Jeff and Rebecca discuss the award-winning books, pop culture phenomena, book club picks, and crossover hits of 2025 and attempt to identify the ones that might someday join the canon. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello Zero to Well-Read listeners! We've got a recommendation for you today: Origin Stories is a fantastic new podcast for anyone curious about the workings of the creative mind. It's hosted by veteran journalist Matthew Shaer, and explores the behind-the-scenes of your favorite book, magazine article, TV show, podcast, or movie ? from the initial spark of curiosity to the long sessions in front of a white board. We thought you'd enjoy this episode where Matthew Shaer interviews Stephanie Foo, a veteran radio producer and longtime staffer at shows like Snap Judgment and This American Life. She talks about the creation of her NYT best-selling memoir, WHAT MY BONES KNOW, which explores her early childhood trauma and her more recent diagnosis of complex PTSD. Take a listen by searching for Origin Stories wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca tackle a titan of modern fiction, discussing the breakout book that made a literary icon, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. They talk about what made Rushdie famous and what keeps him relevant, how to approach this challenging read, and why it's worth the effort. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca explore Octavia Butler's eerily prescient 1993 novel, The Parable of the Sower, and discuss Butler's legacy and enduring impact on science fiction. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca revisit Donna Tartt's cult classic, the OG of dark academia, The Secret History. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca throw it way back to the GOAT of ancient Greek tragedies, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and are delighted to report that, 2500 years later, it still hits. They discuss the invention of drama, the ways that ancient philosophy continue to influence art, and why some really old stories never lose their staying power. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca revisit To Kill a Mockingbird and attempt to separate the book from the discourse in order to understand what one of America's most beloved?and most banned?novels means today. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca explore the greatest tragedy and arguably the best-known work by the man, the myth, the legend: William Shakespeare. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca go back to the future to discuss Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 literary dystopian novel, Never Let Me Go. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca reflect on the impact of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, with help from Book Riot's managing editor Vanessa Diaz and resident young adult fiction expert Kelly Jensen. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca tackle the debut novel of the all-everything novelist Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff and Rebecca go full "brain on" to tackle Thomas Pynchon's Vineland, in the news again as Paul Thomas Anderson adapts it in his new movie, One Battle After Another. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebecca and Jeff dive into Zora Neale Hurston?s masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God, a story about the search for love, freedom, and self-determination. They talk about what makes Hurston's writing so transcendent, why the novel was nearly forgotten, and how it found its rightful place in the American canon. This season of Zero to Well-Read is presented by Thriftbooks. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our very first episode, we?re popping the champagne and revisiting F. Scott Fitzgerald?s The Great Gatsby. Jeff and Rebecca dig into what makes Gatsby a classic, why it?s all over high school reading lists, and the ways it still echoes in our culture. This season of Zero to Well-Read is presented by Thriftbooks. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. Email us: [email protected] Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Zero to Well-Read, a new podcast from Book Riot that?s part book club, part English class, and all fun. Join your hosts Jeff O?Neal and Rebecca Schinsky as they tackle the books you've always wanted to read but maybe never got around to. This isn't your stuffy college lit course. We believe being well-read is about more than just the classics. We're putting English class staples like The Great Gatsby on the same syllabus as modern sensations and social media faves like Twilight and Anthony Bourdain?s Kitchen Confidential. In each episode, we'll give you everything you need to know about a must-read book, including: What it's about: The basics of the plot and characters. Vibe-check: What it feels like to read this book and whether it?s for you. The Discourse: Diving into the commentary and controversies surrounding the book. Hot takes: Our honest, unfiltered opinions. Cocktail Party Crib Sheet: Three key takeaways to make you sound well-read at your next dinner party. The first semester of Zero to Well-Read kicks off on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. New episodes will drop every Tuesday, so subscribe now to be ready for the first class! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices