Listening to the Book Review

Inside The New York Times Book Review is the oldest and most popular podcast at The New York Times. The debut episode “aired” on April 30, 2006, (first guest: Gary Shteyngart) and the show has been recorded weekly ever since.

The first episode began with a thrash metal riff (“I read it in The New York Times Book Review!”), and then editor and podcast host Sam Tanenhaus lamenting his daughter’s orthodontist bills. (I could weigh in on that as well.) But Sam was a “podding” natural, and Inside The New York Times Book Review quickly expanded its reach. When Sam left in 2013, listeners let us know how much they missed his enthusiasm and conversational agility.

But we’ve trudged on! Early guests on the show included John Updike, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, Andre Agassi, Elizabeth Gilbert and Alice Munro. Since I came on board as editor and host in 2013, I’ve had Henry Kissinger, Donna Tartt, Jonathan Franzen, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Judy Blume, Phil Klay, Walter Isaacson and Caitlin Moran come on to talk about their books.

Putting together the podcast is very different from the rest of our week at the Book Review, which typically involves quiet – often silent – labor at our computers, fiddling with semicolons and re-reading copy. Every Thursday morning, we record in an in-house studio with our longtime producer, Jocelyn Gonzales, who makes sure we all sound good. Guests typically come into the office, though far-flung authors on book tour and critics abroad will call in. The podcast is formatted, edited and online by midday Friday.