Today marks one full year of The Stacks, and what an amazing year it has been. The Stacks has every intention of making year two even better. To kick it off we have a real life renaissance man; author, comedian, and podcaster, Ben Blacker. We talk today about the importance of literature as a way to see the humanity in others, the types of anger you can feel toward books, and about Ben’s life as a writer of many different mediums, from comic books to teen movies.

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

• IndieBound: Support Independent Bookstores
• Hex Wives by Ben Blacker
• Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers
• The Sailor Who Fell From Grace From the Sea by Yukio Mishima
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• Eloquent Rage by Britney Cooper
• Heavy by Kiese Laymon
• The Reckonings by Lacy M. Johnson
• Shrill by Lindy West
• Roxane Gay
• No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicol
• Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Feel Free by Zadie Smith
• Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• Your Black Friend and Other Strangers by Ben Passmore
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
• The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
• Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo
• Empire Falls by Richard Russo
• Straight Man by Richard Russo
• Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
• The Secret History by Donna Tart
• The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
• The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
• Raymond Chandler
• The Outsider by Stephen King
• The Destiny Thief by Richard Russo
• Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
• Go Tell it on The Mountain by James Baldwin
• If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
• Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley
• A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
• Moo by Jane Smiley
• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
• Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• The World Only Spins Forward by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
• All the Pieces Matter by Jonathan Abrams
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
• Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
• There There by Tommy Orange
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
• Lorrie Moore
• Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
• The Only Rule Is It Has To Work by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller
• My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendricks
• Just the Funny Parts by Nell Scovell
• Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
• Angels in America by Tony Kushner
• Euphoria by Lily King
• Join the Resistance by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker
• Undead by Kristy McKay
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Stranded by Jeff Probst
• Less by Andrew Sean Greer
• The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
• Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Everything Else

• Ask the Stacks– askthestacks@thestackspodcast.com
• The Thrilling Adventure Hour
• Paul F Tompkins
• Paget Brewster
• Josh Malina
• Busy Phillips
• Marc Evan Jackson
• Jon Hamm
• J.K. Simmons
• Beyond Belief- “Wishing Hell” (The Thrilling Adventure Hour, ForeverDog Podcast Network)
• Dead Pilots Society (Ben Blacker and Andrew Reich
• Maximum Fun Network
• The Writers Panel with Ben Blacker (Forever Dog Podcast Network, ATX Television Festival)
• Episode 2 – Only Child written by John Hodgman (Dead Pilots Society)
• Pen15 (Hulu)
• Maya Erskine
• Anna Konkle
• The Second City
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (The WB)
• Shrill (Hulu)
• The Rumpus
• New York Times Book Review
• Paul Newman
• Nobody’s Fool (Robert Benton, 1994)
• Empire Falls (HBO)
• Ep. 6 Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin — The Stacks Book Club (The Stacks)
• If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2018)
• Ep. 48 Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah — The Stacks Book Club (The Stacks)
• The Wire (HBO)
• Ozark (Netflix)
• The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
• Aimee Mann
• Elvis Costello
• Weird Al Yankovic
• Bad News Bears (Michael Ritchie, 1976)
• Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011)
• Doris Burke
• Mark Jackson
• Ep. 25 Talking Fame and Identity with Zeke Smith
• President Obama Marks Five-Year Anniversary of My Brother’s Keeper with Reading List
• Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2020)
• Michael B. Jordan
• “Shonda Rhimes Developing ‘Reset,’ ‘Warmth of Other Suns’ and Six Other Series for Netflix” (Cynthia Littleton, Variety)
• The Ring (Gore Verbinski ,2002)

Connect with Ben: Twitter | Instagram | 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. 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.