Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club
Making banned or challenged books more accessible for all readers.
Nicolle Okoren & Eden Wen
Show overview
Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club has been publishing since 2022, and across the 4 years since has built a catalogue of 80 episodes. That works out to roughly 60 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 32 min and 59 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Arts show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 months ago, with 5 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2025, with 25 episodes published. Published by Nicolle Okoren & Eden Wen.
From the publisher
Enter the controversial pages of banned and challenged books, of censorship and culture wars. Join Nicolle Okoren and Eden Wen twice a month as they read, discuss and understand the books and authors that communities across the United States have historically tried—and are still currently trying—to keep out of the hands of children and teenagers. burnthisbook.substack.com
Latest Episodes
View all 80 episodesNineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult (2007)
Bonus: Everyone Poops, by Taro Gomi (1977) feat. Oh Crap! Mike and Brittany Sherman
References* https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/11/17/banned-books/* Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut (1969) feat. Micah Clemence
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Rekindling: Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi (2003)
ReferencesListen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (1962) feat. Joe Skelley
References* Listen and subscribe, my little droogies, to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If the milky music of our slovos makes you purr, give us a starry rating and a sweet review on Apple Podcasts—this helps the other chellovecks find us and pushes our devotchka-mission to make banned books more skorry-accessible to all readers.Follow us on the Insta to peep what we’re reading next. Read along with us, right right? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Go Ask Alice, by Beatrice Sparks (1971) feat. Helen Anderson & Carrie Poulsen
References* https://www.instagram.com/helenandersoncomedy/ Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Forever..., by Judy Blume (1975) feat. Alyanna Padilla
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel (2006) feat. Kendra Larsen
References* Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas (2015) feat. Hattie Woods
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (2003)
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Bonus: Interview with Joe Skelley, host of Book Lounge by Libby Podcast
References* queerliberationlibrary.org * https://bookresumes.uniteagainstbookbans.org/* ala.org * libbylife.com* libbylife.com/bookloungeListen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brookes (2001)
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Cinderella is Dead, by Kalynn Bayron (2020)
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Literacy Series: Communism & Marxism
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Literacy Series: Literalism
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Literacy Series: Dialogic Questioning
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Literacy Series: Foil
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Interview with Sabrina Baeta, PEN America
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Literacy Series: Allegory
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com
Literacy Series: Satire feat. Kerry Soper
Listen and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. This helps others find us, which will promote our mission to make banned books more accessible to all readers. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re reading next. Read along with us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit burnthisbook.substack.com