Inside the He Read She Read podcast: Q&A with host Sarah Bailey

We chat with author Sarah Bailey about her new podcast He Read She Read.

A&U: What made you want to launch a book podcast?

SB: Well, I love reading books and I love talking about books so creating a podcast seemed like a good way to combine these two things! I liked the idea of having a male / female perspective, and luckily fellow author JP Pomare was keen to come on board as a co-host,  so He Read She Read was born. The mission of our show is to encourage people to read more. We feel like the benefits of reading are widely known but that reading is an easy thing to deprioritise when life gets busy. JP and I hope that He Read She Read provides some inspiration to get people back to reading or reading more and we’re very grateful for Specsavers for coming on board to make our show possible.  

A&U: Do you and JP have similar reading tastes? 

SB: I think our reading tastes are complimentary but different enough to keep things interesting. JP has read a lot of books that I haven’t and vice versa and thanks to the podcast we’ve also discovered that he likes short books whereas I love nothing more than sinking into a long sweeping story. I love that we introduce new books to each other and challenge each other when it comes to what we think works about a story. Our book chat is always fun!

A&U: You’ve got some high-profile guests lined up to share their picks. Who would be your dream couple to guest on He Read She Read.

SB: Yes, we’ve been so lucky to have several high-profile book lovers join us on the He Read She Read couch! Georgia Love and Sammy Petersen came on the show to talk about the true crime classic In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and Clare and Jessie Stephens are on an upcoming episode to talk about The Names. And we have book club royalty Marieke Hardy and Guardian Editor Steph Harmon joining us soon. So in terms of dream guest pairs, we’ve already had a few! But if we’re talking anyone in the world I would love to get Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes of The High Low Fame to reunite for a He Read She Read episode. JP’s dream podcast guest pair is actor and overall legend, Stanley Tucci and his literary agent wife, Felicity Blunt.

It goes without saying that we are open to all and any connections when it comes to securing these dream guests!

A&U: What do you hope listeners get from He Read She Read? 

SB: I hope they are introduced to new books and have the chance to revisit some old favourites. Mainly we want people to enjoy some time out listening to some fun book chat.

Via our Instagram community I also hope they feel like they have a space safe to go where they can share thoughts on books and chat with readers of all ages, genders and backgrounds.