The Reading Culture

Beanstack co-founder Jordan Lloyd Bookey hosts conversations that dive into authors and reading enthusiasts' personal journeys and insights into motivating young people to read.

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About the Podcast

Reading regularly helps prepare students—academically and emotionally—to be global citizens. Listen in as Jordan Lloyd Bookey speaks with diverse authors about their own journeys as readers and storytellers, their perspectives on the cultural climate in children’s and young adult literature, and the experiences that motivated them to read more. Each episode features a themed reading list challenge of titles handpicked by the author to inspire students and readers of all ages.

Latest Episodes

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Angeline Boulley

Angeline Boulley was born into story-telling people. As a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, she was first introduced to the art through generational oral tradition. Yet during her childhood, Angeline struggled with her biracial indigenous identity. In searching for representation through the stories in books she was reading, she realized that the examples she found lacked depth and true experience. 


It wasn’t until her mid forties that she realized she could write her own experience into existence. For nearly three decades, Angeline had mulled over a story idea, until she decided it was time to write this story. After another decade of working full-time (like really full time as a mom of three with a big-time DC job) and seeking out time to write, she debuted with her award-winning novel, “Firekeeper’s Daughter.”

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Yuyi Morales

In this episode, Yuyi explores her experience as an immigrant to the United States and her “constant immigrant journey” now that she is living and creating in Mexico. She opens up about everything from how her stories helped quell her homesickness to the inspiration for her more recent picture books. She shares an incredible story about how one book completely changed her perspective on reading and made her a reader. We discuss magical realism, and Yuyi’s secret to finding joy in every crevice of life, no matter the starting point.

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M.T. Anderson

In this episode, M.T. takes us on his own journey to embracing these genres as a writer, he talks about the growing relevance of their ability to offer societal critiques and representation in the increasingly hostile censorship movements, and he tells us about his new story where he uses a new perspective to learn about the world (his dog’s).

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Shadra Strickland

In this episode, author-illustrator Shadra Strickland takes us through the important artistic influences and moments in her life that led her to this debut solo picture book. She shares the elements of art that stand out to her and how she applies them to her work, and we also discuss the rise and ethics of AI art.

 

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About Jordan

Jordan is a mother, avid reader, and co-founder of Zoobean and its flagship product, Beanstack. Prior to serving as the company’s Chief Client Success Officer, she was Google's Head of K–12 Education Outreach, taught seventh grade language arts, and currently contributes to "The Washington Post." She loves Broadway shows, Peloton rides, hiking, weekly movie nights with her family, and, of course, reading. Jordan’s entrepreneurial spirit and passion for education led her to begin The Reading Culture podcast, where she hopes to share the love of reading with listeners around the world.

Learn More About Beanstack

Motivate readers of all ages with reading challenges proven to increase engagement.