Gays Reading

Latest Episodes:

What Are You Reading? feat. Kate Schatz Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

Host Jason Blitman is joined by Kate Schatz who lives out her Reading Rainbow fantasy by sharing some of her favorite books. Kate then shares the personal story behind writing her debut novel, Where the Girls Were.

Kate Schatz is a feminist author from California. She’s the New York Times bestselling author of Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, with W. Kamau Bell, and the “Rad Women” book series (including Rad American Women A-Z, Rad Women Worldwide, and Rad American History A-Z). Her book of fiction, Rid of Me: A Story, was published as part of the cult-favorite 33 1/3 series.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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T Kira Madden, Whidbey Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Host Jason Blitman is joined by T Kira Madden, author of the acclaimed memoir Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, to discuss her debut novel, Whidbey.

Conversation highlights include:

⛴️ T Kira's trip to Whidbey Island

☀️ The trauma of growing up in Florida

📺 Favorite reality TV

T Kira Māhealani Madden is a diasporic Kanaka 'Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) writer and author of the acclaimed memoir Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, which was named a New York Times Editors' Choice, as well as a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and the Lambda Literary Award. She is the Founding Editor of No Tokens, a magazine of literature and art, and has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Hedgebrook, Tin House, MacDowell, and Yaddo. Winner of the 2021 Judith A. Markowitz Award, she is an assistant professor at Hamilton College in Creative Writing and Indigenous studies and served as the Distinguished Writer in Residence at University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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What Are You Reading? feat. Ani DiFranco Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

Jason Blitman talks with singer-songwriter and queer icon Ani DiFranco about her reading life and the story behind her new book, The Spirit of Ani.

ANI DiFRANCO is a Grammy Award–winning singer-songwriter and musician who has released twenty-three albums, traversing genres and addressing a range of autobiographical, political, and social issues. She is widely considered a feminist icon, and created her own record label, Righteous Babe Records, in 1990. She regularly releases new music, and continues her decades-long career as a major touring artist. DiFranco released a collection of poems and paintings titled Verses in 2007. Her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, was a New York Times bestseller, and she is the author of two children’s books, The Knowing and Show Up and Vote. In 2024, she completed a five-month run on Broadway in the role of Persephone in Hadestown.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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Amy Jo Burns, Wait for Me Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

Host Jason Blitman sits down with author Amy Jo Burns — who returns to Gays Reading after co-interviewing Abraham Verghese with Jason in summer 2024 — to discuss her latest novel, Wait for Me, the March pick for Read with Jenna's book club.

Conversation highlights include:

🎶 Amy Jo's relationship to (and the power of) music

🫂 Embracing your authentic self

🖼️ Commercialization of art

Amy Jo Burns is the author of the memoir Cinderland and the novel Shiner, which was a Barnes & Noble Discover pick and an NPR Best Book of the Year. Her novel Mercury was a Barnes & Noble Book Club pick, a Book of the Month selection, a People Magazine Book of the Week, and an Editor's Choice at The New York Times. A western Pennsylvania native, she lives in New Jersey with her family.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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What Are You Reading? feat. Sapphira Cristál Feb 27, 2026

Show notes

Host Jason Blitman talks to RuPaul's Drag Race runner-up and Miss Congeniality, Sapphira Cristál about what she's been reading as well as about what folks can expect from her new comedy tour, One Slue Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Sapphira Cristál (runner-up and Miss Congeniality of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16) is a classically trained opera singer, composer, and drag queen known for her theatrical lip syncs and six-octave range. She is renowned as a charismatic host who forges a special connection with her audiences. Sapphira holds 16 pageant crowns and has performed globally. In 2024, she was thrice the guest artist in Madonna’s Celebration Tour, and she debuted her original operatic production, Soundcake, with Monét X Change and Thorgy Thor at Lincoln Center. Afterward, she brought her one-woman show, The Cristál Ball Tour, across North America.

Sapphira works to inspire young people through appearances at colleges, youth camps, and high schools. She taught several years of master classes in drag makeup and performance at Emerson College, and she has given artist talks at Rockland Community College. An experienced attitude and stage presence coach, Sapphira has also taught master classes at the Philadelphia Burlesque Academy and various dance studios.

Whenever she gets the chance, Sapphira partners with charitable organizations to raise funds to change people's lives. Her personal credo is: "There is no better exercise for the heart than reaching down to lift someone up," and she has made it her mission to uplift, encourage and inspire those around her.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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Tayari Jones, Kin Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

Host Jason Blitman talks to Oprah's Book Club pick Tayari Jones about Kin, her long-awaited new novel, nearly a decade in the making.

Conversation highlights include:

🔎 A Google-tangent about the etymology of the word "kin"

🌈 On writing an overtly queer book

🍰 The best kind of red velvet cake

Per the conversation, here is the link to Motherhood Beyond Bars:

https://www.motherhoodbeyond.org/

Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage, which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list and his year-end roundup. It won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and an NAACP Image Award and has been published in two dozen countries. Jones is the C.H. Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and lives in Atlanta.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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What Are You Reading? feat. Misha Brown Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

Host Jason Blitman talks to everyone's favorite influencer and bestie, Misha Brown aka @yourbestiemisha, about what he's been reading as well as his new book Be Your Own Bestie: A No-Nonsense Guide to Changing the Way You Treat Yourself

Misha Brown is an undeniable entertainment powerhouse who excels as an influencer, podcast host, and performer. With a knack for captivating audiences, he shot to notoriety on TikTok in 2021 with the viral Lessons in Not Crossing a Gay Man series, amassing over 6 million followers. Named Motivational Creator of the Year and honored by the Webby Awards for social impact, he also earned a Best Comedy Podcast nomination from the Podcast Academy. Misha’s work has been spotlighted by People, USA Today, and Good Morning America, cementing his status as one of the most compelling voices online.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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Kate Quinn, The Astral Library Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

Host Jason Blitman is joined by prolific author Kate Quinn to talk about her latest novel, The Astral Library.

Conversation highlights include:

📖 The book Kate would (and wouldn't) want to live in

✨ Sacred spaces

📚 Reading habits and the best books to reread

The Astral Library is out now wherever you get your books.

Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. The Astral Library is her first foray into magic realism. She and her husband now live in Maryland with their rescue dogs.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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March Book Club: Grant Ginder, So Old, So Young Feb 15, 2026

Show notes

Announcing the March Gays Reading Book Club pick with Allstora

SO OLD, SO YOUNG by Grant Ginder

Five parties over the course of twenty years bring six college friends together, exploring the ways we run from and cling to our friends in love, life, and death.

New to the club? Get your first book for just $1!

When you join the Gays Reading Book Club with Allstora, here’s what you get:

A SIGNED copy of the book!
30% off everything on Allstora’s website
Access to our Book Club chat
Every subscription donates a children’s book to an LGBTQIA+ youth
A book club that exclusively supports LGBTQIA+ authors
And more along the way

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

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Patmeena Sabit, Good People Feb 09, 2026

Show notes

Host Jason Blitman is joined by debut author Patmeena Sabit to talk about her book, this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection, Good People.

Conversation highlights include:

♥️ What it means to be a good person

✨ Karma and how we choose to live our lives

🫆 Paying a price to be your authentic self

Good People is out now wherever you get your books.

Patmeena Sabit was born in Kabul a few years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When she was a month old, her family fled the conflict and became refugees in Pakistan, joining the millions of other Afghans that had sought refuge there. They later moved to the United States and she grew up in Virginia. She currently lives in Toronto.

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CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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