The Ink Sink

Kali and Annie

4.0 (4)
BOOKS
UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Celebrating all readers, leaders, and word-nerds — this is the publishing podcast for the rest of us! We welcome all readers — classics students, novel mavens, fanfic fans, comic geeks, audio jammers, ebook devourers, and social media poets. Literature is for everyone. Join Annie and Kali for episodes about books, news, and our latest lit obsessions.

09/21/2025

4.2: Roman Empires and Shadow Daddies

If Giles were evil, he’d be a shadow daddy. Yes, Giles, the librarian from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Definitely a shadow daddy in an alternate universe. Oh, anyway. Hi everyone! Your favorite ladies for hot literary takes are back! Thank you all for bearing with us so far in this crazy year. We really appreciate you. Meanwhile, you can check out our transcripts, follow us, and support us wherever you scroll: https://linktr.ee/inksinkpodcast Note: This episode contains some cursing. Annie may or may not have some tricks up her sleeve. Now, back to the more important point. Give us your favorite shadow daddies! Message us on Facebook or Instagram. Or email us at InkSinkPodcast@gmail.com. We’ll read the best ones on the show. News links Listen to the Graphic Audio version of Fourth Wing here: https://www.graphicaudio.net/the-empyrean-1-fourth-wing-1-of-2.htmlThe Poynter Report is a good source for what’s going on in news news. Here’s their breakdown of the Bezos/Washington Post drama: https://mailchi.mp/poynter/is-bezoss-new-mission-for-the-post-already-bombing?e=e5489eccb5A podcaster translates an ancient Roman history book and puts it on the bestseller list: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/feb/24/book-sex-scandals-roman-emperors-bestseller-charts-the-lives-of-the-caesars-tom-hollandSee more of The Rest is History, a podcast from historian Tom Holland, in their Suetonius series: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/emperors-of-rome-sex-secrets-of-the-caesars-part-1/id1537788786?i=1000685187106And check out Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics and her episode on Suetonius for some funny history, too: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000czlfInsensitive dialogue in a highly anticipated book ends with a cancellation: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/books/sophie-lark-sparrow-vine-bloom-books-cancelled.htmlFor more on ARCs and why they matter, check out our episode on an ARC we got from our forever fave, Chuck Tingle: https://theinksink.substack.com/i/135909146/loving-chuck-tingle-is-our-favorite-thing-to-doAnd for more from our perennially relevant episode on problematic authors, you can check out the transcript here: https://theinksink.substack.com/p/return-of-the-problematic-authorsNow, time to celebrate historically marginalized peoples killin it in publishing! Specifically: Clarion celebrates funding its trans writers workshop: https://www.clarionwest.org/2025/01/27/announcing-a-scholarship-for-trans-writers/You can also look at all the books we talked about on our bookshop page: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Matt Dinniman): This series is so good, Kali’s husband bought it all because he couldn’t wait for her to come home and give him the copies she already had. https://bookshop.org/a/55633/9780593820247Shadow and Bone (Leigh Bardugo): Read the book that inspired the Shadow Daddy GIFs. https://bookshop.org/a/55633/9781250027436The Lives of the Caesars (Suetonius and Tom Holland): Gossip rags WISH they were as cool as this. https://bookshop.org/a/55633/9780143107705The Last Sun (K. D. Edwards): A fallen prince finds himself in an Uncharted-style treasure hunting story. https://bookshop.org/a/55633/9781633884236Bury Your Gays (Chuck Tingle): A Hollywood writer faces red tape, surveillance, and horrors while his aro-ace bestie is too fabulous for this world. https://bookshop.org/a/55633/9781250874665Disclaimer: If you buy a book from one of our links, we may get a commission. But more importantly, Bookshop.Org gives back to independent bookstores with every purchase. Check them out now! 00:00 Intro 06:47 What is a “Shadow Daddy”? 13:38 News: WaPo and the White House are making it weird out here 26:26 Somehow, Suetonius has returned 31:41 Sophie Lark gets cancelled 38:15 Celebrating trans authors with Clarion 39:35 Kali is reading “The Last Sun” by K.D. Edwards 41:43 Annie is reading “Bury Your Gays” by Chuck Tingle 45:32 Kali Coda: You can always walk away

49 min
05/17/2025

Bloody Gripping: The True Crime Episode

TW: murder, exploitation, kidnapping, violence againstchildren True crime is extremely popular today. Where did this wave come from? If that’s not your cup of tea, we’ll leave you with somelinks to organizations that are helping victims: RAINN: https://rainn.org/NOND: https://notournativedaughters.org/Heads up, we do some cursing in this episode. People are f****** obsessed with some of this s***. Have feedback for us? Reach us wherever you scroll: https://linktr.ee/inksinkpodcast Here are some of our sources: “True crime podcasting: Journalism, justice or entertainment?” by Kelli S. Boling (https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/rjao_00003_1)“Barbara Newhall Follett: The Child Novelist Who Later Vanished Into Thin Air” by Jake Rossen (https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/barbara-newhall-follett-author-mystery)“True Crime Podcasting as Participatory Journalism: A Digital Ethnography of Collaborative Case Solving” by Sarah Witmer and David O. Dowling (https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/5/4/104)“Mortality, moral regulation, and (im)moral entrepreneurship in My Favorite Murder” by Richard Green and Bethan Michael-Fox (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10304312.2023.2215971)“Death and mourning in technologically mediated culture” by Margaret Gibson (https://doi.org/10.5172/hesr.2007.16.5.415)The Curious Case of Natalia Grace on HBO Max (https://www.max.com/shows/curious-case-of-natalia-grace/d8da0110-568f-4ab2-94fd-fd72c705c44f)I’ll be Gone in the Dark on HBO Max (https://www.max.com/shows/ill-be-gone-in-the-dark/a823014d-fa0b-4bbe-ab98-14ea00e551bb)11 Minutes on Paramount+ (https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/11-minutes/?searchReferral=desktop-web&source=google-organic&ftag=PPM-23-10bfh8c)“News Media Can’t Shake ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome,’ Critics Say” by Katie Robertson (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/business/media/gabby-petito-missing-white-woman-syndrome.html)00:00 – Trigger warning 00:18 – Intro 01:35 – The Top Tens 04:27 – Where Does It Come From? 10:54 – Why Do People Love It? 29:19 – Racism in True Crime 32:55 – Capitalism Rears its Head 36:34 – Our Recommendations 42:44 – Kali Coda 43:23 – Thanks for Listening

44 min
03/09/2025 · BONUS

Bonus: Stranger Than Fiction Replay

Supervillains past and present show us why reallife is stranger than fiction. Follow, support, and message us wherever you scroll! https://linktr.ee/inksinkpodcast Warning: We have some bad words in this episode. Sometimes random s*** just happens. Hear some of our favorite “stranger than fiction” stories today (a spiritual successor to our first Stranger Than Fiction episode: https://youtu.be/9K4XteCYGR4.) Our sources for this episode: “‘Uh-oh’: psychic’s prediction of ‘sense of loss’ for Trump unnerves Fox News host” from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/jan/03/donald-trump-psychic-jesse-watters-fox-news (This is somehow 100% real) “Montana Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Wildlife Trafficking Charges as Part of Yearslong Effort to Create Giant Hybrid Sheep for Captive Hunting” from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/montana-man-pleads-guilty-federal-wildlife-trafficking-charges-part-yearslong-effort-create “Nefarious Intentions and Persecuted Victims: On the Rise of Conspiracy Theories” from LitHub: https://lithub.com/nefarious-intentions-and-persecuted-victims-on-the-rise-of-conspiracy-theories/ “Here Lies the Skull of Pliny the Elder, Maybe” from New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/science/pliny-archaeology-skull-vesuvius.html “‘Everybody Is a Bit on Edge’: Sailors Trade Tips onSteering Clear of Orcas” from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/world/europe/orcas-attacks-boats.html “Hundreds of 19th Century Americans Tried to Conquer Foreign Lands. This Man Was the Most Successful” from History.com: https://www.history.com/news/manifest-destiny-william-walker-filibuster-nicaragua-mexico-invasion “Journalist questioned by police because car crash reports were so ‘in depth’” from the Press Gazette: https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/police-question-journalist-in-depth-crash-reports/Have feedback? Email us at inksinkpodcast@gmail.com! Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:51 Stranger Than Fiction? 02:36 Fox News’ Tarot Reader Has Unexpected Message 06:13 Supervillains Are Into Sheep Now 10:51 Shakespeare’s Secrets Revealed! 14:30 Did an Ancient Greek Eagle Kill a Man With a Turtle Bomb? 20:17 The Orcas Fear the Death Metal 25:40 Manifest Destiny + Drunk Louisianans = Central American Conquerers? 30:06 British Reporter Too Good at Job, Police Suspicious 32:19 Thanks for listening!

35 min
02/23/2025

3.8 News: Get Outta Here

Comic books finally hit phones – now to scroll through Gotham. See and support wherever you scroll: https://linktr.ee/inksinkpodcast Warning: We curse. Dick Grayson is DC’s pinup boy and we’re not mad. News: New comics format: ⁠https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/96545-dc-launches-vertical-scroll-webtoon-series-dc-go.html⁠ Comics raise prices: https://screenrant.com/comics-expensive-price-economy-indie-publishers/ B&N expands: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/barnes-and-noble-open-60-new-locations-this-year Do YOU like AI poetry? https://view.e.bookriot.com/?qs=a677d0d3b0be70c8f4462ba6f5262de712c5ffe6945a32f415b3648729e6fbb181d0699668adcd0281cc5b272f6659fe310502a54918dc7222243e862e975b2dcfaec1247d162c5df73be5a920343fcc442872aa04b3712c Kali's rec: “The Applicant”: https://lithub.com/i-asked-chatgpt-to-write-its-own-versions-of-iconic-poems-and-they-are-not-great/ Cozy fiction + cats? https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/books/healing-fiction-japan-korea-before-the-coffee-gets-cold.html Support local lit orgs: https://bookriot.com/how-to-fight-book-bans-and-censorship-in-2024/ Baltimore: County Board minutes and agendas: https://www.bcpl.info/about-us/board-trustees. Local news on books: https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/topic/culture/books/ Book trailer with a movie it inspired: https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4865&share=true#m65933Celebrating minorities: "Authors saw their median income surge 73%." (https://janefriedman.com/romance-authors-thrive-in-the-self-publishing-era/) Kali is reading fanfic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53155222/chapters/134498068 Chapters:00:00 Intro03:51 New Comics Format10:35 Pricier Comics 18:18 B&N Is OK23:29 Robot Poetry?29:06 Healing Fantasy32:01 Help Books 34:10 Movie Inspo37:59 Celebrations41:35 Kali is Reading...45:10 Coda

48 min
12/21/2024

3.7: New Studio, Same Nerds

Oh we’re *cool podcasters now*. Your favorite book news is now coming with soundproofing and professional equipment! Warning: We now swear in HD. We haven’t been as consistent with the Ink Sink as we’d like to be, and we want to thank all of you for sticking with us! Follow, shop, support: https://linktr.ee/inksinkpodcast Kali has been watching Agatha All Along and reconnecting with the fun parts of a living fandom. Annie, meanwhile, can’t get over how quiet it is and how good they sound in their new studio! Shout out to the Baltimore County Public Library for having pro studios available for patrons. Support your public libraries, friends! Some of our sources for today’s show: Green and lean! HC makes small changes with big impact: https://www.fastcompany.com/91071102/harper-collins-made-a-tiny-tweak-to-its-book-design-and-has-saved-thousands-of-trees-as-a-result Dolly Parton’s Dollywood is amazing at recycling: https://www.visitmysmokies.com/blog/attractions-pigeon-forge/why-no-recycling-bins-dollywood/ Anyway, here are how your favorite authors voted in the "Best books of the century (so far)" roundup: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/authors-top-books-21st-century.html Absolutely WILD merch idea: https://www.billboard.com/culture/product-recommendations/walmart-spicy-books-hot-sauce-yulin-kuang-buy-online-1235748106/ Why the deals for ongoing content licensing really matter: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2024/04/07/tech-companies-find-the-edge-of-the-internet The numbers are in: people buy books: https://countercraft.substack.com/p/yes-people-do-buy-books A quick run through the latest stats in book publishing: https://kathleenschmidt.substack.com/p/what-do-cost-saving-measures-sales Insights from the book industry on where we are now and where we’re headed: https://bookriot.com/publishers-weekly-us-book-show/ Man, remember when Google’s motto used to be “Don’t be evil “? Now they platform pirated books, ban real ones, and threaten to punish those who complain: https://publishingperspectives.com/2024/06/major-publishers-sue-google-over-ads-for-pirated-ebooks/ Celebrations: These indie bookstores are fighting the system: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/books/counterculture-bookstores-social-movements.html Thank you so much for listening! We hope to be coming into your ears much more often now that we have a dedicated studio space. We really appreciate everyone sticking with us. 00:00 Intro 06:15 Harper Collins Green and Lean 10:16 NYT Century’s Best Books 14:06 Spicy Marketing 17:51 Robots Asking Nicely 27:45 Wait, Do People Still Buy Books? 33:46 Google, Your Evil is Showing 37:20 Indie Bookstores Are Community Hubs 39:04 Thanks for Listening

41 min
10/18/2024

3.6: News: Cats for Books

This library accepted cat pictures instead of charging late fees. We didn’t tell you about it when it was first happening, but we’re making up for that now. While we record new episodes, we bring you some highlights from the cutting-room floor. Warning: We’re up in our feelings about anti-library s*** this episode. Listen with caution if you don’t like cursing. Send us pictures of your pets (and support us!) wherever you follow: https://linktr.ee/inksinkpodcast Our sources for this episode: Part of "March Meowness" last month, the Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts accepted cat pictures as payment for lost or damaged items: https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/cat-photos-replace-library-fines On the topic, here are some cool people (many of them authors) with their cats: https://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/jill-krementz-photo-journal-a-celebration-of-cats/ Why are we seeing so many new online bookstores lately? https://todayinbooks.substack.com/p/rupaul-launches-an-online-book-marketplace Related, RuPaul's new store immediately sees controversy: https://www.vulture.com/article/rupaul-bookstore-allstora-controversy-explained.html From Sanderson's blog: He's reached a deal with the company (which he can't talk about yet) that he says gives more fair deals to authors: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/regarding-audible/ Spotify matches Audible's $9.99 subscription tier: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/94483-spotify-launches-9-99-audiobook-subscription-tier.html Scientists behaving badly: how Chat-GPT is getting into the scientific record: https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2024/03/20/the-latest-crisis-is-the-research-literature-overrun-with-chatgpt-and-llm-generated-articles/ In season two, we talked about how we can recognize what’s truth, and what’s not, on the internet: https://youtu.be/hqL48_yWJRE From Reddit: Why ChatGPT is bad at math: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/zl4e1f/why_is_chatgpt_bad_at_math_answer_inside/ Speaking of AI: a good roundup of how different companies are responding to the new content-scraping reality: https://pressgazette.co.uk/platforms/news-publisher-ai-deals-lawsuits-openai-google/ Legal Zoom’s silliest laws list: https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/top-craziest-laws-still-on-the-books Publishing is getting slightly more diverse: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/94466-new-lee-low-diversity-baseline-survey-finds-minor-changes.html Change your smoke alarm batteries and run the self-clean on your oven. Your regular "let's abolish genres" hot take is here! https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/27/the-big-idea-should-we-abolish-literary-genres Want to stand up to Amazon and support independent bookstores and also support our podcast? Check us out on Bookshop.org! https://bookshop.org/shop/theinksink Kali returns to reading for fun with more cozy fantasy: https://bookshop.org/a/55633/9798987850206 Disclaimer: We receive a commission if you buy a book from one of our book lists. But more importantly, Bookshop.Org donates a portion of its revenue to independent bookstores with over $33 million raised so far! 00:00 Welcome Back! 00:27 March Mewness + Authors and Their Beloved Cats 04:41 RuPaul’s Allstora Faces Pushback 14:20 Sanderson Celebrates Audible Negotiations 19:24 Spotify Also Coming for Audible 22:41 What’s Going on With the Robots This Week? 35:17 Genres Are Good, Actually 39:43 Kali Is Reading Cursed Cocktails 41:20 Thanks for Listening!

43 min
09/08/2024

3.5: Stranger Than Fiction, Pt. 2

Supervillains, past and present, show us exactly why real life is stranger than fiction. Follow, support, and message us wherever you scroll! https://linktr.ee/inksinkpodcast Warning: We have some bad words in this episode. Sometimes random s*** just happens. Welcome back to the Ink Sink! We’re taking a stroll through some of our favorite “stranger than fiction” stories today (a spiritual successor to our first Stranger Than Fiction episode which you can listen to here: https://youtu.be/9K4XteCYGR4.) Our sources for this episode: “‘Uh-oh’: psychic’s prediction of ‘sense of loss’ for Trump unnerves Fox News host” from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/jan/03/donald-trump-psychic-jesse-watters-fox-news (This is somehow 100% real) “Montana Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Wildlife Trafficking Charges as Part of Yearslong Effort to Create Giant Hybrid Sheep for Captive Hunting” from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/montana-man-pleads-guilty-federal-wildlife-trafficking-charges-part-yearslong-effort-create “Nefarious Intentions and Persecuted Victims: On the Rise of Conspiracy Theories” from LitHub: https://lithub.com/nefarious-intentions-and-persecuted-victims-on-the-rise-of-conspiracy-theories/ “Here Lies the Skull of Pliny the Elder, Maybe” from New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/science/pliny-archaeology-skull-vesuvius.html “‘Everybody Is a Bit on Edge’: Sailors Trade Tips on Steering Clear of Orcas” from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/world/europe/orcas-attacks-boats.html “Hundreds of 19th Century Americans Tried to Conquer Foreign Lands. This Man Was the Most Successful” from History.com: https://www.history.com/news/manifest-destiny-william-walker-filibuster-nicaragua-mexico-invasion “Journalist questioned by police because car crash reports were so ‘in depth’” from the Press Gazette: https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/police-question-journalist-in-depth-crash-reports/ Have feedback? Email us at inksinkpodcast@gmail.com! Chapters: 00:00 Intro00:51 Stranger Than Fiction?02:36 Fox News’ Tarot Reader Has Unexpected Message06:13 Supervillains Are Into Sheep Now10:51 Shakespeare’s Secrets Revealed!14:30 Did an Ancient Greek Eagle Kill a Man With a Turtle Bomb?20:17 The Orcas Fear the Death Metal25:40 Manifest Destiny + Drunk Louisianans = Central American Conquerers?30:06 British Reporter Too Good at Job, Police Suspicious32:19 Thanks for listening!

34 min
07/27/2024

3.4: News: Cozy Fantasy Is Finally HERE

Hugo Awards’ scandal continues + What are the BookTok-ers angry about today? (Please note that this episode was recorded before the accusations around Neil Gaiman were published. If you or someone you know needs support, there are confidential resources here to help. Please take care of yourselves and remember that you are valued.) Book buddies! Media maniacs! Fiction fiends! Anyone who wants to know just a little bit more about their favorite stories – and what’s next – welcome! Follow, support, and yell at us wherever you’d like! All links on our LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/inksinkpodcast Note: there is some cursing in this episode. Sometimes the chosen one has to nope out of an adventure with some strong language. And we support that. Listener Feedback: Luna tackles Hugo We spoke about the controversy around the Hugo Awards a few months ago. The back and forth hasn’t stopped, but our friend Luna took a deep dive and helped us out. So the Hugo Awards organizers seem to have pre-emptively excluded creators that they thought would not go over well at an awards ceremony in China… and forgotten that the rest of the world might have a problem with that? Whew, what a cluster. If you found a better rabbit hole on a story we covered and want to tell us more, please do! Email us at InkSinkPodcast@gmail.com or reach out on our Facebook or Instagram, our DMs are open! Also, how are you feeling about the Hugo Awards now? Let us know! Diving into the news today: Follow Publisher’s Weekly’s “This Week in Libraries” newsletter: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/edition/libraries.html A Wired writer is big mad at “Fanbinders” for making a profit on other people’s work: https://www.wired.com/story/pull-to-publish-fanfic-senlinyu-manacled-fanbinding/ From TikTok, this situation feels the same, but legally it’s extremely different: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLJLgBkP/ We talked about ARCs in Season 2: https://youtu.be/T_UFw1qwsVc Cozy fantasy gets some mainstream love: https://reactormag.com/coming-to-terms-with-cozy-fiction/ Love T. Kingfisher? So do we! See some of her books on our recent reads list: https://bookshop.org/lists/what-we-re-reading-20648183-3934-47b4-aebd-e8457216d11f * Celebrating marginalized peoples in publishing means we are all in on celebrating Ada Limon’s amazing achievement in being named one of Time’s Women of the Year for 2024. But also one of her poems is going to space! Read with us! Mark of the Fool by J.M. Clarke is a cozy fantasy adventure that centers around a hero who has had quite enough of this, thank you. It isn’t available on Bookshop.org, but you can find it at your favorite store through Goodreads. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur tore Annie’s heart out and then healed it back together. Now, you. * Annie’s also reading Mass Effect: The Complete Comics, because we’ve gotta keep it high and low out here. * * Disclaimer: if you make a purchase from one of our affiliate links, we may earn a commission. But more importantly, Bookshop donates to small independent bookstores with every purchase. It has raised over $32 million to date!

43 min

4

out of 5

4 Ratings

Celebrating all readers, leaders, and word-nerds — this is the publishing podcast for the rest of us! We welcome all readers — classics students, novel mavens, fanfic fans, comic geeks, audio jammers, ebook devourers, and social media poets. Literature is for everyone. Join Annie and Kali for episodes about books, news, and our latest lit obsessions.

Creator

Kali and Annie
Years Active

2021 - 2025
Episodes

61
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Kali and Annie
Show Website

The Ink Sink