Book Dreams

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 49 - Books Bound in Human Skin: Who, What, When, Where, and Why? with Megan Rosenbloom Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

When’s the last time a book made your skin crawl? Megan Rosenbloom--a collection strategies librarian at the UCLA library, president of the Southern California Society for the History of Medicine, research team leader of The Anthropodermic Book Project, and author of Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin--delves into the who, what, when, where, and, most importantly, why of books bound in human skin. She discusses with Eve and Julie how the desensitization and clinical distancing of doctors’ attitudes towards patients during the 19th century led to an increase in the production of books bound in human skin; how public hangings and dissections were used to dissuade people from becoming criminals; and how our understanding of societal ills like political propaganda and systemic racism can be deepened by the study of books bound in human skin. Eve and Julie also get an answer to the question, Can a whole book--ink, paper, binding--be made entirely from a human body?

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Feed Drop: Introducing Trail Weight Apr 20, 2021

Show notes

“Trail Weight,” a new podcast from the Podglomerate network, follows host Andrew Steven on an ambitious, surprising, and transformative journey as he tries to get in shape for a month-long backpacking trip through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Through audio diaries, recordings from the trail, and conversations with authors, experts, Olympians, and more, Andrew takes listeners through an eye-opening adventure of self-discovery. You can listen to Trail Weight on Apple podcasts or wherever you’re listening to this show.

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Ep. 48 - Simon Winchester on Life and Death Stories of Land and Sea Apr 15, 2021

Show notes

If we humans can't own the air or sea, why can we own land? And what happens when we do? Simon Winchester--an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and acclaimed author of the New York Times bestsellers The Professor and the Madmen, The Map That Changed the World, Krakatoa, Atlantic, and Pacific--explores with Julie and Eve how he addressed the man-made notions of land ownership and dispossession in his latest book, Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World. They discuss how the Netherlands ingeniously expanded its territory without the use of thievery, battle, or loss of life; how a single line drawn by a fountain pen brutally and senselessly cost the lives of 2 million Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs between India and Pakistan; and how, exactly, Simon managed to survive an expedition-turned-rescue-mission on an uncharted section of the East Greenland ice cap.

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Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature.

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Ep. 47 - The Power of Jasmine Mans' Poet Voice Apr 08, 2021

Show notes

When was the last time you let yourself feel the power of poetry and a poet’s voice? Here’s the perfect chance! Jasmine Mans--author of the poetry collections Chalk Outlines of Snow Angels and, most recently, Black Girl, Call Home; resident poet of the Newark Public Library; and viral sensation behind the poem Footnotes for Kanye--talks with Eve and Julie about how she discovered her own narrative through poetry. They discuss how being raised in a competitive family led Jasmine to the battlefields of slam poetry and the indelible impression made on her as a burgeoning poet by a health class substitute teacher. In a highpoint for Book Dreams, Jasmine recites and interprets one of her poems from Black Girl, Call Home. She also recommends some of her favorite poets and authors from her “rabbit hole of literary love.”

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Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature.

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Ep. 46 - The Woman Ahead of the Women Who Were Ahead of Their Time, with Sally Roesch Wagner Apr 01, 2021

Show notes

How do you write a trailblazing woman back into history after her iconic colleagues wrote her out? Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner--founder and executive director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and Center for Social Justice Dialogue; a founder of one the first college-level women’s studies programs in the United States; and author of The Women’s Suffrage Movement and Sisters in Spirit--introduces Eve and Julie to Matilda Joslyn Gage, the should-be household name of the suffrage movement whom Gloria Steinem called “the woman who was ahead of the women who were ahead of their time.” Sally has dedicated her life’s work to restoring Gage to her rightful place in history. In this episode, Sally, Eve, and Julie explore how power dynamics (in politics, in social changes movements) followed a familiar playbook in the 19th century; how Indigenous women modeled an egalitarian society for 19th century feminists; why L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz was a gender-bending, revolutionary text ahead of its time, in no small part because of Matilda Gage; and how Susan B. Anthony erased Matilda Gage’s name from the pages of history.

Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at contact@bookdreamspodcast.com.

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Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature.

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Ep. 45 - The Push and Pull of Ashley Audrain's Thriller Mar 25, 2021

Show notes

What’s it like to delve into the origins, psyche, and after-effects of evil, and set it all on the page? Author Ashley Audrain, whose debut novel The Push became an instant New York Times bestseller, shares with Julie and Eve her thinking behind her remarkable thriller. Together, they explore whether malevolence is inherited, if a child can be truly monstrous, and what it’s like to be, simultaneously, the daughter, granddaughter, and mother of a person who may (or may not) be truly evil. Hear them challenge the tired and convenient trope of the mother-at-fault-for-the-sins-of her-child. And find out, too, why Eve once wrote a hate letter to Martin Scorsese!

Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at contact@bookdreamspodcast.com.

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Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature.

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Ep. 44 - Allegra Goodman on Why Families are Fascinating Fodder for Literature Mar 18, 2021

Show notes

Family is forever, and so, it appears, is our fascination with reading about them. Allegra Goodman--author of The Family Markowitz, Kaaterskill Falls (National Book Award finalist), Intuition, Paradise Park, The Chalk Artist, and short stories included in The New Yorker, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and Best American Short Stories--dishes with Eve and Julie about why families remain such a compelling subject for literature. They discuss how age and experience change our perspective on family-related matters, what impact COVID-19 has had on familial relationships both nuclear and extended, and how a child’s college application process can function as a Hitchcockian bomb under the table in a story. Allegra also recommends some favorite novels about families!

Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at contact@bookdreamspodcast.com.

We encourage you to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter for information about our episodes, guests, and more.

Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature.

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Ep. 43 - You, Yes You, Contain a Future of Multifarious Possibilities, Says Matt Haig Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

Can a compelling novel positively and radically change the way we think about living? Matt Haig--author of the bestselling memoir Reasons to Stay Alive; the novel and upcoming major motion picture A Boy Called Christmas; and, most recently, The Midnight Library, a New York Times bestseller, winner of the Good Reads Choice Award for Fiction, and a Good Morning America Book Club pick--shares his philosophy on the futility of regret with Julie and Eve. They talk about radical optimism and self-acceptance; reframing depression as an experience and not a permanent reality; and finding meaning in being thankful for everyday miracles (like puppies and Wilson Phillips songs!).

Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at contact@bookdreamspodcast.com.

We encourage you to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter for information about our episodes, guests, and more.

Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature.

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Ep. 42 - Medical Lore and Unsung Women Trailblazers, with Janice P. Nimura Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

How can books help us discover uncelebrated trailblazing women? Janice P. Nimura--author of the biography The Doctors Blackwell,for which she received a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities--shares with Eve and Julie the long neglected history of Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, who were the first and third women respectively in America to receive medical degrees. Together the Blackwell doctors opened the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, the first hospital staffed entirely by women. Janice--who also wrote Daughters of the Samurai--discusses why she was drawn to write about these sisters; what it took for them to break into the all-male, 19th century medical establishment; why there have been so few books about them despite their staggering accomplishments (hint: they weren’t adorable); and how systemic sexism has shaped perspectives on both princesses and old crones. Finally, Eve shares a dose of 19th century medical gore!

Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at contact@bookdreamspodcast.com.

We encourage you to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter for information about our episodes, guests, and more.

Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature.

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Ep. 41 - Recommending Books We Love, with Eve and Julie Feb 25, 2021

Show notes

MINI EPISODE: After 40 episodes of book dreaming together, Eve and Julie know each other’s preferences as well as they know their own. In this one-on-one conversation, our two best book friends swap book recs. And although they’ve chosen these titles with the other in mind, we hope you’ll like them too! Join Eve and Julie as they commiserate over the pressure of being on the receiving end of a book recommendation and explore what makes a good one.

Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at contact@bookdreamspodcast.com.

We encourage you to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter for information about our episodes, guests, and more.

Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature.

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