Rogue Librarians

When you’re fighting censorship, the goal isn’t just to say “this is bad.” It’s to make sure kids can still find the books, the stories, and themselves.   In our conversation with authors Ashley Hope Pérez and Elana K. Arnold, we talk about how the anthology Banned Together helps librarians, teachers, readers, and writers stand up for the freedom to read—and build community along the way.  What are you protecting right now: a book, a voice, or a space?
The following things came up during our discussion.
Rogue Librarians Episode 10. Out of Darkness: Interview with Ashley Hope Pérez

Rogue Librarians Episode 23. Interview with Author Elana K. Arnold  

Libro.fm: a digital audiobook platform that lets you buy audiobooks while sharing its profits with a local independent bookstore of your choice. It serves as an ethical alternative to services like Audible, offering a massive catalog of titles that you truly own 

How to Defend Books and Why: Book Bans and How We Fight Them, by Danny Caine

Accountable:  The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed, by Dashka Slater

Grandad's Pride (A Grandad's Camper LGBTQ Pride Book for Kids in partnership with GLAAD),

You can find Ashley Hope Perez via her website: Home - Ashley Hope Pérez; email: novels@ashleyperez.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ashleyhopeperez; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ashley-Hope-P%C3%A9rez/167177466648492; Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4394044.Ashley_Hope_P_rez; Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyhopeperez/ 
You can find Elana K. Arnold via her website: elanakarnold.com; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElanaKArnold/; Twitter: https://twitter.com/elanakarnold;
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elanakarnold/

Week, schmeek, we’re celebrating  Banned Books Month and our freedom to read throughout October.  This week we talk with author and poet Amber McBride about her novel in verse, The Leaving Room, which turns big questions about death, story, and spirit into something tender and human.  Our conversation ranges from books and storytelling to censorship and the comfort literature can offer young readers.
Amber reminds us that reading can be joy, resistance, and freedom all at once.  And yes — the freedom to choose what we read matters more than ever.  We are not saying read everything.  We are saying people should have access, choice, and context. That distinction changes everything.
You can find Amber McBride at  amber-mcbride.com and on Instagram, Tiktok, and Threads @ambsmcbride
Books and media we discussed during our conversation include:
Tar Beach, by Faith Ringgold

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

Anything at all by Judy Blume

Films The Shape of Water and Frankenstein directed by Guillermo del Toro, 

The Poem “Literal” from Ani DiFranco Verses, by Ani DiFranco

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West  by Gregory Maguire 

The Oz Books by L. Frank Baum

 The Netflix Documentary High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America based on the book High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris

Join us as we kick off our celebration of banned books week and our freedom to read.   We welcomed  back our friend Sam Helmick, the immediate past president of the American Library Association, to discuss Susan Orlean’s marvelous book, The Library Book.  
During our discussion, we brought up a few prior episodes of Rogue Librarians, including:
Episode 17. The Librarian of Basra (Part 1: Why It's Banned)
Episode 18. The Librarian of Basra (Part 2: Close Reading)
Episode 54. Fahrenheit 451 (Part 1: Why It’s Banned
Episode 53. Fahrenheit 451 (Part 2 : Close Reading)

In this episode we welcome back our friend, Rogue name Undine, for a close reading of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.  We decided to give this book the Sacred Reading treatment introduced to us by the incredible podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.  We used the practice of Lectio Divinia and modeled our discussion after the “sacred reading” format used by Casper ter Kuile, Vanessa Zoltan and Matthew Potts in their podcast. Here is the link to their webpage, which explains the process in more detail.
Harry Potter and the Sacred Text

The three of us discuss the book through the themes of Transformation and Control.  
The following works were referenced during our discussion:
The painting by Pietro da Cortona, Rape of the Sabines, 1629-1630

The 1953 movie Elephant Walk 

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankel

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

The Disney Plus series Andor

The Hulu series Creamerie

The Dream Hotel, by Laila Lalami

We referenced some of Margaret Atwood’s inspirations for the book, which we discovered in the article Haunted by The Handmaid's Tale | Science fiction books | The Guardian, specifically, 
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

And 1984, by George Orwell

Also, we discussed several artworks that were inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale, including 
The Balbusso Twins, Margaret Atwood Collection. 

Ken Cunningham Studios, Margaret Atwood

Paula Scher and Abbot Miller’s 2017 large-scale installation, Nolite te bastardes carborundorum

Finally, if you want to hear related episodes of our podcast, try 
Episode 81. The Handmaid's Tale (Part 1: Why It's Banned) 
Episode 68. 1984 (Part 1: Why It's Banned) - Rogue Librarians 
Episode 69. 1984 (Part 2: Close Reading) - Rogue Librarians

Welcome to season 5 of The Rogue Librarians!  We are opening with a discussion of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.  Published in 1986, this dystopian tale of a religious revolution in the U.S. only seems to get more relevant with time. In Part 1 we learn a little about the history of the book and of course, why it’s been banned.  We are joined by a special guest, Rogue name Undine, who brings insight and art history to the conversation.  
Materials discussed during the podcast include:
In Banned Bits: 
Article Why This School District Used A.I. to Help Determine Which Books to Ban, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Aug 2023.

In Why It’s Banned:  
Article  Why The Handmaid's Tale was banned from schools - The Mirror US, 10 Apr 2025 

Article Why was The Handmaid's Tale banned?, MSN.com, 22 Mar 2026

Article  There’s a simple reason The Handmaid’s Tale was banned in the US, from the website Dexerto 10 Apr 2025

The ALA’s Censorship Search Portal | Banned Books 

In Context
Blog Post The Handmaid's Tale: 10 intriguing facts about Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel, CBC-Radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), Apr 26, 2017 

 No Balm in Gilead for Margaret Atwood, The New York Times on the Web, Books column, February 17, 1986

Web page Timeline of Legal History of Women in the United States, National Women’s History Alliance, 

Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation, 2023

Project 2025 Explained, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Utah Philips, Folksinger, Storyteller and Activist.

 Decree 770 - Reference.org 

Paintings Depicting the Rape of the Sabine Women

Pietro da Cortona, Rape of the Sabines, 1629-1630

Nicolas Poussin, The Rape of the Sabine Women, 1635

Peter Paul Rubins, The Rape of the Sabine Women, 1640

Jacques-Louis David, The Intervention of The Sabine Women, 1799

Pablo Picasso, The Rape of the Sabines, 1962

Friedrich Christof Steinhammer, Rape of the Sabine Women, 1622

Album - Sabine Women, 271+ Images


Related Media
Movie The Handmaid’s Tale directed by Volker Schlöndorff, 1990

Opera The Handmaid’s Tale, written by , Poul Ruders, alongside librettist, Paul Bentley, 2000

TV Series The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu, 2017-2025

The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Renée Nault, 2019

Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The Handmaid’s Tale, 2022

Join the conversation at therogelibrarians.com or follow @RogueLibrariansPod on Instagram and Facebook. You can support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/roguelibrarians. 
“Any book worth banning is a book worth reading.” — Isaac Asimov