HeyJaredMiddle Ground Books: After Hours
Welcome to Middle Ground Books: After Hours. We’re Lance, Megan, and Debra, and after a long day at our bookstore in Emporia, Kansas, this is where we kick back, grab a few drinks, and talk about everything from books and life to the wild corners of the Nerdosphere.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 10
- Latest publication
- Sep 10, 2026
- Audience
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 9, 2026
Latest episodes
Chapter Forty-Five: 37 Years Old With an Apartment in Paris (opens the original)
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💬 Comment Question: What book would you defend even if everyone else calls it strange? Middle Ground Books After Hours gets back to the table for a What We’re Reading episode full of mad science, cosmic horror, octopus books, and memory-eating fiction. Kate McKinnon’s The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science leads the episode with weird kids, over-the-top audiobook narration, Tim Burton vibes, and middle grade storytelling that still works once you’re grown. Also o
Chapter Forty-Four: Reader's Theater (opens the original)
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Middle Ground Books After Hours introduces Readers Theater, a new audio narrative format where the hosts read a selected portion of a story and the production turns it into a theater-of-the-mind experience. For this first installment, Megan, Debra, and Lance read from Nephilim X Russia, an unpublished story presented as a first look with the author redacted for now. Chapter Forty-Five: Readers Theater Nephilim X Russia ⚠️ Listener Discretion: This Readers Theater episode contains uncensored prof
Chapter One: Young Adult Things (opens the original)
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Lance, Megan, and Debra introduce themselves, brainstorm the show’s name, and dive into the world of young adult fiction over drinks and laughter. Stay connected with Middle Ground Books After Hours by following the store on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. The team shares new arrivals, staff picks, community updates, and behind the counter moments. Explore upcoming events, book recommendations, and new releases at https://www.middlegroundbooks.com . If you are near Emporia Kansas, stop by Middl
Chapter Forty-Two Fight With Your Head, Not Your Fists (opens the original)
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Sammy Davis Jr. and H. P. Lovecraft make a strange pairing, but the conversation gets to the same question from two very different directions. Megan, Debra, and Lance talk about Lovecraft’s influence, his racism, and whether his writing still earns the reputation people give it. Then Yes I Can brings the episode somewhere much more human, following Sammy Davis Jr. from Vaudeville into the Army and beyond. Chapter Forty-One: Fight With Your Head, Not Your Fists Sammy Davis Jr., H. P. Lovecraft, a
Chapter Forty-One: Podcast Like No One’s Listening (opens the original)
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Middle Ground Books passed 1,000 subscribers, and the hosts are still figuring out what it means to talk like people are actually listening. Megan, Debra, and Lance settle into a loose host blurbs episode about bookstore life, community, folklore, dragons, Egyptian mythology, and the strange things people believe when stories travel across cultures. It is part milestone episode, part after-hours conversation, and part reminder that a bookstore can make room for everything from Walmart dancing to
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