The perfect podcast for the perfectly imperfect

If Chrissy Teigen—you know, the swimsuit model, accomplished celebrity chef, outspoken feminist, and subject of her husband John Legend’s swoon-worthy love ballad “All of Me”—can be open and honest about her struggles with self-esteem, then there’s really nothing left for anyone to be ashamed of when it comes to boosting their personal development. Along for the ride on her confidence-building journey are the who’s who of well-being: Adam Grant, Gabby Bernstein, Nedra Glover Tawwab, and Mel Robbins, just to name a few. Anything aimed at normalizing and popularizing self-care gets an automatic follow for me. Add some of the most trusted names in the wellness industry and one of my favorite TV personalities, and well, let’s just say I’ll be setting up a calendar reminder for each episode’s release date. —Editor Rachael X.

Jojo Moyes never disappoints

Just knowing that there’s a new Jojo Moyes novel coming soon makes me a little giddy. I look forward to her signature wit, clever plot lines, and the feels that are sure to be sparked. Her characters always resonate with me, as with so many listeners and readers, so I fully expect Lila Kennedy, the woman at the center of We All Live Here, to become my book-best-friend in no time. With Jenna Coleman, whose voice is British perfection, narrating, I’m excited to spend quality time at Lila’s house—taking in all the family drama as I happily sip my tea, basking in the story. —Editor Tricia F.

A YA juggernaut takes on health care’s inequities

Though John Green is best known for his deeply empathetic young adult novels, I’ve always been quite partial to his forays into nonfiction. Green demonstrated his wield of the genre with The Anthropocene Reviewed, a moving podcast-turned-essay-collection centered on all the quirks, perils, and pleasures of being human. (I still regularly think about his gutting assessment of Googling Strangers, a segment that hit me squarely in the heart.) With both my interest in Green’s nonfiction writing and a longtime hyperfixation on infectious diseases in mind, I’m really looking forward to hearing his forthcoming Everything Is Tuberculosis. This health care history focuses on the titular disease and how it continues to disproportionately upend and threaten the lives of those living in poverty. I’m all the more grateful that Green is narrating this one himself, bringing an air of authority and great humanity to the story of a decidedly curable ailment that, through inequity and injustice, holds fast as the deadliest infectious disease globally. —Editor Alanna M.

Waiting for my king

I am noisily an S.A. Cosby superfan, so King of Ashes instantly dethroned the competition as my most anticipated listen of the year. Then I heard the plot! A Godfather-inspired, Southern crime epic, centered on a Virginia family whose patriarch ran a crematorium before a mysterious car accident put him in a coma? Get in my veins! Siblings Roman, Dante, and Neveah are on a high-stakes collision course that would make the Roy heirs tremble, as they navigate shady deals and dangerous characters all while, oh yes, their mother has been missing since they were kids. If you’re remotely familiar with Cosby’s work you know he actually overdelivers on such killer hooks, and this one is his juiciest yet. With longtime collaborator Adam Lazarre-White on the mic, King of Ashes is already thriller royalty—now all we have to do is wait. —Editor Kat J.

Is this my catnip or my Kryptonite?

Whatever it is, I lost a few days of my life to this book, but in the best way possible! Reading Our Infinite Fates was exactly the diversion I needed amid the Thanksgiving hubbub, and I can’t wait to experience it again performed by actress Sofia Oxenham (whose narration of The Love of My Afterlife was just fabulous). A super swoony reincarnation romantasy, Our Infinite Fates has that same magic and mysterious feel as some of my favorites like Addie LaRue and A Witch in Time. A curse, the underrealm, a centuries-long doomed love affair all spark the imagination, but maybe what I love most about this is how Laura Steven so deftly toys with the idea that there are certain intractable things that will always make us us, in this life or the next. —Editor Emily C.

Just for kicks

When I was a young girl, every Christmas my great-aunt would take us to see the Rockettes. I loved the show, and for the duration I was in another world that was beautiful and lively and glamorous with dancers and their moves and costumes. But I never saw one that looked like me. Not even close. I was thrilled to learn about Becoming Spectacular by Jennifer Jones—thrilled, but also kind of sad that in the 21st century Black people are still breaking color lines. So, I will feel for her tough times as well as rejoice in her triumphant time as a Rockette. I can’t wait to hear it all. —Yvonne D.

A debut "brimming with grammar"

This is Amal El-Mohtar’s solo debut—but you know her already as the co-author of This Is How You Lose the Time War (alongside Max Gladstone). It won the Hugo for Best Novella, was our pick for best sci-fi novel of 2019, and remains on my list of all-time favorites. I’ve only just dipped into the manuscript, but I can already tell this is one I’ll want to savor despite my temptation to devour. It is a story for lovers of stories, for anyone who has pined over punctuation or swooned over sentence construction. It also seems meant to be heard—as the narrator addresses us, the listener, in this tale of ancient magic and legends. I can’t wait to hear how Gem Carmella (also a solo debut narrator for us!) conjures El-Mohtar’s prose. —Editor Sam D.

Got the blues?

A few years back, I downloaded South to America as my audio companion on a flight bound for North Carolina. By the time the plane landed, I found myself wishing for a few more hours to continue gazing down at the landscape while listening to Imani Perry illuminate the dynamic history of the region with her captivating narration and dazzling prose. Ever since, I have been eager to follow the author’s insights anywhere and everywhere, especially now as her contemplation of color takes a literal turn to unearthing various shades of blue. Imagine that Maggie Nelson’s piercing meditations in Bluets meet the rich patchwork of Imani Perry’s profound ability to illuminate Black history through a vivid contemporary lens, and you get this listen. “‘True Blue’ is a name for dependable honesty,” as Perry reminds us, and that’s exactly what she delivers with her latest. —Haley H.

Perfect for fans of Daisy Jones & The Six

I was lucky enough to get early access to The Favorites, and I devoured it in a day, falling head over heels for this compelling and beautifully layered novel. Author Layne Fargo transported me into the cutthroat world of competitive ice dance. Kat Shaw and Heath Rocha are an unlikely pair, “small-town Midwestern trash,” and teen lovers who enter the world of skating at the 2000 Nationals. There, they meet their rivals, brother and sister duo Garrett and Bella Lin, who also happen to be the children of Kat’s idol, two-time Olympic gold medalist ice dancer Sheila Lin. For the next 14 years, passion, betrayal, sabotage, and scandal haunt these skaters as they move from competition to competition, culminating in the 2014 Sochi Games. Alternating between clips from a documentary about the couple timed to the 10th anniversary of their epic final skate and Kat telling her own story about what really happened, this gripping, full-cast performance led by Christine Lakin is not to be missed. —Editor Margaret H.

When it all comes crashing down

Scaachi Koul is gearing up to deliver her long-awaited follow-up to her debut essay collection, One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter—except it’s not the book she thought it would be. Sucker Punch is Koul’s excavation of the years since the release of One Day…, which were filled with loss and rejection, all while living in the windstorm of a pandemic. I, for one, can’t get enough of a good comeback story—when someone’s down and out and loses all their chips but has to face the fact that the only way out is through? That’s the good stuff right there. That’s a real life. —Editor Aaron S.