Tune Into Oprah’s Book Club Author Talks with These Podcasts
Oprah’s Book Club has been highlighting five-star reads since 1996—and now, in celebration of the 100th pick (Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful, read an excerpt here), we’re recommending a slew of podcasts to go along with your reading experience. The team at Goodpods, a podcast player and app, helped us curate the list.
The podcasts are great to listen to after finishing each book, and the majority feature an interview with the author about that specific work. Some are even conversations with Oprah herself, from Super Soul episodes to recordings of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Below, we paired 30 of Oprah’s Book Club picks with interesting podcast episodes—including some of the most recent selections, like Viola Davis’s Finding Me and Michelle Obama’s Becoming. Read on to discover them all.
After reading Bittersweet, listen to “The Sweet Bitter with Susan Cain” from A Bit of Optimism.
In this podcast episode, host Simon Sinek talks with author Susan Cain about optimism, pessimism, and realism. Cain and Sinek also explain the “ecstasy” they feel when listening to sad music and why sharing sorrow is a great bonding mechanism.
After reading Demon Copperhead, listen to “1789 – Barbara Kingsolver – Demon Copperhead – The Book Show” from The Book Show.
In this podcast episode, author Barbara Kingsolver explains to host Joe Donahue how difficult it was for her to find her way to Demon Copperhead—and how exploring Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield helped her see it.
After reading That Bird Has My Wings, listen to “Jarvis Jay Masters – That Bird Has My Wings” from Oprah’s Super Soul.
In this podcast episode, author Jarvis Jay Masters tells Oprah—from death row in San Quentin State Prison—how finding Buddhism has helped him find his purpose (even while serving for a crime he says he did not commit).
After reading Nightcrawling, listen to “Leila Mottley on Nightcrawling” from Poured Over and “2022 Debuts: ‘Nightcrawing’ by Leila Mottley” from All of It.
LISTEN TO POURED OVER | LISTEN TO ALL OF IT
In the Poured Over episode, host Miwa Messer asks author Leila Mottley about how Black girlhood is shown in the media, Oakland’s gentrification, and what it was like writing her first novel at age 14. In the All of It episode, Mottley talks with host Allison Stewart about being Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland and her characters’ motivations, and she reads an excerpt from the novel.
After reading Finding Me, listen to “Oprah selects Viola Davis as next author in book club” from The CBS Mornings Podcast.
In this podcast episode, Oprah and author Viola Davis join Gayle King on CBS Mornings to discuss the striking cover, how Davis felt on becoming an Oprah’s Book Club author, and what the book means to Oprah.
After reading The Way of Integrity, listen to “Martha Beck: The Way of Integrity” from Oprah’s Super Soul.
In this podcast episode, Oprah talks to bestselling author Martha Beck about her longtime columns in O, The Oprah Magazine, the importance of finding our inner truth, and how Beck found her personal integrity.
After reading Bewilderment, listen to “Richard Powers on ‘Bewilderment’” from The Book Review.
In this podcast episode, author Richard Powers talks to host Pamela Paul about the way Bewilderment is a love story, how it explores neurodiversity and empathy, and his personal writing process—including how living in the Smoky Mountains helps.
After reading The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, listen to “Reinventing the epic with ‘The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois’” from NPR’s Book of the Day.
In this podcast, author Honorée Fanonne Jeffers explains to host Noel King how epics are typically written about white men—which is why she decided to write one about heroic Black women.
After reading The Sweetness of Water, listen to “UO Today interview: Nathan Harris, author of ‘The Sweetness of Water’” from UO Today.
In this podcast episode, author Nathan Harris, a University of Oregon alumnus, talks with the school’s creative writing department about his background, why he decided to dive headfirst into a novel, and how his life has changed since joining the ranks of Oprah’s Book Club.
After reading Gilead, listen to “Marilynne Robinson-Gilead” from Bookclub.
In this podcast episode, author Marilynne Robinson talks to host James Naughtie about her Pulitzer Prize-winning sophomore novel—and why it took 24 years for her to write it after her debut.
After reading Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, listen to “Caste: Isabel Wilkerson” from Oprah’s Book Club.
This podcast episode is the premiere of a series Oprah recorded with author Isabel Wilkerson. Over the course of eight episodes, the two outline Wilkerson’s eight pillars of caste, her reasonings for writing the book, and why Oprah finds it “profound.”
After reading Deacon King Kong, listen to “James McBride Talks About ‘Deacon King Kong’” from The Book Review.
In this podcast episode, author James McBride talks with host Pamela Paul about how church is a “dysfunctional family,” waking up at 4 a.m., and writing about New York.
After reading Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family, listen to “Robert Kolker Discusses ‘Hidden Valley Road’” from The Book Review.
In this podcast episode, host Pamela Paul asks author Robert Kolker about the “fascinating” family he chronicled in his book, the Galvins. They were a well-known, popular family—but behind closed doors, six out of the 12 children were diagnosed with schizophrenia.
After reading Olive, Again, listen to “Elizabeth Strout on the return of Olive Kitteridge – books podcast” from The Guardian Books podcast.
In this podcast episode, author Elizabeth Strout tells hosts Claire Armitstead and Richard Lea about bringing back her beloved protagonist Olive Kitteridge 11 years after the original novel.
After reading The Water Dancer, listen to “Bonus: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates” from Book Riot – The Podcast.
In this podcast episode, hosts Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky talk about author Ta-Nehisi Coates’s bestselling novel, including the story’s plot and themes.
After reading Becoming, listen to “Michelle Obama: Becoming, Part 1” from Oprah’s Super Soul.
In this podcast episode, author Michelle Obama talks to Oprah about her childhood in the South Side of Chicago, being a working mother, and what it was like to be First Lady.
After reading An American Marriage, listen to “Tayari Jones on ‘An American Marriage’” from The Book Review.
In this podcast episode, author Tayari Jones tells host Pamela Paul what her novel is about, from her characters’ circumstances to how Black middle-class culture shaped the story.
After reading Behold the Dreamers, listen to “Episode 26: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue” from Book Talk.
In this podcast, author Imbolo Mbue talks to host Cyd Oppenheimer about the novel’s “complex” ending, how her résumé doesn’t match up with that of a writer’s, and the American dream.
After reading The Underground Railroad, listen to “Colson Whitehead: “The Underground Railroad” from Aspen Ideas to Go.
In this podcast episode, author Colson Whitehead explains his writing process for The Underground Railroad, a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel—including the years he doubted himself and sought out other professions.
After reading Ruby, listen to “Cynthia Bond: “Ruby” (An Oprah’s Book Club Selection)” from Oprah’s Super Soul.
In this podcast episode, Oprah asks author Cynthia Bond about her debut novel, Ruby, and Bond shares stories of how she healed from childhood trauma and what her book says about survival.
After reading The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, listen to “Ayana Mathis: “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie”” from Oprah’s Super Soul.
In this podcast episode, author Ayana Mathis tells Oprah about her novel’s themes, including parenting and survival during the Great Migration. She also talks impostor syndrome while attending the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the real person who inspired her novel’s protagonist.
After reading Wild, listen to “Cheryl Strayed: ‘Wild’” from Oprah’s Super Soul.
In this podcast episode, Oprah talks to author Cheryl Strayed about her now-iconic memoir, Wild, which follows Strayed as she attempts to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed reveals what it was like to lose her mother to cancer (at a very young age), cheat on her husband because of her grief, and ultimately come to peace with her journey.
After reading Freedom, listen to “Jonathan Franzen—Freedom” from World Book Club.
In this podcast episode, author Jonathan Franzen talks to host Harriett Gilbert about Freedom, his widely acclaimed family epic. Franzen also reads an excerpt from the novel and answers questions from readers—including how he wrote a convincing female perspective.
After reading A New Earth, listen to “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (Chapter 1)” from Eckhart Tolle: Essential Teachings.
In this podcast episode, author Eckhart Tolle and Oprah kick off a 10-part series on his book A New Earth, which teaches listeners how to “discover an enlightened state of consciousness” and “live a fully present life.”
After reading The Measure of a Man, listen to “Sidney Poitier: The Measure of a Man” from The Oprah Winfrey Show: The Podcast.
In this podcast episode, which is a recording from an April 2000 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Academy Award–winning actor Sidney Poitier tells Oprah about his memoir, childhood, and introduction to Hollywood.
After reading Night, listen to “Conversations with Oprah: Elie Wiesel” from Oprah’s Super Soul.
In this podcast episode, Oprah talks to author and activist Elie Wiesel about his book Night, which tells his experience in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. Wiesel shares harrowing memories and what he did when he was free.
After reading Sula, listen to “Toni Morrison reads from and talks about her book ‘Sula’” from Studs Terkel Archive Podcast.
In this podcast episode, which features a recording from 1974, author Toni Morrison reads excerpts from her novel Sula and discusses what the book is really about with writer Studs Terkel.
After reading We Were the Mulvaneys, listen to “Joyce Carol Oates” from Bookclub.
In this podcast episode, host James Naughtie talks to author Joyce Carol Oates 10 years after the publication of her novel We Were the Mulvaneys. Oates shares how the story relates to her own childhood and family, what religion means to the characters, and the connection between people and animals.
After reading The Reader, listen to “Bernhard Schlink – The Reader” from World Book Club.
In this podcast episode, host Harriett Gilbert and author Bernhard Schlink discuss his controversial novel, The Reader, and Schlink reads an excerpt. He also takes reader questions, many of which relate to why Schlink wrote one of his characters as illiterate.
After reading The Heart of a Woman, listen to “Dr. Maya Angelou,” “Dr. Maya Angelou, Part 1: 9 Words That Changed Her Life,” and “Dr. Maya Angelou, Part 2: Best Advice She Ever Received” from Oprah’s Super Soul.
LISTEN TO PART 1 | LISTEN TO PART 2 | LISTEN TO PART 3
Oprah had a close relationship with Dr. Maya Angelou. Parts 1 and 2 capture a beautiful hour-long conversation between the two women, including stories from Angelou’s childhood, her relationship with her mother, and lessons on aging “brilliantly.” Part 3 is from a 2002 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in which Angelou celebrated her 74th birthday.
Icon credit: Getty Images
Cassie Hurwitz (she/her) is an associate editor at Oprah Daily, where she covers everything from culture to entertainment to lifestyle. She can typically be found in the middle of multiple books and TV shows all at once. Previously, Cassie worked at Parents, Rachael Ray In Season, and Reveal. Her love language is pizza (New York slices, Chicago deep dish, and otherwise).
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