Standing Ovation for The Book Cougars

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Gather round, gather round, gather round! If you don’t know Emily and Chris, so thrilled to introduce you!

 

Emily Fine and Chris Wolak—and more details below—are podcasters, also known as the Book Cougars. Their first broadcast was in 2016, and it debuted as

Book Cougars: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read. 

 Isn’t that the BEST? They are smart, and savvy, and research their shows like mad. They work SO HARD! They are brilliant, and witty, and funny—and serious about their work. 

I was so honored to be interviewed by them—and we all know what a difference it makes to have a conversation with people who really know their stuff. What a treat. So of course I asked them to tell us how it all happened…and their story is amazing. 

 Book Cougars: 

Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read 

 Our friendship was young when we decided to jump into a creative project together. We are both originally from the Midwest (Emily Ohio, Chris Illinois) and moved to Guilford, CT about six months apart. Bookish friends we had in common put us in touch, and we met for the first time in the summer of 2016 at a local coffee shop and hit it off. 

A couple weeks later we met for lunch. Our next meet up was a big jump for a new friendship — we hit the road and drove up to Lenox, MA to Edith Wharton’s house, The Mount, for a Speak Up Storytelling event held in the great author’s former stables. As middle-aged women, we knew our budding friendship in our newly adopted state was something special. 

 On October 29, 2016 we ventured up to the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vermont to see Ruth Franklin discuss her biography, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life. Mind you, Northshire is not our local indie bookstore, it is over 6 hours roundtrip from Guilford. 

But for us this was our idea of how to spend a beautiful fall day. Start early in the morning, drive 3+ hours, browse a bookstore, buy some books, listen to a compelling, intelligent author talk about another amazing woman, get back in the car and drive another 3+ hours to arrive home. 

All in the name of literature and friendship.

 Perhaps the best part, though, was our own endless bookish chatter. We hit on so many topics — books we have read and want to read, authors we have met, literary sites we have visited — and our banter was so easy. 

Emily and Chris recording

On that drive home from Northshire, Emily turned to Chris and said, “We should start a literary podcast!”

Did either of us have any experience? Well, Chris worked as a manager for Borders Books back in its heyday and has written a bookish blog since 2010; Emily created websites in the early days of the internet. 

We were both avid readers and enthusiastic listeners of podcasts. Other than that, no. 

 Yet, we persisted, and the idea grew wings. We had our first laughter filled meeting in early November to flesh out lots of how to’s. 

What are the steps to creating a podcast? How does your recording get from your computer onto Apple iTunes so folks can listen from a podcast app on their cellphone? How do we create a website and what content should be posted to it? What social media platforms should we use? What should we talk about? How often should we record? Most importantly, like new parents, what do we name this podcast?! 

Our brainstorming session on what to name our new baby left us with aching sides from all the laughter. We landed on Book Cougars because it made us laugh out loud, but also because it was a way to reclaim the word “cougar” that often has negative connotations for women. 

 On December 6, 2016 we posted our first episode of the Book Cougars: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read. It was recorded on a cell phone. Chris learned how to edit the audio file using Garage Band, which came free with her laptop. Emily did some research on how to upload an audio file online and created a website utilizing Squarespace. 

 The Book Cougars have been going strong ever since. We celebrated our 4th anniversary this December!

 We post episodes every-other-Tuesday. Segments include discussing what we are reading and Biblio Adventures we have been on. Sadly, in the era of COVID-19, there have been no recent trips to Northshire Bookstore, but we do talk about all the fantastic virtual events we are attending. Which we fondly refer to as Couch Biblio Adventures. 

YAY!

We also feature author interviews, called Author Spotlights. On Episode 115 we had the pleasure of hosting one of Jungle Red’s own, Hank Phillippi Ryan. 

 This is a passion project. Neither of us has quit our day job. But what is so fun, really, as middle-aged women, is that we are continuing to learn and grow. 

First, there was the steep learning curve around creating a podcast. 

Early on we figured out that recording on a cell phone was not ideal. We purchased fancy equipment and learned how to use it. From inception, the workload split naturally, along equal lines that matched our separate skill sets. For the most part, Emily manages communications and Chris manages technical aspects and we split social media promotion.

 Over the years, we have hosted live events with authors at bookstores and on stage at the Mohegan Sun and talked off mic with industry folks in the know. We have co-hosted a live virtual author event with Book Club on the Go. We have gained entry to Book Expo, the yearly book industry tradeshow in New York City, proudly donning our media badges. We have also have a YouTube channel to help promote the podcast and authors we interview. 

 Podcasts have really taken off in 2020, with both increased listenership and additional podcast offerings. We continue to enjoy being the creative forces behind the Book Cougars, filling the podcast and our friendship with endless bookish banter.

 HANK: All in the name of literature and friendship. Oh, isn’t this SO great? What a story! Reds and readers, how are you on podcasts? What ones do you listen to? What questions do you have for Emily and Chris?