Book Stuff

Award-winning poet Bob Hicok discusses his latest book BREATHE and how poetry can process a bad job situation and system.

What I discuss with Bob Hicok:

• Bob talks about when he started writing poetry and how the nature of his writing changed over his life. Bob shares how writing made him want to write.
• Bob reads his poem "Minimum Wage." He breaks down how poetry can inform working life and what poetry can do that non-fiction or journalism can't. "You're putting flesh on the situation" is how Bob puts the act of poetry. It was a phrase that sticks out.
• Bob covers his writing process. He compares the process of writing poetry to being an athlete. He also parses out the difference between writing about something consciously and unconsciously.
• How Bob balances writing about hope. It's one of his central themes in his poetry: what is the value of hope? Are humans good? Is money good? All questions he seems to go between dread and hope — never finding a clear answer.
• Poetry can help us understand our working lives, even if many of us don't like the jobs we do. Bob talks about a factory job he left after a few hours.
• Bob shares his Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots on his bookshelf and why they carry such meaning for him.

Join the conversation and get more reading recommendations at Books and Stuff Newsletter

Also find your next great read at Chicago Review of Books.

See my website at tuckerlegerski.com

Email me at [email protected]

Writer Natasha Lennard shares why we aren't living in uncertain times. In her new book, Natasha explains that we should consider changing what we're certain about.

What I discuss with Natasha Lennard:

• Natasha's Inspiration for the book. Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's thinking around certainty, doubt, and knowledge were a good fit for approaching the present "sites of struggle" like on-going war in Palestine, border security, and transgender identity politics. With these sites of struggle, there's a narrative that we live in "uncertain times." Natasha set out to challenge that narrative.
• Why philosophy is useful for political thinking
• The harms that "cis-certiantiy" can cause trans individuals and women. Political fights are often more about "language games" rather than fighting for absolute knowledge let alone caring for individuals and their desire for freedom.
• Why her book isn't for arguing, but rather building something new. Building new certainties is more effective for building power than combating established certainties.
• How pop star Ed Sheeran can be an example for building a new political reality, even if just on a superficial level
• Hopeful lessons from Occupy Wall Street Days
• Natasha talks about the dinosaur on her bookshelf

More Book Stuff:

• Join the conversation and get more reading recommendations at Books and Stuff Newsletter
• Also find your next great read at Chicago Review of Books.
• See my website at tuckerlegerski.com
• Email me at [email protected]

How do we survive looking for work? Writer of the Words of Mouth Newsletter, Rachel Meade Smith, and editor of SEARCH WORK joins Book Stuff to talk about the human experience of looking for work.

In this episode I talked with Rachel about

• How Rachel curated the voices in the SEARCH WORK collection. Rachel discuss why she wanted a physical artifact to exist.
• Looking for work is a human experience. Rachel elaborates on the human experience of looking for work. What can we learn from the job search experience? How do we change?
• How much has the job hunt changed over the years? Boomers lived in a different world. Rachel offers advice on looking for work, and the importance of needing a reference if you apply to a job.
• Networking is part of feeling shame. Relationship-building can feel icky and extractive. Rachel offers thoughts on that feeling and what it means
• Is the cover letter dead? AI has changed what it means to write a cover letter. Does a typo or a glitch help you when you apply?
• Applying for a job has political stakes. Rachel shares experiences from the book that include disability, immigration, race, and gender. Politics and what those politics mean for you identity can change how and why you apply for a job.
• How to search with AI. Curated in 2025, Rachel's book largely is missing lots about AI. So, if you're tired of hearing about it, this book is even more so for you. But even so, Rachel offers some advice for applying through the AI muck.
• Rachel shares her item from her bookshelf!

More Book Stuff:

• Join the conversation and get more reading recommendations at Books and Stuff Newsletter
• Also find your next great read at Chicago Review of Books.
• See my website at tuckerlegerski.com
• Email me at [email protected]

What happens when a fundamentalist cult kidnaps an obstetrician? Award-winning science-fiction writer Naomi Kritzer breaks down her latest work OBSTETRIX about a chilling possible future where OB/GYNs are scarce.

In this episode I talked with Naomi about:

• How the overturn of Roe v Wade inspired the book
• Why a main character obstetrician was important for driving the book. You feel for the main character and how her social-life as a healthcare worker is almost non-existient.
• The word cults is stigmatizing. Most cults aren't that weird, but what makes them a cult is not the belief — it's the fact you can't leave.
• The escape quality and joy of books. The cult has banned books, and yet residents crave the stories, even hide books to read. Stories have an undercurrent theme in this book and how they can help relieve the pain of being trapped.
• One of the great themes in all of Naomi's work is "words matter." She gave a talk about this at WisCon in 20225.
• Obstetrix means "standing opposite to" and is mentioned in the book with great thematic effect. Once Naomi learned the origin of the word obstetrician, she found lots of connections to her character and the story she wanted to tell.

More Book Stuff:

• Join the conversation and get more reading recommendations at Books and Stuff Newsletter
• Also find your next great read at Chicago Review of Books.
• See my website at tuckerlegerski.com
• Email me at [email protected]

Guggenheim Fellow and prolific writer Lucy Ives has been teaching writing for many years. Her latest book THREE SIX FIVE: PROMPTS, ACTS DIVINATIONS. She joins Book Stuff to talk about her book and the power of a good prompt -- it can help you feel less lonely, and maybe help you write that novel, too.

In her book, readers may encounter the difficult or impossible: write a 30-page sentence, or "write about something forgotten." But also the weird: write a story in a spreadsheet; make a notebook out of recycled materials. And the lovely: write short story based on a postcard.

Lucy's book is encouragement for you to get off screen and get into the world. Some prompts encourage group interaction, others require you to get outside. Many ask you to dive into memory and imagination. All invigorate a curiosity with the world.

Lucy's book shows readers that not all writing prompts are for the classroom, they can in fact be for your life. I'd recommend this one to anyone who needs a bit of spice and electricity to their creative practice; or who might need encouragement with getting involved with their local world.

What's discussed in the episode:

• The origin of Lucy's writing prompt curation and how the book came together

• The power and use of human intuition

• Specific writing prompts and acts in the book

• How the book sets up opportunities for people to experience themselves and the world

• The relationship between forgetting, memory, and imagination

For more, see my website at tuckerlegerski.com and check out Chicago Review of Books: https://chireviewofbooks.com/

To join other obsessive readers and get reading recs, bonus content, and bookshelf photos at Books & Stuff newsletter: buttondown.com/bookstuff. Weekly. Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

Email at [email protected]

There's a saying that if you don't see the thing you wish existed, you should make it yourself. In 2023, this is what brooklyn baggett did with creating new words {press}, a "trans* and gender-expansive nonprofit poetry press."

brooklyn explains why she started the press out of a sense of activism while also creating space for trans* poets.

What's discussed in this episode:

• Why and how brooklyn founded a literary press
• Why literary presses can also be a hub of community building
• Why and how trans poets are shutout from the mainstream publishing opportunities
• What trans, queer, gender-expansive writing means and looks like.
• Why new words {press} is for every kind of reader
• Lots of book and author recommendations!

To learn more:

For further insights, great reading recs, and a creative advice sign up for books and stuff podcast: https://buttondown.com/TuckerLegerski

Check out Chiacgo Review of Books: https://chireviewofbooks.com/

See more at https://tuckerlegerski.com/

Email Tucker at [email protected]

Romance is booming: millions upon millions of books are sold every year and the opening of brick-and-motor romance bookstores has skyrocketed since 2020. It's a thriving community and business is good. Allison Couture and Marie Nitschke out of Madison, Wisconsin are a part of that growth. They are co-owners of the WanderLust Mobile Bookstore, which opened in early 2026. In this episode both Allison and Marie explain their journey converting a mini-bus into a store, the stubborn stigma around the romance genre, and offer a wide range of reading reccomendations.

Mentioned and Releated Stuff:

• WanderLust's Instagram
• Bookstore Romance Day is on August 15th
• Romancing the Data website
• NYT's A to Z Romance genre guide
• Behind Five Willows by June Hur
• Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb
• Author Talia Hibbert
• Pounded by Produce by G M Fairy.
• Blighted Stars by Megan O'Keefe
• tuckerlegerski.com
• Books & Stuff newsletter

It's easy to shake our heads at cults, but in reality any one of us is one bit of circumstance from joining one. Prize-winning writer, Molly Aitken's short story THIS IS HOW IT HAPPENS published in the New Yorker explores how someone falls into the religious movement the Rajneesh that became infamous when the group moved from India to Oregon in the 1980s.

We also chat about the importance of sexuality in fiction, including the challenge — but need — of writing a good sex scene. Molly ends the conversation speaking about the benefits of writing about love.

Stuff mentioned and of note:

• Molly Aitken's Instagram
• THIS IS HOW IT HAPPENS the mentioned short story
• BRIGHT I BURN, Molly's novel on Alice Kyteler in 13th Century Ireland
• The Bad Sex in Fiction Awards
• The bad sex writing from British singer-songwriter Morrissey, frontman for The Smiths.
• Chicago Review of Books
• tuckerlegerski.com
• Keep up with Book Stuff and other creations at Tucker's Newsletter
• Follow Tucker at Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, Substack, and LinkedIn.

Acclaimed writer Robyn Ryle's idea for a novel came to her when she thought: what's the opposite of the midwest? Sex was the answer, at least to the perception of many outsiders of small-town midwestern life. So, a novel of interconnected short stories was born to challenge that perception. In SEX OF THE MIDWEST, we're transported to Lanier, Indiana where we meet a diverse cast of people who, in one way or another, are searching for connection and direction. Robyn and I talked about her decision to take on the pandemic in these stories, how small towns aren't really boring at all, and why, despite the title of her book, there wasn't an outright sex scene.

Check out this stuff:

• See Robyn's full line up of books
• Book Stuff is in partnership with Chicago Review of Books (Check out their site!)
• You can learn more about the host, Tucker Legerski at his website.
• Follow Tucker at Substack, Threads, and Instagram. He's on LinkedIn, too.

New York Times bestseller Craig Fehrman joins Book Stuff to chat about his recent book THE VAST ENTERPRISE: A NEW HISTORY OF LEWIS & CLARK. Early on in the journey of writing his well-researched book, Craig experienced a horrible dog attack in his neighborhood while on a walk. It took him months to recover. But the experience informed him how to write the rest of this epic journey. We get into his research process, sports writing, and the unique connection his book has with George R.R. Martin's SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.

Stuff mentioned:

• THE VAST ENTERPRISE: A NEW HISTORY OF LEWIS & CLARK

• Craig Fehrman's website

• "The Hardest Part of History to Tell is How it Felt" in Defector

Find me at my website tuckerlegerski.com and keep up with what I make at my newsletter.

Check out my socials Instagram, LinkedIn, Substack, Bluesky.

Get in touch at [email protected]

Welcome to the Book Stuff Podcast!

Book Stuff explores how literature helps us live our lives and navigate our world. For writers and readers, and those who are reading curious, we dive into it all. From forgotten fiction to buzzy sci-fi, poetry readings to libraries, publishers, clubs, Substacks to journalism – all texts and literary worlds are considered.

In a so-called post-literate world, we celebrate, advocate for, and talk about the still-existing power — and fun — of the written word in literature and beyond.

The written word still can power and sustains the conversation.

Hosted and produced by award-winning search professional, dynamic creative writer, radio producer, college teacher, and book nerd, Tucker Legerski.

Book Stuff is made in partnership with The Chicago Review of Books.