Borrowed & Returned – Details, episodes & analysis

Bedford-Stuyvesant is perhaps one of Brooklyn’s most iconic neighborhoods. Its tree-lined streets and grand brownstones have been here for over 150 years. This episode, a re-broadcast from 2019, tells the story of Bed-Stuy through the lives of three women who set down roots here in different ways: activist Hattie Carthan, writer Paule Marshall, and novelist Naomi Jackson. 

Read a transcript of this episode here.

Further resources:

• Check out our list of books curated for this episode.
• Learn more about Hattie Carthan on our Brooklynology blog, or check out the Magnolia Tree Earth Center archive at the Center for Brooklyn History.
• Visit Magnolia Tree Earth Center. You can also attend their new art exhibition opening on September 7th.
• Read Paule Marshall's Brown Girl, Brownstones, or her 1983 essay, "From the Poets in the Kitchen."

Splitting her time between Athens, Georgia and Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Nicole A. Taylor is a food writer and author of several cookbooks. She sat down with BPL’s Bed-Stuy Tea podcast to discuss finding and preserving her Southern voice, the pleasures of restaurant research, and her favorite local spots to eat and drink.

Read a transcript of this episode here.

Further resources:

• Listen to more episodes of Bed-Stuy Tea on our website, or subscribe to BKLYN Community Audio on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode.
• Check out the cookbooks and books mentioned on this episode.

Library workers often risk their livelihoods when they speak out against censorship, spurring community members to pick up the fight for intellectual freedom. We tell the story of how one Louisiana parish came together to defend their library amidst book challenges, tip lines, and even sign burning.

Read the transcript here.

Our call to action for this episode:

• Find the people in your community who care about public libraries and get together with them.

More resources:

• EveryLibrary Institute is an organization that seeks to build voter support for libraries. Learn more about their support of St. Tammany Library Alliance here. 
• Book Riot and EveryLibrary teamed up to survey parents about their perceptions of public libraries and book bans. Read the full results of the survey here.
• Read Emily Drabinski's essay about St. Tammany Library and a report in the Louisiana Illuminator about the chaotic regularity of book challenges in the parish. 
• Most people oppose book bans, according to surveys from the American Library Association and CBS.
• Check out this list of challenged and banned children's books.

Maia Kobabe's debut memoir, Gender Queer, was the most frequently banned book in 2021 and 2022. We talked with em about what it's like to be on the recieving end of so many challenges, and the importance of public libraries.

Read the transcript here.

More resources:

• Check out Gender Queer.
• Find Maia's resources for defending Gender Queer, and eir recent comic about book bans and libraries.
• Read The Washington Post's article on book bans.

Despite being one of the most frequently banned authors, Toni Morrison’s work has inspired countless others to tell stories outside the mainstream. We take a closer look at Morisson's writing, her legacy, and her impact on the anti-censorship movement.

Read the transcript here.

Our call to action for this episode:

• Learn how you can support and defend public libraries at Libraries for the People.

More resources:

• Read Toni Morrison's books. If you're a young person, you can apply for a Books Unbanned card to check out digital library books for free.
• Listen to Toni Morrison's full 2016 talk that was part of the BPL Presents series Brooklyn by the Book, co-curated by Community Books, BPL Presents & Congregation Beth Elohim.
• Watch Toni Morrison's speech when she accepted PEN America's PEN/Borders Literary Service Award in 2008.
• Learn more about the National Coalition Against Censorship's Student Advocates for Speech program.

George M. Johnson talks about their debut Young Adult memoir All Boys Aren't Blue, the support of their family, their love of Toni Morrison, and the importance of standing against book bans. 

Read the transcript here.

Resources:

• Check out All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. 
• Read about Johnson's family supporting their book when it was challenged in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.
• Access other banned books with our free Books Unbanned library card for teens.

Our call to action for this episode:

• Talk about the books that are important to you, even if they aren’t challenged.
• Stay informed about what books are being challenged in your area by subscribing to Book Riot's Literary Activism Newsletter. Each week, journalist Kelly Jensen writes about the latest in book banning trends, stories, and reports from across the country. 

More resources:

• Read the new "classics," selected by teens. 
• If you're a young person, you can join the Intellectual Freedom Teen Meetup, BPL's monthly virtual meeting to talk about the freedom to read.
• Check out Dr. Emily Knox's Book Banning in 21st Century America and her research on challenges to diverse books.
• Listen to our full interview with Mike Curato.

Read the new "classics," according to teens.

Mike Curato talks about his award-winning graphic novel Flamer, his writing practice, and how it feels to have his story vaulted into national headlines as parents, politicians, and school boards campaign to remove his book from school and library shelves.

Read the transcript here.

Resources:

• Check out Flamer from BPL, or other books by Mike Curato.
• See what books were most frequently challenged in 2022, according to the America Library Association.
• This conversation touches on suicide. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or is in crisis, you can talk to someone at the suicide and crisis lifeline. Just call 988. It’s free, and it’s available 24 hours a day.  

Over the past few years, school board races have become more heated and more political — and books have become the center of that political storm. We look at what happened in Keller, Texas when an ultra-conservative group took over the school board.

You can read a transcript of this episode here.

Our call to action for this episode:

• Find out when the next school board meeting is happening in your community, and show up.
• Unite Against Book Bans has an Action Toolkit with advice for how to talk about book bans, and how to contact your local officials about the freedom to read.

More resources:

• PEN America has been tracking states with "educational gag orders" in place or pending. Read their anyalisis here.
• Read ProPublica's investigation into chaos at school boards, and Nicole Carr's reporting on one school board in Cherokee County, Georgia.
• Submit an anonymous testimonial to help us document how teens, parents, educators and community members are fighting for their freedom to read.
• Check out some of the books mentioned on this episode.

It’s an off-week for Borrowed and Banned, but we do have something special to share. We’re doing a collaboration with PRX’s Radiotopia, and they sent along an episode from one of their shows that is really relevant to our series.   

This Day in Esoteric Political History is a podcast that tells the story of one moment from US history that took place on a particular day -- and discuss what it might have to teach us about our current moment. Back in 2020, the hosts did an episode about the banning of James Joyce’s Ulysses <