Ep. 266 We Are the Ones Who Make the World with Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Award-winning author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah joins us for a spoiler-free discussion of his new novel Chain-Gang All Stars. He shares the pressures he’s felt ahead of releasing his second book, and his trepidation around how the book will be received in prison abolition spaces. Plus, we find out what makes revision so important to Nana, and how he thinks about employing violence in the book to help tell this story.

The Stacks Book Club selection for May is This Boy We Made by Taylor Harris. We will discuss the book on May 31st with Nicole Chung.

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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.

Photo: Alex M. Philip

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

Connect with Nana: Instagram | Twitter | Website
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To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. If you prefer to support the show with 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. 257 The Hardest Book I Had to Write with Carol Anderson

Prolific author, historian and educator Dr. Carol Anderson joins us to discuss her book The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. We talk about what sparked her interest in writing it, and dissect the role of anti-blackness in the formation and upholding of the second amendment. Carol reveals how she thinks of her writing in terms of persuasion versus education, and why this is the hardest book she has ever written.

The Stacks Book Club selection for March is Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay. We will discuss the book on March 29th with Shanita Hubbard.

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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.

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

Connect with Carol: Website
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. If you prefer to support the show with 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. 234 The Trees by Percival Everett — The Stacks Book Club (Lisa Lucas)

Today, publisher Lisa Lucas returns to help us break down the 2021 crime novel The Trees by Percival Everett. In discussing the page-turning thriller, we admire the brilliance of the humor and history on every page, and the mastery Percival Everett himself. We also ask questions around the future, past, and present of the United States in the face of palpable political tensions.There are spoilers on this episode.

Be sure to listen all the way to end of the episode to find out what our October book club pick will be!

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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.

Connect with Lisa: Instagram | Twitter
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe

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. If you prefer to support the show with 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.

The Stacks Book Club – September 2022

September’s Book Club selection is Percival Everett’s The Trees, a suspenseful novel about a series of murders in small-town Mississippi which confronts the reader with the cultural legacy of lynching and police brutality. A detective thriller chock full of puzzles and twists, it’s also a powerful indictment of racist American institutions, combining elements of horror, satire and pulp noir. A genre and tone-bender that’s as hilarious as it is poignant and infuriating.

We will discuss The Trees by Percival Everett on Wednesday, September 28th. You can find out who our guest will be by listening to the podcast on September 7th. 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 September book on Bookshop.org and Amazon, or listen to the audiobook through Libro.FM.


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.

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. For more information click here.

Ep. 227 Funny but Not F*cking Around with W. Kamau Bell and Kate Schatz

Emmy Award winner W. Kamau Bell and bestselling author Kate Schatz visit The Stacks to discuss their joint effort Do the Work!: An Antiracist Activity Book. They break down how the process of co-writing, how they decided to write for white audiences, and explain why we need an adult activity book for antiracism in the first place. We also ask, what do we do when we mess up; what makes a good apology?

The Stacks Book Club selection for August is How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee. We will discuss the book on August 31st with Ingrid Rojas Contreras.

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Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find everything we talked about on Amazon.

Connect with W. Kamau: Instagram | Twitter | Website Connect with Kate: Instagram | Twitter | Website
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe

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. If you prefer to support the show with 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.

The Stacks Book Club – July 2022

July’s Book Club pick is Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih. Written in 1966, this classic book features an unnamed narrator returning to his village in the Sudan following years of study in Europe. Upon his return, the young man is eager to contribute somehow to his country’s emerging postcolonial life. He finds familiar faces from his childhood and soon meets the mysterious Mustafa Sa’eed, who gives a detailed and shocking confession about his own life and career in London before a return to his native land. Our narrator finds himself caught in the tumult between Europe and Africa, tradition and innovation, faith and unholiness. In 2001, a panel of Arab writers and critics selected Season of Migration to the North as the most important Arab novel of the 20th century.

We will be discussing Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih on Wednesday, July 27th. You can find out who our guest will be for that discussion by listening to the podcast on July 6th. 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.

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. For more information click here.

Ep. 199 A Tapestry of Microaggressions with Kendra James

Today we’re joined by Kendra James; writer, podcast producer, editor, to discuss her debut book, Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School. We talk about Kendra’s experiences as the first African American legacy student at the Taft School in Connecticut, the ways she came to terms with the racism she experienced, and who she is writing for. We also talk pettiness, writing in the bathroom, and figure skating.

The Stacks Book Club selection for December is Passing by Nella Larsen, we will discuss the book on January 26th with Cree Myles.

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Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find everything we talked about on Amazon.

Connect with Kendra: Twitter | Instagram
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe

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. If you prefer to support the show with 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. 159 Surviving the White Gaze with Rebecca Carroll

Our guest today Rebecca Carroll. Rebecca is a writer, cultural critic, and podcaster. She is the author of multiple books including her memoir which came out in  February and is titled Surviving the White Gaze.  We discuss her life as a Black child adopted into a white family, how she continues to interrogate the white gaze, and her 2020 podcast Come Through with Rebecca Carroll.
There are no spoilers on this episode.

For the month of April, The Stacks is raising $50,000 for Million Book Project to bring books into prisons nationwide. Click here to donate.

The Stacks Book Club selection for April is The Tradition by Jericho Brown, we will discuss the book with Reginald Dwayne Betts on Wednesday April 7th.

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Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find everything we talked about on Amazon.

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Connect with Rebecca: Twitter | Instagram | Website | Come Through with Rebecca Carroll

Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Apple Podcasts | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads

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. If you prefer to support the show with 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. 144 Citizen by Claudia Rankine — The Stacks Book Club (Darnell Moore)

It’s The Stacks Book Club day, and we’re joined again by author (No Ashes in the Fire), activist, and podcaster (Being Seen), Darnell Moore to dissect Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine. We talk about how the book, published in 2014 holds up, who gets to express rage and joy, and what Rankine forces her readers to reckon with throughout the book.
There are no spoilers on this episode.

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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.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is FullSizeRender-5-736x1024.jpg

Connect with Darnell: Twitter | Instagram | Website | Being Seen Podcast
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe

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.

The Stacks Book Club — November 2020

This month we’re taking a look at global superstar and musical genius Kendrick Lamar in the brand new book, The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America. Lamar is only in his early thirties, but has already won The Pulitzer Prize, 13 Grammy Awards, been chosen as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. He is also the voice of a generation and his songs have become part of the soundtrack to The Black Lives Matter movement. In The Butterfly Effect, Moore explores not only Lamar and his music, but also the ways his music speaks to a generation of Black Americans and their struggle for justice and equality.

We will be discussing The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America on the podcast on Wednesday, November 25th. You can find out who our guest will be by listening to the podcast on November 4th. 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 November 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.

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. For more information click here.