Live from the Book Shop: John Updike’s Ghost

Sibling bookstore owners Hannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle call each other up at random hours and talk about what they’re reading and what they’re psyched is coming out next. It doesn’t get much more bookish than when a publishing executive and MFA in Creative Writing buys a bookstore with an English teacher and journalist. Opening theme song sung by Ruby Pfeifle, Julie Sanborn, and Madison Doughty.

As teased in Episode 26, Hannah recounts her experience with “Stories from the Stage,” a television show on WGBH, the public broadcasting show where people tell live stories on a theme, hosted by Wes Hazard. For Hannah, the theme was “turning the page,” which is obviously relevant to her experience leaving corporate publishing and endeavoring to run a real-live bookstore — in the middle of a global pandemic. How could it have possibly taken seven hours for this to take place? In this special episdoe of “John Updike’s Ghost,” you find out! We don’t seem to talk about books, but this is all sort of book adjacent, and Hannah winds up hugging everyone — except for her buddy who went to the Moth instead. (BTW, if you want to pitch your story to “Stories from the Stage,” click here.)