Bookwild

Kate Hergott, Bookwild Collective
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On Tuesdays, Kate Hergott talks with authors about their books and writing processes. On Fridays, Kate talks with multiple co-host Bookstagrammers and BookTubers about a variety of bookish topics.

  1. Children Like Us: Family, Heritage & Cultural Erasure with Brittany Penner

    23 DEC

    Children Like Us: Family, Heritage & Cultural Erasure with Brittany Penner

    This week, I talk with Brittany Penner about her memoir Children Like Us, a haunting, deeply reflective exploration of identity, faith, and survival. Brittany shares what it was like growing up as an Indigenous child adopted into a Mennonite family that fostered dozens of other children, unpacking the long-term impact of the Sixties Scoop, religious indoctrination, and being taught to feel “grateful” for circumstances rooted in colonial harm. We dive into dissociation, self-abandonment, storytelling as a tool for healing, and the complicated reality of holding love for family while confronting the systems that caused lasting damage. We discuss grief, nuance, and reclamation, ultimately asking what it means to trust your own memory, honor your pain, and slowly learn how to walk yourself home. Learn more about Brittany here Check Out Author Social Media Packages Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Other Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

    1h 8m

  2. 19 DEC

    2025 Favorite Reads and Some 2026 Hopefuls with Gare

    This week, Gare and I talk about what we've been watching lately, our favorite 2025 reads, and some 2026 books Gare already loves, as well as some 2026 hopefuls! Our 2025 Faves Kate's Books Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliot Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Williams The Reformatory by Tananarive Due Gare's Books Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead Boom Town by Nic Stone Keep This For Me by Jennifer Fawcett Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid Too Old for This by Samantha Downing 2026 Books We Talked About Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu Helpless by Jessica Knoll On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield The Better Mother by Jennifer Van der Kleut The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead Sundown Girls by L.S. Stratton Shows We Talked About The Beast in Me Dexter: Resurrection Slow Horses Down Cemetery Road Stranger Things Heated Rivalry Check Out Author Social Media Packages Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Other Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

    1h 5m
  3. When Faith Becomes Fear: Hell, Control, and the Loss of Love with Brian Recker

    16 DEC

    When Faith Becomes Fear: Hell, Control, and the Loss of Love with Brian Recker

    This week, I talk with Brian Recker about his book Hell Bent, which examines how fear-based teachings about hell distort Christian spirituality, replacing love, connection, and moral discernment with control, shame, and punishment avoidance. Drawing from his upbringing in fundamentalism and later work as an evangelical pastor, he shares how early indoctrination around hell fractures relationships with God, self, and others, discourages intuition and questioning, all while propping up systems of domination—from abusive religious authority to political movements rooted in fear. Rather than abandoning spirituality altogether, he reclaimed Jesus from these systems, reframing faith as a practice of love, justice, and liberation in this life instead of an anxious fixation on the afterlife. Check Out Author Social Media Packages Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Other Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

    1h 7m

  4. 12 DEC

    What We've Been Reading and Watching, And Some 2026 Hopefuls with Halley Sutton

    This week, Halley Sutton is back, and we dive into everything we've been reading and watching - which is quite a lot! We also share a few 2026 books we are excited to read. What We’ve Been Reading Everyone Is Lying to You — Joe Piazza Alchemy of Secrets — Stephanie Garber Vantage Point — Sarah Sligar Good Dirt — Charmaine Wilkerson   2026 Hopefuls The Future Saints — Ashley Winstead All the Little Houses — May Cobb  The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru — Olyseia Solnikova Gilmore Vigil — George Saunders  The Story Eaters of Yamm — Kevin Hincker Lady X — Molly Fader Murder Bimbo — Rebecca Novak The Temptation of Charlotte North — Camilla Bruce   Movies & TV Shows We Talked About Pluribus Dexter: Resurrection The Beast in Me  Ballard Death By Lightning Slow Horses The Beast Frankenstein Hamnet Wake Up Dead Man  Check Out Author Social Media Packages Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Other Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

    1h 12m
  5. Cosmic Horror, Claustrophobia & Craft: John Fram on The Midnight Knock

    9 DEC

    Cosmic Horror, Claustrophobia & Craft: John Fram on The Midnight Knock

    This week, I talk with John Fram about the creative process behind his new horror-thriller The Midnight Knock, a genre-blending desert nightmare. He dives into selling the book early, wrestling with a complex multi-POV structure, and navigating the behind-the-scenes realities of publishing—from word-count limits to printing costs to foreign rights. He traces the story’s roots from a childhood moment of awe in West Texas to the unsettling idea of an endless highway, explaining how claustrophobia, cosmic horror, indigenous-informed mythology, and a terrifying owl-snake creature all converged in a motel where the guests can’t outrun their pasts—or the desert itself. Check Out Author Social Media Packages Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Other Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

    1h 7m

  6. 6 DEC

    Our Last, Current and Next Reads with Gare and Steph

    This week, Gare, Steph and I share our last, current and next reads! Kate's Books Last - Degenerate by Matt Casamassina Current - Children Like Us by Birttany Penner Next - Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson Gare's Books Last - All the Little Houses by May Cobb Current - Heated Rivalry by Rachel Ried Next - The House Guests by Amber and Danielle Brown Steph's Books Last - Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza Current - At Least You Have Your Health by Madi Sinha Next - Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian Check Out Author Social Media Packages Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Other Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

    1h 10m
  7. Purity Culture, Power, and the Women Who Survive: Kristi DeMeester on Dark Sisters

    2 DEC

    Purity Culture, Power, and the Women Who Survive: Kristi DeMeester on Dark Sisters

    This week, Kristi DeMeester shares how her new novel Dark Sisters emerged from a collision of personal history, cultural rage, and the disturbing ease with which faith, patriarchy, and power can be weaponized. We discuss purity culture, megachurch hypocrisy, witch-trial history, feminist reclamation, the generational impact of religious fundamentalism, and how horror can become a perfect container for social truth-telling, female rage, and bittersweet hope. Check out the book here: Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester Check Out Author Social Media Packages Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Other Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

    1h 7m

  8. 28 NOV

    It's ALL That Deep (Or, Ranting About Anti-Intellectualism and Media Illiteracy) with MacKenzie Green

    This week, MacKenzie Green is back and we dive into the complexities of pop culture, the deeper meanings embedded in modern media, how storytelling has evolved, the impact of anti-intellectualism, and the importance of critical engagement with entertainment. We discuss the intersection of identity and societal issues, emphasizing that every piece of content carries a message, whether overt or subtle, and the necessity of understanding historical context in shaping narratives amidst a growing trend of superficial engagement with media. We also share how finding and creating communities that value intellectual rigor and deeper analysis of art is has helped both of us, and how even if you don't align with everyone in your family, a found family can be just as powerful. Check Out Author Social Media Packages Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon Check Out My Stories Are My Religion Substack Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Other Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

    1h 19m
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About

On Tuesdays, Kate Hergott talks with authors about their books and writing processes. On Fridays, Kate talks with multiple co-host Bookstagrammers and BookTubers about a variety of bookish topics.

Information

  • Creator
    Kate Hergott, Bookwild Collective
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    338
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024 Bookwild Collective
  • Show Website
    Bookwild

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