A weekly behind-the-scenes dive into everything interesting, dynamic, strange, and wonderful happening in literary culture—featuring Lit Hub staff, columnists, and special guests! Hosted by Drew Broussard.

On January 13, New York published a story by Lila Shapiro detailing allegations of sexual assault against fantasy author Neil Gaiman. (TW: the piece is at times graphic and should be approached with care.) Gaiman has denied the allegations and claimed that the encounters were consensual.

It’s an upsetting story for so many reasons, and an important one. So, in a special episode of the show, Drew sat down with Lila Shapiroto talk about writing these kinds of stories, what they mean to communities across the world, and how to address the power imbalance between fans and their idols.

* “There is No Safe Word” by Lila Shapiro for New York Magazine

* Neil Gaiman’s response

A transcript of the podcast can be found here.

The Lit Hub Podcast is a production of Lit Hub Radio and is available wherever you get your podcasts; music by Dani Lencioni of Evelyn; Engineering and production by Stardust House