Listen to the audio trailer now HERE

NEW YORK — April 30, 2026 — Romance publisher 831 Stories and iHeartPodcasts today announced “Radio 831: A Romance Podcast,” a weekly romance chat-show series hosted by Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall. The podcast will debut its first episode next week on May 7 with new episodes available weekly on Thursdays. Listeners can hear the official audio trailer now on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard, here.

“Radio 831” will offer romance fans a weekly half-hour hit of all things happening in the wide world of romance. Hosts and romance superfans Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall will bring their trademark curiosity, insightfulness, and die-hard enthusiasm to book buzz, screen-adaptation drama, and the genre’s countless intersections with internet discourse and celebrity culture. They’ll call on experts—from authors to BookTokers—to help them dive into the big and small stories of the moment with a lot of heart. 

831 Stories offers romance fans many ways to engage with the genre and the world of their books, from monthly novella releases, live events, merchandise ripped from the pages—and The Ones, a monthly membership program for those who want to find it all in one place. With the addition of “Radio 831,” the publisher is expanding avenues for readers to participate in the trends, topics, and news that keep the romance community talking. 

Basker and McCall are recognizable faces in this realm: Basker has made a name for herself as a beloved romance scholar on TikTok, Instagram, and Substack, where her academic and cerebral takes often lead the discourse of the day and reflect her remarkably deep understanding of the genre’s history and source material. McCall is well-known for her frequent magazine cover stories, her popular erotica scripts for Quinn Originals includingThe Queen’s Guard and The Trials, and her Instagram, a fandom-centric source for all things pop culture, books, and movies. She also has her own highly anticipated romance debut coming from Little, Brown in 2027. 

831 Stories and McCall are represented by UTA. “Radio 831: A Romance Podcast” is distributed by iHeartPodcasts.

Download the podcast cover art HERE.

Sanjana Basker
By day, Sanjana Basker is a doctoral student in counseling psychology studying sex, gender, intimacy, and health through a critical feminist lens. By night, she's still a doctoral student, but she's also a romance reader, reviewer, and enthusiast. You can find her work on TikTok and most other platforms under @baskinsuns or on Substack at Scratch Paper.
 

Tyler McCall

Tyler McCall is the author of People Like You, coming Spring 2027. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Fashionista, Tyler is now a freelance writer whose bylines have appeared in publications like Who What Wear, Marie Claire, Elle, and The Cut. She has read more books than should be humanly possible, spends most weekends putting her Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass to work, and considers herself to be an amateur Gossip Girl historian. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok @eiffeltyler or on Substack at Voted Most Talkative.