, Exit Zero. Marie-Helene Bertino's Beautyland was named a best book of 2024 by Times, Esquire, Lit Hub and many others. Jeff included it on his list of the most recommendable books of the century so far. Her new book, Exit Zero, is available now. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscrib...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 24 min
Jeff talks to Gabe Henry about his new book, Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell. For centuries, a series of thinkers, writers, politicians, and bankers have been advocating to make English easier to spell. It hasn't really worked. But the effort is fascinating. Enough is Enuf is available now wherever books are sold. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains a...
Apr 17, 2025•40 min
Jeff talks to Jon Hickey about his debut novel, Big Chief. Jon Hickey earned his MFA at Cornell University and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He has received scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and the Sewanee Writers Conference, and he is an enrolled member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. His short fiction has appeared in Massachusetts Review, Gulf Coast Online, Virginia Quarterly Review, Meridian, and The Madison Review. Jon lives in...
Apr 11, 2025•48 min
Jeff talks to the great Katie Kitamura about her new novel, Audition (it is very, very good). Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 08, 2025•35 min
Jeff talks about 21 books coming out this month that caught his eye. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. Discussed in this episode: I Have a Capital Suggestion for a New Pronoun by John McWhorter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 03, 2025•38 min
Jeff talks to Emma Pattee about her debut novel, Tilt. They talk earthquakes, IKEA, the consequences of writing place precisely, and much more. This book is a winner, folks. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 27, 2025•47 min
Jeff is joined by Jack Lohmann, author of the new book White Light: The Elemental Role of Phosphorus-in Our Cells, in Our Food, and in Our World. Plus, his editor at Pantheon, Todd Portnowitz joins the conversation to talk about positioning, crafting, and otherwise publishing non-fiction like this. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we...
Mar 21, 2025•50 min
Jeff talks to Stephen Graham Jones about his reading life. Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of thirty-five or so novels and collections, and there are some novellas and comic books in there as well. Most recent are Earthdivers and I Was a Teenage Slasher. His new book, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, is out now. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you ...
Mar 20, 2025•57 min
Alissa Wilkinson joins Jeff to talk about her new book, We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this episode: We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine by Alissa Wilkinson Learn more about your...
Mar 14, 2025•41 min
Jeff talks to Amal El-Mohtar about This is How You Lose the Time War getting one of greatest bookish gifts ever bestowed by the internet before talking about her new book, The River Has Roots. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this episode: The Book Riot Podcast Live at Powell's on Mar...
Mar 06, 2025•54 min
Scaachi Koul joins Jeff to talk about her new book, Sucker Punch with a new little format for First Edition called "10 Notecards With..." Jeff has picked out 10 things from the new book — words, ideas, stories, etc. — written them on notecards, and then has Saachi pick them at random (at least at the start order). Turned out to be a lot of fun, so expect to hear more of these. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy thro...
Mar 04, 2025•34 min
Liberty Hardy joins Jeff to talk about hosting 500 episodes of All The Books! and a host of other reading-related topics. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. Discussed in this episode: All The Books! Liberty Hardy on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 27, 2025•59 min
Rebecca Romney joins Jeff to talk about her new book, Jane Austen's Bookshelf. They talk about personal book collecting, rediscovering literary history for yourself, a few of the writers Austen admired, and more. Jane Austen's Bookshelf is out now. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in thi...
Feb 21, 2025•44 min
Sarah Chihaya joins Jeff to talk about her new memoir, Bibliophobia. They talk life-ruining books, the enormous weight of all the books that are out there and how we cannot read them all, and other less-talked about parts of the reading life. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this epis...
Feb 13, 2025•42 min
Jeff talks to Professor Shigehiro Oishi about his new book, Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life. Books and reading play a central role in the book, both as examples but also as avenues towards living a psychologically rich life. I really enjoyed this book and this conversation. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate link...
Feb 06, 2025•37 min
John Warner joins Jeff to talk about his new book, More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI. We talk about the teaching of writing, what we might want to save for humans, what kinds of things LLMs expose about how we think about writing, and what the present and future of living with AI could be. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy throu...
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 8 min
Bookshop.org Founder Andy Hunter joins Jeff to talk about Bookshop now offering ebooks. Then, Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, comes on to talk about her bookish reading challenge: read for 25 in '25. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this episode: Bookshop.org Now Sell...
Jan 30, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Jeff uses Susie Dumond's piece for Book Riot about 2025 predictions as a framework for taking stock of where we are and what the year may hold for publishing and reading. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this episode: Book Trend Predictions for 2025 Bed and Break-Up by Susie Dumond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 23, 2025•32 min
Jeff talks to Nnedi Okorafor about her life as a reader. Her new book, Death of the Author, is out now. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 16, 2025•43 min
Jeff is joined by Adam Vitcavage of Debutiful to talk about covering debuts, new authors, and all that entails. Discussed in this episode: Debutiful (website) Debutiful (podcast) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 02, 2025•43 min
This was my favorite 2024 episode of First Edition, so I thought I'd repost it for you this holiday week. Join me to explore the reading life of U.S. National Poet Laureate Ada Limón. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discussed in this episode: You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, edited by Ada Limón In Praise of Mystery by Ada Limón, illustrated by Peter Sis. Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or ...
Dec 26, 2024•58 min
Book Riot's Sharifah Williams joins Jeff to talk about her piece, "The Books Won't Save Us." Subscribe to First Edition via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. For episode extras, subscribe to the First Edition Substack. Discussed in this episode: The Books Won't Save Us by Sharifah Williams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 05, 2024•34 min
