Ep. 435 Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo — The Stacks Book Club (Julianna Haubner)

It’s The Stacks Book Club day, and we're joined by nonfiction editor Julianna Haubner to discuss our July pick, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. This book follows the families of Annawadi, a makeshift settlement near the Mumbai airport, as they strive toward a better life amidst tragedy, global recessions, economic upheaval, and social issues.

Julianna and I chat about a journalist’s responsibility to their audience, what it means for a work of nonfiction to read “like a novel,” and how we think this book would be received if it were written in 2026. There are spoilers in this episode.

Make sure you listen to the end of the episode to find out what our August book club pick is! You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: Connect with Julianna: Instagram Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Threads | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Substack | Youtube See Privacy Policy at and California Privacy Notice at .