Fantasy author Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone, The Familiar) helps Kat and Katie usher in spooky season with the launch of the final book in her Ninth House trilogy, Dead Beat. She explains how she looks for magic under the facades of the real world, reveals her incredible talent for movie-trailer marketing, and tells us about her OTP (one true pairing) with her ride-or-die narrator, Lauren Fortgang.

Note for listeners: This episode contains one instance of strong language.

Audiobooks we mention in this episode:

Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo | Narrated by Lauren Fortgang and Michael David Axtell

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo | Narrated by Lauren Fortgang and Michael David Axtell

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo | Narrated by Lauren Fortgang

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo | Narrated by Lauren Fortgang

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King | Narrated by Frank Muller

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo | Narrated by Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, Lauren Fortgang, Roger Clark, Elizabeth Evans, Tristan Morris

National Book Award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X, Family Lore) joins Kat and Katie to discuss her new young adult novel, Anger Is Only A Shadow. She shares the ways music, rapping, and poetic recitation are woven into her novels, how she's rejecting hustle culture (while still working on multiple books at once), and learning new writing rhythms through her season of motherhood.

Audiobooks and authors we mention in this episode:

Anger is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Nate Marshall

Angie Thomas

Jose Olivarez

Safia Elhillo

Danez Smith

Robert Frost

Toni Morrison

Maya Angelou

Hanif Abdurraqib

Clint Smith

Sabaa Tahir

Lauren Groff

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is in the studio with Kat and Katie to discuss his richly sound-designed new memoir, The Perilous Fight. Ten years after he first took a knee, he shares the stories that led him to become one of the most prominent activists of a generation.

This week, Red Queen and Realm Breaker author Victoria Aveyard sits down with Katie and Kat for the launch of her first adult novel, Tempest. We talk pirates, formative fandoms, and having an audience that grows up with you.

Explore the listens recommended in this episode: audible.com/victoriaaveyardepisoderecs.

And we’re back! After a summer hiatus, Katie and Kat return with this Fall’s most anticipated releases, from award-nominated fiction to buzzy celebrity memoirs and the return of vampires.

To see the Fall Preview list in full, visit: audible.com/fallpreview2026.

Kat and Katie dive into the season with the summer’s sleeper hits and buzziest books to take you to the beach, the pool, the garden, or anywhere there’s AC.

Explore the listens recommended in this episode: audible.com/summerlisteningepisoderecs.