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Booked Up with Jen Taub — Arts
Booked Up with Jen Taub

Booked Up with Jen Taub features intimate interviews with nonfiction authors. Jen’s guests include writers of current bestsellers and beloved backlist books. Conversations cover love, money, politics, early dreams, writing habits, reading tastes, procrastination techniques, self-doubt, and news of the day.

Creator and host, Jen Taub is a law professor, advocate, and author. Her nonfiction books include BIG DIRTY MONEY (Viking 2020) and OTHER PEOPLE’S HOUSES (Yale Press 2014). She focuses on “follow the money” matters— promoting transparency and opposing corruption.

Jen’s favorite poem is Prufrock (and yes she knows that Eliot held abhorrent views. She contains multitudes and can separate the dancer from the dance.)

Taub was the Bruce W. Nichols Visiting Professor of Law in fall 2019 at Harvard Law School and is now a professor of law at the Western New England University School of Law. A former associate general counsel at Fidelity Investments, she is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.

Copyright: © Jennifer Taub & Politicon LLC

Latest Episodes:

39: Connie Schultz: She’s every genre Aug 20, 2023

Show notes

Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Connie Schultz is Jen’s guest today. Connie is the author of two memoirs. Her first Life Happens: And Other Unavoidable Truths and second …And His Lovely Wife: A Memoir from the Woman Beside the Man. Connie made her fiction debut in 2020 with her New York Times bestselling novel The Daughters of Erietown. And this coming February the youngest readers can welcome into the world her first children’s book, Lola and the Troll.
Formerly a columnist at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland she now writes a weekly column for USA Today. And, she just launched a substack called “Hopefully Yours.” When Connie’s not writing, she’s teaching. She was at Kent State for seven years and this fall is joining the faculty of Denison University’s journalism program.
What makes Connie so special is that she is one of those women who lifts as she rises. A true friend who is there for you in your moments of doubt and your moments of joy. Connie lives in Cleveland with her husband, Senator Sherrod Brown, and their sweet rescue dogs Franklin and Walter. Connie and Sherrod have four children and eight grandchildren.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from Connie Schultz:
Facebook | Website | Author of THE DAUGHTERS OF ERIETOWN and LOLA AND THE TROLL
Get More from Jen Taub:
taubjen on Threads| Money & Gossip Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

38: A PLACE FOR US with Brandon Wolf Aug 13, 2023

Show notes

Brandon Wolf, author of the memoir A Place for Us joins Jen on Booked Up today. Brandon is a survivor of the 2016 horric domestic terror attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida where his best friends, Drew Leinonen and Juan Guerrero, and 47 others were murdered. Brandon has honored the victims’ legacies with action, advocating for LGTBQ+ civil rights and gun-safety reform. Today Brandon is the press secretary for Equality Florida.
Brandon’s memoir is beautifully-written and incredibly moving. Here’s just one expression of glowing praise for A Place for Us. Joy Reid, host of TheReidOut said “One of the most powerful voices of his generation, Brandon Wolf tells a story of race, place, and the sturggle for belonging that will drive you to tears and expand your capacity for hope, as well as your appreciation for the power of community. A true inspiration.”
You may also know Brandon from his newspaper opinion pieces and as a contributor on MSNBC’s The ReidOut and on American Voices with Alicia Menendez.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from Brandon Wolf:
Website | Author of A PLACE FOR US

Get More from Jen Taub:
taubjen on Threads| Money & Gossip Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

37: WHY SINÉAD O'CONNOR MATTERS with Allyson McCabe Aug 06, 2023

Show notes

Today’s Booked Up guest is Allyson McCabe, author of the deeply felt, carefully researched book, Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters, which was published in May two months before the musician’s passing. Allyson interviewed Sinéad for NPR in 2021 in connection with her autobiography Rememberings.
As guitarist and songwriter Vernon Reid wrote, “Acknowledging that Sinéad's life story can be a difficult, contradictory mess, McCabe painstakingly relates this magnificent, irreplaceable artist's tale to her own heartfelt story, showing us in the process how and why so many of us also connect with Sinéad.”
A little more on Allyson McCabe, who is decidedly Gen X. Before turning to writing, reporting and production fulltime, she taught in the English Department at Yale. You’ve definitely heard hermwork on NPR’s flagship showslike Morning Edition and All Things Considered. One example: “Willy Wonka-Inspired 'Candy Alchemist' Spins Sugar Into Pure Imagination.” Or more recently,“How artists and influencers set the stage for Hip-Hop's global rise.”
You’ve also seen Allyson’s byline in assorted places including the New York Times, New York Magazine’s Vulture, BBC Culture, Bandcamp, and Wired.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from Allyson McCabe:
Website | Author of WHY SINÉAD O'CONNOR MATTERS

Get More from Jen Taub:
taubjen on Threads| Money & Gossip Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

36: BARBIE Book club with George Hahn & M.G. Lord Jul 30, 2023

Show notes

Today is all about BARBIE. The new film, the doll, the legend. Too much hype? No, not enough. This month’s new blockbuster film directed by Greta Gurwig starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has more than just the best one-liners “She’s everything. He’s just Ken.” It also provides theater audiences the opportunity to share howls of laughter delight about the humorous send up of the patriarchy, and also sob openly about what our lives could have been if more girl’s imaginations were able to flourish as grown women, instead of us becoming accessories, enlisted in service of the ambitions of powerful men.
Because Booked Up centers on books, our Barbie Book Club members today include M.G. Lord author of Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll, originally published in 1994. Plus, M.G. has a fresh 3-part podcast series out now called "LA Made: The Barbie Tapes” which includes audio from her one-on-one interviews with Barbie inventor and Mattel founder, Ruth Handler, among others. We’ll get into that. M.G. has written for numerous publications including the New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. She is an Associate Professor of the Practice of English at the University of Southern California.
Also joining the Barbie Book Club today is George Hahn. Cuter than a Ken Doll, more awesome than Allan, there is no better example of how to live an urban bon vivant life while on a bicycle than George Hahn. George – in his own witty words – “ is a self-made thousandaire playboy who wears tailored clothing, drinks coffee, talks on podcasts and occasionally writes and does TV.” You may know George from his screen roles in “Sex and the City,” “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” and Miramax’s “Kate & Leopold.” He also has a new podcast called Hahn: Solo and website GeorgeHahn.com that’s spelled H-A-H-N that features menswear, grooming, lifestyle essays and advice.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from M.G. Lord:
Podcast | Website| Author of FOREVER BARBIE and several other books
Get More from George Hahn:
Twitter | Website| Podcast Hahn: Solo
Get More from Jen Taub:
taubjen on Threads| Money & Gossip Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

35: Ben McKenzie Jul 23, 2023

Show notes

Jen’s guest today is Ben McKenzie, author of the new book EASY MONEY: CRYPTOCURRENCY, CASINO CAPITALISM, AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF FRAUD. In this incredibly fast-paced, relatable book, Ben, joined by journalist Jacob Silverman, takes us on a journey into the dark side of crypto. You don’t need any kind of expertise to follow along.
Plus, even if you’ve been around the bitcoin block before, you will appreciate the jaw-dropping encounters with the key players including FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (before his indictment and extradition from the Bahamas), and Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky (before his indictment) who admitted to Ben at South by Southwest in early 2022 scope of this scam. Mashinsky said that only “ten to fifteen percent” of the crypto system was real money. “Everthing else,” he said “is just bubble.”
Ben has been an outspoken critic of the cryptocurrency craze. Perhaps you saw him on C-Span in December of 2022, when he testified before the Senate Banking Committee for a hearing on the topic: The Crypto Crash: Why the FTX Bubble Burst and the Harm to Consumers.
During the hearing, Ben called FTX “the biggest Ponzi scheme in history” and told the senators that the 40 million Americans who have invested in crypto “have been lied to, in ways both big and small, by a once seemingly mighty crypto industry whose entire existence in fact depends on misinformation, hype and, yes, fraud.”
Not a C-Span cable network fan? You may also know Ben McKenzie from network television, the big screen, or more recently in his 2020 Broadway debut. He starred as Ryan Atwood on the teen drama “The O.C.” and as James Gordon in the hit series “Gotham.”
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from Ben McKenzie
Twitter | Website| Author with Jacob Silverman of EASY MONEY
Get More from Jen Taub:
taubjen on Threads| Money & Gossip Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

34: FANCY BEAR GOES PHISHING: Scott Shapiro Jul 16, 2023

Show notes

Jen’s guest today is Professor Scott J. Shapiro, author of the new book FANCY BEAR GOES PHISHING. That’s phishing with a PH. But Fancy with an F, as in Fancy Bear, the Russian hack. Subtitled THE DARK HISTORY OF THE INFORMATION AGE, IN FIVE EXTRAORDINARY HACKS. With this book, Scott hopes “that these true-crime stories – some accidental, some not – will engage readers who have little or not prior interest in technology and equip them to read beyond the headlines.”
You know Scott from his famous shitposting on Twitter, which he kindly also offers up on Threads. Or, if you’re lucky, you’ve taken a course from him at Yale Law school where he eaks out a meagre existence as the Charles F. Southmayd Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy. His areas of interest include jurisprudence, international law, constitutional law, criminal law and cybersecurity. He is also Scott the founding director of the Yale CyberSecurity Lab.
Here’s some praise for FANCY BEAR GOES PHISHING from author Garrett Graff, “Accessible for regular readers, yet still fun for experts, this delightful book expertly traces the challenge of securing our digital lives and how the optimism of the internet's early pioneers has resulted in an online world today threatened by spies, criminals, and over-eager teen hackers.”
In 2017 Scott also co-authored THE INTERNATIONALISTS with Professor Oona Hathaway. And his first book, published in 2011 was called LEGALITY: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from Scott J. Shapiro
Twitter | Website| Author of FANCY BEAR GOES PHISHING
Get More from Jen Taub:
taubjen on Threads| Money & Gossip Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

33: Kathy Griffin is back, bitches! Jul 09, 2023

Show notes

Kathy Griffin is Jen’s guest today. They cover everything from her life on the D-List to her cameo in Pulp Fiction (while she was dating Quentin Tarantino) to how Donald Trump tried to destroy her, to her SOLD OUT show in Vegas at the Mirage. Plus a chills and ugly cry-induscing story about Stevie Nicks. No spoilers. You’ll have to listen.
Kathy is “The Gays” favorite two-time-Emmy and Grammy award winning comedian. (Half-way to an EGOT). And, Kathy made the Guiness Book of World Records. That is the f’ing holy grail for a Gen-Xer like Jen. She got it for writing and starring in 23 televised stand-up specials. More than any other comic.
Kathy also acts. And writes. And tweets. And gets sued for tweeting. And gets cancelled and rises from the ashes to perform in Vegas. Live at the Mirage! October 6th. Get your tickets now.
Today Kathy and Jen talk about her book OFFICIAL BOOK CLUB SELECTION: A MEMOIR ACCORDING TO KATHY GRIFFIN. They also cover with honesty and compassion some difficult topics including addiction.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from Kathy Griffin:
Instagram | Website|
Author of OFFICIAL BOOK CLUB SELECTION
Get More from Jen Taub:
Threads| Follow the Money Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

32: A MINOR REVOLUTION with Adam Benforado Jul 02, 2023

Show notes

This week Jen’s guest is Adam Benforado, author of the compelling new book A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All.
The Atlantic said A Minor Revolution is “An extremely sympathetic and worthy attempt to protect kids…. [this is] a book that reads like a manifesto. His ideas are bold, to the point, and ambitious.” Salon praised Adam’s work as “Ambitious . . . His unifying argument is anti-inertial. . . . The book blew my mind.”
And friend of the podcast, Heather McGhee (author of The Sum of Us), said Adam “weaves compelling real-life stories with legal and economic analysis to deliver a bracing indictment of our society’s self-sabotage. He doesn’t end there, however; his final recommendations for how to change course are both revolutionary and accessible.”
Adam is a professor of law at Drexel University. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, he served as a federal appellate law clerk and an attorney at Jenner & Block.
He is also the author of the award-winning New York Times bestseller Unfair and is also the author of numerous scholarly articles and popular essays.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from Adam Benforado
Twitter | Website| Author of A MINOR REVOLUTION
Get More from Jen Taub:
Twitter | Follow the Money Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

31: E. Jean Carroll and Mary Trump on their Backstory Serial Jun 25, 2023

Show notes

As featured in The New York Times, Mary Trump and E. Jean Carroll are collaborating with Jen on a serialized romance novel called THE ITALIAN LESSON. Mary is writing the novel, Jen is editing, and E. Jean is advising and responding to readers’ questions. The trio is releasing Mary’s novel in segments on backstoryserial.com (which is on Substack). You can read everything in one place through chapter two by linking: https://www.backstoryserial.com/p/the-italian-lesson.
Get a taste of the ITALIAN LESSON with this opening passage:
The last time I saw him, I wanted him dead. Now here he was. Standing by the door, very much alive. When I opened my eyes I couldn’t see him clearly –– the muffled sounds of the EKG and the low thrum of the fluorescent lights made my head hurt and he hung back in the shadows.
Still, I thought I saw the corner of his mouth curved upward in the beginning of a smile, the kind of smile he flashed at me when he knew he’d won.
He moved toward the bed. I pretended not to notice and turned away as best I could, feigning disorientation. The closer he got the further away my life seemed. My life, the idyllic life I had built away from him, was slipping away. Then I remembered once wanting him dead—I had felt such horrible guilt afterward. It just wasn’t like me. But I was a different person now, to the extent that that’s possible. He reached for my hand and, before I lost consciousness again, I thought, “Instead of wanting him dead, I should have been more proactive.” And I felt no guilt at all.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get Backstory Serial and the Italian Lesson
Press | Backstory Serial on Substack | THE ITALIAN LESSON
Get More from Jen Taub:
Twitter | Follow the Money Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

30: YES, I CAN SAY THAT by Judy Gold Jun 18, 2023

Show notes

They kvetched, they kvelled, they talked about Hitler. Naturally. What did you expect? This week Jen’s guest is two-time Emmy-Award winning comedian Judy Gold. Judy fit Booked Up into her busy schedule. This spring she finished her one-woman show called, “Yes, I can Say That”, based on her similarly titled book Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble.
The New York Times called Judy’s show “A deliberately uncomfortable, laugh-packed show seeded with stealth missiles.” Time Out said her performance was “Funny and furious... a testament to the importance of speaking one's truth, expecially for comedians.” There’s more… New York Stage Review said “Gold is so naturally funny, her delivery and comic timing so impeccable, that belly laughs are to be had in abundance.” And TheaterMania described Yes I can Say That as “An unflinching defense of free speech.”
With “Yes, I Can Say That” wrapped and summer season upon us you can see Judy live at the Post Office Cafe and Cabaret in Provincetown three nights a week from June 25 through September 3. Oh, and she will also be in Montreal in July for the “Just for Laughs” festival.
Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:
BOOKED UP
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061
Get More from Judy Gold
Twitter | Website | Author of YES, I CAN SAY THAT
Get More from Jen Taub:
Twitter | Follow the Money Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

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