Reading rates are declining — a recent study showed that the number of Americans who read for pleasure had almost halved in the last two decades, while average reading scores for students are plummeting, thanks in large part to the number of digital distractions competing for our limited attention. These seven podcasts will help you indulge, develop or rekindle a love of reading, offering critical analysis and recommendations alongside tips and tricks on how to break through reader’s block.
‘What Should I Read Next?’
Decision fatigue from an overwhelming array of choices can make it hard to settle on a book, but this “literary matchmaking podcast” is here to help. Anne Bogel, the host, is best known for creating Modern Mrs Darcy, a long-running lifestyle blog for bookworms. She speaks to guests about their reading tastes, habits and pet peeves, and then makes recommendations for what they should read next. The show has been running for close to a decade, so there’s an episode covering just about any genre, taste profile or reading quandary you can imagine. The interviewees are not celebrities — although some are in the literary business as booksellers, librarians or authors — and a common theme is how to prioritize what you love to read, rather than what you feel you should be reading based on literary prestige or BookTok.
Starter episode: “What cozy mysteries are right for me?”
‘Backlisted’
Hosted by Andy Miller, the author of “The Year of Reading Dangerously,” and John Mitchinson, a publisher and head researcher for the British game show “QI,” this detailed and passionate podcast aims to “give new life to old books” by spotlighting backlisted (that is, noncontemporary) titles that are either overlooked or underappreciated. Each episode is dedicated to a single book, exploring its themes, historical context and legacy, alongside a close reading of specific passages. Some episodes will introduce you to hidden gems from literary history, while others offer a new perspective on established classics like “Wuthering Heights” and “Moby Dick.”
Starter episode: “The Image of Her by Simone de Beauvoir”
‘If Books Could Kill’
This delightfully snarky, deeply researched series delivers takedowns of the kinds of nonfiction best sellers you might pick up at the airport, focusing mainly on self-help, financial advice pop psychology and political punditry like “The Secret” and “The Rules.” “If Books Could Kill” is hosted by Michael Hobbes (a journalist well known to podcast fans for You’re Wrong About” and “Maintenance Phase”) and Peter Shamshiri, a lawyer. The duo project infectious joy in deconstructing the appeal of these mass-market juggernauts despite being laden with pseudoscience, oversimplifications and questionable data. Alongside a breakdown of the flawed arguments and ideas in each title, Hobbes and Shamshiri also explore how these books have fed into false and harmful cultural narratives, championing critical thinking skills in an entertaining and persuasive way.
Starter episode: “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”
‘Reading Glasses’
Even for those who devoured piles of books during childhood, it can feel increasingly difficult to find the time or the attention span to pick up a book. This podcast is dedicated to optimizing your literary life, focusing as much on the logistics of reading as on specific books. The hosts, Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara, tackle questions like how to get out of a reading slump, how to best use your local library, and how to know when it’s time to give up on a book (and do it without guilt). They also review book technology like e-readers and reading lights, and host reading challenges to encourage listeners to hit targets throughout the year.
Starter episode: “The Best and Worst Reading Snacks”
‘Lolita Podcast’
The comedian Jamie Loftus has released a number of compelling podcasts offering immersive explorations of niche cultural phenomena, from American spiritualism to the high I.Q. society Mensa. In this breakdown of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel “Lolita,” she explores the troubling gap between the author’s intent and the novel’s reception, chronicling the many ways its abusive central relationship has been misread and romanticized in literary criticism and movie and TV adaptations (all directed by men). It’s an unsettling and insightful listen.
Starter episode: “Dolores, Not Lolita”
‘Literature and History’
This epic undertaking is essentially a chronological history of civilization told through literature, beginning with the invention of writing in ancient Sumeria and continuing through Egypt, Greece, Rome and beyond. The host, the scholar Douglas Metzger, is meticulous and insightful in his dissection of ancient texts, including the ancient Egyptian “Book of the Dead,” Greek classics like Homer’s “Odyssey,” and the Old and New Testaments, situating each work within its sociocultural context. Metzger is clearly passionate about keeping things accessible to non-academics, and the show is consistently sharp and engaging, packed with information without ever being dry.
Starter episode: “The Tower of Babel”
‘Currently Reading’
Meredith Monday Schwartz and Kaytee Cobb are best friends, and each week they deliver an episode devoted to the pleasure of reading. They talk about their recent reads, good and bad, before moving on to other literary topics like the best books to read when you’re sick, how to do a bookshelf purge, and how to raise children to be readers. There’s also a mini-series within the main podcast feed called “Popcorn in the Pages,” which focuses on reviewing movie adaptations of classic books.
Starter episode: “Reader Roulette + Our Assigned Summer Reading”
The post 7 Podcasts for Bookworms appeared first on New York Times.
