I'd Rather Be Reading
I'd Rather Be Reading
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 I'd Rather Be Reading Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best I'd Rather Be Reading episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to I'd Rather Be Reading for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite I'd Rather Be Reading episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
For episode two of two of our bonus Mean Girls content, we’ve got Rosalind Wiseman on the show today, whose 2002 book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World was the basis for Tina Fey’s screenplay for the original 2004 Mean Girls film. This book—which is currently undergoing its third revision—is the go-to manual for being a teenage girl and raising a teenage girl. This isn’t Rosalind’s only book—she has written nine and has multiple New York Times bestsellers—but it’s likely her most well-known book, and Rosalind is a subject matter expert when it comes to girls and the complex social issues they face, like cliques, gossip, bullying, self-image, social hierarchy, and (of course) boys.
Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World by Rosalind Wiseman
I’m really excited to bring you today’s conversation with Erika Ayers Badan, who you might know as the woman formerly known as Erika Nardini. (Erika got married, and that explains the name change.) Erika is perhaps most well-known as not just the first female CEO of Barstool Sports, but the first CEO of Barstool Sports, period. If you’re not familiar with Barstool somehow, it’s a sports and pop culture blog that also has podcasts and videos under its umbrella—it’s not afraid to be controversial and shake the industry up, and I think maybe the best word to describe the company is chaotic. Intentionally chaotic. Erika was extremely successful at Barstool, which grew to more than 5 billion monthly video views and 225 million followers under her leadership and was valued at $550 million. During her time at Barstool, Erika referred to herself, very tongue-in-cheek, as a “token CEO,” not only the rare female employee but, again, the CEO of a very male-dominated culture. Not only has Erika experienced ample professional success—and I’ll talk more about that in a moment—but she is someone who clearly just loves to work. She loves what she does. She is invigorated and energized by it, and I relate to that, because I am the same way. Erika’s first book is out today, June 11, and is called Nobody Cares About Your Career: Why Failure Is Good, the Great Ones Play Hurt, and Other Hard Truths, and it is basically a career manual for women and men on how to get it done and have a career that means something. It’s advice from someone who is firmly in the arena; it’s real and raw, tell it to you straight—much like Erika herself. There’s more advice in this book than I could ever give in this episode—it’s page after page of it—and this book is all-encompassing; it really is a career guide I’ll keep with me and return to and return to, again and again. It’s a playbook for success by somebody who has found it. Erika was CEO at Barstool from 2016 until earlier this year, January to be exact; she led the company from 12 employees to over 300 employees, and saw it become a national powerhouse under her leadership. Prior to joining Barstool, Erika held leadership positions at Microsoft, AOL, Demand Media, and Yahoo, and is now, as of April of this year, CEO at Food52, a culinary, lifestyle, and homeware company. One of my favorite aspects of Erika’s philosophy is her fail-always mindset—she embraces failure and doesn’t run from it or shy away from it. As she writes, “Falling down and getting back up—awkwardly at first, but, over time, more gracefully—is what has made my career successful.” There’s a ton of good nuggets here, and I can’t wait for you to read this book and hear our conversation.
Nobody Cares About Your Career: Why Failure Is Good, the Great Ones Play Hurt, and Other Hard Truths by Erika Ayers Badan
Powerhouse Literary Agent Lucinda Halpern on Actionable Steps to Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Write the Book You Were Meant to Write
I'd Rather Be Reading
04/01/24 • 38 min
Welcome to the season 10 finale, friends! What a great season it has been, with so much more in store in the forthcoming season 11. Today on the show we’re talking about a topic close to my heart as I look to undertake this project this year: getting signed to a literary agent and getting signed to a book deal. I realize this is a podcast for readers, but I also realize that many of you are writers, and maybe you’ve been feeling the nudge too to write that book, whether fiction or nonfiction, that you just can’t get out of your head. The process of getting a book deal is totally overwhelming, but thankfully now we have Lucinda Halpern’s Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author, which walks you step-by-step through the cumbersome process in a way that is easy to understand, digestible, and, most importantly, doable! If you have that idea tugging and gnawing at you, listeners, and it just won’t go away, it’s time to write that book, whatever that book is, and here’s your sign. Lucinda’s book walks us all the way through how to do it; this mystifying process isn’t shrouded in complexity anymore, and through her six-step method you’ll close the book able to write a query letter that gets an agent’s attention, build an effective marketing platform, and go on to write the book you’re meant to write. In today’s conversation we talk about whether the process of finding a literary agent is different for fiction and nonfiction writers, red flags to look out for when choosing an agent, whether an agent is absolutely necessary to land a book deal and impart a boost of confidence for all of you, like me, who think maybe you aren’t good enough or ready to do this. Guess what? You are!
Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author by Lucinda Halpern
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment without Burnout by Cal Newport
Kate Bowler on How Faith and Fear Can Coexist at the Same Time, and How It’s Okay to Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day
I'd Rather Be Reading
01/18/24 • 32 min
To say that having Kate Bowler here today is an honor is something I don’t say lightly. Kate is so gentle, soothing, and easy to open up to that I cry at the end of this episode; her new book of daily devotions, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!: Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs, and In Betweens, will bring out emotions in you, as well. I appreciate everything about this conversation, but especially Kate confirming that faith and fear can and do coexist, and that it is okay. Kate is a three-time New York Times bestselling author, a graduate of Yale and Duke, a wildly popular podcaster, a professor at Duke, and, perhaps most blessedly, a cancer survivor. She’s also a truly wonderful person who is just as lovely off mic as she is on. Prepare to fall in love with her!
Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!: Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs, and In Betweens by Kate Bowler
Roger Lewis on Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s Passionate, Glamorous, and Sometimes Ridiculous Love Story
I'd Rather Be Reading
05/08/24 • 39 min
When it comes to women I find totally compelling, Elizabeth Taylor tops the list for me. Why, you may ask? Well, her Academy Award-winning career and her talent onscreen, for starters. Her beauty, specifically her violet eyes. Her work with AIDS, and her White Diamonds perfume. And, yes, her lifestyle, specifically her eight marriages. But there’s only one man she married twice, and that love story, the love story between Elizabeth and Richard Burton, is what we’re talking about on the show today. Joining me today is Roger Lewis, the endlessly compelling author of Erotic Vagrancy: Everything About Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, which came out March 26. It took Roger 13 years to write this book, which clocks in at the juiciest 608 pages imaginable. It, in a word, is delicious. Elizabeth knew celebrity well, and by the time she met Richard on the set of Cleopatra in 1961, she had transitioned from a child star to a Hollywood icon. Meanwhile, we have Richard, who is a legend in the theater and a truly brilliant actor, nominated for seven Academy Awards, though he didn’t win any. He is much, much more averse to fame than his wife Elizabeth, who essentially helped define modern celebrity. Their two lives converge in Rome, and both are married to other people at the time; they can’t resist one another, and in come the private jets, the jewels, the yachts, the furs, and the vodka—so much vodka. Though Roger calls the two the loves of one another’s lives, it all goes wrong, with alcoholism, violence, recrimination, and two divorces. Richard is dead at just 58 in 1982; Elizabeth will live another 29 years before dying in 2011. Elizabeth and Richard were better known as “Liz and Dick” by the media, and ultimately starred in 11 films together and were married the first time from 1964 to 1974, and then remarried in 1975; their second marriage once again ended in divorce in 1976, just one year later. Together, in the 1960s the supercouple earned a combined $88 million. Their relationship has been referred to as the “marriage of the century,” and here to escort us on this rollercoaster ride is Roger Lewis, who, in addition to this masterpiece, also wrote The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, which was made into a Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning film by HBO starring Geoffrey Rush and Charlize Theron. I would expect some type of screen adaptation for Erotic Vagrancy, as well—just saying. He has also written a number of other biographies, including one on Laurence Olivier. Prepare through this conversation to be transported to the lavish, almost unbelievable world of Liz and Dick, and strap yourselves in, because it’s going to be a bumpy, wild ride.
Erotic Vagrancy: Everything About Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor by Roger Lewis
Kathy Kleiner Rubin on Surviving Serial Killer Ted Bundy, and Why His Victims Should Be Honored and Remembered
I'd Rather Be Reading
11/08/23 • 44 min
It's January 15, 1978. Kathy Kleiner is a student at Florida State University and is asleep in her room at the Chi Omega sorority house. Unbeknownst to her, a serial killer named Ted Bundy has discovered the sorority house’s back door is accessible—the lock is broken. That night, he broke into the house, murdered two of her sorority sisters, savagely injured Kathy and her roommate, and changed so many lives forever. Today, Kathy gets to tell her story. It is harrowing and terrifying, and please be forewarned that this conversation contains graphic descriptions of violence that is very difficult to listen to. Bundy was ultimately convicted of murder in Florida and executed by electrocution on January 24, 1989; his total victim count is unknown, but it numbers over 30 women across seven states from 1974 to 1978. Kathy is the first confirmed survivor of his to write a book, and it is a beautiful one, though the subject matter is ugly. As Kathy put it, she didn’t just want to survive—she wanted to live. And that she has. This book is her offering to honor Bundy’s victims who never got the chance to tell their story. One of the most, if not the most, powerful conversations I’ve ever had.
A Light in the Dark: Surviving More Than Ted Bundy by Kathy Kleiner Rubin
Vera Chapman, Our First Children’s Book Author, on Pregnancy Loss and How to Help Children Grieve Through It
I'd Rather Be Reading
02/15/24 • 49 min
Today’s episode is a tough one—but it is also such a beautiful one. I want to insert a trigger warning here: my guest and I will be discussing the loss of a child to stillbirth today, so if you are grieving any type of pregnancy loss (or any type of loss, period) this conversation may be upsetting to you. Please take care of yourself and return to the conversation when you can. This is an absolutely beautiful, powerful conversation with a dear friend of mine, Vera Chapman, who is also the first children’s book author we’ve ever had on the show. Vera’s book, Our Baby In Our Hearts, focuses on the real life experience that her two living children, Grayson and Ivey, faced when confronted with the loss of their baby brother, Hayes, on February 15, 2021. (Yes, this episode is being released on Hayes’ third birthday.) Our Baby In Our Hearts offers practical mindfulness exercises to help young hearts cope with big feelings. It is also stunningly illustrated and will truly be so moving to anyone, but especially anyone who has experienced pregnancy loss. After losing Hayes in 2021, Vera has turned her pain into purpose, not only writing this book but also creating the “Light in Loss” daily healing affirmation cards series for women. She is the founder of the wellness coaching practice Resonating Soul Wellness and has over a decade of experience supporting women through coaching and counseling. I am so proud to call her my friend, and today’s esteemed guest.
Our Baby In Our Hearts: A Mindful Story of Grief and Healing by Vera V. Chapman
Daily affirmation cards for grieving mothers and women
More affirmations for both women and children
Follow Vera on Instagram @veravchapman!
Hi friends! If you didn’t know, I am the Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor at Marie Claire magazine, and as of this month I am in charge of our monthly virtual book club, #ReadwithMC. Seeing as though we already read together here on I’d Rather Be Reading, why not read on #ReadwithMC, too? It is my hope to grow this book club on par with some of my favorite book clubs, like those from Jenna Bush Hager, Reese Witherspoon, Queen Camilla, and Oprah Winfrey. (Now, look. I’m never going to be Oprah. But a girl can try.) If you’re listening to this show I hope you like my taste in books, and you know that just how I only bring you the best of the best on I’d Rather Be Reading, I plan to do the same with #ReadwithMC.
I am so excited to tell you about my very first #ReadwithMC book pick, and that is One in a Millennial: On Friendships, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy, which is out January 23, this Tuesday. Kate is a podcaster so many know and love; she hosts “Be There in Five” and is a dynamic pop culture commentator. When I read One in a Millennial, I felt so seen. Kate is a year younger than me. I was born in 1986 and I believe Kate was born in 1987. In this book, Kate wrote everything I wish I could have written about being a millennial but I probably wouldn’t be able to articulate as concisely and perfectly as she did. I laughed, I cried, I found in Kate the voice of a generation. This book essentially nails down the millennial experience into a 336-page book. I could wax on and on, but this book encapsulates the experience of being a millennial largely through the lens of pop culture—an exploration of the millennial zeitgeist and the life lessons learned (for better and for worse) from being a member of this generation.
Below you’ll find some useful links:
Learn more about #ReadwithMC on the whole
Join us for Kate’s Instagram takeover on Marie Claire’s page on January 25
Leave a review of the book on Instagram or Twitter (or X, whatever) by January 28 using the hashtag #Readwith MC (keep in mind your profile needs to be set to public for me to see it)
Then join us in the first week of February for our next pick!
I can’t wait to be in a book club with you!
Dave Cullen on the Columbine High School Massacre, 25 Years Later
I'd Rather Be Reading
04/20/24 • 103 min
There are no two ways around this fact: today’s conversation is tough. It’s really, really tough. Today, April 20, 2024, marks 25 years since the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado. I woke up this morning and read an article in People magazine about Frank DeAngelis, who was the principal at Columbine at the time of the shooting. In the article, DeAngelis said that every single morning, he wakes up and says the names of those killed in that day’s horrible events. He said he almost died twice that day, and, in his words, “For whatever reason God spared me that day. So I need to try to help others.” I will take a page from Principal DeAngelis and begin this episode by saying the names of the 12 students and one teacher killed that day: Cassie Bernall, Steven Curnow, Corey DePooter, Kelly Fleming, Matt Kechter, Daniel Mauser, Danny Rohrbough, Dave Sanders, Rachel Scott, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin, Lauren Townsend, and Kyle Velasquez. Thirteen people who woke up on this morning 25 years ago and headed into school for what they probably imagined would be a typical Tuesday—and they never came home.
Today on the show I have Dave Cullen, who wrote the definitive book on the Columbine massacre, simply titled Columbine, in 2009, 10 years after the attack happened. It took Dave a full decade to write this masterpiece, and he followed it up with a book about the Parkland school shooting, simply titled Parkland, in 2019. Dave’s Columbine book has a new edition and we talk about that in today’s episode. You can feel Dave’s passion for a topic he spent a full decade writing about oozing throughout this conversation.
I was 12 years old and in the sixth grade on April 20, 1999, when perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 12 fellow classmates and a teacher at the school. The massacre was also an attempted bombing that failed, and 10 of the 12 students killed were in the school library, the epicenter of the attack, where Harris and Klebold also killed themselves at the massacre’s end. When it happened, Columbine was the deadliest mass school shooting at a K-12 school in U.S. history; Harris and Klebold had been planning their attack for at least a year and planned for it to be primarily a bombing attack, and secondarily a shooting attack. When the bombs they’d built failed to detonate, they began shooting. Their motive remains inconclusive, but Dave and I get into the “why” of it all in our conversation today. Its aftermath has unfortunately spawned dozens of copycat killings, called “the Columbine effect,” and the word “Columbine” itself has become a word symbolizing school shootings. The attack took place from 11:19 a.m. to 12:08 p.m., culminating in the suicides of Harris and Klebold. In 2007, the Columbine Memorial opened to the public, and two years later, in 2009, Dave’s book came out. Dave is considered the nation’s foremost authority on Columbine, and his book covers two major storylines: the killers’ evolution leading up to the attack, and the survivors’ struggles with its aftermath after it happened. Chapters alternate between those two stories, and the book spent eight weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and won numerous awards, drawing comparisons to Truman Capote’s classic In Cold Blood and Ann Rule’s The Stranger Beside Me. This conversation is a difficult one, but necessary.
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Have you ever met someone, and you just instantly knew they were someone you wanted to get to know? That’s how I felt when I met today’s guest, Lisa Mayer, the cofounder and CEO of Boss Beauties and the author of Boss Beauty: Inspiration to Be Everything You Want, which is out this upcoming Tuesday, March 12. Boss Beauties is a media and entertainment brand that inspires and elevates the next generation of women and girls, and the book, Boss Beauty, is, first of all, incredibly enjoyable to look at—colorful, and truly a work of art—but also filled with meaningful content, like inspirational quotes, love notes from your future self, advice from your big sis when you feel like giving up, how to reframe our Mondays, and how to make confidence our all-purpose wardrobe. Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day, and inside the pages of this book live the words “Every day is International Women’s Day to me,” so what better day for me to let you get to know Lisa and this book than today? Page after page of the book features wisdom and advice from entertainers, chefs, Olympic athletes, CEOs, an astrophysicist, a Disney legend, a champion NASCAR driver—all of whom teach us how to harness our inner grit, make an impact in the world, learn when to say yes, when to not give up, how to be everything you want, and, of course, be your own Boss Beauty. Lisa was inspired to write this book to bring to the world the business wisdom and mentorship she didn’t have. Ladies, you can be everything you want, and this book will make you believe that and go out and live that truth, once and for all. Core Boss Beauties characteristics include self-love, courage, clarity, grace, and passion, and this book will give you the inspiration and that extra push you may need to take charge and become the CEO of your own life. If you’re looking to be a force in the world and be everything you want to be, this book and this conversation are for you. Plus, stay tuned at the end for by top television (and movie!) picks based off of books for spring 2024.
Boss Beauty: Inspiration to Be Everything You Want by Lisa Mayer
Learn more about Boss Beauties here!
+ my television and movie picks based on books for spring 2024!
Read: Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller | Watch: Masters of the Air on Apple TV+, in progress now
Read: The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee | Watch: Expats on Amazon Prime, out now
Read: One Day by David Nicholls | Watch: One Day on Netflix, out now
Read: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty | Watch: Apples Never Fall on Peacock, out March 14
Read:
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does I'd Rather Be Reading have?
I'd Rather Be Reading currently has 273 episodes available.
What topics does I'd Rather Be Reading cover?
The podcast is about Podcasts, Books and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on I'd Rather Be Reading?
The episode title 'Philip Norman on George Harrison, the Beatles, and "Rock’s Strangest Love Triangle"' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on I'd Rather Be Reading?
The average episode length on I'd Rather Be Reading is 36 minutes.
How often are episodes of I'd Rather Be Reading released?
Episodes of I'd Rather Be Reading are typically released every 3 days, 3 hours.
When was the first episode of I'd Rather Be Reading?
The first episode of I'd Rather Be Reading was released on Jun 2, 2021.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ