The Stacks

Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by award-winning theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, to discuss her newest book, The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie. In it, Chanda uses poetry, pop culture, and Black feminism to explore some of the most abstract concepts and mysteries of the universe, from black holes to dark matter. We talk about why she wants us all to know about advanced scientific concepts, how she simplifies these topics for lay readers, and how all this high-level science relates to the social and political issues of our time.
The Stacks Book Club pick for May is Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu. We’ll be discussing the book with Chanda Prescod-Weinstein on Wednesday, May 27.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/5/6/ep-423-chanda-prescod-weinstein
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It’s The Stacks Book Club Day, and we’re joined by Mahogany L. Browne to discuss our April pick, Room Swept Home by Remica Bingham-Risher. In this beautiful poetry collection, Remica explores themes of race, lineage, faith, and mental health through the lens of her own family history. Today, we talk about what makes this collection so unique, how her poems capture historical context, and the ways this collection subverts form and tradition.
Listen to the end of the episode to hear what our May book club pick will be!
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/4/29/ep-422-room-swept-home
Connect with Mahogany: Website | Instagram | Facebook
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Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Adrienne Thurman to discuss her debut novel, Don’t Tell Me How It Ends. This book follows Kaia Harper, a floundering 20-something who’s sworn off romance until she’s asked to be the first client in her sister’s matchmaking business. As she suffers through bad dates and failed matches, she finds herself falling for an unexpected man she meets in a chance encounter. We chat about writing romance while going through a divorce, her journey to becoming an author, and why readers take issue with unlikable women finding love.
The Stacks Book Club pick for April is Room Swept Home by Remica Bingham-Risher. We’ll be discussing the book with Mahogany L. Browne on Wednesday, April 29.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/4/22/ep-421-adrienne-thurman
Connect with Adrienne: Website | Instagram | Threads | Substack
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*Patreon and Substack-only bonus episode teaser, click here for the full episode*
Happy National Poetry Month! We’re celebrating by bringing back another installment of Poetry Therapy, which is a bonus episode we did back in 2024. If you've ever felt like you didn’t “get it” when it comes to poetry, we've got five incredible poets who can help: José Olivarez, Cortney Charleston, Camonghne Felix, Nate Marshall, and Yesika Zamora. Each poet has selected a poem to break down with me—they'll read it, discuss what they notice and how it works, and talk about why it excites them. Whether you love poetry, don’t understand it, or are somewhere in between, this episode is for you.
You can find links to everything we discuss on today’s show on The Stacks Website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/unabridged/2026/4/17/tsu-58-poetry-therapy-2
Connect with José: Instagram | Twitter | Website | Substack
Connect with Cortney: Instagram | Website | Threads | Bluesky
Connect with Camonghne: Instagram | Threads | Substack | Twitter/X
Connect with Nate: Instagram | Website | Substack
Connect with Yesika: Instagram | Website | Substack | Threads
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Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by the 24th Poet Laureate of the US, Ada Limón, to discuss her 11th book, Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry. Derived from her final lecture as poet laureate, this book explores poetry’s profound ability to heal, inspire, connect, and remind us of our shared humanity. We talk about the things poetry can do that prose cannot, how to approach poems you don’t like, and what came after her tenure as the poet laureate.
The Stacks Book Club pick for April is Room Swept Home by Remica Bingham-Risher. We’ll be discussing the book with Mahogany L. Browne on Wednesday, April 29.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/4/15/ep-420-ada-limon
Connect with Ada: Website | Instagram
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Threads | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Substack | Youtube | Subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.