Daniel Tam-Claiborne recently appeared at Mac’s Backs Books in Cleveland to discuss his debut novel, Transplants, which surrounds a Chinese college student and a Chinese American teacher who find themselves uprooted in new lives and cultures. Tam-Claiborne sheds light on his inspiration and process, his philosophy on writing outside one’s own experience, the craft of a multi-POV novel, incorporating the real-life trajectory of COVID into his fictional world, exploring identity and belonging in his work, and, naturally, why self-delusion is an important part of the writing life.

This conversation was recorded during an in-person author event hosted by Mac’s Backs on November 18, 2025. Order Transplants from Mac’s Backs here.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Sportswriter Christine Brennan discusses her latest book, On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports, including how she came to conceive, research, write, and publish the book as an instant New York Times bestseller in only a year. In addition to dissecting Caitlin Clark’s career and impact on the WNBA, Brennan also discusses her Toledo upbringing, the art of sports journalism, succeeding in a male-dominated field, the impact of Title IX, what it means when a biography is “unauthorized,” a preview of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan, and more.

Christine Brennan is an award-winning national sports columnist for USA Today, a commentator for CNN, ABC News, PBS NewsHour and NPR, a bestselling author, and a nationally known speaker. Named one of the country’s top 10 sports columnists three times by the Associated Press Sports Editors, she has covered the Olympic Games, both summer and winter, since 1984. She is the author of eight books, including Best Seat in the House, the only father-daughter memoir written by a sports journalist. Her latest book, On Her Game, is the bestselling 2025 portrait of basketball star Caitlin Clark. Visit christinebrennan.com and follow @cbrennansports on Instagram, X, or Facebook for more.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

We’re leaving 2025 on a note of failure, mishaps, and shame. That’s right: we have bloopers! Listen in to discover that Laura is incapable of saying the word “archivist,” she asks hopelessly clunky questions, she is completely unfamiliar with the 1991 action film Backdraft, she can’t recall the podcast introduction she’s said literally over 100 times, and she even gets popcorn stuck in her throat right before recording. Also, sometimes the lights go out, the wrong microphone is employed, recorders run low on battery power, and words like “iconography” and “ambiguity” rear their ugly heads. All this and more in our first (and perhaps only ever) bloopers episode.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.