The Open Book Podcast
with David Steinberger
A behind-the-scenes look at books and publishing
Join us for wide-ranging discussions with publishers, editors, authors, journalists, thinkers, executives, and other makers of culture, hosted by David Steinberger, CEO of Open Road Media and Chairman of the National Book Foundation.
Listen Now:
Adventures of an Independent Publisher
Morgan Entrekin
President and Publisher of Grove Atlantic
From editing Kurt Vonnegut to making Black Hawk Down a #1 Bestseller to taking a chance on The Sympathizer which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and is now an HBO series, the adventures of one of publishing’s most iconic figures.
INTERVIEWED ON: February 8th, 2023
Books discussed:
Black Hawk Down
#1 New York Times Bestseller: The “riveting” account of the 1993 operation in Mogadishu—the longest sustained firefight involving US troops since Vietnam (The Wall Street Journal).
The Sympathizer
Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize, a startling debut novel from a powerful new voice featuring one of the most remarkable narrators of recent fiction: a conflicted subversive and idealist working as a double agent in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.
The Living Heart Diet
Provides more than three hundred heart-smart recipes that range from favorite American classics to vegetarian and ethnic dishes, and incorporates the latest information on heart disease and diet.
War Reporting for Cowards
In the tradition of MASH, Catch-22, and other classics in which irreverence springs from life in extremis, War Reporting for Cowards tells the story of Iraq in a way that is extraordinarily honest, heartfelt, and bitterly hilarious.
Speaking For Books
Lisa Lucas
Former Publisher of Pantheon and Schocken, Former Executive Director of the National Book Foundation
As the first woman and the first Black person to serve as Executive Director of the National Book Foundation (presenter of the National Book Awards) and later as Publisher of Pantheon and Schocken, Lisa Lucas has had a dramatic impact on the nation’s literary landscape.
INTERVIEWED ON: June 4th, 2024
Books discussed:
The Xanth Series: Apoca Lips
No one’s safe when a pundemic spreads through the land of Xanth in this madcap adventure from the New York Times–bestselling author.
The Nursery
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A "brilliant...essential and surprisingly thrilling book about motherhood" (The New York Times) and the early postpartum days, following a woman struggling with maternal fear and its looming madness and showing how difficult and fragile those days can be—and how vital love is to pull anyone out from the dark.
Chain Gang All Stars
Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from America’s own in this explosive, hotly-anticipated debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Friday Black.
MAUS
The definitive edition of the graphic novel acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker) • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • One of Variety’s “Banned and Challenged Books Everyone Should Read”.
Charlie Hustle
A captivating chronicle of the incredible story of one of America’s most iconic, charismatic, and still polarizing figures—baseball immortal Pete Rose—and an exquisite cultural history of baseball and America in the second half of the twentieth century.
"I like the Way You Dance"
John Sargent
Former CEO of Macmillan Publishing
A longtime publishing industry leader, John Sargent is known for his frank straight-talking style, even when engaged in a highly public confrontation with the world’s largest retailer, or a formidable legal challenge from a sitting president over the right to publish a White House exposé.
INTERVIEWED ON: June 19th, 2023
Books discussed:
Turning Pages: The Adventures and Misadventures of a Publisher
Take a peek behind the curtain of some of the biggest publishing moments in the past several decades with forty-year industry veteran John Sargent.
Fire and Fury
With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.
Finding Sarah
An inspirational memoir from New York Times bestselling author Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, who, after hitting rock bottom, gathered the strength to put her life back together.
Checklist Manifesto
The New York Times bestselling author of Being Mortal and Complications reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist.
