The Librarian Is In

Latest Episodes:

Carla Hayden Wants You to Read a Book May 09, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Carla Hayden sits down with Gwen and Frank to discuss what it really means to lead the Library of Congress—which, by the way, isn't only FOR Congress. Plus: lessons she learned from storytime, how she organizes her home library, and the first time she ever saw herself reflected in a book.

Reading Stonewall May 02, 2019

Show notes

It's the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, and Jason Baumann—NYPL curator and Grand Marquessa of All Things Stonewall—joins Gwen and Frank to discuss the Library's new anthology about the uprising and its role in the LGBTQ civil rights movement. And then he walks us through some yoga breathing, and it's legit.

Book Recommendations

The Stonewall Reader in our catalog and the NYPL shop

Love and Resistance: Out of the Closet Into the Stonewall Era in our catalog and the NYPL shop

City of Night by John Rechy

City Boy: My Life in New York during the 1960s and 70s (and more books) by Edmund White

The History and Practices of Hatha Yoga by James Mallinson

Also mentioned:

Kay Tobin Lahusen's photographs in our Archives & Manuscripts Division

Jason's first appearance on The Librarian Is In (episode 2!)

And check out more of the exhibition and the rest of the Library's Stonewall coverage at nypl.org/stonewall50.

Call Your Librarian Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Aminatou Sow, writer and co-host of the popular podcast "Call Your Girlfriend," talks with Gwen and Frank about poetry, the mental treadmill of the Internet, and her childhood best friend: the librarian.

Book Recommendations

Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry by Imani Perry

Magical Negro by Morgan Parker

If They Come for Us by Fatimah Ashgar

Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks

Also mentioned:

Microsoft Encarta '95

PEN15

"won't you celebrate with me" by Lucille Clifton

"Final Notations" by Adrienne Rich can be found in her collection, An Atlas of the Difficult World

Heartland, Homeland Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

What makes a place home? Frank follows a book rec from a listener and discovers a powerful memoir that makes him rethink the American dream. Gwen's book is a new fairytale retelling... sort of... that involves feudalism and magical gingerbread and... well, maybe you should just have a listen.

Book Recommendations

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

Also mentioned:

The recent Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold

The Netflix series "Working Moms"

The network TV show "The Rookie"

Are you – Nobody – too? Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

Our Poetry Bonanza has arrived! In this episode --titled to pay homage to Frank's favorite Emily Dickinson stanza-- he and Gwen get to read and hear poetry recommendations from their listeners.

Listener Poetry Recommendations:

"My Mother Says I am Sickening" in The New Kid On the Block: Poems by Jack Prelutsky

"Good Hot Dogs" by Sandra Cisneros in A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poems for Children by Caroline Kennedy

"Why I Am Not a Good Kisser" in Selected Poem by Mary Ruefle

"Kal" in If They Come for Us by Fatima Asghar

The title poem in What the Living Do: Poems by Marie Howe

"What Resembles the Grave But Isn't" by Anne Boyer

IRL by Tommy Pico

The title poem in Inventory by Dionne Brand

"I want a dyke for president" by Zoe Leonard

"Girls of the Wild" in Wild Embers by Nakita Gill

"Fold" in You & Yours by Naomi Shihab Nye

"Scientific Romance" by Tim Pratt

"Where the Mind is Without Fear" from Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore

Also mentioned:

NYPL's Poem in Your Pocket Day

Breaking the Mold Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

Gwen and Frank meet a handful of characters who aren't bothered by what other people think. Plus: the pros and cons of reading reviews, the extra voice in translations, and the no-person's-land between picture books and middle-grade fiction.

Book Recommendations:

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori

Sarah Berman's Closet by Maira Kalman

The Princess in Black series by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, art by LeUyen Pham

Also mentioned:

The End of Eddy and History of Violence by Édouard Louis

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

NYPL's Poem in Your Pocket Day

Shrill — the Hulu series and the book by Lindy West

Reading (or Not) as a New Parent Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

How on earth can you read when you have a newborn? Stephanie Anderson—a new mom and a professional book selector for NYPL and the Brooklyn Public Library—comes to talk about the shifting habits of a reader with a new baby. Plus: Frank channels Supernanny! Again.

Book Recommendations:

Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes

Cesearian Section: An American History of Risk, Technology and Consequence by Jaqueline H. Wolf

The board books: Bunny Roo, I Love You by Melissa Marr and Global Babies

Also mentioned:

The New York Times article on cute aggression—why you want to squish and eat that baby!

In the Witch Elm by Tana French

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Happyland by J. Robert Lennon

The films Back to the Future and The Terminator

Angela Garbes' article, "The More I Learn About Breast Milk, the More Amazed I Am"

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Lauren Childs

Bull by David Elliott

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

The Gods Are Alright. But the Humans... Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

Greek mythology and contemporary fiction join forces this week! Gwen and Frank read two books that make readers ask, what would you do—or, what should you do?

Book Recommendations:

Golden Child by Claire Adam

C irce by Madeline Miller

The audiobook of Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North by Blair Braverman

Also mentioned:

A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul

Mythology by Edith Hamilton

The Odyssey , translated by Emily Wilson

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Here Come the 123s! by They Might Be Giants, and also please watch the amazing video of the "Never Go to Work" song (guaranteed to change your life for the better)

Dance Your Books Off Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

Okay, what's the deal with librarians and musical theater? This week's guest, newly minted children's librarian Kevin Kelley, traces his origin story back to the stage. He also discusses kids' books about the queer experience and offers up a brand-new first for the guessing game.

Book Recommendations:

New Kid by Jerry Craft

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

Non-Book Recommendations:

"The Prom," a musical now playing on Broadway (LOTS of dancing!)

Have a laugh with the podcast "Throwing Shade"

And look back at episodes of "Gilmore Girls... still so enjoyable.

Also mentioned:

Go the Way Your Blood Beats: On Truth, Bisexuality and Desire by Michael Amherst

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

Hurricaine Child by Kheryn Callender

Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle

Feminasty: The Complicated Woman's Guide to Surviving the Patriarchy Without Drinkng Herself to Death by Erin Gibson

Bonus Episode - Frankenstein: Our Dark Mirror Mar 12, 2019

Show notes

Over 200 years ago, a teenage girl started a literary legacy that continues to haunt us today. Why do we still keep telling this story and how does it reflect our darkest fears? The New York Public Library's curators join monster theory scholars and best-selling authors to trace the history of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley's classic. This special podcast episode unpacks the genius of Shelley's novel, its origins and evolution—from the British Romantics to Black Lives Matter—to uncover how it's helped us better understand ourselves, our humanity, and our future.

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