Flip the Script: Heidi as the Guest

 

I am honored to be a guest on The Children's Book Podcast, founded and hosted by my friend Matthew Winner, a school librarian in Maryland. You can listen to it here:

Past Book of Life episodes mentioned in this interview, in order of appearance:

• Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop with Josh Levy, February 2025
• The Jake Show with Josh Levy, August 2023
• One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor with Rich Michelson, January 2025
• Our Jewish Emotional Support Books, September 2024
• When the Angels Left the Old Country with Sacha Lamb, January 2023
• Zoe Rosenthal Is Not Lawful Good with Nancy Werlin, August 202
• "Books in the Time of Coronavirus" series, 2020
• The Mitzvah of Voting, August 2024
• The Book of Life Tells Stories with Simms Taback, August 2006

Matthew Winner has been podcasting since 2013, and since his show is weekly, he’s racked up about 900 episodes. His podcast features insightful and sincere interviews with authors, illustrators, and everyone involved in taking a book from drawing board to bookshelf. He is very supportive of diverse books, and frequently covers Jewish kidlit. Here are a few of his notable episodes from the past year:

• The 2025 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour Wrap-Up
• A Willingness to Let Things Take Time with Joshua S. Levy
• Really Special Words with Suzy Ultman
• The First Gift You’re Given with Lesléa Newman and Susan Gal

When I told him about The Book of Life’s 20th anniversary and floated the idea of joining him on his show, he said “Are you kidding me?! Of COURSE I’d have you on in a heartbeat, Heidi!” I was tickled by his enthusiasm, and we ended up having a wonderful conversation. Listening back, I hear myself talking much faster than I do on The Book of Life - a mark of how excited I was to chat with Matthew!

We talked about the history and evolution of The Book of Life Podcast, adaptation to cultural moments, favorite guests, and more. I hope you’ll have as much fun listening (or reading the transcript, available at the link below) as I did recording it!

For a full transcript, episode takeaways, quotes, and more, visit https://deepcast.fm/episode/20-years-of-the-book-of-life-podcast-with-heidi-rabinowitz.