Bookends with Mattea Roach

Bookends with Mattea Roach

CBC

Episodes 157
Avg. Duration 31m
Activity Active
Apple Rating 4.7 (232)
Since Sep 2024
Latest Episode Jun 2026

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Publishing Details

Schedule
Weekly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
74%
Hosting
www.cbc.ca

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About This Podcast

When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read.

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Recent Episodes

S2E40 Here’s why Fran Lebowitz needs a cigarette

Jun 07, 2026 30m

Fran Lebowitz is a legendary writer and critic. She’s made a career of sharing hot takes without apology, and she didn’t hold back when she joined Mattea Roach for a special on-stage event in…

S2E39 Dive into the dark underbelly of rural Ontario

Jun 03, 2026 22m

It’s easy to glamorize small town life … but Kevin Hardcastle’s new novel, County Road Six, is all about the darkness lurking in rural Canada. When Arthur O’Hare dies, his three daughters return to…

S2E39 Douglas Stuart was a fashion exec — now he designs stories

May 31, 2026 32m

A glamorous life and career in New York’s fashion industry was everything Douglas Stuart worked for. So why did he walk away from it all? And how did he go from fashion designer to Booker Prize…

S2E38 What’s the cost of the immigrant success story?

May 27, 2026 26m

Anne Kim has it all. She’s a high-powered tax lawyer, lives in a beautiful apartment in New York and has the perfect boyfriend to boot. She’s the pride of her parents, Korean immigrants in small-town…

A forensic thriller writer autopsies her own life

May 24, 2026 26m

A famous crime writer who gets her inspiration from years of working on real cases at the medical examiner’s office. That’s the story of Patricia Cornwell, the bestselling author of the Kay Scarpetta…

S2E37 Accepting the unknown … and a giant flock of crows

May 20, 2026 18m

The winner of the 2026 CBC Short Story Prize is the Vancouver-based writer Larah Luna. Larah’s story, A Season of Crows, is about a small town learning to live with a huge murder of crows that passes…

S2E37 Literature, liberation and Lolita in Iran

May 17, 2026 35m

Books can be revolutionary. That’s the message of Azar Nafisi’s celebrated memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran, which is about her experience teaching forbidden literature to young women in Iran.…

S2E36 Exploring the shady side of charity organizations

May 13, 2026 28m

Charity organizations are all about doing good. What could possibly go wrong? Sharon Bala’s new novel, Good Guys, is all about how philanthropy operates in a world that runs on money. The book stars…

S2E36 Can our friendships age with us?

May 10, 2026 26m

If it feels like the years are going by faster and faster … you’re not the only one. Grant Ginder’s new novel, So Old, So Young, follows a group of college friends across 20 years. The story is told…

S2E35 Life of Pi author Yann Martel on the wars in your everyday

May 06, 2026 33m

Yann Martel didn’t think anybody would read Life of Pi when he first published it. 25 years later, his story of a teenage boy and a tiger adrift in the ocean still captivates readers, and Yann says…

S2E35 How to find hope in a funeral home

May 03, 2026 31m

When Mai Nguyen lost her daughter just days after she was born, writing about a similar character in a novel brought her comfort. Her new book, Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead, is a heartbreaking but…

S2E34 Should you be afraid of the wolf hour?

Apr 29, 2026 28m

The “wolf hour” is a term for the deep-night period between roughly three and four in the morning. The world is quiet, your guard is down … and if you’re anything like the thriller writer Jo Nesbø,…

S2E34 Would a tradwife influencer survive in 1855?

Apr 26, 2026 28m

In Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel, Yesteryear, a modern day tradwife influencer shares her picturesque farm life with 8 million followers … until one day, she wakes up in the 1800s and has to do it…

S2E33 How do we restore our sense of wonder in media?

Apr 22, 2026 33m

Ben Lerner’s new novel is all about how technology shapes memory and connection … and it kicks off when a guy breaks his phone. In Transcription, a man is conducting one final interview with his…

S2E33 What does dystopia look like in the suburbs?

Apr 19, 2026 28m

Even if you’re living in a dystopia, life goes on. Carrianne Leung’s new novel, Wonderland Road, is about making it work and finding hope in a collapsing society. In a world where basic structures of…

S2E32 Is it magic … or is it Siri?

Apr 15, 2026 27m

In Michael Redhill’s new novel, The Trial of Katterfelto, the titular Katterfelto is a traveling magician and scientist in the late 1700s. One day, Katterfelto and his partner Roger come across a…

S2E32 Why status and power are currency in Pakistan

Apr 12, 2026 28m

What does it mean to love a place that is so complicated? Pulitzer prize finalist Daniyal Mueenuddin’s new novel, This Is Where the Serpent Lives, dives into class, corruption and the systems of…

S3E31 The last book Julian Barnes will ever write

Apr 05, 2026 35m

Julian Barnes says his new novel is his final. It’s called Departure(s), and it’s about two people who fall in love when they’re young and then meet again decades later. The story is told through the…

S2E30 Is there a soundtrack to your life?

Apr 01, 2026 26m

For Michael V. Smith, the answer is a resounding yes … and he explores that in his new book, Soundtrack: A Lyric Memoir. It’s a collection of poems about snapshots in his life, each named after a…

S2E30 If at first you break up … try, try again?

Mar 29, 2026 31m

This week, Bookends is celebrating libraries with a special Canada Reads event at the Hamilton Public Library. Morgann Book truly lives up to her name. As one of Canada’s biggest book influencers,…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Bookends with Mattea Roach have?

Bookends with Mattea Roach has published 157 episodes since September 2024, covering topics in Arts, Books.

Is Bookends with Mattea Roach still active?

Bookends with Mattea Roach is currently active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 31m.

How do I contact Bookends with Mattea Roach for sponsorship or guest appearances?

Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Bookends with Mattea Roach, including email and social media links.

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