Bookstories

John Evans of Diesel, a bookstore in Brentwood, talks about the state of his business and shares his insights on how bookselling will look in a post-pandemic world.

a conversation with producer, teacher, and author Richard Wolf about his new book, In Tune, available now.

Shawn Levy, in conversation, about his new book The Castle on Sunset.

Danny discusses his new book remembering Kurt Cobain, his time managing the band Nirvana, and more.

A conversation with Stephanie Valdez, owner of Community Bookstore in Brooklyn.

A conversation with Ben Rybeck of Brazos Bookstore in Houston, TX.

Geoff discusses his prior work and current thoughts on tennis, jazz, film, tv, literature, bookstores and more.

Susan Jaques in conversation about her new book, The Caesar of Paris. Topics discussed include: tackling the subject matter of Napoleon Bonaparte, the history of art appropriation, the history of The Louvre, Napoleon's looting of Egypt, his relationship with the Catholic Church, the history of the Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's downfall, and why we still talk about and study him today.

Madhuri and Vik discuss the inspiration behind her first novel, writing in the first person, the Kashmir region of India, favorite bookstores, and much more.

Karen Bender discusses intent and process on several short stories in her new collection and caps the conversation with a run down of favorite works, bookstores and what she's currently reading.

Kembrew McLeod discusses his new book, The Downtown Pop Underground

Thomas Kohnstamm, author of Lake City, discusses why he wrote about the two sides of Seattle, Lake City the place, the business of producing a book, the writing process, favorite places to write, and much more.

Christie talks about the store she owns and operates in beautiful Mendocino, CA. Topics discussed include: taking over a legacy store, event planning for stores outside big cities, Joan Didion, the origin story behind their great coffee mugs, the state of technology in the retail book space, and more.

David Kipen discusses his new book, Dear Los Angeles: the City in Diaries and Letters, 1542 to 2018

A conversation with Teena Apeles and Andrea Richards, the creative team behind the book 'Dear Seller'

A conversation with Janet Geddis, owner of Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA.

A conversation with New York Times Bestselling author Bill Knoedelseder about his new book called Fins about the rise of General Motors and the glory days of Detroit. 

A conversation with Ally Kirkpatrick, owner of the newly launched Old Town Books in Alexandria, VA. 

A conversation with Jonah Zimiles, owner of Words Bookstore in Maplewood, NJ. 

A conversation with Rafe Bartholomew about his new book, Basketball: A Love Story. Topics discussed include: Bill Simmons (3:15), Super Teams (6:52), The ABA's legacy (11:33), The ABA's origin story (13:37), Becky Hammon (21:52), Michael Jordan (37:33), Allen Iverson (46:34), the greatest player who never won a ring (51:58), and much more. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to shows. Visit https://bookstories.show for all past episodes. Thanks for listening. 

A conversation with Ryan Raffaelli about his research on the independent bookstore industry. We discuss why he made bookstores a primary focus of his work, his research methodology, why bookstores are an anomaly in retail, what he thinks of Amazon's retail footprints, the "buy local" movement, bookstore curation, and improvements bookstores can make for the future. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to shows. Visit https://bookstories.show for all past episodes. Thanks for listening. 

A conversation with Nicole Sullivan, owner of BookBar, a wine bar and bookstore in Denver, CO. 

A conversation with Susanne Konig of POWERHOUSE Arena in Brooklyn.  

A conversation with Bob Lingle of Off the Beaten Path Books in Upstate New York. 

A conversation with Amy Stephenson of The Booksmith in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury neighborhood. 

A conversation with Josh Spencer of The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles. 

A conversation with John Evans of Diesel, a bookstore in Brentwood, CA. 

A conversation with LA's mobile bookstore duo, Alexa Harkins and Emory Trembly, about building a concept from scratch, launching a successful Kickstarter campaign, pivoting, and books! 

A conversation with Chiara Arroyo & Celene Navarette, co-owners of LA librería in Los Angeles. LA librería specializes in imported children's books from Spanish speaking nations around the world. 

A delightful in-studio conversation with Allison Hill, CEO and President of Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena and Book Soup in West Hollywood. 

A conversation with management consultant turned bookstore entrepreneur, Esther Dairiam. She owns Read it and Eat, a culinary bookstore and event space in Chicago. 

A wide-ranging conversation with Darryl Holter, co-owner of Chevalier's Books in the Larchmont neighborhood of Los Angeles.  

A conversation with Danielle Hulton, owner of Ada's Technical Books in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.  

A conversation with Alex Maslansky, general manager and partner of Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park, Los Angeles.  

A lively conversation with Bea & Leah Koch, co-owners of The Ripped Bodice in Culver City, CA. We discuss their successful Kickstarter campaign, the Romance industry and genre, their thoughts on diversity, publishing, Fabio and much more. 

A conversation with Karen Hayes, co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville. We talk about how she met and eventually partnered with acclaimed author Ann Patchett, her publishing background, the challenges and joys of opening a brand new bookstore, and what it takes to build a sustainable local business today. Special cameo: the famous Parnassus dogs. 

A conversation with Pete Mulvilhill, co-owner of Green Apple Books in San Francisco, about Robin Williams, Oliver Sacks, bookstore longevity, bookstore expansion, San Francisco's changing demographics, and deeply philosophical insights about text messaging. 

A conversation with Steve Bercu, owner of BookPeople in Austin, about SXSW, turning a fledgling store into one of the country's foremost book destinations, successfully stopping a chain store from opening next door, and having Amazon become his new landlord. 

A conversation about books, cooking, Vancouver, Gordon Ramsay, and world travels with Barbara-jo McIntosh, owner of Barbara-jo's Books to Cooks in Vancouver. 

A conversation about books, Miami, flotillas, basketball, and Joan Didion with Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books in Miami. 

A conversation with author Len Vlahos, owner of Tattered Cover in Denver. 

A conversation with Book Soup's GM, Nadine Vassallo, about book culture in Los Angeles, the industry at large, and what it's like running the culturally significant and influential bookstore on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. 

Alternate Thursdays presents Bookstories, a podcast about the business and culture of bookselling in the 21st century. It features conversations with booksellers, publishers, writers and patrons. The first season of guests include: Parnassus Books, Tattered Cover Books, Book People, Books & Books, The Last Bookstore, Vroman's, Powerhouse, and Politics & Prose.