In 2017 I started a podcast, like almost everyone else.

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Optimistically, I thought I'd do an episode every two weeks. This was quickly revealed to be a BONKERS idea and I readjusted my expectations to one episode a month, with frequent breaks when I was too busy to record or couldn't line up guests who had any free time. Then 2020 happened, and having strangers or casual acquaintances in a small room in my basement started to seem like a bad idea. There were some missed months and also some fun and creative work-arounds, including an extended series with my daughter Emma Cole. Honestly, it's been a journey. 

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The premise of the podcast for the first few seasons was simple: I invited a guest or two in for a face-to-face, in-person conversation about books. The books we've loved, the books that have shaped us, even a few books we've hated. If the guest was a writer, as many of them were, we talked about how their reading shaped their writing, but the main focus was always on talking among ourselves as readers.

In Summer 2021, Emma and I started a series called "Bookswap" in which a fifty-something mom and her twenty-something daughter recommend a book for each other and then discuss the books. This was so much fun we kept doing it occasionally.

For 2023, I've decided the "Bookswap!" format is so much fun, I'm going to make all this year's episodes Bookswaps, inviting some guests in addition to Emma (maybe even some listeners?) to recommend me a book, read a book on my recommendation, then come on the podcast to discuss the two books with me. The first episode of 2023 is another me-and-Emma one, and after that you'll need to wait and see who the guests are. If you'd like to do a bookswap with me and talk about it on the pod, you can email me using the link here on the "Contact" page, and we'll discuss the possibilities!

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The podcast theme music is composed and performed by my son Chris Cole, who also does production work on each episode to make it sound as good as my inexpensive mic and at-home setup can sound.

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See the links below for an archive of episodes and show notes. The podcast is available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and, most any other place podcasts happen. You can, and should, subscribe to Shelf Esteem on your favourite podcast app; all the "Listen" links below are to the SoundCloud pages.  The "Show Notes" links take you to a list of all the books and any other media we discussed during the episode.