Careless People is a riveting exposé that uncovers how ambition and entitlement at the highest levels of power can erode truth, ethics, and democracy itself. Through gripping storytelling, Sarah Wynn-Williams delivers a chilling reminder of what's lost when idealism gives way to unchecked greed. Let's get LIT! Links & Resources: Grab your Digital R…

When someone steals a Black classical violinist's priceless family heirloom on the eve of the most important competition of his career, he must unravel a web of greed, racism, and long-buried secrets to reclaim his rightful legacy. The Violin Conspiracy is a gripping mystery that explores the power of music, resilience, and the fight for justice in…

To hear this episode in full, subscribe to LIT Society on Patreon. We begin this week's episode with a tour of hidden and secret libraries worldwide (2:00). Then, let's continue with the conclusion of The Shadow of the Wind (10:45). Daniel unravels the tragic end of Julián Carax, uncovers a heartbreaking love story buried beneath layers of deceptio…

In post-war Barcelona, a young boy named Daniel discovers a mysterious novel, The Shadow of the Wind, only to learn that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of the author's works. As he delves into the book's secrets, Daniel becomes entangled in a dark, decades-old mystery of love, betrayal, and revenge that mirrors the story with…

This is a Patreon Member Exclusive Episode (PMEE), meaning you must be a paid member of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/litsocietypod) to hear the entire episode. Today's book is about a death doula who attends death cafes to avoid pragmatically taking hold of her own life. If you have no idea what a death doula or a death cafe is, listen on…

Hey there, Team LITeratti and welcome to SEASON SIX of LIT Society!!! ("noises of celebration") We're so happy to be back with you and discussing AMAZING books and stories. We begin this episode by catching up and letting you all know what we've been doing with our time away (00:00). Then we discuss "Who is Haile Selassie?"—our theme of the week (0…

Grab your Digital Reading Journal here: ETSY or Patreon. We reflect on another year of incredible (and sometimes not-so-incredible) reads! In this fun and insightful episode, we share our top book picks of the year—stories that captivated our imaginations and stayed with us long after the final page. But it's not all sunshine and roses! We also div…

Listen to full episodes for free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/litsocietypod From an award-winning, multihyphenate global entertainer comes one of the most anticipated books of the year - the inspiring guide to understanding your genuine value and identity based on her real-life experience conquering her industry for decades. The book: Mast…

Listen to full episodes for free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/litsocietypod On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their company-supplied droid. This self-aware security unity has hacked its governor module and refers to itself as MURDERBOT. The book: All Systems Red The author: Martha Wells LET'…

Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod. World War II is over, and peace reigns in American suburbia. Under a tree in the Keller family's placid backyard, planted to commemorate a son missing in action, Chris Keller courts Ann, the charming, forthright young woman his brother left behind. But their growing passi…

Listen to the full episode for free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod/membership. A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separa…

Listen to the full episode for free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod/membership. Thanks to her lying ex-husband, Finlay juggles two kids, a deadline for her next book and her sanity. If that's not enough, she soon finds herself working against the Russian Mafia as the prime suspect in the disappearance of one of their top men! Will…

Listen to the full episode for free on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod/membership White Nights is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky that was published in 1848. Set in St. Petersburg, it is the story of a young man fighting his inner restlessness. A light and tender narrative, it delves into the torment and guilt of unrequited love. B…

Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod. Notes on Grief is an exquisite work of meditation, remembrance, and hope, written in the wake of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's beloved father's death in the summer of 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic raged around the world and kept Adichie and her family members separated from one another, her fat…

To keep listening, join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod. Grace and Jack are gorgeous newlyweds, swimming in money and success. They seem to have it all. They may even tempt you toward jealousy. Look closer, however. Ask yourself why Grace doesn't have a phone or email address, where her friends are, and what she does all day in t…

To keep listening, subscribe to our free tier on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod. How to Survive a Plane Crash: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/how-to-survive-plane-crash https://www.fodors.com/news/airlines/how-to-survive-a-plane-crash Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashed into the Pacific Ocean. During the eva…

Join for free on Patreon to continue listening to our show: https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod/membership Y'all made us re-read The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Our first read and review, over three years ago, got us ratioed on YouTube. You called us names and battered us verbally for not liking the ending of this book. Our momma's alw…

To keep listening, subscribe to our free tier on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litsocietypod. On paper, Yinka has it all. She's Oxford-educated, beautiful, and constantly surrounded by friends and family. Still, one persistent question makes her examine her value and identity: "Where is your husband?" Will Yinka find happiness, and will that hap…

Last week, we saw young Dodo captured and tied to a bed in a sanitorium. He faces imminent danger constantly and can confide in only one friend, a young boy with cerebral palsy who shares the bed next to him. Will his family be able to rescue Dodo, or will he spend his final days in the hands of men with evil aims? Meanwhile, as Chona wastes away i…

The last community of Black Americans and Jewish immigrants in a tiny Pennsylvania town must risk their lives and livelihoods to save a deaf child from institutionalization and torture. Will they succeed against a system that squishes them all under society's boot? Or will an innocent boy be forced into a nightmarish existence? The book The Heaven …

Ellice Littlejohn escaped her dead-end town while healing from her traumatic childhood to earn an Ivy League law degree and become a firm's only black corporate attorney. But she is full of secrets even her closest friends don't know. When she arrives at work one morning and finds the married man she's dating, a man who happens to be her boss, is d…

We must have Olympic fever because we begin with a brief history of the global games, which, from the beginning, always included swimming. Then, we dive into a small but mighty masterpiece by Julie Otsuka, The Swimmers. This is a book about routine. Comforting routine and unmindful routine. It is about what happens to us when we lose our routines. …

We return next week with a new episode, but we'd never leave you without a dope book to discuss. So, here's another favorite episode from our past! Hyde yo' kids! Hyde yo' wife! A young doctor allows his obsession with the duality of human nature to lead him down a path littered with lies, murder, and destruction. His name is Doctor Henry Jekyll; t…

Have you ever had to cut someone out of your life? No phone calls, texts, and your friends know not to invite both of you to the same event? This week, our theme is inspired by Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover. Tara didn’t have a birth certificate until she was nine years old and she didn’t see her first classroom until the age of 17. It’s like …

A man's enemies will be persons of his own household. In one of the most tragic classics, we are forced to stare unflinchingly into a household descending into madness and chaos. The play: King Lear The playwright: William Shakespeare LET'S GET LIT!!! - View the video podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@litsocietypod Find Alexis and Kari online:…

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.." The most kafkaesque book we've ever read is about isolation, capitalism, and the meaning of family - we think. The book: The Metamorphosis The author: Franz Kafka LET'S GET LIT!!! - View the video podcast here: https://www.youtube…

One family's matriarch does all she can to honor her late husband's memory, save her son from despair, and support the dreams of her daughter — Is there hope for them, a family who the world is against, a family who already feels death inside the walls of their dwelling? The play: A Raisin in the Sun The playwright: Lorraine Hansberry LET'S GET LIT…

What would you give for 2.4M dollars? Would you give up everything, and if so, in what order would you choose to abandon your life and everyone in it? One man must quickly decide his answer. What he chooses and what happens next is a story that uncovers the not-so-secret depravity of an entire country. The book: No Country for Old Men The author: C…

This episode was first published on April 14, 2022, and it's still one of our favorites. We return next week with a new episode covering No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. Enjoy! America's Most Wanted was a television show launched by a man who knew what it meant to lose a child forever, in the blink of an eye, to the hands of a monster. He…

Not all heroes wear capes or have long epic trilogies written about them. Some live quiet lives, doing what they can to protect the most vulnerable. In a small Irish town, one man must choose if he'll become a hero or remain a silent enabler of a horrific system perpetrated by the church of his community. The book: Small Things Like These The autho…

An enslaved woman on a cotton plantation is considered an outcast by her fellow Africans, and as she comes into womanhood, her problems increase. What will she decide when a new enslaved man, Caesar, invites her to escape? The book: The Underground Railroad The author: Colson Whitehead LET'S GET LIT!!! - View the video podcast here: https://www.you…

Alexis and Kari are on a well-deserved break this week, so we'd like to share one of their favorite past episodes with you, The LITeratti. This week's theme, How to Survive a Crisis, is inspired by an amazing non-fic graphic novel, now turned into a film! One girl, the beloved only child of progressive parents, is sent to school in Austria. This is…

Why do you travel? Is relaxation your strongest motivation, or is it a desire to fill your IG feed with enviable photos? Do you look for comfort when abroad? Or do you hunger to taste the culture of others? Would you like to be treated like royalty? Or do you humbly present yourself as a guest in the home of another? One woman shares with us her tr…

When should you give your kids cell phones, and what's the best way to teach a child about technology? We discover the answer in this episode's theme of the week, but first — It is a riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. The book: Losing the Signal: The Untol…

Do you have what it takes to endure in the wilderness if lost? Chances are you have everything you need to survive in your backpack. In this week's themed discussion, we'll explain how to use your tools to live another day if lost. Share this episode with your hike-loving friend. Then, it's on to our book. Helena has a loving husband and two beauti…

A filmmaker pulls together a writer's unfinished work to reveal truths about racial relations in America. The writer: James Baldwin The book: I Am Not Your Negro LET'S GET LIT! - View the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/OXCf8CaUJ2Q Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod; Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod…

One of the most iconic figures of the 21st century faces the impact of a life-threatening conspiracy. After serving his country for decades, Oppenheimer's government proceeded on a campaign to take down this leader and burn his world to the root. This is the thrilling conclusion of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheim…

A brilliant and ambitious physicist whose connection to communism makes the FBI suspicious pushes through moral dilemmas to become the father of the atomic bomb. The Book: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer The Authors: Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin LET'S GET LIT! - View the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/O…

You just boarded a flight to New York. There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard. What you don't know is that your pilot's family was kidnapped thirty minutes before the flight. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.…

SEASON 5 IS HERE - and our first book is a doozie! The year is 1920, and the wealthiest people on earth all belong to one Native American tribe, The Osage Nation of Oklahoma. Soon, a trail of corpses unearths a sinister plot involving greed, murder, and the foundation of the FBI. After a spoiler-filled discussion, we'll break down some of history's…

Hi readers! Our fourth season has ended, and we're preparing for year five (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!). In the meantime, we're revisiting our favorite episodes from the past and sharing them again with all of you. This week, we're rediscovering the thrilling heist of Harlem Shuffle by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead. Looking for somethin…

Hi readers! Our fourth season has ended, and we're preparing for year five (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!). In the meantime, we're revisiting our favorite episodes from the past and sharing them again with all of you. This week, we're rediscovering the book Black Cake, now an Oprah-produced miniseries on Hulu. Looking for something new? Check us out on YouT…

Hi readers! Our fourth season has ended, and we're preparing for year five (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!). In the meantime, we're revisiting our favorite episodes from the past and sharing them again with all of you. This week is for the LAMBLY. Mariah Carey is a girl from New York State with Irish and Black American roots. She has a father, mother, brothe…

While this season might be coming to a close, the world of literature continues to expand endlessly. With a fifth season on the horizon, we eagerly anticipate unearthing new narratives, unexplored genres, and captivating conversations with authors and bibliophiles alike. Stay connected with us on YouTube, where we'll share weekly bonus content (htt…

Popular obsession with genealogy has some twisted roots. Let's talk about it - but first: An award-winning actress and gladiator receives a call from her parents on a routine afternoon. Their nervous hesitations let her know something is wrong. She turns her car around, drives to the home, and sits in the living of the people she's known all her li…

Two men have formed an unlikely friendship, traveling from place to place, working toward one united dream: Owning their own ranch, a place in the world where they'll belong. This dream becomes their life's purpose, but it is as unreachable as happiness. The men: George and Lennie The book: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck LET'S GET LIT! View the …

In a memoir that is part true crime, part horror, a pop princess details how her life was taken captive by her family and how we all just stood by and watched. The pop princess: Britney SpearsThe book: The Woman in Me LET'S GET LIT! View the video podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@litsocietypod THEME OF THE WEEK SOURCES: PBS: https://www.pbs.o…

SURPRISE! It's a bonus episode!!! Today, we want to share an exciting preview of a Shakespeare podcast we think you will enjoy: Play On Podcasts! Each episode explores plays from Macbeth to A Midsummer Night's Dream in a way anyone can easily understand, created by some of America's most captivating playwrights, directors, and composers and perform…

From the streets of Baltimore to the big screen, this actress has done a lot of living. You may have heard about her, read the blogs, and listened to the gossip revolving around her marriage to megastar Will Smith, but this is her life, her story, in her own words. The actress/mother/daughter/friend/wife/mother: Jada Pinkett Smith The book: Worthy …

The former president of the United States is on a manhunt for his daughter's killers. With the help of current and ex-military and foreign operatives, he will travel half the world for the most significant moment of his life. Will he be successful? Is more at stake in this mission than he realizes? The book: This is PART 2 of The President's Daught…