Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by poet, writer, organizer, and educator Mahogany L. Browne. Mahogany is the author of three novels and several poetry collections, including Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice and the National Book Award–longlisted book, A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe. Today, we talk about who pushed her toward writing for young people, how she’s celebrating her birthday this year, and what motivates her to keep doing the work.

The Stacks Book Club pick for April is Room Swept Home by Remica Bingham-Risher. We’ll be discussing the book with Mahogany L. Browne on April 29.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/4/1/ep-418-mahogany-l-browne

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It’s The Stacks Book Club day and Morrison Month here on The Stacks, and today, we're diving into Paradise by Toni Morrison with award-winning writer, professor, and On Morrison author, Namwali Serpell. This book tells the story of Ruby, a small, all-black town in rural Oklahoma founded by the descendants of freed slaves, and its violent conflict with a nearby convent of women. We chat about the novel’s complexity, how it tackles faith and gender, and its connection to Beloved and Jazz.

There are spoilers in this episode.

Listen to the end of the episode to hear what our April book club pick will be!

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/3/25/ep-417-paradise

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The 98th Academy Awards ceremony was this past Sunday, and we’ve got a lot to talk about. Today, I’m joined by Vibe Check co-hosts and friends of the pod, Saeed Jones and Zach Stafford, to recap all things Oscars, discussing everything from our Timothée Chalamet burnout to why people pitted Sinners and One Battle After Another against each other, and a whole lot more. This is a follow-up to my pre-Oscars chat with Saeed and Zach last week on Vibe Check—you can listen to that episode here.

*This episode is exclusive to members of The Stacks Pack on Patreon and our Substack subscribers.

You can find links to everything we discuss on today’s show on The Stacks Website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/unabridged/2026/3/20/tsu-57-saeed-jones-zach-stafford

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Connect with Zach: Instagram | Threads

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.