Hollow Bones
Brian and Jodi discuss the research behind “Hollow Bones,” motherhood, postpartum psychosis, the legacy of September 11, book bans, and fiction’s ability to open difficult conversations.
Photography: Rainer Hosch · Source
Jodi shares how an anonymous PostSecret confession sparked “Hollow Bones,” and how correspondence with an incarcerated mother informed her research into postpartum psychosis. Brian and Jodi explore motherhood, grief, the legacy of September 11, gaps in healthcare, and the relationship between mental illness and the criminal justice system. They also discuss book bans, the return of Jesse Fitzgerald from “My Sister’s Keeper,” and the power of fiction to make room for empathy.
“Now is a really good time to remember how tragedy used to bring us together instead of break us apart.”
TJ Klune on “We Burned So Bright,” Queer Love & His New Book, "The Stars Look Like Home"
We Burned So Bright; The Stars Look Like Home
TJ Klune talks with Brian about queer love at the end of the world in We Burned So Bright, revisiting Murmuration, and writing grief and companionship in The Stars Look Like Home.
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What should be on your reading radar as we head into the final stretch of 2026?
Brian shares his late-2026 reading radar, with a mid-episode conversation with Taylor Tomlinson about reading on tour, audiobooks, and creativity.
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Kathryn Stockett on “The Calamity Club,” 17 Years After “The Help”
The Calamity Club
Brian and Kathryn discuss the seventeen years between "The Help" and "The Calamity Club," the publishing journey behind the novel, Depression-era Mississippi, and the "YES!" moment that unlocked the book.
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