A weekly behind-the-scenes dive into everything interesting, dynamic, strange, and wonderful happening in literary culture—featuring Lit Hub staff, columnists, and special guests! Hosted by Drew Broussard.

Summer means long days and hanging out in nature and Shakespeare — specifically Shakespeare in the Park. After James Folta wrote about NYC Comptroller Brad Lander’s sonnet for the ribbon cutting at the revamped Delacorte Theater in Central Park, his office reached out to remind us that the Comptroller has done this multiple times now… and so obviously, Drew had to talk to him about diving into the poetic form and the power of art to build empathy in these otherwise selfish times.

Then, Stefan Tobler (publisher of And Other Stories) drops in to tell Drew what it’s like to be a small press that wins a big prize — and why it is that copies of 2025 International Booker Prize winner Heart Lamp have taken so long to reach US bookshops.

Plus, a love letter to a recent read: Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost!

The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub Radio and is available wherever you get your podcasts; music by Dani Lencioni of Evelyn; Engineering and production by Stardust House.