RTB Radio News
The September 2026 book offerings from the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network:
Chautauqua
Monday – Friday 6:00 a.m.
Enshittification – Nonfiction by Cory Doctorow, 2025. A persuasive polemic that aims to defang Big Tech—and improve life for everyone else. Read by Dan Sadoff. 12 broadcasts; began Thursday, August 27. Listen to a promo of Enshittification.
Superbloom – Nonfiction by Nicholas Carr, 2025. A bracing exploration of how social media has warped our sense of self and society and a call to change our relationship with it. Read by Stevie Ray. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 14. Listen to a promo of Superbloom.
Close to Home – Nonfiction by Thor Hanson, 2025. A perfect mix of science and story, opening the door to the nature that thrives in our yards, gardens, and parks. Read by Sarah Blossom. 11 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 29. Listen to a promo of Close to Home.
Past is Prologue
Monday - Friday 11:00 a.m.
The Beast in the Clouds – Nonfiction by Nathalia Holt, 2025. The stunning true story of Theodore Roosevelt's sons and their 1929 Himalayan expedition to prove the existence of the panda bear to the western world. Read by Gabriela Santiago. 9 broadcasts; began Monday, August 31. Listen to a promo of The Beast in the Clouds.
The Martians – Nonfiction by David Baron, 2025. An entertaining account of the Mars madness that saturated popular culture at the turn of the 20th century. Read by Carol McPherson. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 14. Listen to a promo of The Martians.
Illiberal America – Nonfiction by Steven Hahn, 2024. A guide to modern authoritarianism masked as conservatism. Read by Judy Woodward. 18 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 28. Listen to a promo of Illiberal America.
Bookworm
Monday – Friday 12:00 p.m.
Ashland – Fiction by Dan Simon, 2026. A multilayered and richly evocative portrait of a dying New Hampshire mill town, told through the voices of intertwined families during the 20th century. Read by Stuart Holland. 7 broadcasts; began Thursday, August 27. Listen to a promo of Ashland.
Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter – Fiction by Heather Fawcett, 2026. A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montréal turns to a magician to help save her shelter. Read by Susan Lambrecht. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 7. Listen to a promo of Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter.
The Original – Fiction by Nell Stevens, 2025. An aspiring art forger must unravel whether the man claiming to be her long-lost cousin is an impostor. Read by Karen Ray. 12 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 22. Listen to a promo of The Original.
The Writer's Voice
Monday - Friday 1:00 p.m.
Sugar Bush Babies – Nonfiction by Janis A. Fairbanks, 2025. A memoir of lessons learned from an Ojibwe grandmother. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 6 broadcasts; began Tuesday, August 25. Listen to a promo of Sugar Bush Babies.
Racing Uphill – Nonfiction by Stacia Kalinoski, 2025. An inspiring story of a woman's experience with a chronic, neurological condition. Read by Carol McPherson. 10 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 2. Listen to a promo of Racing Uphill.
Hypochondria – Nonfiction by Will Rees, 2025. A genre-bending meditation on hypochondria that references everyone from Freud to Seinfeld. Read by Peter Danbury. 8 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 16. Listen to a promo of Hypocondria.
Mailman – Nonfiction by Stephen Starring Grant, 2025. A marketing whiz becomes a rural mailman and learns important lessons in this memoir. Read by Nathan Hunter. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 28. Listen to a promo of Mailman.
Choice Reading
Monday - Friday 2:00 p.m.
The Slip – Fiction by Lucas Schaefer, 2025. A haymaker of an American novel about a missing teenage boy, cases of mistaken identity, and the transformative power of boxing. Read by Paul Ranelli. 20 broadcasts; began Tuesday, August 11. – L, S, R. Listen to a promo of The Slip.
The Copywriter – Fiction by Daniel Poppick, 2026. A poet curates the absurdities of modern life as he works as a copywriter in New York City. Read by Tom Speich. 4 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 8. – L. Listen to a promo of The Copywriter.
A Season on the Drink – Fiction by Pat Harris, 2025. A broken team, a battle for dignity, and a summer of softball that united them against the odds. Read by John Potts. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 14. Listen to a promo of A Season on the Drink.
The Probable Son – Fiction by Cindy Jiban, 2025. A mother secretly believes she's raising the wrong son, mistakenly switched at birth. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 12 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 28. – L. Listen to a promo of The Probable Son.
Afternoon Report
Monday – Friday 4:00 p.m.
Injustice – Nonfiction by Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis, 2025. An investigation of unparalleled depth into the subversion of the Justice Department over the last decade. Read by Joanne Turner. 17 broadcasts; began Monday, August 24. Listen to a promo of Injustice.
Echo Machine – Nonfiction by David Pakman, 2025. A vital exploration of how right-wing extremism, media manipulation, and ideological echo chambers have eroded critical thinking and deepened political divisions. Read by Pat Kovel-Jarboe. 9 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 16. Listen to a promo of Echo Machine.
It's On You – Nonfiction by Nick Chater & George Loewenstein, 2026. An argument for rejecting "nudge" policies and not blaming personal failure for society's failures. Read by Joanne Turner. 10 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 29. Listen to a promo of It's On You.
Night Journey
Monday – Friday 7:00 p.m.
Making Friends Can Be Murder – Fiction by Kathleen West, 2025. Thirty-year-old Sarah Jones gets caught up solving a murder after unknowingly befriending a dangerous con artist (who's nothing like what she seems) in this playful, twisty mystery. Read by Susan Lambrecht. 12 broadcasts; began Monday, August 24. – L. Listen to a promo of Making Friends Can Be Murder.
Ruth Run – Fiction by Elizabeth Kaufman, 2025. Cybercrime leads to a cross-country pursuit as an ambitious young thief exploits a hacked microchip to rob banks. Read by Claudia Waring. 9 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 9. – L. Listen to a promo of Ruth Run.
Hotel Ukraine – Fiction by Martin Cruz Smith, 2025. Detective Arkady Renko returns in this tense thriller set amid the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Read by John Potts. 7 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 22. Listen to a promo of Hotel Ukraine.
Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday 8:00 p.m.
The Future Was Color – Fiction by Patrick Nathan, 2024. A dazzling novel about the inextricable link between the personal and the political set against the decadence of Hollywood and postwar Los Angeles. Read by Paul Ranelli. 8 broadcasts; began Wednesday, August 26. – L, S. Listen to a promo of The Future Was Color.
Stag Dance – Fiction by Torrey Peters, 2025. A quartet of tales that explores the complexities of trans lives, longing, and identity. Read by Stuart Holland. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 7. – L, S. Listen to a promo of Stag Dance.
The Emergency – Fiction by George Packer, 2025. A doctor tries to preserve his family in this gripping fable of imperial collapse that illuminates the crises of our times. Read by Stuart Holland. 14 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 22. Listen to a promo of The Emergency.
Potpourri
Monday – Friday 9:00 p.m.
Murderland – Nonfiction by Caroline Fraser, 2025. A propulsive nonfiction thriller and terrifying true-crime history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Read by Holly Sylvester. 19 broadcasts; began Tuesday, August 18. – S, V, G. Listen to a promo of Murderland.
Notes on Being a Man – Nonfiction by Scott Galloway, 2025. An NYU professor offers a path forward for men and parents of boys. Read by John Potts. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 14. – L, S. Listen to a promo of Notes on Being a Man.
This Dog Will Change Your Life – Nonfiction by Elias Weiss Friedman, 2025. How dogs make our lives better by making us better people. Read by Kendra Hoffman. 10 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 29. Listen to a promo of This Dog Will Change Your Life.
Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday 10:00 p.m.
Nothing Tastes as Good – Fiction by Luke Dumas, 2026. A sinister and spine-tingling thriller about a weight loss treatment with terrifying side effects. Read by Paul Ranelli. 11 broadcasts; began Monday, August 31. – L, S, G. Listen to a promo of Nothing Tastes as Good.
Earth 7 – Fiction by Deb Olin Unferth, 2026. An end-of-the-world love story asking what can be saved of our planet. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 9 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 15. – L. Listen to a promo of Earth 7.
UnWorld – Fiction by Jayson Greene, 2025. The boundaries between human and AI blur in a near-future world. Read by Michelle Juntunen. 7 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 28. – L. Listen to a promo of UnWorld.
RTB After Hours
Monday – Friday 11:00 p.m.
We Met Like This – Fiction by Kasie West, 2025. A hopeless romantic aspiring literary agent finds her life upended when she loses her job and repeatedly matches on a dating app with her complete opposite, an unexpectedly supportive man with whom she previously shared a disastrous first date. Read by Holly Sylvester. 11 broadcasts; began Tuesday, August 18. – S. Listen to a promo of We Met Like This.
Anywhere With You – Fiction by Ellie Palmer, 2025. A romance for anyone who believes that sometimes the best destinations are the ones you never planned. Read by Holland Richner. 11 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 2. Listen to a promo of Anywhere With You.
It's Different This Time – Fiction by Joss Richard, 2025. A twist of fate forces two former roommates back into their beloved New York City brownstone where they must confront the events that led to their estrangement. Read by Carol McPherson. 14 broadcasts; begins Thursday, September 17. – L, S. Listen to a promo of It's Different This Time.
Weekend Books
Your Personal World (Saturdays at 1 p.m.) presents Open Socrates by Agnes Collard, read by Lannois Neely.
For the Younger Set (Sundays at 11 a.m.) presents Where the Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek, read by Carol McPherson.
Poetic Reflections (Sundays at noon) presents You Are Here edited by Ada Limón, read by Charles Gould.
The Great North (Sundays at 4 p.m.) presents The Scenic Route by Arnold R. Alanen, read by Yelva Lynfield.
Abbreviations
V – Violent content
R – Racial epithets
L – Strong language
G – Gory descriptions
S – Sexual situations
All listings are US Central Time (CT)
Missed a Book Broadcast?
If you've missed a broadcast of a book, you can access it for two weeks following its original broadcast in our online weekly program archive. For help accessing the archive, please contact Ronnie Washington at 651.539.1424 or SSB.Equipment@state.mn.us.