Reza Aslan, professor at U.C. Riverside’s MFA program and author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

Claire Comstock Gay, author of weekly horoscopes for New York magazine’s The Cut, and her debut book about astrology, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars,

Recollections of My Nonexistence: A Memoir by Rebecca Solnit

Ibi Zoboi, New York Times bestselling author of National Book Award Finalist American Street, Pride, My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich and co-author with prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of Punching the Air. She joins us to talk about her first work of non-fiction Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler. Hear her First Draft interview here.

Kekla Magoon, award-winning author of many novels and nonfiction books for kids and teens, including How It Went Down, The Season of Styx Malone, and her newest, Revolution In Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People. Hear her First Draft interview here.

Helen O’Hara, film critic, editor-at-large for Empire magazine and co-host of the Empire film podcast, talks about her newest non-fiction, Women vs Hollywood: The Fall and RIse of Women in Film and its accompanying podcast, Women vs Hollywood With Helen O’Hara. Hear her First Draft interview here.

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston

Sarah Suk, author of Made in Korea and the forthcoming The Space Between Here and Now

Seth Meyers, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers and former head writer for Saturday Night Live, talks about his debut picture book, I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared with Rob Syegh. Hear his First Draft interview here

Jacqueline Woodson, 2020 MacArthur Genius fellow, National Book Award winner, Newberry, Caldecott, and Coretta Scott King winner, former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brown Girl Dreaming, Red at the Bone, Another Brooklyn, Before the Ever After and many, many more. She joins us to talk about her picture books with Rafael López, The Day You Begin and The Year We Learned to Fly. Hear her First Draft interview here.

Maurene Goo, author of Somewhere Only We Know, The Way You Make Me Feel, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and Since You Asked. Listen to her First Draft interviews here, here, and here.

Kate’s first First Draft interview

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Twilight by Stephenie Meyers

Ice Planet Barbarians series by Ruby Dixon

Plane Baes

Song Exploder podcast

Seth Meyers, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers and former head writer for Saturday Night Live, talks about his debut picture book, I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared with Rob Syegh. Hear his First Draft interview here.

Sweet Bobby podcast

@90sArtSchool

Doree Shafrir, co-host of the Forever35 podcast and author of Startup, joins us to talk about her debut memoir, Thanks For Waiting: The Joy (& Weirdness) of Being a Late Bloomer. Hear her First Draft interview here.

Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author of Red, White, and Royal Blue, talks about their latest queer rom-com, One Last Stop. Hear their First Draft interview here.

Jennifer E. Smith, author of YA novels The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between and more. She’s here to talk about her first picture book, Creature of Habit (with illustrator Leo Espinosa), and her first adult novel, The Unsinkable Greta James. Hear her First Draft interview here.

The Story of Babar: The Little Elephant, the first book in the Babar series by Jean de Brumhoff

Spider Man: The Short Halloween written by Seth Meyers and Bill Hader

Richard Scarry, author and illustrator of Trucks, A Day at the Airport, Cars and Trucks and Things That Go! and many more

Jill Benjamin, Seth’s writing partner from his Improv Olympic days

Documentary Now! on IFC

Watership Down (movie)

The Secret of NIMH (movie)

The Black Cauldron (movie)

The Hobbit (movie)

Seth Meyers on Sesame Street (with The Count and with Elmo)

Sandra Boynton, author and illustrator of picture books like Snuggle Puppy: A Little Love Song, Barnyard Dance!, Pajama Time! and many more.

Where’s Waldo by Martin Handford

Jill Twiss, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and Emmy winning comedy writer on Last Week Tonight. Hear her First Draft interview here.

John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author of many young adult novels, including The Fault in Our Stars and Printz-winning Looking For Alaska, joins to discuss his new essay collection, The Anthropocene Reviewed. He is also one half of the vlogbrothers on YouTube and co-creator of educational series Crash Course. Hear his First Draft interview here.

John Scieszka, former National Ambassador for Children’s Literature and New York Times bestselling author best known for picture books with illustrator Lane Smith, including The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Math Curse, and more. Hear his First Draft interview here.

Hear Jennifer E. Smith’s first First Draft interview

Illustrator Leo Espinosa

St. Vincent (musician)

A League of Their Own (movie)

Katie Lovejoy, screenwriter for The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Vanessa Caswill, director of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

The cast of the movie includes: Hayley Lu Richardson, Ben Hardy, Rob Delaney, Jameela Jamil

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Field Notes on Love, which Jenn is adapting for the screen with Lauren Graham

Rebecca Serle, New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years, The Dinner List, and more, talks about her new novel, One Italian Summer. Hear her First Draft interview here.

Emma Straub, New York Times-bestselling author of The Vacationers, Modern Lovers, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, and the short story collection Other People We Married, talks about her most recent novel, All Adults Here, out in paperback now. She and her husband own Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic. Hear her First Draft interview here.

Catie Disabato, author of The Ghost Network and the new adult contemporary novel U Up? Hear her First Draft interview here.

Rebecca’s first First Draft interview

Leila Sales, author of

“The Case for Cancelling Everything,” by Yascha Mounk for The Atlantic

The Brave Little Toaster (movie)

Honey I Shrunk the Kids (movie)

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-seven novels, including My Sister's Keeper, Nineteen Minutes, Small Great Things, and two young adult novels with daughter Samantha van Leer, Between the Lines and Off the Page. She joins to talk about her latest, Wish You Were Here. Listen to her First Draft episode here.

Emma Straub, New York Times-bestselling author of The Vacationers, Modern Lovers, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, and the short story collection Other People We Married, talks about her most recent novel, All Adults Here, out in paperback now. She and her husband own Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic. Listen to her First Draft interview here.

Catie Disabato, author of The Ghost Network and the new adult contemporary novel U Up? Listen to her First Draft interview here.

Don’t miss Sabaa’s first First Draft interview, and her second First Draft interview!

“The Ghosts of Our Motel,” by Sabaa Tahir for Vox

The Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

Nina LaCour, Printz-winning author of We Are Okay, and other contemporary YA titles like Everything Leads to You and Hold Still. Host of the Keeping a Notebook podcast and creator of the Slow Novel Lab and Writing Together. Hear Nina’s first First Draft interview, and her second First Draft interview.

Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, Concrete Rose, and co-author of Blackout.

Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star talks about her new YA, Instructions For Dancing and her brand new publishing venture: co-publisher of Joy Revolution, a Random House young adult imprint dedicated to love stories starring people of color. Hear her first First Draft interview, and her second First Draft interview.

Jandy Nelson, Printz-winning author of I’ll Give You the Sun and The Sky is Everywhere.

Maurene Goo, author of Somewhere Only We Know, The Way You Make Me Feel, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and Since You Asked. Hear her first First Draft interview, her second First Draft interview, and her third First Draft interview.

Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shadow and Bone series, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology, and adult contemporary fantasy novel, Ninth House. Hear her first First Draft interview here, her second First Draft interview here, and her third First Draft interview here.

Garth Nix, New York Times bestselling author of Sabriel, returns to the Old Kingdom series with his latest YA fantasy, Terciel & Elinor. Hear his First Draft interview here.

Roseanne M. Brown, New York Times bestselling author of YA fantasy novels A Song of Wraiths and Ruin and its sequel, A Psalm of Storms and Silence. Hear her First Draft interview here.

Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and its sequel Our Violent Ends. Hear her First Draft interview here.