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The Stacks

Ep. 425 Why Do People Repeatedly Kill with Imani Thompson

The Stacks

Traci Thomas

Arts, Society & Culture, Books, Literature

4.91.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by author Imani Thompson to discuss her debut novel, Honey. This book follows Yrsa, a Black PhD student whose accidental murder of a problematic male professor awakens her thirst for killing men in the name of feminism. We talk about her journey of writing this book, the academic theory that inspired it, and the key differences between individual and state-sanctioned violence.

The Stacks Book Club pick for May is Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu. We’ll be discussing the book with Chanda Prescod-Weinstein on Wednesday, May 27.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/5/20/ep-425-imani-thompson

Connect with Imani: Instagram

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Transcript

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0:00.0

As you all know, the stacks just celebrated its birthday last month, and I cannot thank you all

0:05.5

enough for supporting this independent podcast for the last eight years. We truly could not do it

0:12.9

without you. My plan is to continue to bring you many more years of great reads, author

0:18.4

interviews, behind the scenes, looks in the book world, and pop culture

0:22.0

gossip. But I can only do that with your support. So giving us a listen every week goes a long way.

0:29.4

And if you want to go that extra mile, consider supporting the stacks on Patreon and substack.

0:36.0

I will say, May is also the month that kicks off summer around here. I believe

0:41.1

in the longest possible summer. That's Memorial Day to September 22nd for those who are wondering.

0:47.1

And summer ushers in the era of the summer reading guide. My nonfiction reading guide is coming

0:52.9

in May for all of you who are paid

0:55.7

subscribers on Patreon or Substack. So that's just a perk to keep in mind. In addition to everything

1:01.1

else we've got going on like Book Club Meetups, our Discord conversation, bonus episodes,

1:07.8

my weekly show and tell over on Substack. Making this podcast takes a village as they say,

1:13.4

and you're part of our village when you support through Patreon and Substacks so that me and my

1:18.3

amazing team can continue doing what we do best, which is bringing this podcast to you every

1:22.9

single week. So if you or your friends are looking to meet other book lovers, support an independent

1:27.4

podcast, come hang out with me at patreon.com slash the stacks on Patreon and subscribe to my newsletter

1:34.2

at tracytomis.com. I would love to have you. My really big question writing the book by the end of

1:42.0

the book was, why do people repeatedly kill

1:46.3

be that individuals but actually I was more interested in kind of states you know like why do

1:51.9

governments do this why do institutions allow this to happen and I feel that we often do

1:57.4

give these justifications oh religion or, or we need to bring democracy,

...

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