The American Writers Museum Podcasts

This week, author Lauren Groff and editor John Stauffer discuss the craft and history of short stories, as well as their latest work. Moderated by author and professor Peter Coviello. Groff, a three-t...

This week, hear from three accomplished writers who blend suspense with humor to tell compelling stories. How do humor and suspense intersect to create compelling novels? These three funny masters of ...

Three finalists for the 2026 Nebula Awards—Amy Chu, Somto Ihezue, and Annalee Newitz—discuss their craft, why they write, and the state of speculative fiction today. Moderated by Tananarive Due, Toast...

This week, actress and humorist Annabelle Gurwitch discusses her new book The End of My Life Is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker. In this deftly comedic and deeply contemplative mem...

This week, acclaimed writers Daniel Kraus and Susan Orlean discuss the process of adapting books into film and television, as well as their latest releases. Kraus—who won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Fi...

This week, religion scholars Reza Aslan and Ilan Stavans sit down with Emily D. Crews to discuss their new anthology, A Nation Wrestles with God: American Prophets, Philosophers, and Firebrands, a his...

This week, acclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan talks about writing baseball and his new book The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR, and America at the Crossroads. He is interviewed by comedian Joe...

This week, we explore America at 250 years old, through lenses of migration, Black history, and queer liberation. Darius Bost and C. Riley Snorton discuss their book A Black Queer History of the Unite...

This week, the American Writers Museum and the Consulate General of Ireland, Chicago present a conversation with writer, entertainer, drag queen, LGBTQ+ rights activist and ‘Queen of IrelandR...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Isaac Bashevis Singer. An immigrant to the United States, Singer was an esteemed essayist, short story writer, novelist, translator, and childrenR...

This week, pop culture historian Jennifer Keishin Armstrong stops by to discuss her latest book Parks and Rec: The Underdog TV Show That Lit’rally Inspired a Vision for a Better America. Armstrong tel...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Henry David Thoreau. An essayist and poet, Thoreau lived a provocative life in which he endeavored to escape the limitations of human society by expl...

This week, we chat with poet Naoko Fujimoto, a senior editor at RHINO Poetry. She stopped by the AWM the other week to discuss the work of translation, her poetry process, and her forthcoming book tit...

This week, poets Marilyn Hacker and Deema K. Shehabi discuss their powerful new book Water to Water: Gaza Renga, a poetry collaboration in the call-and-response form of renga written during the confli...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of poet, actor, and rapper Tupac Shakur. Quoting from his official website: “Tupac Shakur is one of the greatest and most controversial artists of...

This week, religious studies professor Dr. Kati Curts discusses her book Assembling Religion: The Ford Motor Company and the Transformation of Religion in America, which illustrates how Henry Ford ins...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Sholem Asch. Born in Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family, Asch was a novelist, playwright, and essayist acclaimed by both critics and readers alike. ...

This week, Maggie and Africa Brown discuss the legacy of their father—Oscar Brown, Jr.—and perform some of his work. This conversation originally took place February 26, 2026 and was recorded live at ...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Pauli Murray. A poet, activist, lawyer, professor, and priest, Murray was a prolific and passionate writer. She exchanged letters with Eleanor Roosev...

In this episode, Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad discusses her book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Black, queer, feminist, Buddhist: The Fire Inside casts a fresh new light on the ...

This week, scholars Lisa Marie Gring-Pemble and Martha Watson discuss their book Your Daughters Will Prophesy: Religion and Rhetoric in the Nineteenth-Century Woman’s Movement. Their work explores how...

This week, Emmy Award-winning journalist Mary Ann Ahern talks about covering religion, writing about Chicago’s Pope, and shaping the public’s perception and practice of faith. Ahern is int...

Music journalist Alan Light discusses spirituality and song, as well as his new book Don’t Stop: Why We (Still) Love Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, which examines the enduring relevance of Fleetwood MacR...

This week, scholar Christopher W. Hunt discusses his recent book Jimmy’s Faith: James Baldwin, Disidentification, and the Queer Possibilities of Black Religion. This conversation originally took place...

This week, three writers of romance—Sajni Patel, Scarlett St. Clair, and Helene Wecker—discuss the role of religion in the romance genre. This conversation originally took place July 10, 2025 and was ...

This week, scholar Thomas A. Tweed discusses his new book Religion in the Lands that Became America. A sweeping retelling of American religious history, Tweed shows how religion has enhanced and hinde...

This week, we revisit our Faith is Funny program with four comedians—Gibran Saleem, Hari Kondabolu, Peter Sagal, and Kate Sidley—who discuss the role of religion in comedy. This conversation originall...

Beloved author Susan Orlean discusses her new book Joyride, a masterful memoir of finding her creative calling and purpose that invites us to approach life with wonder, curiosity, and an irrepressible...

This week in honor of Halloween, we discuss the use of religion and spirituality in horror writing. We are joined by leading horror writers Tananarive Due, Juan Martinez, and Matt Ruff. This conversat...

This week, religious scholar Paul Elie discusses his latest book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. This enthralling group portrait brings to life a moment when popular cu...

This week, screenwriter and author Nicholas Meyer discusses his latest mystery novel Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing. In this latest book, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson delve into the world of art...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Gertrude Stein. A poet, novelist, and essayist, Stein was a towering literary figure in her time. She moved to Paris in 1902 with her partner Alice B...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of James Weldon Johnson. A leader of the Harlem Renaissance, he wrote fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. He also wrote lyrics for many songs, including &#...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Nguyễn Quí Đức. Born in Da Lat, Vietnam in 1958, Đức arrived in the United States at 17 as a refugee of the Vietnam War. He would go on to become a j...

How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? America’s most beloved wiseass, Dave Bar...

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Born in 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, when he was 23. He would go on...

This week, we kick off our new exhibit and content initiative American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture with four writers of speculative fiction: N. K. Jemisin, Matthew J. Kirby, Nnedi Okorafo...

This week, we discuss McSweeney’s new quarterly issue: McSweeney’s 78: The Make Believers, featuring writers of the Vietnamese diaspora. We are joined by contributors and guest editors of the issue, T...

In this episode, we discuss the life and work of Flannery O’Connor. Born in Georgia in 1925, O’Connor wrote prolifically before her early death at age 39 due to lupus. She routinely wrote ...

In this episode, we discuss the life and work of Studs Terkel. A Chicago resident from age 10 until his death at age 96, Studs Terkel epitomized Chicago. A charismatic presence, Terkel began his caree...

This week, author Sash Bischoff discusses her hit debut novel Sweet Fury, a twisty, thought-provoking novel in conversation with the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Bischoff is interviewed by author Kat...

This week, poets CM Burroughs and Adrian Matejka discuss the groundbreaking legacy of poet Melvin Dixon, who “wrote extensively about the complexities of being a gay Black man” (Poetry Fou...

This week, writers from around the world discuss their journeys, finding community in creativity, and making a home in Chicago. Featuring multidisciplinary writers Nestor Gomez, Lani T. Montreal, and ...

This week, two acclaimed children’s book authors—Clothilde Ewing and Malcolm Newsome—discuss their visions and aspirations for children’s literature. In particular, ways they have and will...

This week, award-winning writer and scholar Eve L. Ewing discusses her new book Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism. She is interview...

This week, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, three of America’s leading romance writers—Xio Axelrod, Swan Huntley, and Claire Legrand—talk about how they write love stories and the love stories that ...

This week, authors Charisse Burden-Stelly and Andrew W. Kahrl discuss their recent work and writing Black history with journalist Arionne Nettles. This conversation originally took place May 19, 2024 ...

This week, writer and researcher Gail Crowther discusses her new book Dorothy Parker in Hollywood, an expansive and illuminating study of legendary writer Dorothy Parker’s life and legacy in Hol...

This week, acclaimed authors Samira Ahmed and Jas Hammonds discuss their recent books, the state of young adult literature today, and the importance of young people seeing themselves in the stories th...

In this episode, we discuss the life and work of novelist and short story writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Hawthorne’s paternal ancestors were some of the first Puritans to ar...