Well, this has been a long hiatus for the podcast, but I am back with what should be required reading for every American. Find out why escaped slave Frederick Douglass is not only an American hero, but one of our greatest literary treasures. Some of this podcast may make you squirm, but if art doesn't challenge you, is it really art?

The Catcher in the Rye is probably the most read piece of literature other than The Great Gatsby that I have featured on my podcast. And people have A LOT of opinions about this one. Tune in to hear mine. Spoiler alert: I love this kid.

Author James Baldwin famously said, “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” If you've never read one of James Baldwin's novels, Go Tell It On The Mountain, If Beale Street Could Talk, or Giovanni's Room, or his essays in The Fire Next Time or Notes of a Native Son, you should go do that. Immediately. Meanwhile, to gain an introduction, or a re-introduction, to one of America's most profound and beautiful voices, listen to my take on Baldwin's short story, "Sonny's Blues." Along the way, you'll get an earful, haha, on how songs sung by slaves are the foundation of virtually every American musical genre. And you'll hear why books are both windows and mirrors, and why we need both, now more than ever.