Special Topic: Podcasts and RA

Books and Podcasts: Better Together

(A few paragraphs from my special topics paper)

The connections and crossovers between podcasts and books are becoming more numerous as podcasting becomes increasingly popular. The book industry recognizes that podcasts are a “path to a healthy and engaged fanbase that cross-pollinates with an author or a franchise's audience, broadening both” (Rowe, 2018). Podcasts have been turned into books, Shakespeare is the subject of several podcasts, big-name book reviewers have podcasts that recommend new books to readers on a weekly basis, and libraries have created their own podcasts to discuss books. This paper categorizes a sample of podcasts related to books and explores a few ways in which these categories are useful in assisting a reader’s advisory.

Book Review Sites

Book review sites also recognize that they can reach a wider audience if they diversify their formats. The popular book review site, Book Riot, currently has 7 running podcasts, several of which were created to highlight books in a different genre, and 6 podcasts that are no longer running but have accessible archives. Kirkus Reviews created Fully Booked to introduce readers to new books, give honest reviews of current bestsellers, and give listeners a chance to hear from authors in short interviews. Additionally, Booklist has created a wide-ranging book review podcast directed at librarians and covers “readers’ advisory, collection development, and reference right to your earbuds” (Booklist, n.d.) called Shelf Care.

Listening to Librarians

While Booklist created a podcast that caters to reader’s advisory and an audience of librarians, there are also some noteworthy podcasts created by librarians, for librarians. The Librarian Is In is a long-standing, biweekly podcast, run by two New York Public Library staffers. Episodes have the kind of conversational flow that lets listeners feel they are a part of the conversation and cover what the hosts are currently reading, book culture, and library life. Drunk Librarians Podcast is another fun librarian-created podcast that specifically features what librarians are reading and their thoughts on them. It is worth mentioning here that there is a longer list of library-themed podcasts written by Anna Gooding-Call (2020), published on Book Riot that also covers library topics beyond book reviews.

Genre Specific

For readers looking for recommendations in a specific genre, some genres are better covered than others. A few standout recommendations that were commonly listed or well-reviewed are listed here. Romance is covered by several prevalent and well-produced podcasts. The renowned romance blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, the go-to source for romance reviews for libraries everywhere, has a list of podcasts, including their own, for those who prefer to listen to their book recommendations (Sarah, 2018). Horror fans can find a list by Book Riot (Hinton, 2020). A recommendation for fans of Science Fiction and Fantasy goes to Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy, which covers conversations about Science Fiction and Fantasy fandoms for books and beyond to include movies and games as well. For fans of “chick-lit” there is a podcast called Sentimental Garbage, hosted by a journalist that celebrates the fun of the genre and takes the women’s experiences portrayed seriously from a feminist perspective.

Podcasts into Books

The previous sections covered a wide variety of podcasts discussing books. This section flips the relationship and discusses podcasts that have been reformatted into books. One of the most notable examples of this format shift is Welcome to Night Vale. The podcast version, first aired in 2012, was one of the podcasts that put the on-demand audio format on the map and showed fiction lovers the potential of podcasts as an immersive form of fiction. Welcome to Night Vale’s Creators Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor adapted the series into a book series in 2015, which spawned an audiobook version narrated by the same creators. Joseph Fink also created the successful horror/thriller podcast Alice Isn’t Dead, later published as a book by the same name.

    There is also an outstanding example of a comedy podcast whose creators went on to write and publish a book in the same vein. The United States of Absurdity by Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds breaks the pattern of books that share a name with their podcast of origin. The United States of Absurdity is a comedic take on overlooked stories in U.S. history that follows the style of the authors' podcast named The Dollop.

 

References

Booklist. (n.d.). Booklist’s shelf care: Booklist’s bookish library podcast. https://www.booklistonline.com/shelf-care

Gooding-Call, A. (2020, January 6). 13 must-hear librarian podcasts. Book Riot. https://bookriot.com/librarian-podcasts/

Hinto, P.N. (2020, March 20). Get haunted by the best horror fiction podcasts. Book Riot. https://bookriot.com/best-horror-fiction-podcasts/

Rowe, A. (2018, April 27). How the publishing industry is learning to love the podcast. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamrowe1/2018/04/27/how-the-publishing-industry-is-learning-to-love-the-podcast/?sh=6c53f19e7536

Sarah, S. (2018, March 15). Romance podcasts: A romance-focused podcast roundup. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2018/03/romance-podcasts-romance-focused-podcast-roundup/