The Librarian Is In

The New York Public Library’s podcast about books, culture, and what to read next.


All Episodes

Keeping You Company in the Kitchen

Whether you’re cooking turkey for 20 or opting out of Thanksgiving entirely, books about food are always in season. Frank and Gwen talk about their favorite cookbooks and chef memoirs with NYPL’s resident foodie, Jeanne Hodesh, and offer some family recip

Pop-Culture Storytime (with Garfield)

What makes a good story time? Anthony Murisco, youth librarian extraordinaire, joins Frank and Gwen to talk all things kids and books. Plus: everyone’s favorite lazy cartoon cat, a true stumper of a guessing game, and a flurry of pop-culture recommendatio

BiblioSmiles

A library podcast about a book about libraries? Sign us up! Frank goes meta this week with an in-depth review of Susan Orlean’s new page-turner, and and Gwen sees an author of children’s classics in a new light.

The Librarian Is In… the Voting Booth!

It’s almost Election Day. Do you know where your voting rights are? Christopher Famighetti, professor at Jefferson Market University, joins Frank and Gwen for an in-depth convo about voting — and what libraries have to do with it. Plus: a different take

Between Terror and Humor

It’s almost Halloween, and it got so creepy we scared Gwen away. Frank braves the gore with Isaiah Pittman, horror aficionado and adult services librarian at NYPL. They talk scary books AND movies. Book Recommendations  by Grady Hendrix  by…

This Is Not the Foe You’re Looking For

Gwen and Frank tackle a near-future dystopian novel about space colonization and a sobering work of journalism about the fallacy of modern philanthropy. Plus: why pho is objectively the best food ever.  Frank and Gwen’s Recommendations…

Hot Topix Galore

Frank and Gwen are all about feminist texts this week. They go back in time with the classic short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” — which is also NYPL’s newest  — and then hit the present (hard) with In between, there’s a beautiful…

Childhood Game-Changers

When we asked our book experts about books that changed their lives, we fell in love with their picks — and we wanted you to hear what they had to say, in their own voices. Plus: Frank and Gwen add their own childhood game-changers. Check out the…

When Escape Leads You Back to Reality

Gwen and Frank discover two very different alternate worlds that speak to our present times. Their seemingly mismatched books offer stellar writing and clever takes on fantasy, dystopias and cringe-worthy identity politics. Plus: Frank has some,…

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