Is there anything better than curling up with a good book and getting lost in a great story? Not really, but unfortunately, there are times when having your nose stuck in a book just isn’t advisable: when driving (if this isn’t obvious, let’s hope you’re already taking the train), when cooking (who among us has not burned a sauce thanks to a gripping chapter?), or at work (might make it look like you could use more work). Stranger still, there are even those times when, despite having an extra long to-be-read list, nothing on it really appeals. These podcasts are here to help in these hard times, with recommendations, interviews with authors, book discussions, and readings galore!
Intelligent, thoughtful interviews with best-selling authors and poets like Barbara Kingsolver, Dave Eggers, Terrance Hayes, Elizabeth McCracken, and more, Bookworm is a great way to fill up your Kindle with exciting new titles while also learning more about your favorite authors and their writing processes.
This figurative feast features hosts JD and Nicole reviewing books from classics to contemporary, comparing stage adaptations of books with their source material, exploring trends like pop-up libraries, and sharing little-known facts about authors like C.S. Lewis and Agatha Christie. Bookworm Banquet is sure to satisfy your literary lust.
Weekly book recommendations delivered right to your brainbox, ranging from fiction to biographies to YA and poetry. Listeners love Get Booked because the hosts take requests from listeners to come up with personalized recommendations, and they know how to summarize a story without spoiling it - a prized skill, for sure.
That Book knows that sometimes there’s a great book hiding in a terrible one, and just as often a crap book hiding in a classic. On this podcast, our hosts, “readers with high expectations and low standards,” discuss both with humor and wit, encompassing everything from Crazy Rich Asians to The Bridges of Madison County.
For a good time, check out Book Fight: a podcast of freewheeling, funny, unpretentious conversations about books from two writers and professors who don’t shy away from anything, whether it’s revisiting Ray Bradbury and Ernest Hemingway, checking out Chuck Klosterman and Phillip Roth, or reviewing Jersey Shore star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi’s novel A Shore Thing (surprisingly good!).
The name says it all: on Reader's Paradise, author and narrator Earl Sewell performs books like The Tell Tale Heart as well as interviewing authors and educators from around the globe about their books on a range of topics including online dating, rural Alabama, the rise of Nazism in Germany, paranormal activity and more; blissful listening for the bookish.
Look, you can’t write a list about books without including the man himself: Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton, a huge part of the reason the show was one of the most enduring children’s shows of all time. Rainbow might be gone now, but LeVar’s literary love lives on in this podcast, where he personally selects a piece of short fiction and reads it aloud.
John J. Miller from the National Review covers classic literature that perhaps some of us never got around to, with interesting, in-depth conversations, discussions, and interviews. The Great Books is concise and clear, and makes a good case for revisiting academic classics like Brothers Karamazov and Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations.
For science fiction and fantasy fans, Books, Beards, and Booze is the podcast for you, featuring three hosts who drink beer, talk books, and have beards (well, except for Tonya). Discussions include the best media franchises created from books, what books would make great video games, which characters would be on their fantasy heist team (and what they would steal), and more.
Comic books can be hard to jump into, because of how many of each title there are, how long some of them run, and how layered the mythology can get. Never fear - Number One Comic Books is here to help. They tell you if a series is worth reading after the first issue, diving into titles as varied as Betty and Veronica, Red Sonja, Plastic, Excellence, and more. (For even more great comic book podcasts, check out our whole list here!)
When in Romance discusses all things romance-related, whether you like regency rogues or thoroughly modern millennials. The hosts go deep into the genre, exploring racial and sexual diversity in the industry (both on the page and behind the pen), as well as covering all the fun stuff like steamy scenes, cover art, and Christmas cowboys.
If you’re reading to learn and grow, For Real is for you. This podcast is all about nonfiction, with great recommendations on books about the ocean, arctic explorers, and tropical murders; books to read for Pride Month, International Women’s Day, and Black History Month; even nonfiction for Star Wars fans.
With episode titles like “Everyone Dies at the Dance” and “Astrology is Old School Hogwarts House Sorting,” this podcast leaves no YA stone unturned, talking Meg Cabot, Norma Klein, and Suzanne Collins, exploring friendships and strong female characters in young adult literature, the rise of climate fiction (or “cli-fi” if ya nasty), and how the YA genre has changed and grown over the years.
The New Yorker’s poetry editors Paul Muldoon and, more recently, Kevin Young host a poet each episode, to read and discuss a classic or contemporary poem as well as one of the guest’s own poems. Guests include poetry Pulitzer Prize winners and former U.S. Poet Laureates and feature in-depth discussions, stirring and beautiful selections, and gorgeous readings. Great for poetry pros and novices alike.
And finally, we must mention the boy wizard. Host Mike Schubert has never read Harry Potter, the multimillion-dollar global phenomenon, and decides that it’s time to change that. Join him in Potterless as he reads all seven of the books, chapter by chapter, complaining about Quidditch, poking fun at plot holes, and imagining what a French Voldemort would have been like. Hilarious, whether you're a Potterhead or a Potter "who?"
If you want to be sure you're listening to the podcasts everyone else is checking out, iHeartRadio has you covered. Every Monday, iHeartRadio releases a chart showing the most popular podcasts of the week. Stay up to date on what's trending by checking out the chart here. There's even a chart just for radio podcasts here, featuring all your favorite iHeartRadio personalities like Bobby Bones, Elvis Duran, Steve Harvey and dozens of others.
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