Writers Charlotte Shane and Jo Livingstone talk about what they’ve been reading and special guests join to enthuse about a significant or provocative book of their choice.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
A Businessless Person: William C. Anderson on Thich Nhat Hanh’s Zen Battles
In the Season 3 finale, Jo sells Charlotte on Alan Warner’s “amazingly textured” Movern Callar (https://bookshop.org/a/119344/9780385487412), which leads the hosts to reflect on some of the season’s recurring themes. They’re then joined by the radically reflective William C. Anderson, who explains how the Buddhism transmitted in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Zen Battles (https://bookshop.org/a/119344/9781937006532), a commentary on the teachings of Master Linji, informed his political development.
William C. Anderson is a writer and activist from Birmingham, Alabama. His work has appeared in The Guardian, MTV, British Journal of Photography, Logic(s) Magazine, and Prism (https://prismreports.org/?author_name=william-c-anderson), where he’s a monthly columnist. He is the author of The Nation on No Map (https://www.akpress.org/nationonnomap.html) (AK Press 2021) and co-author of As Black as Resistance (https://www.akpress.org/as-black-as-resistance.html) (AK Press 2018). He’s also the co-founder of Offshoot Journal (https://offshootjournal.org/) and provides creative direction as a producer of the Black Autonomy Podcast (https://blackautonomy.libsyn.com/). His writings have been included in the anthologies, Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? (https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/952-who-do-you-serve-who-do-you-protect) (Haymarket 2016) and No Selves to Defend (https://noselves2defend.wordpress.com/) (Mariame Kaba 2014).
Please consider supporting our work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/profile/creators?u=130746783), where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com.
Charlotte Shane (https://charlotteshane.com)’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You (https://meantforyou.beehiiv.com), can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.
Jo Livingstone (https://jolivingstone.net) is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute.
To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWriters
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
4 Mar 2026
Pain and Debasement: Rayne Fisher-Quann on Iris Owens' After Claude
Charlotte puzzles over who exactly wrote Brighton Rock (https://bookshop.org/a/119344/9780142437971) before Jo shares a newfound fascination with big machines, spurred in part by Don Gillmor’s On Oil (https://bookshop.org/a/119344/9781771966672). A conversation with the preternaturally wise Rayne Fisher-Quann starts with Iris Owens' After Claude (https://bookshop.org/a/119344/9781590173633), then opens up into a rousing feminist seminar on Margery Kempe, sexual obsession, and women’s humor of past and present.
Rayne Fisher-Quann is a Brooklyn-based writer. Her blog is called Internet Princess (https://internetprincess.substack.com/), and her first book, COMPLEX FEMALE CHARACTER, is forthcoming from Knopf.
Please consider supporting our work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/profile/creators?u=130746783), where you can access additional materials and send us your guest and book coverage requests! Books discussed on all seasons of the podcast are aggregated here on Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/shop/readingwriters). Questions and comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Outro music by Marty Sulkow and Joe Valle.
Charlotte Shane (https://charlotteshane.com)’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You (https://meantforyou.beehiiv.com), can be subscribed to or read online for free, and her social media handle is @charoshane.
Jo Livingstone (https://jolivingstone.net) is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute.
To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWriters
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
25 Feb 2026
Tree-Based Horror: Nicholas Russell on Algernon Blackwood’s The Wendigo and Other Stories
Jo and Charlotte turn their attention to Nobel Laureate Kenzaburo Oe’s mindblowing A Personal Matter (https://bookshop.org/a/119344/9780802150615) and Troubled Lands: Stories of Mexico and Cuba (https://bookshop.org/a/119344/9780691268415), a collection translated by Langston Hughes, before they’re joined by Gothic-literature-loving writer-of-all-modes Nicholas Russell, who puts the spotlight on Algernon Blackwood’s unsettling preoccupation with mysterious forces in the natural world.
Nicholas Russell is a writer and critic from Las Vegas. His work has been featured inMcSweeney's, The Baffler, Conjunctions, The Nation, and Orion, among other publications. He's a long time bookseller, a contributing writer at Defector, and managing editor at Still Alive magazine. His debut novel Observer (https://bookshop.org/a/119344/9780063452398) will be published by Ecco at HarperCollins on September 15th.
Please consider supporting our work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/profile/creators?u=130746783), where you can access additional materials and send us your guest and book coverage requests! Books discussed on all seasons of the podcast are aggregated here on Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/shop/readingwriters). Questions and comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Outro music by Marty Sulkow and Joe Valle.
Charlotte Shane (https://charlotteshane.com)’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You (https://meantforyou.beehiiv.com), can be subscribed to or read online for free, and her social media handle is @charoshane.
Jo Livingstone (https://jolivingstone.net) is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute.
To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWriters
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.9 / 5
27 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
23 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 33 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
37
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
71
Contact Reading Writers
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
