Best Zoobean Podcasts (2024)

1
You Are Flawed, You Are Messy, You Are Loved: Shannon Hale on Hope and Heroines 44:21

4h ago44:21

44:21

"I feel like it was this little miracle that in some areas of my life, I'm shutting myself up and shutting myself down. But with my writing, I was always really connecting with that inner voice.” - Shannon Hale Flaws. We do everything to hide them away and pretend they don’t exist. But what if these flaws that we try so desperately to mask are exac…

1
Unstoppable Force, Movable Object: Dhonielle Clayton on Levering Children's Books Into the 21st Century 38:49

9d ago38:49

38:49

"I'm not a person that's like, let's throw out the classics. It's, let's move forward. Let's disrupt the canon. Some of these universal themes, some of these ingredients that we love, how do I remix them into a new stew?” - Dhonielle Clayton What is life without a little magic? Fantasy gives us the space to break free from the confines that reality…

1
Summon the Tiger: Minh Lê Blurs the Boundaries 42:05

23d ago42:05

42:05

"That barrier between what is “real” and what is not, when that's more fluid, I think it's that's where the fun of fiction comes in. Especially when you're writing for kids.” - Minh Lê Life is full of barriers. Barriers between reality and the imagination, the spiritual and physical world, and perhaps most crucially, the ones we create for ourselve…

1
Twilight Zone: Julie Murphy on Self-Doubt and Self-Love 42:26

1M ago42:26

42:26

"I've found that the books that have resonated with me the most are books where your body is incidental, but it's still something that you can never leave behind.” - Julie Murphy Julie Murphy has an unexpected story, one that involves a winding road to her writing career. With equal parts quick wit and matter-of-factness, Julie shares that part of …

1
Quiz Show Podcasts! We listen to Lateral With Tom Scott 30:02

1M ago30:02

30:02

It's a classic PBC episode this time, as we go back to our roots and discuss a podcast to see what makes it tick. Lateral with Tom Scott is a quiz podcast, which is a really underrepresented format in our opinion. So what makes it work? Why should you consider this format for your show? Will we get too hung up on the importance of points? (yes). In…

1
Filling in the Blanks: Cece Bell on the Comedy of the Absurd 43:09

2M ago43:09

43:09

"...the reader's mind is filling in the blanks in between those panels and as a lip reader, that's what I do. I fill in the blanks. I'm trying to piece together what that person says. So, comics really make sense to me.” - Cece Bell I first came to know Cece Bell through her groundbreaking semi-autobiographical graphic memoir novel, “El Deafo.” It …

1
Hero of the Anti-Heroes: Gregory Maguire on the Value of Second Chances 42:40

2M ago42:40

42:40

"That's really all we are obliged to do for those we call our enemies. We are obliged to see them as humans, and then we behave the way we will. We are obliged not to consider them as less than human because that way, all hell breaks loose. - Gregory Maguire Gregory Maguire expresses himself with extreme precision. While many of us may grasp for wo…

1
The Pressures of Making a Daily News Podcast 34:54

2M ago34:54

34:54

Recorded November 2023. The news simply will not stop happening. It feels like every day we wake up, only to find that more things have occurred whilst we slept. So how do you turn all this relentless happening into a podcast? Oh, and you need to release every day, mon-fri. This episode our intrepid team of reporters is taking a look at the art of …

1
Simple Thing, Felt: Nina LaCour on Unwrapping a Moment 37:57

3M ago37:57

37:57

"I spend a lot of time trying to hope that I'll remember little things and how a certain simple thing felt. … Writing is one way of trying to capture that feeling, even if I'm fictionalizing it still.” - Nina LaCour If Nina LaCour were a drink, she would be a cozy cup of tea. You’re not rushing to finish a conversation with Nina. Rather, you are sp…

1
Can a Video be a Podcast? The Unstoppable Rise of Video in Podcasting 44:02

3M ago44:02

44:02

“Can a video be a podcast?” is an all-time favourite topic of conversation amongst those of us with “RSS 4 EVA” tattooed on the base of our backs. But for all the audio purists out there it’s hard to deny that, for a growing number of people, a video can absolutely be a podcast. So what now? Is “podcast” going the way of “literally”? Another defini…

1
Season 2: Coming Soon to a Screen Near You! 2:09

3M ago2:09

2:09

We're back! And this time we're on video! Season 2 of Podcast Book Club is nearly here. In this new season we'll be covering video podcasts, trailers, history podcasts, daily news shows, and more! We'll be joined by such podcasting pros as Arielle Nissenblatt, Ian Sanders, James Shield, as well as the usual cast of characters from Lower Street. You…

1
The World As It Should Be: LeUyen Pham Illustrates an Ideal 40:53

3M ago40:53

40:53

"There's something very lovely about feeling like, well, it's not my name, and it's not me, it's just the books.” - LeUyen Pham To listen to LeUyen Pham is to feel inspired. She is full of hope and ideas and sees potential everywhere and in everyone. In LeUyen’s ideal world, diverse representation is a natural outgrowth of art that truly reflects o…

1
If Your Heart Breaks, It’s Working: Nicola Yoon on Love and Other Risky Behaviors 40:58

4M ago40:58

40:58

"Love is risky. Love always ends. Should you do it anyway?” - Nicola Yoon Love is a feeling that never exists solely on its own, and those likely companions to love (anxiety, grief) often bring questions such as, is this worth it? It’s this question and others like it that Nicola Yoon explores in each of her novels. Nicola is a hopeless romantic. T…

1
The Blackest Book Ever: Derrick Barnes on Writing Unapologetically 39:50

4M ago39:50

39:50

"I'm putting every single ounce of who I am into every single book that I write, so y'all know to expect the blackest books you have ever read from yours truly.” - Derrick Barnes Derrick Barnes’ introduction to vulnerable storytelling was through the jazz and R&B records he found in his family’s collection. For young Derrick, reading the liner note…

1
Rabbit Holes: Brandy Colbert on Deep Research and Deep Characters 39:48

5M ago39:48

39:48

"I'm a bad liar. So I'm just like, I'm really good at telling the truth.” - Brandy Colbert Going down internet rabbit holes and discovering everything there is to know about random subjects is a relaxing way to spend an evening, according to Brandy Colbert. This passion for research is part of the secret sauce that helps her build such deep and bel…

1
The One and Only John: Mr. Schu Turns His Heart Inside Out 38:22

5M ago38:22

38:22

"Books can be the perfect prescriptions to let us know that we're going to be okay.” - John Schu John Schu’s entire life has been shaped by books. As a kid, he fell in love with Shel Silverstein; Emily Dickinson comforted him as he was battling an eating disorder, and “The One and Only Ivan,” well, that book changed his life. In fact, it nearly put…

1
A Gut Punch and a Hug: Mark Oshiro on Practicing Vulnerability 41:03

6M ago41:03

41:03

On Today's Show "It's practice. Vulnerability is practice. It is learning that you can do things and say things that seem scary, but ultimately know that you're safe.” - Mark Oshiro Mark Oshiro was taught to fear the world. To be someone they were not and to repress someone they were. But books were an escape. Books taught them that freedom was pos…

1
The Reading Culture: Yearbook 2023 29:33

6M ago29:33

29:33

With the 2023 year coming to a close (our first full year in production!), we wanted to celebrate. And what better way to do that than high school yearbook superlative style? Welcome to a special edition of The Reading Culture podcast – "The Reading Culture: Yearbook." In this episode, we're rolling out the red carpet to unveil "The Readies," an aw…

1
The Things We Know: Oge Mora on Finding the Magic in the Everyday 36:31

7M ago36:31

36:31

"It's not like I haven't experienced pain or tragedy or grief in my life, and it's not like I want to deny that. I don't think that that's the entirety of my song. When I want to look back on my life, I want to look at all the amazing things and experiences I had because that's what makes the time we have in this world so incredibly special, is tha…

1
Visibility Cloak: Hena Khan on Commonality Over Conformity 40:50

7M ago40:50

40:50

"There's these universal truths [...] specific details, but universal feelings and universal experiences that people hopefully can relate to. And that's what I go for in all of my books. Common humanity.” - Hena Khan Hena Khan didn’t believe her perspective mattered. As a Pakistani-American Muslim, she grew up not seeing her or her family reflected…

1
A Good Guest: Daniel Nayeri on the Obligations of a Storyteller 37:17

7M ago37:17

37:17

"Don't follow your dreams if that's the only thing you're doing. Ask yourself, what will make you most useful? What will make you most, in terms of a purpose, help you do meaningful work?” - Daniel Nayeri You want Daniel Nayeri at your dinner party. Always with a story or an insightful question, it turns out he is also the person you want on your p…

1
Revisit - The Gift of Fear: Lamar Giles on How Horror Helps Kids Cope 29:50

8M ago29:50

29:50

We revisit our Halloween special episode with Lamar Giles. ****** On Today's Show "The fear is like the ramp on the roller coaster. It's that build-up of adrenaline intention that you're having in that moment when that roller coaster is cranking. It's not the same fear of you walking through a dark alley at night and you sense someone's behind you …

1
Family Ties: Dan Santat on Childhood, Parenthood, and Finding Himself 37:10

8M ago37:10

37:10

On Today's Show "It (TV) was my junk food, but also it was my in with the kids to be able to talk about pop culture, to know all the little nuances and jokes about the cultural zeitgeist things.” - Dan Santat Media and stories around us around us are more than just entertainment. They provide a common space, a piece of the world around us that conn…

1
Inner Section: Kacen Callender on Trauma, Healing, and Magic 37:52

9M ago37:52

37:52

On Today's Show "I think that has a lot to do with why I was so interested in writing for children. It's like, I was trying to heal. I was trying to heal my childhood experiences through writing, through these characters.” - Kacen Callender Just as books provide readers with a space to learn, see themselves, reflect, and cope with their inner thoug…

1
BONUS EPISODE: Blowback. A Big, Bright, and Crisp Exposé of American Imperial Excess. 20:27

9M ago20:27

20:27

Season two of Podcast Book Club is on its way! Whilst the Lower Street team gets it ready, here’s a bonus episode in the form of a pilot. This was back when the gang of podcasting pros was first being assembled and, as such, their audio isn’t as crispy as it is now. Their first podcast review? Blowback, a podcast about American imperial misadventur…

1
Cool To Be You: Kwame Alexander On Authenticity 35:35

9M ago35:35

35:35

On Today's Show "I'm just being real. I'm telling my story. I think Nikki Giovanni calls it dancing naked on the floor. I am unafraid and I'm doing my dance… I don't feel like I can go wrong if I'm just being me.” - Kwame Alexander Exciting reluctant middle school kids about reading (or really, anything) can be a battle. Getting them to think readi…

1
Here, Extrapolated: Neal Shusterman on The Art of World Building 33:43

10M ago33:43

33:43

On Today's Show "I think it comes down to caring about the characters. When you care about the characters, you care about the world that they live in.” - Neal Shusterman When Neal Shusterman was in college, he was told to stop building worlds and start building characters. He listened. And from then on, his worlds became more magical and deep than …

1
Negative Space: Jon Klassen on Restraint 39:22

10M ago39:22

39:22

On Today's Show "That's still my trick too, never tell them how they're feeling. Never begin to even show how they're feeling. They'll get it anyway. You're describing negative space and the negative space you can't even get at.” - Jon Klassen Where there is empty space, our brains will fill in the blanks, and often, the way in which we personally …

1
Revisit - The Heart of the Story: Karina Yan Glaser Talks Empathy in Writing 35:40

11M ago35:40

35:40

Grace Lin (The Year of the Dog, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon) shares her thoughts on the value art provides to those who experience it and those who create it, and how it contributes to getting us in touch with our own humanity. **** On Today's Show "Maybe if they haven't been in that situation, they know someone who has, or they have friends …

1
Stuff the British Stole: A Steely Investigation, with Overtones of Loss and Imperialism. 29:52

11M ago29:52

29:52

The Podcast Pros are back to investigate one of the many things looted by the British Empire. This particular item has four legs and a mop-like furry body - it’s the Pekingese dog! Their guide? Stuff the British Stole, from ABC and CBC podcasts. The episode in question is called “Best.Named.Dog.Ever.” It covers the British looting of dogs and other…

1
30 for 30: A Juicy Sporting Odyssey, with notes of Pigskin and Wil Wheaton. 31:05

11M ago31:05

31:05

In this episode of Podcast Book Club, our podcast professionals investigate the intersection of sport and video games (and podcasting, I suppose). With their helmets and padding on, they’re diving into an episode of ESPN’s podcast 30 for 30, entitled Madden’s Game. Sports podcast fans, this one is for you. The episode takes a look at the developmen…

1
Revisit - Voice Through Verse: Renée Watson on Poetry as Empowerment 35:33

11M ago35:33

35:33

We revisit our episode with Renée Watson. **** On Today's Show "There's just something about literally raising your voice and letting these words come out of you. That's powerful." - Renée Watson Maya Angelou was mute for six years. After a traumatizing childhood experience, the famous poet and activist retreated inward and lost her voice. In Renée…

1
Big Summer Reading Giveaway! 1:26

11M ago1:26

1:26

Exciting news! We are hosting a big summer reading giveaway in which you can choose any three titles by any three authors who have been on our podcast. Three books each for three winners. The magic number really is three, y’all! We will select our three winners on August 11, so make sure that you have done a few things to get maximum entries! Follo…

1
Slow News: An Oaked Classic, with Layers of Mystery and Hints of Darwin. 27:20

11M ago27:20

27:20

Podcast Book Club is finally dealing with an actual book review! Well, it’s a notebook. And there are a few of them. And it’s actually a podcast episode about those notebooks. But that doesn’t slip off the tongue as easily. This time our gang of podcast professionals are listening to a wonderful episode of the podcast Slow News entitled The Darwin …

1
Anthropocene Reviewed: A Deeply Human Story, with Overtones of Death and Decay. 31:16

12M ago31:16

31:16

In this episode of Podcast Book Club, the gang dons their plague doctor outfits, as they dive into the morbid history of the great morbidity itself, the plague. Having sourced all the appropriate herbs and tinctures, and refreshed their knowledge of miasmatic diseases, it’s time to give a little podcast review of The Anthropocene Reviewed. We’re ta…

1
The Fire Inside: Jacqueline Woodson Carries the Torch 42:13

12M ago42:13

42:13

On Today's Show "For me, in the fiction, it is so much about keeping that continuum going, that someone's going to come along after me and tell a story that's connected to the story that I've told. I'm telling the story that's connected to the writers and the relatives who came before me.” - Jacqueline Woodson Jacqueline Woodson was born a watcher.…

1
History of the World in 100 Objects: An Aged, Refined Classic, with notes of Attenborough and hints of Pipe Tobacco. 32:45

12M ago32:45

32:45

Ready for an adventure podcast fans? This week Lower Street’s podcast pros have been time-traveling. They’ve been soaking up the Stone Age views of Olduvai Gorge, and the palatial surroundings of a temple in 12th century Japan. Their guide? Two episodes of the iconic BBC podcast production A History of the World in 100 Objects. The two(!) episodes …

1
Switched on Pop: An Opulent Noire Spoof, with Overtones of Music Theory and Budget Will Arnett. 30:07

12M ago30:07

30:07

This week the Lower Street gang dons their trench coats and trilbys to investigate the podcast Switched on Pop and its recent episode entitled “Who killed the key change in pop music?” This particular episode of Switched on Pop uses creative scripting and sound engineering to create a thoroughly tongue-in-cheek spoof of old detective dramas. Switch…

1
Mixed Feelings: Matt de la Peña on Balancing Being Stoic and Sensitive 39:30

12M ago39:30

39:30

On Today's Show "Kids are growing up in an interesting time and they're led to believe that if we don't feel happy, we're doing something wrong. I think what I respond to is a deeper truth, which is, happiness is incredible and we should strive for it, but we should also acknowledge that half of our life is challenging or melancholy." - Matt de la …

1
Podcast Book Club - Coming Soon! 2:00

1y ago2:00

2:00

In a world drowning in content, a brave team of podcast pros are on a mission to find the best podcasts and figure out what makes them so good. Want to discover new podcasts? Explore what makes a great podcast episode? And get the inside track from podcasting pros? Then join us! This is the podcast made for podcast fans far and wide. Each week a di…

1
Ignorance Isn’t Bliss: Sabaa Tahir on the Need to Bear Witness 42:37

1y ago42:37

42:37

On Today's Show "This is happening in our world and at the very least you can bear witness to it. That's literally the absolute least you can do. - Sabaa Tahir Sabaa Tahir’s (“All My Rage,” “An Ember in the Ashes” quartet) upbringing in the Mojave desert, isolated nearly 100 miles from the nearest city, exposed her to an unforgiving landscape and a…

1
Recovering Identity: Angeline Boulley Calls for a Reckoning 38:44

1y ago38:44

38:44

On Today's Show "I think there's recognition that publishing is better the more voices are heard, and the more diverse those rooms can be as well –that it's not just a matter of changing the skin tone of a character, it's that culture is all these things that are seen and unseen, and it's in your world building." - Angeline Boulley Angeline Boulley…

1
Never Empty-Handed: Yuyi Morales on the Stories, the Pain, and the Hope We Carry 39:32

1y ago39:32

39:32

In This Episode "It is through these books and through this work that I'm doing that I hope that I can be a worthy companion of [children's] journeys, because they have a lot of journeys to go through, and there is nothing more difficult than going through those journeys alone." - Yuyi Morales Growing up in Mexico in the 60s and 70s, Yuyi Morales w…

1
The Depth of the Universe: M.T. Anderson on the Sneaky Relevance of Sci-fi and Fantasy 38:30

1y ago38:30

38:30

On Today's Show “If you write about the world as it is, there's too much of a danger of it just feeding into our assumption that everything that we live with is right and normal. Whereas if you start to say, well wait, let's project this into the future, or let's see where this comes from in the past, suddenly it opens up a whole new vista about wh…

1
Inflection Point: Shadra Strickland Puts the Dash in Author-Illustrator 38:19

1y ago38:19

38:19

Creators & Guests Jordan Lloyd Bookey - Host Shadra Strickland - Guest On Today's Show “I remember everything was so shiny. Like the way that Pat illustrated that book, everything glistened, and main characters were Black and that was really cool for me. It was so colorful. I just wanted to live in that world.” - Shadra Strickland on “Clouds” by Pa…

1
Little Windows: Victoria Jamieson on the Underrated Power of Graphic Novels 40:25

1y ago40:25

40:25

On Today's Show "I think there's so much you can do. It's so rich because you have words, you have pictures. Sometimes they say the same things, sometimes they say opposite things. There's such an interplay between the two that I feel like there's so many possibilities." - Victoria Jamieson Victoria Jamieson was always an introverted child, but a m…

1
Lonely Planet: Erin Entrada Kelly on Looking After the Overlooked 36:54

1+ y ago36:54

36:54

On Today's Show "A lot of my books have characters who are lonely, who are trying to figure out their way, who don't feel seen in the world, who don't know how to use their voice. I want to write books for those kids because I want a safe way for them to navigate all that stuff." - Erin Entrada Kelly As an introvert battling depression and bullying…

1
Screen Play: James Ponti on Writing with a Filmmaker's Eye 35:12

1+ y ago35:12

35:12

On Today's Show "I go to the locations in the books when I can, and I go there and I scout them the same way I scouted them when I was shooting documentaries. I'll just kind of walk around the same way I did for years producing television to really figure out the best way to take advantage of a location." - James Ponti As a child, James Ponti was n…

1
Eye of the Tiger: Ellen Oh on Rising Up for the Right to Read 42:27

1+ y ago42:27

42:27

On Today's Show The author of the “Prophecy” trilogy and “Spirit Hunters” series and the founder of We Need Diverse Books, Ellen Oh is equal parts no-nonsense and hilarious truth-teller. "We all know the importance of representation in books and how life-affirming it can be for those who are historically underrepresented. Books are powerful. There'…

1
Comfortably Uncomfortable: Nic Stone on the Story Less Told 37:29

1+ y ago37:29

37:29

On Today's Show " When I sat down and I decided I wanted to start writing, what I started writing was something that bothered me." - Nic Stone After Nic Stone graduated college, she went on a trip to Bethlehem in Israel to connect with the story behind her faith. But instead of a religious experience, she found herself moved by the stories of the p…

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