Riot Headline Book Riot’s 2025 Read Harder Challenge

For Real

For Real is a biweekly nonfiction podcast that puts the spotlight on new books and old favorites that tell it like it is, or at least try to.

Episode 5 Mother’s Day and the Busman’s MBA

Kim is joined by guest co-host Jeff O’Neal to talk about two of the biggest nonfiction-related news stories of the ...

4.5 Bonus: Jesmyn Ward Recommends

Please enjoy this bonus excerpt, courtesy of the Recommended podcast, featuring Jesmyn Ward recommending Edward E. Baptist’s The Half Has Never Been ...

Episode 4 Short Nonfiction You Can Readathon

This week, Alice and Kim talk about dinosaurs, bird thieves, short nonfiction that's extra binge-worthy, and The Bachelor. Plus, Alice cheats and recommends some fiction seems like nonfiction, and some poetry.

Episode 3 We Heart Television (and Also Books)

This week, Kim and Alice chat about the Victorian computer, an obsessive tennis coach, and how long we should hold ...

Episode 2 Spring Has Sprung

This week, Alice and Kim talking about Jane Austen superfans, snuffbox mussels and the rare “dragon fish,” and books to ...

International Women’s Day

This week, Alice and Kim discuss Idaho extremists, the women who made the internet, and how closely you should identify with Lord Byron (among other things).

Episode 0 We Heart Nonfiction

Kim Ukura and Alice Burton introduce For Real and talk favorite types of nonfiction and what they're reading now.