Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club returns for season three
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Twilight, Bridge to Terabithia, and more
September 30, 2024, Enter the controversial pages of banned and challenged books in the third season of the podcast, Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club.
Hosts Nicolle Okoren and Eden Wen are back with an engrossing new reading list of texts, all of which have become the center of culture wars and calls for censorship in the United States. With two new episodes released each month, the first of the 12 new installments examines the meaning and impact of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, the debut novel by Ocean Vuong.
Publish in 2019, the novel revists the traumas of the Vietnam War and delves into the immigrant experience in the United States. In June 2024, Vuong said he wanted to send free copies to Conroe, Texas, after the school district in the city banned the book.
The second episode is dedicated to Persepolis, a series of autobiographical graphic novels originally authored in French by Marjane Satrapi that depict her coming of age in Iran and Austria during and after the Islamic Revolution.
Persepolis was published in English in 2003. In the years that followed it has faced attempts of censorship in the United States and in 2014 it was placed #2 on the American Library Association’s list of Top Ten Most Challenged Books.
Listeners can also suggest a book for Nicolle and Eden to explore this season by sending a request at burnthisbookpodcast@gmail.com.
Avid readers can get a head start and read along with Nicolle and Eden by having a look at the revealed reading list.
In describing season three, Eden says, “I am excited not only because it gives me an excuse to read more, but also to step into other perspectives.”
Nicolle adds, “We are getting more into the muck about what we can do to fight these book bans! We are finally teaming up with activists from PEN America and EveryLibrary and I could not be more pleased.”
Tune in and subscribe to Burn This Book: A Banned Books Book Club on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Never miss an update by signing up to the newsletter and follow the official Instagram page to see what Nicolle and Eden will be reading next…