20 Books By Your Favorite Podcast Hosts

Yesterday, I was trying to convince a friend that we had to see a movie because “a lot of people had told me it was really great,” but, when pressed, I admitted “people” was just the host of a podcast I had recently listened to. In fact, I frequently find myself making this confession or prefacing an anecdote, fun fact, or recommendation with, “So I heard on this podcast...”  

More often than not, I’m talking about BPL’s flagship podcast Borrowed. 

Podcasts are one of my favorite sources of information because they, like books, are educational and accessible, and foster a strong sense of community among their audiences. So, you can imagine my reaction every time a beloved podcast host publishes their own title and I have an opportunity to engage with them in not one, but two formats (hint: it includes dancing and jumping around excitedly).  

Our friends at New York Public Library (NYPL) shared a list of podcasters-turned-authors and their books in 2020, but they missed some stars including Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, hosts of Call Your Girlfriend; Becoming Wise: An Inquiry Into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippett, host of On Being; and Let’s Talk About Hard Things by Anna Sale, host of Death, Sex, and Money. If you are interested in learning about how to have tough conversations and strengthen relationships, all three titles are must-reads, along with “You Just Need To Lose Weight” and 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon, cohost of Maintenance Phase, which touches on similar themes with a focus on dispelling myths about fatness and challenging anti-fat bias. And if Gordon’s book leaves you wanting to dispel even more myths, you can check out Histories of the Transgender Child by Jules Gill-Peterson, co-host of Outward, Slate’s queer podcast. 

If you are hoping to learn about the curious, unique, and seemingly random, look no further in our catalog than Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, hosts of Stuff You Should Know. 

At a glance, Gabe Dunn, host of Bad with Money and author of Bad With Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together, only covers financial health and literacy, but considered collectively, their content is just as wide-ranging as Clark and Bryant: they have also published two Young Adult novels and a graphic novel. Craving more fiction after Gabe Dunn? You may want to check out Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor, based on their hit podcast by the same name.  

Hoping to move beyond traditional text towards art, photos, essays, memes, tweets, recipes, and more? Black Futures, co-edited by J Worthman, host of Still Processing, has it all. Liz Moody, host of Healthier Together, also has plenty of photos and recipes for ogling in Glow Pops and Healthier Together. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also share some truly excellent authors-turned-podcasters: Lori Gottlieb, author of one of my all-time favorite books, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and co-host of Dear Therapists; Ibram X Kendi, author of How to be an Antiracist and Stamped from the Beginning and host of Be Antiracist; Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed and host of We Can Do Hard Things; and Malcolm Gladwell, author of Talking to Strangers and Outliers, and host of Revisionist History.  

Who are your favorite podcasters-turned-authors? Authors-turned-podcasters? Authors? Podcasters? Share any/all recommendations in the comments below!  

Special thanks to Sophie McGrath, Nic Yeager, Abby Miller, Asher Johnson, Lena Octavio, Eli Agueverre, and Ryan DiFalco for their endless podcast recommendations, many of which are highlighted in this post.