See us in conversation with Sarah Gailey, TJ Klune, Lily Menon, and Rivers Solomon at the Macmillan Library ALA Midwinter pregame event Thursday January 21, at 4 pm Eastern! Register here.
We now have merch! Check out our Redbubble shop for cute products with art by Anna on them.
In this episode, we discuss our pandemic coping mechanism, watching horror movies and television! Please note we recorded this in October 2020 (in case you’d like to compare that with the publication date of this post). In spite of how it sounds, we were not quarantined at opposite ends of a long tunnel during the recording. CW: frank discussion of various elements of horror.
In this episode (ABBAsode) we invited @renatasnacks to rank the contents of the 1992 greatest hits release ABBA Gold with us, discussing the relative merits of each track and sharing our personal histories with ABBA. Spoiler: We totally went to Sweden about it.
Somewhat in the spirit of Extra Hot Great’s television Canon, your hosts each assembled a list of favorite movies and agreed to make a universal Bellwether Friends list out of intersecting titles. In this episode, we reveal our picks to one another. Click here for the joint list! *sounds of paper rustling*
Anna’s Honorable Mentions
*10 Things I Hate About You
Adventures In Babysitting
*The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
The African Queen
Aladdin
American Pie
Annie
*Arsenic And Old Lace
Austin Powers
Back To The Future
Bend It Like Beckham
Better Off Dead
Captain Marvel
*Coming To America The Craft
Crocodile Dundee
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
*Deadpool
Deliver Us From Eva
*Desk Set
*Fast and Furious franchise
*Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
*French Kiss
*Ghostbusters (2016)
Gia
The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Goonies
*Guardians of the Galaxy
Highlander
Jumanji (2017)
The Karate Kid
The Little Mermaid
Love & Basketball
Mad Max: Fury Road
*Magic Mike XXL
Meet Me In St. Louis
Moonraker
*The Nine Lives Of Christmas
*The Philadelphia Story
Short Circuit
Shrek
*The Silence Of The Lambs
Speed
*Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Star Wars (new trilogy)
Tank Girl
Thor: Ragnarok
While You Were Sleeping
White Christmas
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Willow
*Wonder Woman
Join us as we discuss the most recent winner of our What To Watch Next TV Bracket: Pose! Then we exhaustively review the shows we’re watching, shows we’ve lost, shows we might consider adding, and shows we’ve put on unintentional hiatus.
In this episode, we talk about all the books we got excited about at BookExpo way back in May. Many are already available for you to buy from your local independent bookstore or borrow from your library! (See episodes 48, 64, 75, 88, 89, and 96 for previous Book Buzz content.)
In this episode, we talk to author and librarian emeritus Kelly Jensen about mental health and how it impacts our ability to read for work and pleasure, and what we can do to get out of reading slumps (if we want to).
In this episode, we discuss all things (European) opera with noted cataloger @marccold! Content warning for sexual assault and murder (no thanks to Don Giovanni).
In this episode, we discuss fairies with author friend and known fairy aficionado Stephanie Burgis! Including some discussion of what we define as a member of the fey, how to get rid of an earworm, and all the things you should be reading and watching.
In this episode, we work our way through our own version of March Madness: our third annual What to Watch Next TV Bracket! At the end of this episode, you will get to vote on what TV series we will watch and discuss next from among four categories: Comedy, Crime, Drama, and SFF. Previous brackets in Episode 57 and Episode 81.
BUT BEFORE WE START THAT
We guest edited an issue of the Two Bossy Dames newsletter! If you have always wished our podcast was a newsletter, now is your chance to read our thoughts instead of listen to them! Also, you should subscribe.
Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Celebrity Skin” by Hole from the Captain Marvel soundtrack
Alene: “Come As You Are” by Nirvana from the Captain Marvel soundtrack
In this episode, we discuss our favorite romantic comedies that were not on the list we covered in Episode 103. More happy endings for lesbian couples! The Sandra Bullock sidebar! Aunt Lynne’s picks!
In this episode, we review and comment on a ratings-based Rotten Tomatoes list of the 150 best romantic comedies of all time! Tune in for many opinions about romance, comedy, and the intersection of the two in film.
Musical Obsessions Anna: “The Middle” by Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey; “Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves
Alene: “The Joke” by Brandi Carlile, “Havana” by Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug, “Call the Shots” by Leslie Grace from Miss Bala
Obsessions Anna: Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke (May 2019)
Alene: The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs
Our Oscar Picks:
Best Picture: Black Panther
Best Director: Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite
Best Actor: Rami Malek
Best Actress: Olivia Coleman
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King
Original Screenplay: The Favourite
Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins
Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Documentary: RBG
Score: Black Panther
Song: Shallow by Lady Gaga from A Star is Born
Sound Editing: A Quiet Place
Musical Obsessions
Alene: “Shallow” by Lady Gaga from A Star is Born
Anna: “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA from Black Panther
Can you believe there have been a hundred episodes of Bellwether Friends? Well, there haven’t. THIS is the one hundredth episode! Carolyn, Margaret, Sophie, and Ally joined us to discuss our inspiration and beloved novel Bellwether, by our beloved and inspiring Connie Willis, complete with all the digressions you’ve come to love over our past 99 episodes, readalikes, and other suggestions!
In this episode, we look back over a year of movies, television, music, experiences, and books. We did the same for 2017 in Episode 77, 2016 in Episode 53, and 2015 in Episode 27.
In this episode, we discuss the ocean and her presence in movies, books, music, television, and art, in partial response to Episode 94, when our guests were not as pro-sea as Alene might have liked. The #1 takeaway from this episode is that boat safety is very important to Alene. Also, WHAT is the DEAL with the Bountys?
Roiling waves and some deadly rocks are what we’re all about
In this episode, we discuss our favorite animated heartthrobs with friend of the podcast Sarah. Come for the strangely attractive cartoon foxes, stay for the romance recommendations!
We visited New York City to hear from a variety of publishers about their upcoming titles, and we’re here to share some of our favorites, as well as likely candidates for library collections, against a backdrop of rustling paper! (See episodes 48, 64, 75, 88, and 89 for previous Book Buzz content.)
In this episode, we talk about the 25 first-run movies we’ve seen since our last movie advisory session, Episode 86. Our extensive movie viewing has been brought to you by MoviePass (RIP) and Ladies in Suits.
Links
motorcycle slides under giant flying hello kitty pez
In this episode, we discuss sharks in pop culture with Worst Best Friends Renata and Becca, including deep dives (see what we did there?) into The Meg and Jaws as well as our ideal shark movie plots–call us, Hollywood! We were also recently on Worst Bestsellers to discuss Hope Never Dies.
In this episode, we talk basketball with Cecily of The Riverdale Rag and Deb, sharing our personal basketball histories and favorite teams, coaches, and players. When we recorded the episode, the winner of this year’s WNBA championship was still in doubt, but since then the STORM have claimed the title, to the delight of many.
In this episode, jumping off our presentation at the Massachusetts Library Association conference in May, we discuss inclusive romance novels we’ve read and are looking forward to reading. The official genre of Bellwether Friends is Historical Romance. This episode is brought to you by Fake Dating with a side of Getting It Out Of Our System.
Musical Obsessions
Alene: “Money (That’s What I Want)” by Cheryl K feat. Awkwafina from the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack
“Material Girl (200 du)” by Sally Yeh from the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack
“Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Kina Grannis from the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack
(Bustle article)
Anna: “Yellow” by Katherine Ho from the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack (LA Times story)
In this episode, we continue what we began in Episode 90 and bring you Alene’s hard pass. Content warning for discussion of various unpleasant topics, primarily suicide. Apologies for the poor sound quality, we didn’t feel like we would make it through this one again if we tried to re-record it.
The first of two episodes exploring the things that we don’t like to encounter in our books, television, movies, and more. Content warning for discussion of various unpleasant topics, primarily cancer.
We’re bringing you our top picks for the fall and early 2019 for you and your library patrons, based on our trips to recent conferences. This is part two of a two-part episode, featuring titles from Hachette, Penguin Random House, Sourcebooks, Quirk Books, Soho Press, Pegasus, Sterling, Ingram, and more! Catch up with part one here.
Other ISAN by Mary Ting (Vesuvian, May 2018) Spice by Dr. Stuart Farrimond (Dorling Kindersley, October 2018) Goat Yoga by Yoga Shenanigoats (Author) and Ashley Hylbert (Photographer) (Turner Publishing Company, October 2017) Aquicorn Cove by Katie O’Neill (Oni Press, October 2018) Sheets by Brenna Thummler (Lion Forge Cub House, August 2018) Drawn to Sex: The Basics by Erika Moen & Matthew Nolan (Limerence Press, November 2018) Norroway Book 1: The Black Bull of Norroway by Kit & Cat Seaton (Image Comics, November 2018) Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, August 2018) Open Earth by Sarah Mirk, Eva Cabrera, and Claudia Aguirre (Limerence Press, September 2018)
Musical Obsessions Anna: “Halo” by Beyoncé
Alene: The Bold Type Spotify Playlist
We’re bringing you our top picks for the fall and early 2019 for you and your library patrons, based on our trips to recent conferences. This is part one of a two-part episode, featuring titles from WW Norton, Simon & Schuster, New York Review Books, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Workman, Macmillan, and Bloomsbury!
Welcome back! In this episode, we discuss two runners up from episode 81’s What To Watch Next TV Bracket II: Sports Night and Black Lightning. So much Sorkin! So many powers!
In this episode, we discuss the movies we have seen since our last movie advisory episode (Episode 77), skipping those we already discussed on other episodes (Episode 81: Oscar Thoughts). We subscribed to MoviePass and it increased our volume of movies seen, but not the overall quality of movies in general. Light spoilers and content warning for gore and vomit mentions.
Links
Already discussed: Black Panther, Call Me By Your Name, Coco, Ferdinand, The Greatest Showman, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, Proud Mary, The Shape of Water
In this episode, we discuss our viewing of The Good Place, winner of our #episode81 What to Watch Next TV Bracket. Spoiler alert! We talk about a lot of details of both seasons of The Good Place, which has some twists and surprises you might not want spoiled.
Not at the same time! In preparation for Avengers: Infinity War, we’ve been catching up on all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies (that’s everything except the X-Men and Deadpool and most Spider-Mans, we think?) we missed because of our unwillingness to watch stories about dude superheroes in the theater. We need to watch in the comfort of our home, with our cats and the ability to snark at top volume. And we also have a bunch of stuff to say about bullet journaling, so pull up a seat for this new episode!
In this episode, we follow up Episode 82 with Classical Music Advisory, bringing back Robin @Tuphlos Bradford (previously our guest on Episode 36) to share her expertise. We learned a lot about Robin’s dark musical past in the process, including her love for the cello and her secret years as a flutist?!
In this episode, we talk about our favorite classical pieces and our recent live symphony experiences.
Also: our What to Watch Next Bracket poll results! By the will of the popular vote (or the person/s with the most ways of accessing the internet), we will be watching The Good Place.
It’s time for March Madness and time for another What to Watch Next TV Bracket! We’re also going to tell you what we think about top Oscar categories. Vote in the poll at the bottom of this page to tell us what to watch next!
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.”
~Jo Godwin
…and a moderately good librarian podcast should aspire to the same!
In this episode, we brought in author and podcaster Annie Cardi (@anniecardi) discuss things everyone likes that we don’t. Yes, it was covered in Episode 9, but that was back in December 2014, so here’s an update!
Musical Obsessions Annie: “Drive It Like You Stole It” from Sing Street motion picture soundtrack
Anna: “Spring” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
Alene: “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten
We brought in writing implement expert Cecily Walker (@skeskali) of the Riverdale Rag podcast to talk about one of our favorite things: pens! Warning: if you are at all inclined to rash internet purchases, Cecily makes buying pens and ink sound very appealing.
