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Babes in Bookland: Your Women's Memoir Podcast
Women have always written extraordinary memoirs. We just haven't always talked about them loudly enough — until now. Babes in Bookland is a podcast dedicated entirely to memoirs by women, for women who are hungry for honest storytelling, big feelings, and real lives on the page. Each episode is part book discussion, part cultural conversation, and entirely unapologetic about centering women's experiences. Think of us as your most well-read friend who always knows exactly which book you need next.
Episodes
64 episodes
FRIDAY FICTION: Kate Quinn, NYT Bestselling Author!
Kate Quinn has a rare talent. She can drop you into another time period so completely that you forget you’re reading, then hit you with a detail that makes you realize how much of women’s history has been ignored, softened, or simply left out.&...
AUTHOR CHAT: Andrea Leeb's "Such a Pretty Picture"
Some stories don’t just break the silence, they explain how silence gets built in the first place.This week, I’m joined by author Andrea Leeb to talk about her memoir Such a Pretty Picture, an account of surviving childhood sexu...
AUTHOR CHAT: Kerry Docherty's "Selfish"
Are you selfish?“Selfish” is supposed to be the insult that ends the conversation, especially for women who were raised to be helpful, agreeable, and endlessly available. We sit down with author Kerry Docherty to pull that word apart and...
The Low and the High Notes // Brandy's "Phases"
Brandy Norwood’s memoir, Phases, is the kind of celebrity memoir that makes you grateful for the music and furious about the machine behind it. My friend Kate and I revisit Brandy’s cultural landmarks like Moesha, Cinderella, and “The ...
AUTHOR CHAT: Linda Rhodes' "Breaking The Barnyard Barrier"
She graduates near the top of her veterinary class and still couldn't get hired... because she’s a woman! That’s where our conversation with memoirist Linda Rhodes begins and it only gets more vivid, entertaining, and frustrating from there.
AUTHOR CHAT: Katya Dunko's "I Drank From the Nile"
Is life destiny or choice?"Drink from the Nile" is a phrase in Egypt that promises if you drink from the Nile river, you’re destined to return. Katya Dunko's memoir, named for this phrase, is her refusal to let destiny be controlle...
BSB: Liza Minnelli's "Kids, Wait Till You Hear This"
How do you break free of one legacy to cement your own? We’re back with a bite-sized Babes in Bookland mini review of Liza Minnelli’s memoir “Kid, Wait Till You Hear This,” and it’s equal parts warm, jaw-dropping, and quietly devast...
AUTHOR CHAT: Ayana Lage's "Missing Me"
Author Ayana Lage joins the show to talk about Missing Me, her memoir of postpartum psychosis and the long road back. We talk about perfectionism as a coping strategy, anxiety as a lifelong undercurrent, and the exhausting...
True Colors // Christina Applegate's "You with the Sad Eyes"
A memoir can feel like a mirror you didn’t ask for. We opened Christina Applegate’s and found an unvarnished account of survival: a child actor who worked to live, a dancer who prayed with her body, an artist who hid behind “Christ...
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Pain into Power // Demi Moore's "Inside Out"
Think you know Demi Moore? Think again. My friend, Mackenzie, and I peel back the tabloid myths to trace a far more gripping arc: a child who found safety in hospital routines because home was chaos, a teenager forced to protect her...
BONUS: Elyse Myers' Memoir: Humor, Hype, and Lots of Holes
Ever picked up a buzzy memoir and felt the heart was missing beneath the hype? I sit down with Ryley from the Little Miss Podcast to unpack Elyse Myers’ debut: the charming illustrations, a few resonant lines on anxiety and connecti...
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BSB: Gisele Pelicot's "A Hymn to Life"
What does it mean to move shame back where it belongs? We dive into Gisele Pelicot’s A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides—a memoir that confronts sexual violence, courtroom language, and public accountability while fiercely protecting the ...
AUTHOR CHAT: Deborah J. Cohan's "Welcome to Wherever We Are"
Can you hold two truths at once? I sit down with author and sociologist Deborah J. Cohan to explore her memoir, Welcome to Wherever We Are, a clear-eyed look at psychological abuse, loyalty, and the quiet heroics of careg...
AUTHOR CHAT: Amanda McCracken's "When Longing Becomes Your Lover"
What if the high you’re chasing isn’t love at all, but the thrill of uncertainty? On pub day, we sit down with author Amanda McCracken to unpack limerence (the obsessive, anxious fixation that can masquerade as romance) and how nami...
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Let's Talk About Death, Baby // Alua Arthur's "Briefly, Perfectly, Human"
Are you living your most authentic life?Mortality has a way of cutting through noise. My friend, Cara, and I open season three with Alua Arthur’s memoir Briefly Perfectly Human and ask how getting real about death can help us li...
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Moon Math and Quiet Confidence // Katherine Johnson's "My Remarkable Journey"
How far could you go if you believed in yourself?Katherine Johnson’s memoir My Remarkable Journey is more than a space-age origin story; it is a study in how confidence, education, and community can shape history. Ea...
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BONUS: "The Holiday" Deep Dive with Jackie and Danielle of the No More Late Fees Podcast!
Ready for a holiday watch that actually holds up? We close the year with Jackie and Danielle from No More Late Fees and dig into why Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday still hits. It's a rom-com where self-respect is the twist, friendship is...
AUTHOR CHAT: Danilyn Rutherford on Her Memoir "Beautiful Mystery"
Does love need words? I sit down with anthropologist and author, Danilyn Rutherford, to explore Beautiful Mystery, her memoir about raising Millie, a luminous daughter who communicates beyond speech, and the radical shift t...
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AUTHOR CHAT: Ashley Russell's "What's Cooking Good Looking"
How do you honor the ones you love?Our guest, author and maker Ashley Russell, brings her grandmother, Wanda’s, kitchen back to life with a cozy, retro-modern cookbook that feels like a hug and reads like a memoir. We dig into how a gran...
Choosing Hope // Michelle Obama's "Becoming"
What does it take to keep becoming? We dive into Michelle Obama’s memoir with a candid, hopeful conversation about where identity starts, how it stretches, and why purpose, not pageantry, changes lives. Becoming is more tha...
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Coming Back to Life // Bethany Joy Lenz's "Dinner for Vampires"
If belonging feels like love, purpose, and family… how do you tell when it’s actually something darker?In this episode, we sit with the hard truths behind Bethany Joy Lenz’s memoir Dinner for Vampires. Through the quiet metaphor of a “me...
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Power and Pride // Geena Rocero's Memoir "Horse Barbie"
How can you reclaim your truth and your power?We’re diving into Horse Barbie, Geena Rocero’s radiant and illuminating memoir that shows her journey from a one-room home in Manila, Philippians, to trans pageants, from the perfume counter ...
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AUTHOR CHAT: Brittany Penner on Her Memoir "Children Like Us"
What if home isn’t a place you find, but a place you build step by step? I sit down with author and family physician, Brittany Penner, to unpack Children Like Us: A Métis Woman's Memoir of Family, Identity and Walking H...
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BONUS: What Lies Beneath
What a treat! This month's Bonus Episode: What Lies Beneath is available for all! No subscription required :)PLEASE if you have not watched the movie, do that first and then listen to this episode!My friend, Priscilla, st...
Motivation and Mindset // Emma Lovewell's "Live, Learn, Love Well"
What if the phrases you hear in a workout could actually carry you through the hardest chapters of your life? My friend Suz and I sat down with Emma Lovewell’s memoir, "Live Learn Love Well", and followed the thread from the bike to...
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