
Each week on The Book Show, host Joe Donahue interviews authors about their books, their lives and their craft. It is a celebration of both reading and writers. Joe holds interesting conversations with a variety of authors including Malcolm Gladwell, Lawrence Wright, and Emily St. John Mandel.As the son of a librarian, Joe has been part of the book world since childhood. His first job was as a lib... more
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 200 | Founded | 10 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | BooksArts | |||

In his latest novel, “The River Is Waiting,” Wally Lamb gives us a story about one man’s fall and uncertain redemption. Corby Ledbetter, a married, father of twins, makes a tragic mistake that sends him to prison and shatters his family. Behind bars,... more
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout has spent decades writing about the quiet devastations and unexpected moments of grace that shape ordinary lives. Her latest novel, ‘The Things We Never Say,’ introduces a new cast of characters and a ne... more
Douglas Stuart’s novels include ‘Shuggie Bain’ and ‘Young Mungo.’ In his latest novel ‘John of John,’ Stuart shifts the landscape but not the intensity. Set in Scotland’s remote Hebridean islands, the novel follows a young man returning home, confron... more
Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of ‘Election,’ ‘Little Children,’ and ‘The Leftovers’ returns with ‘Ghost Town.’ Set in 1970s New Jersey, ‘Ghost Town’ centers on Jimmy Perrini, a thirteen-year-old reeling from the death of his mother. It is written ... more
People also subscribe to these shows.




I just discovered The Book Show and am enjoying it so much! I love hearing some of my favorite authors like Billy Collins (the definition of poetry is awesome), Kaveh Akbar (I'm a huge fan!), and Scott Turow (who knew he had a Chicago or Michigan accent (I think)? Looking forward to catching up! (PS - Joe Donahue sounds like David Letterman, right?!)
Such an underrated show in the podcast sphere. I used to listen on the radio back east and it's a treasure trove for listening to some of the best authors.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Apple Podcasts | #179 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
A thoughtful interview series that centers on authors, their books, and the craft of writing. Conversations often weave literary analysis with personal storytelling, exploring themes from memory and history to contemporary culture, with notable attention to the writing process, research methods, and how lived experience informs fiction. The host's long-running public-radio pedigree adds a calm, inquisitive cadence that suits listeners who love deep dives into character, craft, and the societal context surrounding new works. A standout is the breadth of guests—ranging from literary fiction to genre novels—paired with candid discussions about authors' inspirations, editing journeys, and the ethics of portrayal in fiction.
Noteworthy strength... more
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for The Book Show. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to The Book Show and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for The Book Show, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for The Book Show, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers The Book Show has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with The Book Show:
1. The Book Review
2. Poured Over
3. NPR's Book of the Day
4. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
5. Totally Booked with Zibby
The Book Show launched 10 years ago and published 200 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for The Book Show from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of The Book Show. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on The Book Show include:
1. Douglas Stuart
2. Tom Perrotta
3. Kathryn Stockett
4. Elizabeth Berg
5. Emma Straub
6. Ani DiFranco
7. Tayari Jones
8. CJ Box
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.