Ep. 343 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead — The Stacks Book Club (Franklin Leonard)
The Stacks
Traci Thomas
4.8 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 30 October 2024
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s The Stacks Book Club Day, and we’re diving into The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Franklin Leonard returns as our guest to examine this powerful novel set in a brutal Jim Crow-era reform school. In today’s conversation, we discuss the ways Nickel Academy serves as a metaphor for America, exploring themes of good versus evil and the resilience required to confront systemic injustice.
There are spoilers on today's episode.
Be sure to listen to the end of today’s episode to find out what our November book club pick will be.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:
https://thestacks-staging.squarespace.com/2024/10/30/ep-343-the-nickel-boys
Connect with Franklin: Instagram | Twitter | Website
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Substack | Subscribe
SUPPORT THE STACKS
Join The Stacks Pack on Patreon
To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.
Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Stacks, a podcast about books and the people who read them. I'm your host Tracy Thomas and today is the Stacks Book Club day. |
| 0:16.6 | We are joined once again by Hollywood producer and creator of the blacklist, Franklin Leonard. |
| 0:22.0 | Franklin is here to help me discuss the Nickel Boys |
| 0:24.6 | by Coulson Whitehead. |
| 0:26.0 | This book is a Pulitzer Prize and National Book |
| 0:29.0 | Award-winning novel. |
| 0:30.1 | It is set in the Jim Crow South and follows the story of Elwood Curtis, a young black boy sent to a brutal |
| 0:36.8 | reform school. Today Franklin and I dig into this novel discussing which parts worked for us, |
| 0:41.9 | what didn't, and how the novel stacks up to the |
| 0:45.0 | forthcoming film that will be out later this year. There are spoilers in today's |
| 0:50.0 | episode. Be sure to listen through to the end of today's episode to find out what our |
| 0:54.3 | November book club pick will be. And quick reminder, everything we talk about on each |
| 0:58.8 | episode of the Stacks can be found in the link in the show notes. |
| 1:02.8 | If you love the stacks and you want inside access to it, |
| 1:05.2 | head over to patreon.com slash the stacks |
| 1:08.0 | and join the stacks pack. |
| 1:09.7 | For just $5 a month, you get to be part |
| 1:11.9 | of the best bookish community that has ever |
| 1:14.0 | existed in the history of books. This has definitely been fact-checked I promise. |
| 1:19.8 | You can get access to our discord, join our monthly virtual book club meetups, and get a bonus |
| 1:24.3 | bonus episode each month. You also get to know that by being part of the Stax Pack |
| 1:28.7 | you make it possible for me to make this show every single week. So if you like what you hear please go to |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in -148 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Traci Thomas, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Traci Thomas and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.