Ep. 131 The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio — The Stacks Book Club (Lupita Aquino)

September 30, 2020September 6, 2022 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

Today for The Stacks Book Club we are discussing The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. Our guest is the reader behind the bookish Instagram account Lupita Reads, Lupita Aquino. Our conversation looks at the ways undocumented people have been treated as a monolith, the concept of “objective journalism”, and how this book has created a space for more undocumented folks to feel seen and heard.
There are no spoilers in this episode.

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Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes and on Bookshop.org and Amazon.

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
“Starving Child and Vulture” (Kevin Carter, Time)
“A Reckoning Over Objectivity, Led by Black Journalists” (Wesley Lowery, The New York Times)
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
“Ep. 125 Wandering and Wondering with Morgan Jerkins” (The Stacks)
Windows on the World
The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff
Once I Was You by Maria Hinojosa
Facts on U.S. immigrants, 2018 (Pew Research Center)
The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Far Away Brothers by Lauren Markham
“Ep. 129 The Myth of Strength with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio” (The Stacks)
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Advanced Copy Cover of The Undocumented Americans (@Lupita.Reads photo)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of this show. If you prefer to do a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.

The Stacks participates in affiliate programs. We receive a small commission when products are purchased through links on this website, and this comes at no cost to you. This in no way effects opinions on books and products reviewed here. For more information click here.

Ep. 130 The Politics of Sex with Angela Chen

September 23, 2020September 6, 2022 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

Today on The Stacks we are joined by Angela Chen, journalist and author of a brand new book on asexuality titled Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex. We talk about asexuality, the ways in which sex is politicized, involuntary celibates, and how people from marginalized groups are expected to educate the masses.

The Stacks Book Club selection for September is The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, we will discuss the book with Lupita Aquino on September 30th.

LISTEN NOW

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher

Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes and on Bookshop.org and Amazon.

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen
“Video Rant, Then Deadly Rampage in California Town” (Ian Lovett and Adam Nagourney, The New York Times)
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Emily Nagoski
Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
“Ep. 128 Big Friendship with Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman” (The Stacks)
Asexual Erotics by Ela Przybylo

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Ep. 129 The Myth of Strength with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

September 16, 2020September 6, 2022 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ 2 Comments

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is the author of The Stacks Book Club selection for September, The Undocumented Americans. On today’s episode we get a deeper (and spoiler free) look at the book, and why Karla felt compelled to tell these stories now. We also discuss the audience Karla had in mind while writing, her ideal writing set up, and why describing women of color as “strong” is a form of erasure.

The Stacks Book Club selection for September is The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, we will discuss the book with Lupita Aquino on September 30th.

LISTEN NOW

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher

Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes and on Bookshop.org and Amazon.

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
Harvard University
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Chris Jackson

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Ta-Nehisi Coates
Namrata Tripathi
Eileen Myles
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Amadou Diallo (The New York Times)
“Lana Del Rey and Alison Roman flaunted white women’s privilege. But they’re not alone” (Lorraine Ali, The Los Angeles Times)
FKA Twigs
Joan Didion
Gertrude Stein
Meg White
“This Is the Face of an Undocumented Immigrant. Don’t Look Away.” (Caitlin Dickerson, The New York Times)
Caitlin Dickerson
“What we’re reading this summer” (The New Yorker)
Jonathan Blitzer
Tina Vasquez
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi
“The American Dirt Controversy Is Painfully Intramural” (Randy Boyagoda, The Atlantic)
Charlize Theron
The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001)
Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
The White Album by Joan Didion
A Small Place by Jamaica Kingcaid
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
Inferno by Eileen Myles
Kendrick Lamar
The White Stripes
Homecoming (Beyonce, 2019)
“I’m Real” Jennifer Lopez Ft. Ja Rule
The Strokes
Bella Hadid
Vladimir Nabokov
Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
J. D. Salinger

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Ep. 128 Big Friendships with Aminatou Sow & Ann Friedman

September 9, 2020September 6, 2022 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ 1 Comment

Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman are the friends behind the podcast Call Your Girlfriend, and now the authors of the New York Times Best Selling book Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close. Today we talk about the obstacles they found in researching their book on friendship, finding their voice, the questions that come up in interracial friendships, and about their idea of “shine theory”.

The Stacks Book Club selection for September is The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, we will discuss the book with Lupita Aquino on September 30.

LISTEN NOW

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher

Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes and on Bookshop.org and Amazon.

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Call Your Girlfriend (Ann Friedman & Aminatou Sow)
Sam Sanders
“Aminatou Sow, Ann Friedman And Their ‘Big Friendship'” (Its Been A Minute, NPR)
“”Podcast Friends Network” (with Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman)” (Keep It, Crooked Media)
“Aminatou Sow + Ann Friedman on their book Big Friendship” (Bad on Paper, Grace Atwood & Becca Freeman)
Stephanie Coontz
Shalane Flanagan
Gossip Girl (CW)
Hollywood Husbands by Jackie Collins
Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins
John Wick 3 (Chad Stahelski, 2019)
How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong
“Power of Community: Summer of Friendship #8” (Call Your Girlfriend)
Sula by Toni Morrison
“Ep. 126 Sula by Toni Morrison — The Stacks Book Club (Brit Bennett)” (The Stacks)
Mama Day by Gloria Naylormi

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

Ep. 127 Crushes and Controversy with Lupita Aquino

September 2, 2020September 6, 2022 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

Our guest today is Lupita Aquino, the reader behind the successful bookstagram account Lupita Reads. Lupita is known for her incredible book recommendations and vibrant photos. Our conversation covers the evolving relationship between publishers and book influencers, activism in the book community, and the authors she finds crush-worthy.

The Stacks Book Club selection for September is The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, we will discuss the book with Lupita Aquino on September 30th.

LISTEN NOW

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher

Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes and on Bookshop.org and Amazon.

Books

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington
Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win by Jo Piazza
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Once I Was You by Maria Hinojosa
James Baldwin
The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
Whiskey and Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith

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A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
Luster by Raven Leilani
Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran
Memorial by Bryan Washington
Grieving by Cristina Rivera Garza
Intimations by Zadie Smith
Sula by Toni Morrison
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Jason Reynolds
Carmen Maria Machado
Salman Rushdie
Nicole Dennis-Benn
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
NW by Zadie Smith
Feel Free by Zadie Smith
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Everything Else

#bookstagram
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
“Ep. 23 Talk Women in Politics with Jo Piazza” (The Stacks)
Karen @idleutopia_reads
“Pendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature” (Myriam Gurba, Tropics of Meta)
Marco Rubio
Gisele Bündchen
Lupita’s Protest of American Dirt
“Ep. 42 Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie — The Stacks Book Club (Tawny Newsome)” (The Stacks)
“Ep. 105 The Union of Science and Art with Brandon Taylor” (The Stacks)
Ask the Stacks
Jaime @absorbedinpages
Latino USA (NPR)
Oscar @booksteahenny

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

The Stacks Book Club — September 2020

September 1, 2020September 30, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

Our selection for The Stacks Book Club in September is The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicenio. A work of nonfiction that chronicles the lives of Villavicencio and other undocumented immigrants in The United States. The book is a mix of reportage and memoir and is an intimate look at what it means to live in America without documentation. The Undocumented Americans looks beyond the border stories and DREAMer narratives we are often inundated with, and instead tells stories of people whose lives are often politicized and overlooked. The book avoids cliche and instead brings nuance and humanity to Villavicencio’s subjects.

We will be discussing The Undocumented Americans on the podcast on Wednesday, September 30th, and you can find out who our guest will be by listening to the podcast on September 2nd. If you’d like even more discussion around the book consider joining The Stacks Pack on Patreon and participating in The Stacks’ monthly virtual book club.

Order your copy of our July book on Bookshop.org or Amazon.

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thestacks). We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of The Stacks.