The Librarian Is In

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


All Episodes

On Your Mark, Get Set…

It’s time again for our Summer Reading Challenge! In this mini-episode, Frank and Gwen pick a book to dive into together and invite you to read along with them, so place those library holds for a copy of “” by Elaine Castillo. Discussion to…

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Gwen is so moved by one of the three poems she brings to the studio that she can’t even read it (she tried!). And Frank is transported by a novel about a marriage in Nigeria he can’t NOT talk about it.  Plus: the perils…

Help Me, Rhonda!

Gwen and Frank discover some surprising pieces of family history when Rhonda Evans, Electronic Resources Librarian at NYPL, arrives in the studio with a pile of documents and connects the dots from long-ago paper trails. Plus: Guessing game shenanigans.

Border Stories

Frank and Gwen share thoughts and reading recommendations about immigration, families, and children at the border. Plus: Frank asks what-if and Gwen ponders three recent books on motherhood.

Crossing Food Boundaries

Dr. Shayne Figueroa joins Frank and Gwen to discuss books and food nostalgia, Amish soul food (it’s a thing!), and how NYC’s free school lunch program is attempting to lift an age-old stigma. Plus: Frank’s secret childhood eating habits and another guessi

May I Remove Your Cravat?

Frank and Gwen revisit the recent Booker Prize winner, Lincoln in the Bardo, as Frank gets serious about the afterlife and our understanding of history. Then Gwen turns the studio in a sauna with a gay Regency romance packed with period details and subplo

Call Me, Jason Reynolds

Gwen and Frank get a visit from Elisa Garcia, Supervising Librarian of Teen Services at the Bronx Library Center, who brings the guessing-game drama and recommendations galore. Plus: Elisa talks about moving to and growing up in the Bronx, the global infl

It’s Not You, Book, It’s Me

Frank confesses his sometimes-complicated relationship with certain books and his bouts of book insecurity. Plus: What happens when Frank and Gwen serendipitously read the same book around the same time but don’t quite remember it the same way? And an unp

The Bronx Gets a New Book Festival

Saraciea Fennell, founder of the Bronx Book Festival, joins Frank and Gwen to talk about bringing this event to the borough and the line-up for this weekend. Plus: how Saraciea found her way into the publishing world, zombies, Jane Austen, and a whole bun

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