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.

Love the podcast? Want to suggest a topic? Share your feedback with us at openbook@openroadmedia.com.

Listen Now:

Brave on Behalf of Books

Ruth Dickey

Executive Director, National Book Foundation

Ruth Dickey is the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation—the organization behind the National Book Awards, now in its 77th year. In this episode, Ruth shares the foundation’s new five-year strategic plan, which will expand programming at a moment when many arts organizations are retrenching, including providing millions of free books in public housing communities, awarding teacher fellowships in book-banning hotspots, and streaming the National Book Awards.

INTERVIEWED ON: April 3rd, 2026

Books discussed:

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi's Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.

World’s Fair by E.L. Doctorow

A marvelous work from a master storyteller, World’s Fair is a book about a boy who must surrender his innocence to come of age, and a generation that must survive great hardship to reach its future.

Mud Blooms by Ruth Dickey

Mud Blooms goes well beyond the ordinary glance to revealing, true, humane, common bonds that may well bring us to the same place. Personal and wrenching, Ruth Dickey's first full length book of poems makes us want to read again.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Outsiders is a dramatic and enduring work of young adult fiction that laid the groundwork for the genre. S. E. Hinton’s classic novel of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society remains as powerful today as it was the day it was first published.