Check This Out

New Hampshire Public Radio

From New Hampshire Public Radio, Check This Out is a fresh literary series where host Rachel Barenbaum dives deeply into the works of emerging authors.

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20 episodes
Avg 41 min
English

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Friday · 27 min
Stephanie Soileau's 'Should the Waters Take Us' & New York Times book critic
A sweeping four-century debut novel that travels from France to Acadia to the bayous of Southern Louisiana. Plus, New York Times literary critic Dwight Garner on today's literary landscape.
October 16 · 27 min
In "Retro," Jessica Goldstein creates a luxury time-travel agency
An unemployed actress finds a new job taking wealthy clients on luxury time-travel tours through history. And on the Book Biz, an unlikely theme night idea that’s sold out Fenway and selling books.
July 3 · 50 min
Find your next summer read
Some favorite authors offer their suggestions for summer reading, plus host Rachel Barenbaum has some books by New England authors to recommend.
June 26 · 21 min
The Book Biz: Novelist Katherine Center reflects
The Book Biz segment is where we look at the forces shaping what gets written, published and read. We talk to Katherine Center, a veteran romance author about how the industry has changed in the last 20 years, her new novel, "The Shippers," and what it's like to have your work turned into a movie.
June 25 · 50 min
Check This Out: Yu-Mei Balasingamchow & 'Names Have Been Changed' plus the Book Biz with Katherine Center
This debut novel is about an itinerant Singaporean ex-con hiding from her past in different countries. And on our Book Biz segment, author Katherine Center reflects on her 20-year publishing career.
June 18 · 24 min
The Book Biz: How audiobooks are changing publishing
We discuss the rise of audio books and how they are driving books sales and creating fandoms with bookseller Rachel Kanter.
June 18 · 49 min
Portia Elan & 'Homebound' plus the boom in audiobooks on the Book Biz
The debut novel "Homebound'" features four lives entangled across time by a computer game, saved to a floppy disk in the 1980s. And on our Book Biz segment, how audiobooks are changing publishing.
June 11 · 19 min
The Book Biz: Ron Charles & the future of literary criticism
A discussion with book critic Ron Charles about the changing landscape for book reviews and literary criticism.
June 11 · 49 min
Bar Fridman-Tell & 'Honeysuckle' plus book critic Ron Charles
An unsettling debut novel blending romance, horror, and fairy tale elements, with nods to Frankenstein, plus, in our Book Biz segment, the future of literary criticism.
June 4 · 16 min
The Book Biz: Why romance rules publishing
Where we look at the forces shaping what gets written, published, and read, featuring author and podcaster Sarah MacLean on why romance has become the engine of modern publishing.
June 4 · 49 min
H.M. Wolfe & 'Daggermouth' and why romance rules publishing
A viral dystopian romance set in a corrupt surveillance state, following a mercenary who botches the assassination of the president’s son. And on the Book Biz segment, the romance genre as the engine of publishing.
May 28 · 49 min
Susan Donovan Bernhard & 'Westerly'
A sweeping family saga that traces the intertwined lives of three generations of women, moving from war-torn Germany and Ireland to coastal Maine.
May 21 · 50 min
Tolani Akinola & 'Leave Your Mess at Home' plus the Book Biz
In this debut novel, we meet a Nigerian-American family set on a crash course towards each other. And on our Book Biz segment, the role of agents in publishing today.
May 14 · 45 min
Stacia Stark & 'We Who Will Die'
In this romantasy set in a Roman-inspired world ruled by vampires, a young woman faces a deadly competition where survival depends on mastering forbidden powers.
May 7 · 52 min
Check This Out: Daniyal Mueenuddin & 'This Is Where the Serpent Lives' plus the Book Biz
Through intertwining narratives, the novel follows a cast of characters in Pakistan, taking us from the chaotic cities to lawless feudal countryside. And in the Book Biz segment, how A.I. is affecting publishing.
April 30 · 49 min
Judy Batalion & 'The Last Woman of Warsaw' plus digital-first publishing
This historical novel takes us to Poland in the late 1930s, where two young Jewish women must work together to find a missing teacher while storm clouds gather around them. Plus the Book Biz on digital-first publishing.
April 23 · 44 min
Rebecca Lehmann & 'The Beheading Game'
We all know what happened to Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, but what if she woke up the day after her execution and took it upon herself to seek justice?
April 16 · 50 min
Check This Out: Clare Oshetsky & 'Evil Genius' and the debut of The Book Biz
A darkly comedic noir novel set in 1974 San Francisco following a young woman as she becomes obsessed with murder and desire after a co-worker's death, leading her to challenge her controlling husband.
April 10 · 49 min
Karan Mahajan and 'The Complex'
“The Complex” moves between the U.S. and modern India to follow the illicit liaisons, political ambitions, and betrayals of a prominent Delhi family, unraveling in the shadow of a nation's transformation.
Dec 11, 2025 · 49 min
Holiday Recommendations for winter reading
Join us for recommendations from literary fiction to romance; new favorites that flew under the radar but are worth seeking out.

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