Totally Booked with Zibby

Latest Episodes:

Susan Lucci — From Soap Opera Star to Widow and Everything in Between Feb 06, 2026

Show notes

Never mind the fact that I accidentally deleted my first podcast interview recording with Susan Lucci. She’s just that gracious that we re-recorded in person in New York the next day. You may know her from “All My Children.” But while Susan’s latest memoir, La Lucci, does focus on that, it focuses more on the behind-the-scenese: how she parented while acting for decades, what came before and after, how she felt. It also delves deep into the now and the aftermath of Susan’s loss of her husband. In our first recording, she cried. In this one, recorded in a closet audio-booth at her publisher’s office, we laughed. I now absolutely adore her. Give this book to someone.

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Nicholas Thompson Runs Publications, Runs Competitively, and Never Runs Out of Insights Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

This book isn’t just about running. It’s about perseverance, focus, choices, mastery, drive, and fatherhood. Nicholas Thompson has had many swoon-worthy literary jobs, including being an editor at The New Yorker, editor-in-chief at Wired magazine, and now running The Atlantic. His personal story includes his career trajectory and how he became one of the top runners in his age group worldwide. The Running Ground is instructive, inspirational, and truly interesting. We spoke about all of it.

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Why We’re Just Watching Lior Torenberg Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

Just Watch Me has such a creative concept behind it. Each chapter starts with how many fictitious streaming followers the main character has on her feed. She livestreams her life including eating hot peppers and more funny antics to survive but also to help her sister who is ill. It’s subversive and quirky and really funny. Plus the author shares her ties to Israel which I loved.

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Jennifer Niven on her amazing new novel Meet the Newmans Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

I’m obsessed with this book. Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven is one of those can’t-put-down stories about a family, a woman coming into her own, coping with the unexpected, all set in the 1950s and 1960s as women came into their own — with the backdrop of a TV sitcom. Just trust me. It’s so good. Jennifer Niven and I did an event together at the Minnie Rose x Zibby’s Bookshop pop-up and she couldn’t have been more delightful. Listen in.

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Jewell Parker Rhodes on Finding Yourself Through Storytelling Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

Award-winning, bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes and I have become good friends. She has been on my podcast several times, we’ve done events together, and she even contributed to one of my first anthologies. Sometimes in life, you just click with someone — across generations, across backgrounds — united by words and souls. Jewell is like that for me. We were crying by the end of the podcast. Yes, it was about her latest, utterly compelling graphic novel Ghost Boys, but it was also about her entire career, how books saved her life, and how it feels to look back on it all. This was one of my favorite episodes.

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Transitioning to the Next Stage with Krista Williams Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

Podcast guru and bestselling author Krista Williams joined me to discuss her book ALMOST 30 (which would be ALMOST 50 in my book). We really discussed life transitions, creating something from nothing, resilience, pivoting, and how we need to go to lunch together.

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Running a Jewish Media Company with Rabbi Dovid M. Cohen Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

Have you heard of the Algemeiner? I must admit, I hadn’t until they made me one of their Jewish 100 in 2024. (I was blown away to be selected as one of the top 100 people in the world who positively affected Jewish life.) Well, anyway, this media organization is amazing in large part thanks to the deft leadership of Rabbi Cohen. Their big gala is coming up. You should check it out.

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Love, Loss, and the News with Carol Lin Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

No, her name isn’t Carolyn. Hear what other comments and indignities Carol had to put up with on her rise to become one of the most accomplished Asian American woman on-air reporters. No, she isn’t Connie Chung. Plus, read about the devastating loss of her husband. Gutted.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/4rbKlha

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Your Life Really Does Matter with Jennifer Breheny Wallace Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

Turns out, it’s pretty simple: you can make someone feel good with just a sentence. Start with, “If it weren’t for you…” You can also orient your life and actions to give a new sense of meaning to everything you do, and change your life—easily. NYT bestselling author (and my friend) Jennie Wallace shows you how. (And btw, all of YOU matter to me! If it weren’t for you, I’d have no show!)

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/49AEsEj

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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

Moms Have Broken Hearts, Too, with Josie Balka Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

Poet, bestselling author, and TikTok star Josie Balka’s second collection, LOVES OF OUR LIVES, connects mothers and daughters by love, heartbreak, and the ones who got away. It shifts perspectives. It warns. It empathizes. And it entertains. Josie has a rare talent to craft zingers on every page. Perfect Valentine’s gift, FYI.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3LQMlw2

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

*********

A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!

Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.

Listen on Spotify here.

Listen on Apple here.

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