
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 | |||

Booker Prize-winning novelist Marlon James returns to Jamaica with 'The Disappearers.' Set in Kingston in 1988, the novel follows eight gay men whose lives are forever changed by a brutal attack.James joins us to talk about friendship, violence, iden... more
Chang-Rae Lee joins us to discuss 'A Tender Age,' a coming-of-age story set in the summer of 1976 that explores family, identity, memory, and the moments that shape a life. From the award-winning author of Native Speaker comes a deeply moving new nov... more
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo has made a career exploring the complicated relationships of small-town America. His latest, 'Under the Falls,' follows a famous musician returning to the Adirondack town he fled years ago, where old frie... more
Sigrid Nunez has long been one of America's most thoughtful literary voices. Now, after more than three decades as a novelist, she's published her first collection of short fiction, 'It Will Come Back to You.' The stories span much of her career, bri... 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 | #150 |
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 |
The show centers on in-depth author interviews that blend craft, storytelling, and book promotion. Conversations commonly explore how authors approach character, structure, and thematic resonance across contemporary fiction and literary non-fiction, with frequent emphasis on the writing process, historical context, and the personal experiences that shape a book. The host's long-running radio presence adds a warm, interview-focused rhythm that has attracted a roster of renowned writers, making it a go-to for listeners who want thoughtful discussions and behind-the-scenes storytelling from top authors.
A standout aspect is the consistent focus on craft and the progression of an author's career, often tying new releases to broader literary co... 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 four 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. Poured Over
2. The Book Show
3. NPR's Book of the Day
4. All Of It with Alison Stewart
5. The Book Review
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. Marlon James
2. Chang-Rae Lee
3. Sigrid Nunez
4. Paul Yoon
5. Daniel Mason
6. Colson Whitehead
7. Amy Bloom
8. Francine Prose
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.