In this episode, Craig and Olivia sit down with legendary travel writer and TV host Rick Steves to celebrate the 50th episode of the Libro.fm Podcast. Rick shares insights from his newest book, On the Hippie Trail, a travel memoir drawn from journals he kept as a 23-year-old backpacking from Istanbul to India in the late 1970s. They discuss the importance of journaling and how travel shaped Rick’s lifelong commitment to teaching, storytelling, and political awareness.He also talks about his other book, Travel as a Political Act, and how travel can challenge ethnocentrism, spark empathy, and inspire deeper civic engagement.

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About Rick Steves: Rick Steves, America's most respected authority on European travel, empowers Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. In 1976, he started his business, Rick Steves' Europe, headquartered in Edmonds, Washington, near Seattle. There he produces a best-selling guidebook series, a popular public television show, a weekly public radio show, a syndicated travel column, and free travel information available through his travel center and ricksteves.com. Rick Steves' Europe also runs a successful small-group tour program taking 30,000 travelers to Europe annually.

Get Rick’s Books:

• On the Hippie Trail
• Travel as a Political Act

In this episode, Craig and Olivia sit down with Eve L. Ewing—author, scholar, poet, comic book writer, and professor—to talk about her newest book, Original Sins: The (Mis)Education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism. Eve shares the inspirations behind the book, the emotional toll of writing it, and the active role imagination plays in justice and systemic transformation.

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Use promo code: SWITCH when signing up for a new Libro.fm membership to get two additional credits to use on any audiobooks—meaning you’ll have three from the start.

About Eve L. Ewing: Eve L. Ewing is a writer, scholar, and cultural organizer from Chicago. She is the award-winning author of four books: Electric Arches, 1919, Ghosts in the Schoolyard, and Maya and the Robot. She is the co-author (with Nate Marshall) of the play No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks and has written several projects for Marvel Comics.

Photo credit: Jaclyn Rivas

Get Eve’s Book:

• Original Sins
• 1919
• Maya and the Robot
• Ghosts in the Schoolyard

Books discussed on today’s episode:

• The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• Codename: Pale Horse by Scott Payne

In this episode of the Libro.fm podcast, Craig and Olivia sit down with Annie B. Jones—author of Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put, owner of The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia, and host of the beloved From the Front Porch podcast. Annie shares the inspiration behind her essay collection, how running an indie bookstore shaped her view of third places, and why books aren’t just escape, but flashlights guiding us back into connection with the world. Plus, see how Libro.fm is celebrating Independent Bookstore Day on April 26!

Celebrate Indie Bookstore Day: https://2ly.link/2608h

Read the full transcript:

Use promo code: SWITCH when signing up for a new Libro.fm membership to get two additional credits to use on any audiobooks—meaning you’ll have three from the start.

About Annie B. Jones: Annie B. Jones is a writer, podcaster, and the owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. Jones hosts From the Front Porch, a weekly podcast about books, small business, and life in the South, and her work has been featured in Southern Living magazine. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, she lives in Thomasville with her husband, Jordan, and their dog, Sam Malone.

Get Annie’s Book:

• Ordinary Time

Books discussed on today's episode:

• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
• Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
• Woodworking by Emily St. James

This episode of the Libro.fm podcast features an interview with Amanda Jones, a school librarian and anti-censorship advocate whose book "That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America" became a national bestseller. Amanda discusses her decision to write the book, the process of narrating the audiobook version, and the importance of combating book bans and censorship in libraries and schools. She provides advice for starting grassroots organizations to fight book bans and shares insights on navigating the complex issues around representation and censorship in literary collections.

Read the full transcript:

Use promo code: SWITCH when signing up for a new Libro.fm membership to get two additional credits to use on any audiobooks—meaning you’ll have three from the start.

Get Amanda’s Book:
That Librarian

Books discussed on today's episode:

• Banned Together (Our Fight for Readers' Rights) by Ashley Hope Pérez
• Creep by Emma van Straaten
• All Friends Are Necessary by Tomas Moniz
• Big Familia by Tomas Moniz
• The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander

In this episode of the Libro.fm podcast, hosts Craig and Karen interview Aaliyah Bilal, author of the 2023 National Book Award finalist "Temple Folk." Aaliyah discusses her creative process and journey to becoming a writer, why she prefers to write short stories and the inspiration behind her collection, and book recommendations for those interested in exploring Islam in Ghana and Sudan.

Read the full transcript:

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About Aaliyah: Aaliyah Bilal is an American writer acclaimed for her debut short story collection, Temple Folk, which explores the lives of Black Muslims in 1970s America. The collection was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2024 Aspen Words Literary Prize. Bilal received the 2024 Whiting Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

Get Aaliyah's books:

• Temple Folk

Books discussed on today's episode:

• The Prophet of Zongo Street by Mohammed Naseehu Ali
• Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

Recorded live at the 2024 Texas Book Festival in Austin, this episode features authors Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (The Undocumented Americans, Catalina) and Amanda Montell (Cultish, The Age of Magical Overthinking). The authors discuss narrating their own audiobooks, touching on everything from incorporating humor and emotion to the challenges of audiobook production. They also offer advice for first-time narrators, discuss the nuances of audiobooks compared to print, and reflect on how their distinct styles shape the listening experience.

Watch the live video recording here

Read the full transcript:

Use promo code: SWITCH when signing up for a new Libro.fm membership to get two additional credits to use on any audiobooks—meaning you’ll have three from the start.

About Karla: Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is an Ecuadorian-American writer and the author of The Undocumented Americans and Catalina. Her work, which focuses on race, culture, and immigration, has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, Elle, Interview, and on NPR.

About Amanda: Amanda Montell is an American writer and the author of Wordslut and Cultish. Her work, which focuses on language, linguistics, and pop culture, has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wired, and on NPR.

Get Karla's books:

• Catalina
• The Undocumented Americans

Get Amanda’s books:

• Cultish
• Wordslut
• The Age of Magical Overthinking

In this episode, we chat with acclaimed author, poet, and painter Percival Everett to discuss his award-winning novel James— the 2024 National Book Award winner and Libro.fm’s Audiobook of the Year. Percival shares his thoughts on the magic of language, the role of place in storytelling, and the whirlwind experience of his recent book tour. He also reflects on balancing his many creative passions, his journey as a writer, and the profound power of literature.

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Use promo code: SWITCH when signing up for a new Libro.fm membership to get two additional credits to use on any audiobooks—meaning you’ll have three from the start.

About Percival: Percival Everett is a celebrated American writer and a Distinguished Professor of English at USC whose 2024 novel James won the National Book Award. His work has earned numerous honors, including the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, the NBCC Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award, and the Windham-Campbell Prize. In 2023, his novel Erasure was adapted into the feature film American Fiction.

Get Percival’s books:

• James
• The Trees
• Erasure

Books discussed on today’s episode:

• The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
• Dvorak's Prophecy by Joseph Horowitz
• Last Room On The Left by Leah Konen
• The Snow Killer by Ross Greenwood
• We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin

In this episode, we sit down with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, author of The Undocumented Americans and Catalina, which was longlisted for the 2024 National Book Awards. Cornejo Villavicencio opens up about her experience with meeting readers for the first time and how the unpredictability of the publishing world has shaped her perspective. She also discusses the process of recording Catalina’s audiobook and how it led to her connecting with the novel in a deeper, more personal way.

READ TRANSCRIPT

Use promo code: SWITCH when signing up for a new Libro.fm membership to get two additional credits to use on any audiobooks—meaning you’ll have three from the start.

About Karla: Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is an Ecuadorian-American writer and the author of The Undocumented Americans and Catalina. Catalina was longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction. Her work, which focuses on race, culture, and immigration, has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, Elle, Interview, and on NPR.

Get Karla's books:

• Catalina
• The Undocumented Americans

Books discussed on today’s episode:

• Model Home by Rivers Solomon
• Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
• The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi