The 9 Best Literature Podcasts (2026)

Between the Covers is the literary podcast for people who take writing seriously as an art form. Host David Naimon, in partnership with publisher Milkweed Editions (formerly Tin House), conducts some of the most thoughtful, meticulously researched author interviews you will find anywhere. His guests regularly tell him they have never been asked such good questions, and after listening to a few episodes, you will understand why. Naimon reads his guests' entire body of work before each conversation, and it shows in the specificity and depth of his questions. The show covers fiction, nonfiction, and poetry with equal seriousness, featuring writers like Canisia Lubrin, Jake Skeets, and other voices you might not encounter on mainstream literary podcasts. His special series "Crafting with Ursula" used Ursula K. Le Guin's writing philosophy as a framework for exploring craft, which was a standout achievement. With 314 episodes and a 4.8-star rating from 460 listeners, this is a biweekly show that rewards patience. Episodes run longer than most, and Naimon's interviewing style is deliberate and reflective rather than rapid-fire. Some listeners wish the guests got a bit more uninterrupted airtime, but the depth of preparation more than makes up for it. This is the podcast for writers who want to think harder about language.

The London Review of Books is one of those publications that people either read devotedly or pretend to have read, and their podcast captures exactly why it inspires that kind of loyalty. Hosted by Thomas Jones and Malin Hay, with James Butler handling the fortnightly On Politics segment, the show delivers weekly conversations that move fluidly between literature, politics, history, and cultural criticism. One episode might cover Don Quixote, the next the politics of asylum in Britain, the next a deep read of Dickens.

With 430 episodes in the archive, there's a massive back catalog to explore. The LRB Podcast benefits from access to the magazine's roster of contributors, which means the guests tend to be serious thinkers who actually have something to say rather than people doing the standard book tour circuit. Recent episodes have tackled everything from Jessica Mitford's activism to the AI market bubble to Palestinian photography. The political content is unapologetically left-leaning, which will either appeal to you or not. Audio quality can be inconsistent, and some episodes feel more focused than others, but the best installments are genuinely brilliant. The companion Close Readings series offers deeper literary analysis for subscribers. At 4.5 stars from 257 ratings, this sits comfortably among the most intellectually ambitious literary podcasts available. If you want your book talk served alongside real-world engagement, the LRB delivers.

The premise is perfect: Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James and his longtime editor Jake Morrissey sit down to argue about dead authors. That's the rule. The writers have to be dead, because otherwise feelings might get hurt, and James and Morrissey clearly have no interest in holding back. The result is one of the most entertaining literary podcasts around, full of the kind of honest, sometimes brutal opinions that most book shows are too polite to voice.

Produced by Penguin Random House, the show organizes episodes around themes rather than individual authors. Recent topics include unreliable narrators, campus novels, city settings in fiction, and books assigned in school. This thematic approach lets the hosts bounce between dozens of writers in a single episode, and the conversations feel spontaneous even when they're clearly well-prepared. James brings a novelist's instinct for what makes writing work (or fail), while Morrissey offers the editor's perspective on structure and pacing. Their chemistry is warm and often very funny. The main criticism? There aren't enough episodes. With only 35 in the catalog and occasional long gaps between releases, listeners often find themselves waiting impatiently for the next installment. But the 4.8-star rating from nearly 1,000 reviews speaks for itself. Each episode is a genuine pleasure, packed with book recommendations you won't find anywhere else. When it's on, there's nothing quite like it.

Literary agent Carrie Plitt and writer Octavia Bright hosted Literary Friction on NTS Radio for a full decade, building one of the most beloved literary podcasts in the UK before wrapping up in December 2023. Each episode was built around a theme, such as friendship, masculinity, or the novella as a form, with an author interview, book recommendations, music, and the kind of lively back-and-forth that only comes from two people who genuinely enjoy talking to each other about books.

The guest list over those ten years reads like a who's who of contemporary literature: Naomi Klein, Ocean Vuong, Lorrie Moore, Curtis Sittenfeld, and many more. What set Literary Friction apart was the combination of intellectual rigor and real warmth. Plitt and Bright are smart and opinionated, but they never made listeners feel excluded from the conversation. The thematic structure gave each episode a coherence that free-form book chat often lacks, and the musical interludes added texture without feeling like filler. With 158 episodes, the archive is a treasure trove for anyone looking to catch up on a decade of literary conversation. The show earned a 4.8-star rating from 184 reviews, and fans were understandably disappointed when it ended. Then, in December 2025, the hosts returned with a surprise year-in-review special, hinting that the story might not be entirely over. For now, this is a completed body of work that holds up beautifully on relisten.

Glory Edim started the Well-Read Black Girl community in 2015 as a way to celebrate and uplift Black women's writing, and the podcast extension, produced by Pushkin Industries, carries that same spirit into long-form audio conversations. Each episode features Edim sitting down with an author for an honest, personal discussion that goes well beyond the standard promotional interview. The guest list is remarkable: Viola Davis, Tayari Jones, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Elizabeth Acevedo, Brit Bennett, and Gabrielle Union have all appeared.

What makes these conversations feel different is Edim's genuine relationship with the literary community she's built. She's not just an interviewer; she's a reader and organizer who has been thinking about these questions of representation, craft, and legacy for years. The discussions touch on writing process, the realities of publishing as a Black woman, healing through literature, and what it means to build a reading life. The tone is intimate and unhurried, like sitting in on a conversation between friends who happen to be brilliant. With 27 episodes produced between 2021 and 2023, the catalog is compact but every episode counts. The show hasn't released new episodes recently, but the existing library remains powerful and relevant. Rated 4.4 stars from 209 reviews, it's an important addition to literary podcasting that centers voices and stories too often pushed to the margins.

Charlotte Shane and Jo Livingstone started Reading Writers in 2024, and in just a couple of years it has become one of the freshest voices in literary podcasting. The format is simple but effective: each episode begins with the two hosts catching up on what they've been reading lately, then a guest writer joins to talk passionately about a book that matters to them. The guest picks are often surprising and always specific, which keeps things from ever feeling like a generic recommendation show.

Recent guests have included Hanif Abdurraqib discussing Gloria Naylor's The Women of Brewster Place, Torrey Peters on a book about plant intelligence, and Jamie Hood making a case for Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook. Season 3 brought a partnership with Bookforum Magazine, which has sharpened the show's critical edge. Shane and Livingstone are both working writers with distinct tastes, and they're not afraid to disagree with each other or push back on a guest's take. That honesty gives the show a texture that more established podcasts sometimes lose over time. With 34 episodes across three seasons and a 4.8-star rating, Reading Writers is still building its audience, but the people who've found it tend to become devoted listeners. It's the kind of podcast where you finish an episode and immediately add three books to your reading list. Hosted on Acast with Patreon support available for those who want more.

Heather Ordover has been serializing classic literature one chapter at a time since 2006, making CraftLit one of the longest-running book podcasts in existence. The concept is brilliantly practical: each week, Ordover provides some historical and literary context, then reads the next chapter of whatever book the show is currently working through. Right now that's Elizabeth Gaskell's Mr. Harrison's Confessions, but the archive stretches back through Jane Eyre, The Count of Monte Cristo, A Tale of Two Cities, and Mark Twain's Joan of Arc recollections, among many others.

The "Craft" in CraftLit refers to the show's dual audience of book lovers and fiber arts enthusiasts. Knitters, embroiderers, and crocheters make up a significant chunk of the listenership, and there's a crafting community dimension that gives the show a cozy, participatory feel. Listener voicemails and monthly book parties add to the book club atmosphere. With 844 episodes across 26 seasons, the back catalog is enormous. Ordover was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday and hit Apple's What's Hot list, so this isn't some obscure corner of the internet. The show has real reach. Her reading style is clear and engaging, and the contextual notes before each chapter help you appreciate details you'd otherwise miss. Rated 4.7 stars from 426 ratings, CraftLit is perfect for anyone who wants to actually read the classics but keeps getting stuck on page twelve. Letting Ordover guide you through, chapter by chapter, week by week, turns intimidating books into manageable pleasures.

Angelina Stanford and poet Thomas Banks co-host The Literary Life Podcast with a guiding belief that stories will save the world. That might sound lofty, but the show backs it up with genuinely thoughtful discussions of classic literature that focus on the skill of reading well. This isn't a current releases show. Stanford and Banks work through canonical texts like Brave New World, Dracula, and Moliere's Don Juan, treating each one as a living document rather than a dusty assignment.

The show has a distinct intellectual tradition running through it, drawing on classical education and the liberal arts in a way that feels organic rather than rigid. Stanford is the primary voice, and she's a compelling teacher who clearly loves this material. Banks brings a poet's ear to the conversations, and occasional co-host Cindy Rollins adds the perspective of a lifelong reader. Guests like Tolkien scholar Michael Drout and literary academics Jason Baxter and Vigen Guroian round out the roster. With 314 episodes released weekly, the archive covers an impressive range of literature, from fairy tales and children's books to dense philosophical novels and poetry. The 4.7-star rating from over 1,100 reviews reflects a dedicated audience, many of whom come from homeschooling and classical education backgrounds. But you don't need that context to appreciate what the show does well: it makes old books feel urgent and necessary, and it assumes its listeners are smart enough to keep up.

Brooklyn Public Library's podcast takes a unique angle on literary conversation by asking a deceptively rich question: what are people borrowing from the library, and what does that tell us about who we are? Borrowed and Returned combines author interviews, narrative storytelling, and cultural history to explore how books have shaped American life. The guest list is genuinely impressive for an institutional podcast: Art Spiegelman, N.K. Jemisin, Molly Crabapple, and Reginald Dwayne Betts have all appeared.

The show has evolved through several distinct series. The original Borrowed episodes tackled library stories during crises, homelessness, and urban upheaval. Borrowed and Banned, a ten-episode run from late 2023, focused on censorship and book challenges, featuring students, librarians, teachers, and writers affected by banning efforts. The current incarnation, launched in mid-2025, returns to the broader theme of literary history and cultural impact, covering books like Silent Spring, Parable of the Sower, and the history of Black libraries in America. With 119 episodes and a 4.7-star rating from 191 reviews, the show has found a loyal audience that appreciates its blend of the personal and the political. Transcripts and additional resources are available on the BPL website. If you've ever loved a library, or if you believe that what a community reads reveals something essential about it, this podcast will feel like home.