Episode 112: BF Movie Touchstones

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*

Links
Alene’s List (revised)
10 Things I Hate About You
The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
Amadeus
American Dreamer
Arsenic & Old Lace
Babe

Black Panther
Blockers
Booksmart
Cabin In The Woods
Charade
Clerks (Kevin Smith)
Coming To America
Cornetto Trilogy: Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End
Crazy Rich Asians
The Cutting Edge
D.E.B.S.
Deadpool, Deadpool 2

Desk Set
Desperately Seeking Susan
District 9
Easy A
Fargo (The Coen Brothers)

The Fasts And The Furiouses (all)
The Favourite
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (John Hughes)
French Kiss
Get Out

Ghostbusters (2016)
Grosse Pointe Blank
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Hidden Figures
The Holiday
The House Bunny
How To Train Your Dragon (all)
Howl’s Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki)
Legally Blonde
Let The Right One In
Love Actually
Magic Mike, Magic Mike XXL
Moana

Moonlight
The Nine Lives of Christmas
Ocean’s 8
Out Of Sight
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
The Philadelphia Story
Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, Pitch Perfect 3
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino)
Say Anything
The Silence Of The Lambs
Singles
Sleepless In Seattle
Sliding Doors

The Sound Of Music
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Spy
Step Up (all)
Stranger Than Fiction
The Sure Thing
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
The Usual Suspects
The Vanishing (1988)
When Harry Met Sally
Wings Of Desire
Wonder Woman
Zombieland, Zombieland 2: Double Tap

Anna’s List (revised)
Beauty and the Beast
Best In Show
*Black Panther
Blades of Glory
The Blues Brothers
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Bring It On
*Charade
Clue
Clueless
Cold Comfort Farm
*Crazy Rich Asians
*The Cutting Edge
*D.E.B.S.
The Dead Don’t Die
Desert Hearts
Fire
*Get Out
*Grosse Pointe Blank
Halloween
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
It’s In The Water
Labyrinth
A League Of Their Own
*Legally Blonde
Logan’s Run
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy
Mean Girls
The Meg
Miss Congeniality
*Moana
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
*Moonlight
Much Ado About Nothing
Mulan
The Music Man
*Ocean’s 8
The Parent Trap (both)
Persuasion
Pirates Of The Caribbean
*Pitch Perfect series
Pride and Prejudice (BBC)
The Princess Bride
Robin Hood (Disney)
Robin Hood (1938)
Romancing The Stone
A Room With A View
Saving Face
Say Anything
Singin’ In The Rain
Sleepless In Seattle
So I Married An Axe Murderer
*The Sound Of Music
Spaceballs
*Spy
Star Wars (original trilogy)
Strictly Ballroom
*To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Wayne’s World
When Harry Met Sally

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

Other mentions:
The Thin Man
Sunset Boulevard
Wait Until Dark
Johnny Belinda
The Lady Eve
True Grit
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Blazing Saddles
The Harvey Girls
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Good Morning, Vietnam
Pearl Harbor
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
Top Gun

Musical Obsessions
Anna: Bad Blood by Taylor Swift
Alene: The Dead Don’t Die by Sturgill Simpson

Obsessions
Anna: To L and Back (podcast)
Alene: KissCon, Loretta Chase, Megan Frampton

Episode 111: Fall 2019 TV Roundup

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.

Links
Billy Porter Instagram (video)
Paris is Burning

Pose
The Good Place
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
FBI
Jeopardy!
Schitt’s Creek
CBS Sunday Morning

New Tryouts:
American Horror Story: 1984
Batwoman

Derry Girls (Two Bossy Dames post)

Evil
Stumptown (native academic consultant) (actor Cole Sibus)

Rest in Peace:
For the People

Whiskey Cavalier

Want to Watch:
All Rise
The Baker and the Beauty
Elite [People Like Us by Dana Mele]
FBI: Most Wanted
Fleabag
Nancy Drew
Prodigal Son
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (2020)

Need to Catch Up On:
Black Lightning
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Fringe
Person of Interest
Quantico
Riverdale

Supergirl
Wynonna Earp

Musical Obsessions
Anna: Dreams by the Cranberries
Alene: Odchazim S Virou (Holding Out For A Hero) by Karel Gott from Whiskey Cavalier

Obsessions
Anna: Dungeons & Dragons
Alene: peppermint mocha and cinnamon apple (NOT pumpkin spice)

Episode 94A: Jaws Interlude

Here’s a brief interview with a special guest about the movie Jaws while we prepare an episode with much more shark content!

Episode 91: Content Warning Part II–Alene’s Hard Pass

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.

Links
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
Romeo and Juliet
Heathers
The Big Chill
Dear Evan Hansen
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Dead Poets Society
Harold and Maude
Death With Dignity (right to die)
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Lost and Delirious
The Children’s Hour (play)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Morvern Callar by Alan Warner (film)
In Bruges
13 Reasons Why (book)
U.S. News & World Report: Why Suicide Keeps Rising for Middle-Aged Men

Fun Home (book)
Reuben, Reuben
A Single Man
Tumblr: Is There Suicide In It?
goodreads: Suicide
Wikipedia: List of suicides in fiction
Wikipedia: List of suicides
Slate: Alone in the Dark: Why we need more children’s books about suicide and severe depression.
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Better Off Dead
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Captain America: The First Avenger

Wonder Woman
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

Musical Obsessions
Alene: “Holding Out For A Hero” by Bonnie Tyler

Anna: “Pynk” by Janelle Monae

Obsessions
Alene: Minerva by Marion Chesney
Anna: Fence comic by C. S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad

Episode 84: MCU and Bullet Journaling

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!

Links
Marvel Cinematic Universe

Phase one: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel’s The Avengers

Phase two: Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man

Phase three: Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,  Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther

Deadpool
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Ant-Man and The Wasp
Marvel: 15 Huge Problems No One Wants To Admit About The MCU
Why Marvel Movies Have Such Bland, Forgettable Music
Orientalism, Whitewashing, and the Failure of Imagination in Doctor Strange
From Iron Man to Black Panther — Ranking the Romances of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
What is the Funniest Marvel Movie?

Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide by Rachel Wilkerson Miller (who cowrote the article Alene is always suggesting!)
Episode 79: All About Pens with @skeskali
Anna’s book: Grids & Guides
Alene’s current book: Exacompta Club
35 Cool Lists To Start And Keep In 2018

Musical Obsessions
Anna & Alene: “My House” by Flo Rida

Obsessions
Anna: Flavored syrups
Alene: pistachios

Bellwether Fronds

Spring is here! In this episode, we discuss some of our pod culture favorites!

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Come On Nature” by Proclaimers
Alene: “Nearly Lost You” by Screaming Trees

Obsessions
Alene: The Man Who Planted Trees
Anna: Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798 by William Wordsworth

Our in and out music is “Indian Paintbrush” by Podington Bear.

Episode 82: Classical Music Favorites

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.

The playlist for this episode is on Spotify.

Links

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Springfield Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven: Für Elise
Seattle Symphony
Tanglewood

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
Classic King FM
Mozart Piano Concerto no. 21 “Elvira Madigan”
Amadeus
Mozart: Turkish March
elizabethruth on Instagram
Mozart: Requiem
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Ravel: Bolero
Torvill & Dean 1984 Gold Medal Ice Dancing Routine
Tchaikovsky: Final Waltz & Apotheosis
Great Courses: The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works
San Francisco Chronicle: “Classical So White and Male: The Time is Overdue for Diversity”
Handel: Hallelujah Chorus (stand up)
Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Beethoven: 5th Symphony
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra/2001: A Space Odyssey
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini/Somewhere in Time
Pachelbel: Canon in D

Satie: Gymnopedie
Rossini: William Tell Overture
Beethoven: Pathétique
Beethoven: 7th Symphony
Billy Joel: This Night
Vivaldi: Four Seasons
Star Trek/Star Wars Spectacular
John Williams

Musical Obsessions
“Belle of the Ball” by Leroy Anderson
“Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping Beauty

Obsessions
A Wrinkle in Time
One Day at a Time

Episode 79: All About Pens with @skeskali

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.

Links
The House Bunny :: Easy A :: Mean Girls
Parker Jotter
Gel
Skilcraft
Uniball Onyx
JetPens (aka WetHens)
Pentel Slicci
Uni Jetstream
Lamy Safari

This is Cecily’s handwriting on Lamy

Glossary of Fountain Pen Terminology
Pilot Vball (extra fine)
Gelly Roll
Uniball Jetstream
Pilot Precise V5/7
Pilot G2
Muji Gel
Bic Rollerball
Parker Vector fountain
Le Pen
University Book Store

Purple Pilot BP-S

::whimper::

Pentel Hybrid Gel Roller

Uniball Vision
4-color Bic
Multi
Lamy 2000
Sailor Sky High ink
Vancouver Pen Shop
Pilot Precise V5 turquoise extra fine
Anna carries this pencil case
Ikea Helmer
Sharpie
Sakura SumoGrip mechanical pencil
Pigma Micron

Pentel mechanical pencils

Pilot MR/Metropolitan
Iron Gall Ink
Pilot FriXion
Uni-ball BLX
Robert Oster Fire and Ice ink
Episode 52: Fandom Nail polish
J. Herbin ink
Cecily’s fountain pen thread on twitter
Tokyo Pen Shop
The Goulet Pen Company
Wonder Pens
Private Reserve Tanzanite ink
Pilot Varsity
Pilot Petit 1
Pen Alene was trying to remember reading about: Platinum Preppy

Musical Obsessions
Cecily: “Raingurl” by Yaeji
Anna: First Movement of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony
Alene: “If You Were Here” by Thompson Twins (cover by Cary Brothers)

Obsessions
Cecily: Winter Olympics (Nigerian bobsled team)
Anna: Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide by Rachel Wilkerson Miller; Delay of Game by Tracy Richardson
Alene: crunchwraps

Episode 78: Holiday Romance Films with @helenstwin

We brought in holiday romance expert Cory (and her mom) to help us sift through the offerings from the 2017 season. We talked about diversity, Lifetime vs. Hallmark, nude nail polish, royalty, adorable moppets, and more, using our Holiday Romance Movie Checklist as a baseline. See our spreadsheet of the 38 movies the Bellwether Friends team watched this season here.

Links
Episode 41: We Love Historical Romance!
Episode 56: Romantic Christmas Movies
Episode 74: Horror Project Checkup and Holiday Romance Checklist
#BFHolidayRomance

Enchanted Christmas (the one with ballroom dancing)
Wrapped Up In Christmas (the one with Tatyana Ali)
The Nine Lives of Christmas (the one with cats)
Fametracker/previously.tv
The Christmas Cure (the one with Bobby from Dallas)
[The Librarians]
The Twelve Trees of Christmas (the one where she saves the library)
Sound of Christmas (the one where he is going to buy the music school)
Annie Claus is Coming to Town (the one with a third skinny redhead)
Looks Like Christmas (the one with Anne Heche)
Kristin’s Christmas Past (the one with Elizabeth Mitchell and time travel)
Sleigh Bells Ring (the one with the aunt’s antique shop)
My Christmas Love (the one with the guy Alene likes)

Sharing Christmas (the other one about a mall/with the guy Alene likes)
Snowed-Inn Christmas (the one with competing journalists)

The Mistletoe Inn (the one with romance writers)
My Christmas Prince (the one that isn’t A Christmas Prince)
The Perfect Christmas Present (Cory’s favorite)
[ASMR videos]
Fir Crazy (one of the ones with a Christmas tree farm)
Christmas Festival of Ice (one of the ice sculpture ones)
Farewell Mr. Kringle (the one with Christine Taylor and an early kiss)

Christmas Getaway (the one with a double booked cabin)
The Christmas Cottage (the one with a magic cabin)
Christmas List (the one with the earliest kiss)
12 Men of Christmas (the one with sex!)
A Boyfriend for Christmas (the one with Santa waiting twenty years to grant a wish)
A Christmas Kiss (the one that starts with a kiss)
A Gift to Remember (the one where the guy gets amnesia)
One Starry Christmas (the one with the cowboy)
Christmas Dance (the one with Andrew McCarthy)

Christmas Connection (the one with Tom Everett Scott)
Romance at Reindeer Lodge (the one with a Christmas themed ranch)
Candace Cameron Bure
Last Chance for Christmas (the one with the delicious reindeer farm)
Christmas Parade (the one with texting and driving)
A Rose for Christmas (the one with the Rose Parade)
All About Christmas Eve (the one with Haylie Duff)
Christmas Belle (the other one with Haylie Duff)
Christmas at Holly Lodge (the one with a developer trying to buy the inn)
Finding Father Christmas (the one with a secret missing dad)
Engaging Father Christmas (the sequel to Finding Father Christmas)
[Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel]

Christmas Miracle (the one with letters to god)
Finding Santa (the one with Jodie Sweetin)
Once Upon a Holiday (the one with a runaway princess)
The Mistletoe Promise (the one with Lemon from Hart of Dixie)
All I Want for Christmas (the one with a kid asking for his mom to get a new man)
The Flight Before Christmas (the one with Mayim Bialik)
Hitched for the Holidays (the one with Joey Lawrence)
[Harpers Bazaar: 20 Nude Polishes For Every Skintone]

Readalikes:
Debbie Macomber
Shannon Stacey
Bella Andre
Alice Clayton
Jill Shalvis
Belladonna Ink

Obsessions

Cory: Check, Please! Beards and Bondage series (Haven) by Rebekah Weatherspoon, Black Panther
Anna and Alene: Proud Mary

Musical Obsessions

Anna: “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner
Alene: “Proud Mary” by Leonard Nimoy
Cory: [What is Punk?, What is Hip-Hop?] “I’m the One” by The Descendents, “Wildflowers” by Dolly Parton

 

Episode 77: Movie Advisory 2017B, Best of 2017, and 2018 Preview

We give our takes on the theatrical releases we watched in the back half of 2017, then talk about our bests of the past year before plunging into what we’re looking forward to in the new year! There are some spoilers, but we rarely make much sense. Movie Advisory 2017A was episode 66!

Links

Movie Advisory 2017B

Battle of the Sexes
The Dark Tower

The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
It
The Mountain Between Us
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Murder on the Orient Express

Pitch Perfect 3
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Coming Soon
Black Panther
Deadpool 2
Ready Player One
Ocean’s 8
Proud Mary
A Wrinkle in Time

Pacific Rim: Uprising
Fifty Shades Freed
Crazy Rich Asians
Ant-Man and the Wasp
The House With a Clock in its Walls
Halloween
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best of 2017
Movies: Get Out, Wonder Woman, The Last Jedi, Hidden Figures, Fate of the Furious, The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Books: #libfaves17, Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman, Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough, No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal, Misfit City by Kiwi Smith, Kurt Lustgarten, and Naomi Franquiz, Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin

Television: Riverdale, One Day at a Time, Supergirl, Hallmark/Lifetime movies
Music: Rainbow by Kesha
Other: the power of twitter (Metro-North train rescue), phone battery replacement, eclipse, Women of NASA Lego set

Looking forward to in 2018
Midterm elections
She-Ra on Netflix
Lumberjanes Coloring Book
Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
New Becky Chambers book
Painting by Numbers (Shades of Grey 2) by Jasper Fforde
Black Lightning on the CW
Grown-ish on Freeform
The X-Files on Fox

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Seasons of Love” from Rent
Alene: “Santa Fe” from Rent

Obsessions
Anna: 221B Baker Street board game, Fandom Hearts series by Cathy Yardley, Bingo Love by Tee Franklin and Jenn St. Onge
Alene: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Episode 75: Book Buzz Fall 2017

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 and 64 for previous Book Buzz content.)

Links
#bookbuzznyc
Workman!
The Pesto Cookbook by Olwen Woodier (April 2018)

Dreadful Young Ladies by Kelly Barnhill (February 2018)
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison (April 2018)
The Opposite of  Hate by Sally Kohn (April 2018)
Penguin Random House!
Sociable by Rebecca Harrington (March 2018)
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig (February 2018)
The Sky is Yours by Chandler Klang Smith (January 2018)
White Houses by Amy Bloom (March 2018)
I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon (March 2018)
The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin (January 2018)
Educated by Tara Westover (February 2018)
Ingram!
Insidious Intent by Val McDermid (December 2018)
The Inner Life of Animals by Peter Wohlleben (out now)
Life’s Too Short To Go So F*ing Slow by Susan Lacke (out now)

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot (February 2018)
Simon & Schuster!
Make Trouble by Cecile Richards (April 2018)
The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller (February 2018)
Barbary Station by R. E. Stearns (out now)
The Elizas by Sara Shepard (April 2018)
Sterling!

100 Days of Lettering by Jay Roeder (April 2018)
Free Will Explained by Dan Barker (February 2018)
The Good Housekeeping Instant Pot Cookbook (January 2018)
Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book (February 2018)
Homebrew World: Discover the Secrets of the World’s Leading Homebrewers (March 2018)
Macmillan!
Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney (March 2018)
The Coincidence Makers by Yoav Blum (March 2018)
When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele (January 2018)
After Anna by Lisa Scottoline (April 2018)
Force of Nature by Jane Harper (February 2018)
W. W. Norton!
Swearing is Good For You by Emma Byrne (January 2018)
Why You Eat What You Eat by Rachel Herz (December 2017)
Broadway: A History of New York City in Thirteen Miles by Fran Leadon (April 2018)

Searching for the Amazons by John Man (February 2018)
Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal (July 2018)
Other Press!
Never Anyone But You by Rupert Thomson (June 2018)
Berlin 1936: Sixteen Days in August by Oliver Hilmes (February 2018)
Sourcebooks!
Furyborn by Claire Legrand (May 2018)

Mister Tender’s Girl by Carter Wilson (February 2018)
Friends and Other Liars by Kaela Coble (February 2018)
Wicked River by Jenny Milchman (May 2018)
New York Review Books!
The Collected Essays of Elizabeth Hardwick (out now)
Basic Black With Pearls by Helen Weinzweig (April 2018)
Chronicle!
The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps by Edward Brooke-Hitching (April 2018)
Legendary Ladies by Ann Shen (April 2018)
HarperCollins!
The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn (January 2018)
My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie (April 2018)
Unmasked by Andrew Lloyd Webber (March 2018)
Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston (May 2018)
Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern (February 2018)
Quirk!
Basic Witches by Jaya Saxena and Jess Zimmerman (out now)
Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies by A. D. Jameson and Andrew DeGraff (out now)
My Lady’s Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris (April 2018)
Hachette!
Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza (out now)

Circe by Madeline Miller (April 2018)
The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson (June 2018)
The Power by Naomi Alderman (out now)
Queen Victoria’s Matchmaking by Deborah Cadbury (out now)
Bloomsbury!
Memento Mori by Ruth Downie (March 2018)
This is How it Ends by Eva Dolan (March 2018)
Grove Atlantic!

Happiness by Aminatta Forna (March 2018)
The Temptation of Forgiveness by Donna Leon (March 2018)
Harlequin!
The Black Painting by Neil Olson (December 2017)
Rosie Colored Glasses by Brianna Wolfson (February 2018)
The One by John Marrs (February 2018)
My Last Love Story by Falguni Kothari (January 2018)
Beacon!
ReVisioning American History series
We Wear the Mask: 15 True Stories of Passing in America
Invisible by Michelle Lent Hirsch (February 2018)
Soho!
Death Comes in Through the Kitchen by Teresa Dovalpage (March 2018)
Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson (February 2018)
Rodale!
Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
Seed Starters Handbook
National Geographic!
Eyewitness to World War II (out now)

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Pocketful of Sunshine” by Natasha Bedingfield
Alene: “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton

Obsessions
Anna: Mystery Mosaics
Alene: Stamping in her bullet journal

 

Episode 74: Horror Project Checkup and Holiday Romance Checklist

All the checking in this episode as we discuss the progress we’ve made on watching horror movies since Episode 73 and also our plans for watching and unpacking holiday romance movies (see also Episode 56) for a future episode. If you want to follow along with us, we’ll be using the hashtag #BFHolidayRomance on Twitter and Facebook and using our Holiday Romance Movie Checklist:

Download here

Links

Dear Secret Santa (the one we can’t remember the name of)
The Nine Lives of Christmas (the one with a cat)
Window Wonderland (the Alex Danvers one)
Every Christmas Has a Story (the Lori Loughlin one)
Wish Upon a Christmas (the one with the actuary)
A Royal Christmas (the one with Jane Seymour)

A Princess for Christmas (the one with Lena Luthor)

Obsessions
Alene: A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas
Anna: Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis

 

Episode 72: Children’s TV with @kidsilkhaze

For this episode, we brought in Jennie Rothschild to give strong opinions on the current state of children’s television and reminisce about a few old favorites. Including a theme song quiz! Bucking tradition, we start with the quiz, which ends at 19:00 if you want to skip ahead.

Links
Bananas in Pyjamas

Saturday Morning Slow Jams: DuckTales
The Atlantic: The Problem With Smurfette
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (app)

Peppa Pig
The Furchester Hotel
Fun Fun Elmo
Barney
Teletubbies
Sesame Street

The Muppet Show
Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco
The Monster at the End of this Book (app)
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan

Steven Universe

Gravity Falls

Adventure Time: Stakes

My Little Problematic Zecora

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (movie)
Season Six, Episode 13: Stranger Than Fan Fiction
Wikipedia: Children’s Television Series by Country – United States
New Zoo Revue
The Electric Company
3-2-1 Contact
Square One
Kim Possible fanfic
Reading Rainbow
Danger Mouse

Musical Obsessions
Jennie: “No One Else” from Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, Two Dots soundtrack
Anna: “My Little Pony Winter Wrap Up”
Alene: “End of the Line” by Traveling Wilburys

Obsessions
Jennie: Fox Paws
Anna: Homescapes
Alene: Etsy and eBay (among other non-Amazon outlets)

Episode 69: True Crime TV with @kmmaher

For this show we pulled in author (and secret famous librarian) Kelly Maher to talk about her TV true crime experience.

Links
Kathy Reichs
The New Detectives
FBI Files
Discovery
Investigation Discovery

American Greed
48 Hours
Dateline
20/20

Bill Kurtis
Cold Case Files
Pat Kiernan
The Blotter Presents podcast
American Greed Episode 70: The Prisoner of Wall Street
Flavorwire: “The Case for Reenactment in Documentary Cinema”
Stacy Keach

Deadly Women
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Trey Gowdy
Solved: Extreme Forensics
Episode 18: Serial Killers with @loather
Dominick Dunne’s Power, Privilege, and Justice

Wives With Knives
M. William Phelps
truTV
Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: “Reframing History, Crime, and Women – Exploring True Crime Stories with Elyse and Amanda”
My Favorite Murder podcast
You Must Remember This: Charles Manson’s Hollywood series (part one)
The Bridesmaid and the Hurricane

Musical Obsessions
Kelly: “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons and “America’s Sweetheart” by Elle King
Anna: “Learn to Let Go” by Kesha
Alene: “Hymn” by Kesha
NPR: Kesha Walks Us Through Her ‘Rainbow,’ Track By Track

Obsessions
Kelly: Black Death Shawl, QVC
Anna: rainbows, cats, organizing books, Seekers Notes, rainbows
Alene: Costco

Worst Bestsellers crossover event: Worst Best Friends! Plus astrological compatibility!

Episode 67: Musicals Redux with @Rebecca_Vnuk and @AmandaStretch

We invited Rebecca (our guest on Episode 49: Musicals) to return, along with Amanda from Episode 54: Song Covers, to talk about Stephen Sondheim and Hamilton, fill in some gaps from our previous conversations, and take another action-packed quiz that tested the depths of their musical theater knowledge.

Links

Hamilton
Bring It On
In the Heights
Hamiltome
Genius
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell
The Heckler: “Why I’m allergic to Stephen Sondheim”

Company

Into the Woods

Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far
Sweeney Todd
West Side Story
Gypsy
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Sunday in the Park with George
#sondheimnight
Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
Stephen Sondheim’s sad life
Patti LuPone
Forbidden Broadway: “Stephen Sondheim Finale”
Forbidden Broadway: “Patti LuPone/I Get a Kick Out of Me”
Forbidden Broadway: “Into the Words“

People: From Dirty Dancing to Grease: Live: Ranking How the Internet Felt About All the TV Musical Adaptations
The Little Mermaid
Jesus Christ Superstar
Bye Bye Birdie
A Christmas Story
Rent
The New Yorker: Let’s Rock: In Defense of Jukebox Musicals
Phactual: 9 Rock Stars Who Wrote Broadway Musicals
Time Out New York: The 30 best film-to-musical adaptations
Broadway Cares: Carols for a Cure CDs
EW: TV’s Best Musical Episodes

Amanda sings “The Song That Goes Like This”
Rakesh Satyal sings “Part of Your World”

Spoiler: A link to songs from our second Musicals Quiz!

Musical Obsessions
Rebecca: “Hug Me” by Pharrell Williams and Trey Parker, from Despicable Me 3
Amanda: “Taekwondo” by Walk off the Earth
Anna: “Thoroughly Modern Millie” by Julie Andrews, fromThoroughly Modern Millie
Alene: “Telephone” by Pamplemousse

Sondheim teaches “Not Getting Married Today”

Obsessions
Rebecca: IndiePicks Magazine
Amanda: Ice cream in Japan
Anna:  Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella
Alene: Hello Kitty notsocks

 

Episode 66: Movie Advisory 2017A

Our wrap-up of all the first-run movies we saw in the first half of 2017, and what we’re looking forward to for the rest of the year. With special guest Giant Bug.

Links

Previous Movie Advisory episodes: 35, 53

Baywatch
Pamela Anderson
David Hasselhoff

Beauty and the Beast

Fifty Shades Darker

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The Hollywood Reporter: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’: How Sean Gunn Became Marvel’s Secret Weapon
[Firefly]
[What Dreams May Come]

Get Out
[The Stepford Wives]

Hidden Figures

The Lego Batman Movie

Office Christmas Party

Power Rangers

Sing

Wonder Woman
Logan (Episode 59)
Fate of the Furious (Episode 65)
[Spider-Man: Homecoming]

Coming Soon:
The Dark Tower
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
It
Blade Runner 2049
Murder on the Orient Express
Justice League
Pitch Perfect 3
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Still Got Time” by Zayn
Alene: “More Than a Feeling” by Boston
[Believe Me by Eddie Izzard]

Obsessions
Anna: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
[The Starbound Trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner]
Alene: The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

Episode 65: Fastest and Furiousest with @renatasnacks

We got our favorite movie explicator, Renata, on board to discuss the latest entry in the Fast and the Furious franchise: F8 of the Furious (which is what it should have been called). But first we watched all seven previous movies! Hashtag completist. On the way, we learned some very important lessons about ourselves and about FAMILY. Spoilers abound!

 

Links

The Fast and the Furious

2 Fast 2 Furious

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Fast & Furious
Fast 5

Fast & Furious 6

Furious 7


Fate of the Furious

Vulture: How Does Fate of the Furious Stack Up Against the Rest of the Franchise?

The Blues Brothers
Silence of the Lambs
Lynda.com

Cole Hauser v. Tom Berenger
Better Luck Tomorrow

Luke Evans
The Sound of Music
How Did This Get Made (Fate of the Furious, Furious 7, Fast & Furious 6, Fast Five)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (the show where they’re always in an airplane)

Musical Obsessions
Renata: “New Romantics” by Taylor Swift
Alene: “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay
Anna: “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth

Obsessions
Renata: Trello (her nail polishes)
Alene: Facial exfoliants (Alba and Pixi), sheet masks from Daiso
Anna: Abhorsen books by Garth Nix

Bonus Episode: Library School

Have you ever wondered “what do they do all day when they’re not recording podcasts, those Bellwether Friends? I know I should trust librarians, but why?” We sat down for an interview about collection development (the art of budgeting for, buying,  maintaining, and eventually disposing of books and other materials) with Helene Williams, Senior Lecturer at the University of Washington’s iSchool, for her online class (Twitter).

Links
Springfield City Library
Forbes Library
Calvin Coolidge
Charles Ammi Cutter
Cutter Classification
Dewey-Cutter Conversion
Library Journal: Practice Makes Perfect
Ingram
Baker & Taylor

Episode 63: Fashion Forward with @curiosityjones

In this episode, we talk to author and jewelry designer (and former librarian) Kelly Jones about her books Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer and Murder, Magic, and What We Wore. Also personal styling tips, such as:

• Dress the beautiful woman that you are
• Try on everything before you buy it
• Thrift shop for success

Links
What Not to Wear UK
Wraptillion
#argyleweek
Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer (originally published 1935)
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
Ellen Kushner (Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword, Thomas the Rhymer)
Stephanie Burgis
Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
#chuckstravaganza (episode 62)
Project Runway
Iris Van Herpen
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Gilmore Girls
Ugly Betty
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
House of Eliott
The Incredibles (also: NO CAPES)

Forgotten Realms

Supergirl
The Tudors
The Borgias
The Crown
Game of Thrones
Sex and the City
The Mentalist
The X-Files

Clueless
Charade
Edith Head
Shakespeare in Love
Titanic
The Age of Innocence
Spider-Man

Desperately Seeking Susan
Dressmakers series by Loretta Chase
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
Temeraire series by Naomi Novik

Musical Obsessions:

Kelly: Teen Titans theme song by Puffy AmiYumi
Anna: Tank! theme song from Cowboy Bebop by Seatbelts
Alene: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt theme song by The Gregory Brothers

Obsessions:

Kelly: brownies with peanut butter cream cheese swirl
The Art of Deception by Stephanie Burgis
The Dark Days Club by Allison Goodman
Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton
Anna: Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn (July 2017)
Alene: Misfit City by Kiwi Smith, Kurt Lustgarten, and Naomi Franquiz

 

Episode 62: Inside #chuckstravaganza

For this episode we discussed our obsession with Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars (and other Converse shoes, and shoes in general) in conjunction with our month-long project with @melissazd, #chuckstravaganza. We are wearing our Chucks every day in May to celebrate the fact that shoes don’t have to be brown or black! Topics include where to shop, how to wash, high vs low tops, and more!

Links
Rainbow Chucks for Pride (limited edition)

Grease is the word (high tops)

History of Chuck Taylor All-Stars

The Outsiders
Juno

Rocky
West Side Story
The Donna Reed Show

Chucks Connection
#chuckstravaganza on Instagram
Code Switch episode “Talking Black-ish With Star Yara Shahidi And Creator Kenya Barris”
Lacing techniques

Oh K-Stew

Meg Cabot
Sophie Kinsella
Anna Maxted
Marian Keyes
Cecelia Ahern

 

Musical Obsessions
“Gigantic” by The Pixies
“Up All Night” by One Direction

Obsessions
The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan (due to be published June 2017)
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

Episode 61: The Daughter of Time Deep Dive with @twobossydames

We joined forces with Margaret and Sophie of Two Bossy Dames to take a closer look at the 1951 mystery classic The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Much cleverness, and many readalikes and watchalikes, ensued. PLUS: A Young Olds discussion of Harry Styles and his debut single.

Links
The Two Bossy Dames wall clock
Simini Blocker
Persuasion Deep Dive
Derek Jacobi reads The Daughter of Time
“Decades After Her Death, Mystery Still Surrounds Crime Novelist Josephine Tey” (Vanity Fair)
History in the Archives by Natalie Zemon Davis
Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E.L. Konigsburg

The Lion in Winter
The White Queen
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
“How Can This Be So Gripping? Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time” by Jo Walton
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
“Five Things We’ve Learned about Richard III Since He Was Found” (CNN)
Richard III by William Shakespeare
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
“Tonypandy” (Wikipedia): “Grant adopts the term “Tonypandy” to describe widely believed historical myths, such as the supposed shootings at the Tonypandy Riots, and believes popular accounts of Richard’s activities to fall into this category.”
Kenyon College
Denison University
Colleges that Change Lives

Reign
Brat Farrar
To Love and Be Wise

Readalikes and Watchalikes
The Hollow Crown (Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, Henry V)
The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
Hild by Nicola Griffith

The Usual Suspects
The Singing Detective

Lady Jane
Jo Walton’s Small Change series (Farthing, Ha’penny, Half a Crown)
Hamilton: An American Musical
Richard III: The King in the Car Park
Richard III: Martyr or Monster?
The King’s Grave: The Discovery of Richard III’s Lost Burial Place and the Clues it Holds by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones
The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters
The Wench is Dead by Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse)
To Prove a Villain by Guy Townsend
The Josephine Tey mysteries by Nicola Upson
O’ Artful Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Rear Window
Dorothy Dunnett (start with The Game of Kings)
Val McDermid
Tana French

Musical Obsessions
Margaret: “Let’s Get Out of This Country” by Camera Obscura
Anna: “Fall Apart Again” by Brandi Carlile
Alene: “Welcome to New York” off the Greatest City in the World Spotify playlist
Sophie: “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles

Honorable mention musical obsession

Obsessions

Sophie: Harry Styles/One Direction
Margaret: Please Like Me (see also Disappointing Gay Best Friend)

Anna: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
Alene: Fleabag

Episode 60: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season One

We discuss the winner of our What to Watch Next Bracket challenge: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Links

“Where’s the Bathroom?”

“I Could if I Wanted To”

“I’m So Good at Yoga”
Glee
Musicals with Rebecca (Episode 49)
Girl Groups Galore with Margaret (Episode 34)
Paste: All 39 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Songs, Ranked
Glen Weldon: Updated! The 100% Definitive, Empirical, Ruthlessly Objective, I-Will-Brook-No-Dissent Ranking of Every Song From Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season One
Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella
Lea Salonga

Men at Work
“Diet Coke Break”
“New York City Beat” by RuPaul and Michelle Visage

Musical Obsessions
Alene: “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin” by Colin Hay
Anna: “New York City” by They Might Be Giants

The Greatest City in the World playlist on Spotify

Obsessions
Anna: Hunted by Meagan Spooner
Alene: The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

Episode 59: Clonesplaining with @renatasnacks

 

 

Wolverine expert Renata returns to recap the first two (confusingly named) Wolverine movies featuring Hugh Jackman as an appetizer for our spoiler-filled discussion of the new movie Logan. You might not want to watch the movies when we’re through, but you’ll definitely want to watch movies with Renata. Apologies in advance for some sound quality issues during the episode.

Also: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was the winner of our episode 57 Bellwether Friends What to Watch Next Bracket Challenge! Thanks to everyone who voted. We will be recording an episode about the show in the near future!

Links
One Day at a Time
The Boyfriend of the Week

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Wolverine
Logan

Sabretooth

Deadpool
FAA Flight Planning Information
Buzzfeed: “Logan” Will Change The Way You Think About Violence In Superhero Movies
Shane
Final moment
X-Men video game
Deadpool 2 teaser
The Worst Best Sellers (discussing All-New Wolverine!)

Obsessions
Renata: Laura Kinney! X-23: The Complete Collection, Volume 2, All New Wolverine Vol. 1: The Four Sisters
Alene: Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones (Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer)
Anna: Rivers of London series (Midnight Riot) by Ben Aaronovitch read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith on audio (get the first three on Hoopla!)

Musical Obsessions
Renata: “Move Your Feet / D.A.N.C.E. / It’s A Sunshine Day” from the Trolls soundtrack
Anna: “Die Young” by Ke$ha
Alene: “The Sound” by The 1975

 

 

Episode 57: What to Watch Next TV Bracket

 

 

Sometimes when you’re having trouble figuring out how to narrow down your choices, you do a bracket. Well, you do that if you’re Anna. Alene likes to ask everyone she knows what they think. In this episode, we do both.

Links
Slash
HTGAWM Wig Scene
You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson
Two Bossy Dames on Mahershala

BBC bracket

The Bletchley Circle
Broadchurch
The Crown
The Doctor Blake Mysteries
The Hour
Last Tango in Halifax
Luther
MI:5
Midsomer Murders
The Night Manager
Scott & Bailey
The Tudors
Vera
Victoria
Wallander

Comedy/Musical bracket

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Galavant
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
The Mindy Project
New Girl
Parks and Recreation
Playing House
Portlandia
Review
Trophy Wife

Crime bracket

The Blacklist
Criminal Minds
Dexter
The Fall S2
The Good Wife
The Killing
Laws and Orders
Leverage
Person of Interest
Psych
White Collar

Realism bracket

The Americans
Atlanta
Black-ish [Hindsight is 20/20 note: This should probably have been in comedy, where it also would have won]
ER
Friday Night Lights
Homeland
House of Cards
How to Get Away with Murder
Jane the Virgin
The L-Word S2-S6
Make It Or Break It
Masters of Sex
One Day at a Time
Orange is the New Black
Parenthood
Scandal
Sports Night
The West Wing
The Wire

Science Fiction and Fantasy bracket

Agent Carter
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
American Gods
American Horror Story
Battlestar Galactica
Black Mirror
Buffy
The Dresden Files
Grimm
Handmaid’s Tale
Jessica Jones
Legion
The Librarians
Lost Girl
Luke Cage
Merlin
Once Upon a Time
Orphan Black
Penny Dreadful
Sleepy Hollow
Star Trek: Voyager
Stranger Things
Twin Peaks
The Vampire Diaries
Warehouse 13
Xena

Obsessions
Anna: Gardenscapes, The New York Times, Spotify
Alene: Red Carpet coverage (slideshow)

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Chains of Love” by Erasure
Alene: “TNT” by AC/DC, “The Final Countdown” by Europe

Episode 56: Romantic Christmas Movies

 

 

We’ve spent our time over the past few months watching loads of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies — ALL FOR YOU.

Links

The Worst Bestsellers: Episode 36–The Mistletoe Promise
The Federalist: Here’s The Hallmark Christmas Movie Party Game You’ve Been Waiting For
The Fandomentals: Top Ten Weirdly Common Hallmark Christmas Movie Tropes
Yahoo! TV: Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas: Eight of Your Favorite Returning Actors Tell All
Elle: We Ranked Every Single Lifetime Christmas Movie (Yes, All 42 of Them)
NPR: 20 Things You Desperately Need To Know About Mariah’s Hallmark Movie,
Does The Hallmark Channel Have Basic Cable’s Most Efficiently Defined Brand?
Buzzfeed: This Is What It’s Like To Watch “Love Actually” For The First Time

A Snow Globe Christmas

The Nine Lives of Christmas

A Royal Christmas
Window Wonderland
A Christmas Melody

Dear Secret Santa
Christmas on the Bayou
Wish Upon a Christmas
The Christmas Gift

Crown for Christmas
Every Christmas Has a Story

Musical Obsessions

Anna: “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Alene: “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince (now on Spotify!)

Obsessions

Anna: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee and Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
Alene: Half-price chocolate/Cadbury mini eggs

Episode 55: Tarot with @MarianLiberryan

 

For this episode, we brought in small medium at large Kaite Stover (Twitter, Instagram) to tell us all about tarot. By the end, even skeptic Anna was convinced.

Links

Tarot (card meanings)

Decks
Katie’s preferred: Robin Wood
Housewives Tarot:

Tarot of the Witches (James Bond Tarot):

Ghetto Tarot:

Gilded Reverie Lenormand:

Amanda Palmer Tarot
Alice Tarot
Rider-Waite Tarot
Fin de Siecle Kipper
Goddess Knowledge Cards

Books
The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack
The Wishing Garden by Christy Yorke
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann

Etc.
The X-Files: Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose
Xena: Warrior Princess: The Bitter Suite
Live and Let Die

Musical Obsessions
Kaite: “Hymn 101” by Joe Pug
Alene: “Take On Me” by Reel Big Fish
Anna: “Dangerous” by Before You Exit

Obsessions
Kaite: Mirrors
Anna: Riverdale
Alene: By Any Name by Cynthia Voigt

Episode 52: Fandom Nail Polish

 

At the intersection of pop culture and fingernails, it’s fandom nail polish! We brought in polish expert Angie and nail wrap aficionado Renata (of Worst Bestsellers fame) to help Anna make sense of it all. Plus: Nail Polish Advisory!

Links

Glossary!

Darling Diva
NerdLacquer
Dollish Polish (clearance bin)
Literary Lacquers
Excelsior
Jamberry nail wraps
Water slide nail decals
Espionage nail wraps
Fanchromatic Nails
ILNP
ALIQUID Lacquer
A-England (US stockist)
LLarowe

OPI Jasper Jade

Nail Advisory

For Anna:
NerdLacquer: Cthulhu, The Quantum Bluniverse
Literary Lacquers: teal, Mr. Darcy
ALIQUID Lacquer: Austentatious collection
piCture pOlish: Kryptonite

For Alene:
Hare Polish: For Margot Tenenbaum, The Knockouts of the Double R
Excelsior: T’challa, Danvers
Orly: Mirrorball

For Renata:
OPI: Spoken from the Heart (Hello Kitty Collection)
Excelsior: Barton
NerdLacquer: Eight Gates LE
Darling Diva: BSC collection (I Gave Her Darkness, Sleep Now, Pupok)
Delush Polish: Dames of Thrones collection
Cadillacquer: Dexter collection
A-England: Russian Soul, Ballerina, The Mythicals collections

100 coats of polish

Seche Restore

Best Names:

Buzzfeed: 23 Punniest Nail Polish Color Names Ever
KB Shimmer: Pigment of my Imagination
Julep: Zelda
OPI: Jinx, Silent Mauvie, Life Is a Cabernet
Nicole by OPI: Mer-Maid for Each Other

Musical Obsessions

Renata: “Rainbow High” from Evita (movie)
Angie: Arashi’s Digitalion, Japonism tours
Anna: Steven Universe theme song
Alene: “King Herod’s Song” from Jesus Christ Superstar

Obsessions

Renata: Snail mail
Angie: Skin care (sheet masks)
Anna: Breaking Cat News
Alene: Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman

Worst Bestsellers
Angie on Tumblr and Instagram

Episode 50: Comfort with Carolyn

 

We made it to fifty episodes! In this very special post-election installment of Bellwether Friends, we talked to founding Friend Carolyn about comforting pop culture (and food) to consume when we’re trying to recharge our batteries.

Via Two Bossy Dames,  “A post specifically for white women from a white woman”

Code Switch, “A Muslim and a Mexican Walk into a Bar…”

Still Processing, “The Day After”

Music

Bustle, “52 Songs To Cheer You Up Every Time”

“One Way Road” by John Butler Trio
“My IQ” by Ani DiFranco
“Born Free” by MIA
“Sheep” and”Sitting on a Fence” by The Housemartins
Spotify playlists: 80s Ladies for Margaret
Hamilton Mixtape
Inc.com, “Neuroscience Says Listening to This Song Reduces Anxiety by Up to 65 Percent”
“Borderline (An Ode to Self Care)” by Solange
“I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan

“Stop” by Spice Girls
“Hasa Diga Eebowai” from The Book of Mormon
“Fight Song” by Rachel Platten

Television

30 Rock
The Muppet Show
Law and Order
Gilmore Girls
The West Wing
Sports Night
Quantico
Sleepy Hollow Season One
Arrow
The Shannara Chronicles

The Dresden Files
Person of Interest
The Flash
Dateline

Endeavor
Inspector Morse
Grantchester

Movies

Best in Show
Charade
D.E.B.S.
Fire
Saving Face
Pitch Perfect
Love Actually
Shaun of the Dead
The Sure Thing
Hallmark Channel Christmas Movies
Pretty in Pink
Sisters
Kate McKinnon

Books

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Vorkogisan series by Lois McMaster Bujold
Latin@ Rising: An Anthology of Latin@ Science Fiction and Fantasy
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova
The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough
The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Phryne Fisher mysteries by Kerry Greenwood, read by Stephanie Daniel
#booksfighthate
@diversebooks

Food

27 Uplifting Foods to Get You Through Uncertain Times
Mushroom Marsala Pasta Bake
Dill pickle Halfpops

Other

Coloring
Candletime
Warm Beverages
Crafting

Obsessions

Anna: Lego sets
Alene: Supergirl recaps on Autostraddle

Carolyn: Cider with bourbon

Musical Obsessions

Anna: “They Don’t Know” by Ariana Grande from Trolls
Alene: “Get Back Up Again” by Anna Kendrick from Trolls
Carolyn: “U-Turn” by Tegan and Sara

Episode 47: Audiobooks with @Nerdista

 

 

We talked with our friend Paula (aka @Nerdista) to talk about a variety of hot topics and burning questions related to audiobooks. Anna had some trouble managing with twice the normal number of Alenes.

Links
Bangs
“And the Audie Goes To…” Library Journal article
More from Anna (2010)
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
As Far As Your Brain Is Concerned, Audiobooks Are Not ‘Cheating’ New York Magazine article
13 Audiobooks That Make Every Drive Worth It
36 Best Audiobooks For Your Road Trip

Breakthrough Audiobooks
Alene: Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling read by Jim Dale
Anna: Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich read by Lorelei King (and others)
Paula: Agatha Raisin mysteries by M. C. Beaton read by Penelope Keith

Favorite Narrators
Jim Dale
Bronson Pinchot
George Newbern
Simon Vance: Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson
Kate Reading: Bellwether by Connie Willis
Stephanie Daniel: Phryne Fisher mysteries by Kerry Greenwood
Wil Wheaton: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Redshirts by John Scalzi
Jeremy Irons: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Steven Weber: Myron Bolitar books by Harlan Coben, It by Stephen King
Davina Porter: Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
Katherine Kellgren: Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood

Full Cast Productions
Tamora Pierce
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
As You Wish by Cary Elwes

Cary Elwes finds Alene fascinating

Read by the Author
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
Krakatoa, The Men Who United the States by Simon Winchester
The Clancys of Queens by Tara Clancy

Best Experience/Recommendations
Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, read by Simon Slater
Temeraire books by Naomi Novik, read by Simon Vance
Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, read by Grover Gardner
Dublin Murder Squad books by Tana French, read by various
SPQR by Mary Beard, read by Phyllida Nash
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, read by the author
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, read by Dan O’Grady
The Passage by Justin Cronin

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “We Used To Be Friends” by The Dandy Warhols
Paula: “Tilted” by Christine and the Queens
Alene: “#1 Spice” by Young Cardamom & HAB

Obsessions
Paula: My Favorite Murder podcast, Wallander
Anna: Goldie Vance , Crossover Appeal podcast*
Alene: Law & Order mothership , bacon cheeseburgers

*Anna has now listened to all of this, and it’s great!

Episode 45: Comedy Hour with Shayera Tangri

Shayera Tangri joined us from the other coast to discuss funny books, movies, television, and other humorous pop culture. Much pun was had by all.

Toughest audience ever

Lewis Black

BuzzFeed: 21 Puns
BuzzFeed: Clever Jokes
Punderdome
O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships
A Chocolate Moose for Dinner by Fred Gwynne
Bennet Cerf
Silver Woven in my Hair by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye
Garfield
Ghostbusters

Holtzmann

Funny Movies
Blazing Saddles
Best in Show
Spaceballs
Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Blades of Glory
Semi-Pro

Funny TV Shows
Waiting for God
30 Rock
Scrubs
Parks and Recreation
Black Books
Great British Bake Off
Rupaul’s Drag Race
Suburgatory

Funny Books
Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen by P. G. Wodehouse

Wooster and  Jeeves

Pest Control by Bill Fitzhugh
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (caaaaaake)
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Gail Carriger
Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer
Shelly Laurenston/G. A. Aiken

Live Comedy

Eddie Izzard

Two Dope Queens: Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams (PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICIT)
Eddie Murphy: Raw

Funny Twitter
@mysadcat (@cox_tom)
@kenjennings
@sblackmoore
@dog_rates
@darth
@altonbrown
@rstevens
@renatasnacks
Take My Wife @cameronesposito and @rheabutcher
The Bugle

Musical Obsessions
Alene: “Dancing With Myself“by The Donnas
Shayera: “Everlong” by Foo Fighters (also acoustic), “Just Like Fire” by P!nk
Anna: “God is a DJ” by P!nk

Obsessions
Anna: Acorns (the nut. really.)
Shayera: Tsum Tsums
Alene: Fried dough

Episode 44: Star Trek and Bullet Journaling, Oh Myyy!

In this episode we discuss Star Trek (TV and movie iterations) and the organizational tactic/life-wrangling practice known as the bullet journal. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?

Links

Star Trek Memory Alpha Wiki
@picardtips
Star Trek Beyond
Eddie Izzard on Star Trek
Star Trek Discovery (coming in 2017)

Janeway and Seven of Nine

Spock

Eight Space Operas Written by Women

Star Trek Official 50th Anniversary Convention

Extra Hot Great’s Star Trek Fantasy Draft

Bullet Journals
Getting Started
Mental Health
Bookish Ideas
Staples Arc/Levenger Circa

Musical Obsessions
Alene: “Rise” by Katy Perry
Anna: “Reaper” by Sia
Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs

Obsessions

Alene: Single Malt Scotch
Anna: The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid (coming November 2016)

Gene Wilder

Silver Streak

 

Episode 43: Olympics Nostalgiafest

Just in time for the Closing Ceremonies, we were joined by Anna’s sister (@semisponge) to discuss Olympics past and present, uniform fashion, rooting hierarchies, and more!

Links
Katarina Witt
Kristi Yamaguchi
Beach Volleyball
@shotdiva
Fiji wins first Olympic gold
Singapore wins first Olympic gold
Puerto Rico wins first Olympic gold
No Olympics GIFs

Oksana Chusovitina
Rowdy Gaines
Manicures
everyone’s an expert
Rugby Sevens
By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions by Richard Cohen
Simone Biles
John Williams

Musical Obsessions
Alene: “Olympic Fanfare” by John Williams
Anna: “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake
Kristina: “The World Ender” by Lord Huron

TBR Challenge
Kristina for Anna The Thousand Names by Django Wexler
Alene for anyone Neverhome by Laird Hunt

Playing footsie

Obsessions
Alene: Vacation
Kristina: Dota 2 International
Anna: A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson (October 2016)

Anna was on Worst Bestsellers talking about Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys!

Kristina’s RPG posts their sessions at kilobops.ladderface.net

 

Episode 42: Firefly, Deadpool, and Arcade Games with Amy!

For this episode, we took advantage of a visit from Amy Diegelman (aka @amydieg aka half of #jointhegirlgang aka WTF is America aka Panels contributor) to watch Firefly and Deadpool, plus spend a morning at the local arcade. Firefly fans be warned: Anna doesn’t like it much. She looks forward to hearing from you on the topic.

Links

Firefly (note belt placement)

Serenity
Gilmore Girls la la las
Deadpool

Ms. Pac-Man
X-Men
Simpsons
Q*bert
Tetris
Arkanoid
Space Invaders

TBR Challenge
Anna for Alene: Vicky Bliss series by Elizabeth Peters
Street of the Five Moons
Amy for Alene and Anna: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
My Favorite Bride by Christina Dodd
Kieran Kramer‘s Impossible Bachelors and The House of Brady series

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Infinity” by Mariah Carey
Amy: “White Flag” by Joseph
Alene: Firefly theme song; Ms. Pac-Man theme song

Obsessions
Amy: The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera (Summer 2017)
Alene: The Victorian language of flowers, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Anna: We are on Tumblr! And, being on vacation.

Episode 41: We Love Historical Romance!

For this episode, we talked with Cory Eckert (aka @helenstwin aka Joint Chief of Storytime Underground) for a discussion on historical romance tropes, types, and favorites. We apologize in advance for sound quality issues that we had during recording.

Links

Sarah MacLean’s Recommended List of Romance Novels

Lace by Shirley Conran

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Jane Feather

Georgette Heyer

Patricia Veryan

Kathleen Woodiwiss

Victoria Dahl
Lisa Kleypas
Laura Lee Guhrke
Amanda Quick
Betina Krahn
A Lily Among Thorns by Rose Lerner
Celeste Bradley
Joanna Bourne
Deanna Raybourn‘s Lady Julia Grey mysteries
C. S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries
Sherry Thomas
Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series
Stephanie Laurens’s Cynster series
Lisa Kleypas’s Hathaways series
Loretta Chase‘s Mr. Impossible [and Lord of Scoundrels!]
Mary Balogh‘s Slightly series
Jeannie Lin
Rebekah Weatherspoon
Beverly Jenkins
Yellowthroat by Penny Hayes
Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller (Alma Routsong)
Pembroke Park by Michelle Martin
Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule
Colleen Gleason‘s Gardella Vampire Hunters series
Jacqueline Carey‘s Kushiel’s Legacy series
Mary Jo Putney
Courtney Milan
Sarah MacLean
Julie Anne Long‘s Pennyroyal Green series
Sophie Barnes
Sophie Jordan
Elizabeth Boyle
Grace Burrowes
Seducing Mr. Darcy by Gwyn Cready
Eva Leigh
Megan Frampton
Anna Campbell’s Claiming the Courtesan
Elizabeth Hoyt Maiden Lane series
Sally MacKenzie’s Naked Nobility series
Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

TBR Challenge
Anna:

A Lady Awakened
by Cecilia Grant

Cory:

The Countess Conspiracy
by Courtney Milan

Alene:

Unclaimed by Courtney Milan

Musical Obsessions
Cory: Jbrary, “Sober” by Selena Gomez, “Sober” by Pink
Anna: “Genie in a Bottle” by Christina Aguilera
Alene: wrestling with iTunes; “Angeleyes” by ABBA

Obsessions
Cory: Masterchef Australia
Anna: Witch Please podcast
Alene: Buy Nothing

Episode 40: 2 Classic Movies and the TBR Challenge

For this episode, we watched the 1944 classics Arsenic and Old Lace and Gaslight. After a brief digression into the mysterious ways of straight people, we introduced a new segment: The TBR Challenge!

Links

Arsenic and Old Lace

Cary Grant

Celeste Holm/Priscilla Lane
Boris Karloff
Raymond Massey
Peter Lorre
Edward Everett Horton
Proof play/film

Gaslight
Ingrid Bergman
Gaslighting: How-To
Gaslighting: Detection
Angela Lansbury

Irene

Ali Wong: “Baby Cobra”

TBR Challenge

Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton

The Keeper’s Chronicles series by Tanya Huff: (Summon the Keeper, The Second Summoning, Long Hot Summoning)

Musical Obsessions

Anna: “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips

Alene: “If You Leave Me Now” by Chicago

Obsessions

Anna: Behind the Throne by K. B. Wagers

Alene: Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

 

Episode 39: Persuasion Deep Dive

In this Especially Long Episode, we bring you a discussion of Jane Austen’s best work (come at us), Persuasion, featuring Margaret and Sophie of Two Bossy Dames and Ally of the Girl Gang. The discussion includes some diving into the gay subtext, some trips down memory lane, and some heated pros and cons of different movie adaptations. Plus: readalikes and watchalikes!

Links:
Persuasion‘s cast of characters
Every Jane Austen Novel If They Were Gay and Also Historically Inaccurate from Autostraddle
Personality Quiz: Which Jane Austen Heroine are You?
1995 Persuasion movie trailer
2007 Persuasion movie trailer

Advanced Studies in England
Emotional Labor Thread condensed

Readalikes:
Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion by Regina Jeffers
Frederick Wentworth, Captain series by Susan Kaye
Jane Austen in Scarsdale: or Love, Death, and the SATs by Paula Marantz Cohen
Persuasion, Captain Wentworth, and Cracklin’ Cornbread by Mary Jane Hathaway
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
The Mr. and Mrs. Darcy series by Carrie Bebris
The Jane Austen Mysteries by Stephanie Barron
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane stories by Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night, Busman’s Honeymoon
The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin

Watchalikes:
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
The Royal Tenenbaums

Half Agony, Half Hope: a Playlist by @MrsFridayNext

Musical Obsessions:
Ally: “Faint of Heart” by Tegan and Sara
Margaret: “You and I” by Margaret Glaspy
“She Used to be Mine” and “You Matter to Me” from Waitress
Sophie: fleetwood mac’s album tusk, “Sorry” by Beyoncé
Anna: “Alexander Hamilton” from Hamilton
Alene: “L.A. Hallucinations” by Carly Rae Jepsen

Obsessions:
Ally: 2 Dope Queens podcast
Margaret: Playing House TV show
Sophie: Laurinda by Alice Pung (look for it in the US under the title Lucy and Linh; buy Australian at fishpond.com)
Anna: Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix
Alene: Lady Power: Hillary, WNBA, Elizabeth Warren, Rachel Maddow

Episode 38: X-Men X-Stravaganza!

For this episode we brought in outside X-Perts Kait and Renata of the podcast Worst Bestellers. There might be some spoilers for the plot of the new movie X-Men: Apocalypse, but it will be hard to find them in our peripatetic conversation about all things X. We promise you might not come out of it feeling more confused about the franchise!

Links
X-Men (2000)
X-Men 2 (2003)
X-Men 3: The Last Stand* (2006)
X-Men: First Class (2011)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men Podcast
Gambit and his cats!
Worst Bestsellers Readers’ Advisory: Episode 49: X-Cutioner’s Song
Worst Bestsellers Readers’ Advisory: Episode 50: X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Fanfic Recommendations
Wolverine/The Rock Coffee Shop AU (podfic)
kids who go to school (the drop the dime remix) by littledust
The Wonderment of Air (The Laughing Times Remix) by littledust
First Breath After Coma by Signe
Prayers for the Living by Fahye and littledust
How to Tie A Knot by pearl_o
The Righteousness of Our Cause by heyjupiter
Try, Try Again by and_backagain
Celestial Navation by kaydeefalls
The Pit and the Crystal Pendulum by garrideb
You’re My Only Home (The Letting Go Remix) by listerinezero
the only dream i ever have by skylights
ripples come and ripples go by metonymy
For Answers in the Pages by littledust
The O(l)dd Couple by winterhill
How Deep the Bullet Lies by littledust
Trigger Discipline by kaydeefalls
Still Standing by heyjupiter
The Chosen Ones series by metonymy
Case X1743: Unresolved XFilesXMen Movie (X-Files crossover) by Minisinoo

Musical Obsessions
Kait: “Sonya Alone” from Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Renata: “Holy Roller” by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
Anna: “If You Love Someone” by the Veronicas
Alene: “We Found Love” by Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris

Obsessions
Kait: Hamilton
Renata: Lady Dynamite
Anna: KITTENS
Alene: #chuckstravaganza

*Spoiler: Not the last stand.

Episode 37: Phryne Fisher and the Mystery of the Girl Gang

This week, we were joined by both members of the #girlgang to discuss a shared passion: the character of Phryne Fisher and all the mysteries she solves, people she helps, and young men she…er, becomes acquainted with. Featuring an in-depth discussion of the season two episode “Blood at the Wheel” and also: Mac.

Links
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
Phryne Fisher mysteries by Kerry Greenwood
Audiobooks narrated by Stephanie Daniel (RIP)
The Toast
Smart Bitches

Readalikes and Watchalikes

Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear

Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley

Murder, She Wrote

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

The Agency Series by Y.S. Lee

Iris Cooper series by K. K. Beck

Pistols and Petticoats by Erika Janik

Girl Waits With Gun and Lady Cop Makes Trouble (forthcoming) by Amy Stewart

Castle

Remington Steele

Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson series by Stephanie Burgis

Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters

Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers

Cold Comfort Farm (book and movie)

Musical Obsessions
Ally and Amy: “Lemonade” by Beyoncé and thinkpieces
Anna: “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan
Alene: “Guantanamera”

Obsessions
Ally: Hellcat, Goldie Vance, Two Dope Queens
Amy: Check Please, Farscape
Alene: Buzzfeed
Anna: Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

Episode 36: Fantasy and Book Covers with Robin Bradford

In this episode, we wax nostalgic about fantasy series of yore with Robin Bradford (aka @Tuphlos). Well, Anna and Robin wax while Alene wonders what she’s gotten herself into. Then we talk about what makes a good book cover and what makes a bad one, with a few examples. Feel free to send us your favorite/least favorite book covers on Twitter or Facebook!

Links
David and Leigh Eddings
“Recalling the Late David Eddings, Lord of Creation”
Dragonlance Chronicles
Susan Cooper
Lloyd Alexander
Daniel Jose Older
Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

(gif borrowed from Heroes and Heartbreakers)

“Hardcover to Paperback Makeovers: 6+ Changes to Consider” from Stacked
“Why Do So Many of This Year’s Book Covers Have the Same Design Style?” from Slate
Christina Dodd and the Infamous Three-Armed Cover

Musical Obsessions
Robin: Prince! XM, Hoopla, your local library
Alene: “There is Power in a Union” by Billy Bragg
Anna: “Boyfriend” by Tegan and Sara

Obsessions
Robin: Baseball! White Sox, Mariners
Alene: Crosstalk by Connie Willis
Anna: Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis

Episode 35: Movie Advisory

In this episode, we talk about movies we’ve seen in the last nine months and preview what we’re looking forward to (or not) in the 2016 summer movie season. Plus: Anna has finally boarded the Hamilton train.

Links
Deadpool
Why Deadpool’s Prostitute Love Interest is More Heroic and Subversive than He is

The Boss
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
A Cat in Paris
Carol
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
The Taliban Shuffle by Kim Barker
Nato Phonetic Alphabet
“25 Times White Actors Played People of Color and No One Really Gave a Sh**t”
Zootopia

Race
Spotlight
Boston Globe coverage
Money Monster
The Angry Birds Movie
X-Men: Apocalypse
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Me Before You
Finding Dory
The Secret Life of Pets
Ghostbusters

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

Star Trek Beyond

Kubo and the Two Strings

Musical Obsessions

Alene: Prince’s protegees: “The Glamorous Life” by Sheila E.

Anna: “Ten Duel Commandments“from Hamilton

Obsessions

Alene: Chocolate peanut butter snack cakes and products

Anna: The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson

Episode 34: Girl Groups Galore with @MrsFridayNext

In this episode, we had Margaret aka @MrsFridayNext back to talk girl groups (both classic and more modern) in a belated companion piece to our boy band episode. This included not one but two quizzes created by Quizmaster Helgagrace. We hope you enjoy listening along!

Links:
Dreamgirls
“The Real Dreamgirls: How Girl Groups Changed American Music”

Jennifer Hudson
Lake Street Dive
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Honey Cone
The Shirelles

Top 40 Biggest Girl Group Songs of All Time on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart
Jacob’s Ladder
Grace of My Heart
Sparkle
The Pipettes
The Andrews Sisters
Wilson Phillips

Musical Obsessions
Margaret: Lucius, “What We Have (To Change)“and Basia Bulat, “Fool”
Alene: Shakira, “Try Everything“Anna: Gwen Stefani, “Make Me Like You”

Obessions
Margaret: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Alene: Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein
Anna: Dark Days Club, by Alison Goodman

Episode 33: Electric Dreams and Artificial Intelligence

 

In this episode, we took a deep dive into the 80s with the movie Electric Dreams (1984), segueing into a broader discussion of artificial intelligence in pop culture with our special guest, Josie (@papertronica)! There was some singing.

Links

Lenny von Dohlen

Virginia Madsen

Bud Cort

Short Circuit

American Dreamer

12:01

2001: A Space Odyssey

Turing Test

Her

Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, by David Levy

NPR Fresh Air interview with Joaquin Phoenix, on his playing opposite two actresses in the same role for Her.
Minority Report

Code 46

Philip K. Dick

Blade Runner

How to Build an Android, by David K. Dufty

Futurama

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Aka “Jude Law is a Sex Robot”)
“Sex Robots Could be the ‘Biggest Trend of 2016’“

Ex Machina

Robopocalypse and Robogenesis, by Daniel H. Wilson

Galatea 2.2, by Richard Powers

The Three Laws of Robotics
“Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar AI Plan is About Far More Than Saving the World”

Holly from Red Dwarf

Musical Obsessions

Josie: Dessa “Fighting Fish,” “The Crow,” “The Beekeeper,” “Dixon’s Girl“

Anna: Duran Duran “Ordinary World“

Alene: One Direction “What A Feeling“

Obsessions

Josie: Another Round with Heben and Tracy podcast

Anna: Erotic romances by Christina Lauren

Alene: Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Elementary, Not Your Mother’s Thickening Hair Lifter

State Library of Florida on Facebook

Episode 32: Podcast Meta and Slash (the Game)

For this episode, we brought in Podcast Expert (according to Bellwether Friends) Amy to give us some tips, tricks, and recommendations for other podcasts. Yes! There are other podcasts–we were also surprised. Then we played a rousing round of Slash for your entertainment.

Links

Extra Hot Great
Valentin & The Widow
Call Your Girlfriend
Judge John Hodgman
TBTL
99% Invisible
The Archers
Appointment Television!
All The Books!
Secret Stacks
The Worst Bestsellers
Withdrawn
Where’s That Sound Coming From
Super Secret Base

Slash

Musical Obsessions
Amy: “Let ‘Em Say” by Lizzo and Caroline Smith
Anna: “Adventure of a Lifetime” by Coldplay
Alene: “Your Love is My Drug” by Kesha

Obsessions
Amy: Morning Yoga
Anna: Hellcat, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Faith
Alene: Looking stuff up on Archive of Our Own (Law and Order fic, for example)

Episode 31: To Say Nothing of the Dog and Video Games

In this episode, we are joined by @semisponge (aka Anna’s parents’ other daughter) to discuss To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Which is a great book! We also dig in to the topic of video games with Kristina’s expert help.

Links
Connie Willis
Hugo Award
Nebula Award

Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Weller Book Works
Book buzzwords
Dan Simmons
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Dragon Age
Atari Pong
Tetris
Super Off Road
Cruis’n World
Ms. Pac-Man

X-Men
Super Mario Land
Diablo
Anti Chamber
Sword of Fargoal

Obsessions
All: Neko Atsume

Anna: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
CTHD: Sword of Destiny

Toca Games

Kristina: Zen Koi

“Buy all the ammo, shoot all the bears”

 Alene: Set, Monkey Wrench

Episode 30: Epistolary Novels with Ally Watkins

Download the episode here.

Dear Listeners,

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a librarian in want of a new book will pounce upon any that promise to be epistolary in nature. Join us for a discussion of epistolary novels with #jointhegirlgang‘s Ally. We promise a very charming discussion!

Yours in admiration,

BF

Links
Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia Wrede
Carrie by Stephen King
Chat/Connect/Crash by Nan McCarthy (NOT Lauren Myracle who wrote ttyl etc!)
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

Freedom & Necessity by Stephen Brust and Emma Bull
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters by Allan Ahlbert
Griffin & Sabine/Sabine’s Notebook/The Golden Mean  by Nick Bantock
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
@brainpicker/@brainpickings
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (movie)
Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom

Pamela or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger
LibraryReads
The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

You’ve Got Mail/The Shop Around the Corner/In the Good Old Summertime

Musical Obsessions
Ally: Stonewallin’ by Jane Decker (Spotify Discover)
Anna: Formation by Beyonce (lyrics)
Alene: Perfect by One Direction

Obsessions
Ally: Phryne Fisher audiobooks read by Kathleen Wilhoite
Anna: Murder on the Orient Express
Alene: warm socks

Amy, the other half of #jointhegirlgang, was on Episode 22!

Episode 30: Epistolary Novels with Ally Watkins

 

Dear Listeners,

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a librarian in want of a new book will pounce upon any that promise to be epistolary in nature. Join us for a discussion of epistolary novels with #jointhegirlgang‘s Ally. We promise a very charming discussion!

Yours in admiration,

BF

Show notes are here.

Mini: Star Wars: The Force Awakens!

In this episode, Anna and her special guests talk about Star Wars, Legos, Star Wars Legos, and Fun Facts about lightning.

Links

How bb-8 works:

Lego Nexo Knights

Neko Atsume

#colorourcollections

Weather ABC: An Alphabet Book by Blake Hoena

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold

Episode 29: From Foreign Shores Show Notes

Download the podcast here.

In this episode, Anna and #NumberOneFan @surlyspice talk about pop culture they’ve encountered from countries that don’t use English as their primary language. Please send us your favorites as well! Tweet at us! Comment on Facebook! Send us one of those old-fashioned email things (bellwetherfriendspodcast [at] gmail)! In the meantime, check out our new playlist on Spotify.

Links

Our benchmark:

Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose
Eurovision
Shakira on the Latin Grammys
“Music Has No Borders” Buzzfeed list
One Hundred Years of Solitude vs. Love in the Time of Cholera
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Lottie and Lisa by Erich Kästner
Candide by Voltaire

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Wings of Desire

Foreign Film List Challenge

Musical Obsessions
Alene: Natacha Atlas’s covers
Anna: Perfume’s Chocolate Disco

Obsessions
Alene: Golden Globes red carpet, Michelle Obama at SOTU
Anna: The Normal State of Mind by Susmita Bhattacharya, Slash

P.S.

Episode 29: From Foreign Shores

In this episode, Anna and #NumberOneFan @surlyspice talk about pop culture they’ve encountered from countries that don’t use English as their primary language.

Show notes here.

Episode 28: The X-Files and Fandoms Show Notes

Link to the show here.

In this episode, Anna and Non-Librarian Angie discuss their decades-old obsession with The X-Files, plus a few other tidbits, including the many faces of Stony. Also, Anna got the name of Gillian Anderson’s second book wrong. SORRY!

Links

A Vision of Fire and A Dream of Ice by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
Steve Rogers/Tony Stark aka Stony
Angie’s cookie creations on Fanfectionary

Musical Obsessions
ABBA, “Money, Money, Money”

Florence + the Machine, “Long & Lost”

Obsessions
Anna: White Christmas (1954)

Angie: Iron Man and Captain America comics

Episode 28: The X-Files and Fandoms

In this episode, Anna and Non-Librarian Angie discuss their decades-old obsession with The X-Files, plus a few other tidbits, including the many faces of Stony.

Show notes here.

Episode 27: Hamilton and Best of 2015 Show Notes

Download episode here.

After three months away, we are back to discuss Hamilton (one of us is an expert and one is not) and discuss some of our highlights for 2015. And make an important announcement. Thanks to all our fans for your patience and support.

Links
Hamilton: An American Musical
Lin-Manuel Miranda
LMM and This American Life
LMM on Jeopardy!
“Hamilton” is the Very Model of a Modern Fast-Paced Musical
Disney’s Moana
The Wiz Live!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Carol
Magic Mike XXL
Inside Out
Carly Rae Jepsen
Walk the Moon
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
Supergirl
The Flash
The Nine Lives of Christmas
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Crosstalk by Connie Willis
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold
Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Mr. Fahrenheit by T. Michael Martin

Obsessions
Carolyn: Justin Bieber: “What Do You Mean?”

Anna: Adele: “Hello”

The Princess and the Prix by Nell Stark
A Lego Brickumentary

Mini Debate: Holiday Music

The 25 Greatest Christmas Albums of All Time, according to Rolling Stone.

The 50 Worst Christmas Albums of All Time, according to BuzzFeed.

Note: There is at least one album that is on both lists. Also, Anna knows it’s a BNL/Sarah M cover of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “We Three Kings,” she swears.

Our Holiday Hits(?) list on Spotify is here.

“In Defense of ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’” from Persephone Magazine

“‘Christmas Wrapping’ Charms Even the Surliest of Hearts” from the A.V. Club

The Little Drummer Boy Challenge

Episode 27: Hamilton and Best of 2015

After three months away, we are back to discuss Hamilton (one of us is an expert and one is not) and discuss some of our highlights for 2015. And make an important announcement. Thanks to all our fans for your patience and support.

Show notes here.

Episode 26: IT and Back To School

We are finally ready to discuss Stephen King’s IT! Or are we? Find out in our latest episode, which features an interview with a very special guest. Also: everyone seems to be going back to school, so we discuss our favorite teachers and favorite (and least favorite) schools. Feel free to share yours in the comments or on Twitter and Facebook.

Show notes here.

Episode 26: IT and Back To School Show Notes

Download episode here.

We are finally ready to discuss Stephen King’s IT! Or are we? Find out in our latest episode, which features an interview with a very special guest. Also: everyone seems to be going back to school, so we discuss our favorite teachers and favorite (and least favorite) schools. Feel free to share yours in the comments or on Twitter and Facebook.

Crowdsourced Pop Culture Map

Links
Anna on The Worst Bestsellers discussing Grey by E.L. James
New Production of It Will be “Very Scary” and a two-parter???

Tim Curry

List of fictional schools (Wikipedia)

Sunnydale High School (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

West Beverly High School (90210)

Performing Arts High School (Fame; gif probably from movie and Carolyn was obsessed with the show but let’s just ignore that)

Lawndale High School (Daria)

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Harry Potter)

Hillman College (A Different World)

Walden College (Doonesbury)

Kaibara High School (Fruits Basket)

Rancho Carne High School (Bring it On)

Bayside High School (Saved by the Bell)

Degrassi

List of fictional schoolteachers (Wikipedia)

Ms. Frizzle (Magic School Bus)

Sir Myles of Olau (Song of the Lioness)

Miss Switch

Professor X (X-Men)

Ms. Norbury (Mean Girls)

Professor McGonagall (Harry Potter)

Mr. Miyagi (The Karate Kid)

Yoda (Star Wars)

Back to School

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves
Carolyn: “Cheerleader” by Omi

Non-Musical Obsessions
Anna: SPQR by Mary Beard
Again With This–90210 Rewatch Podcast with Tara Ariano and Sarah D. Bunting

Carolyn: Drunk History || Article (ALERT: Carolyn was wrong [SHOCKER]. Cameron Esposito is NOT on the first episode of the new season. Carry on.)

Fun Sized Episode: Desert Island II Show Notes

On our previous visit to the posh desert island, we chose the books we would want with us. This time, we’re talking movies!

(Click on the gif to go to that movie’s IMDB page.)

Carolyn:

Anna:

Carolyn:

Anna:

Carolyn:

Anna:

Fun Sized Episode: Desert Island II

Show Notes

 

Episode 25: Summer Movies and Pop Culture from Home

Twenty-five episodes! We’re celebrating by bingeing on summer movies and talking about pop culture from our home states: Utah and Arizona. It’s summer! Woooo! Tweet us @bellwetherfrnds with your best celebratory gifs!

Show notes here.

Episode 25: Summer Movies and Pop Culture from Home Show Notes

Download episode here.

Twenty-five episodes! We’re celebrating by bingeing on summer movies and talking about pop culture from our home states: Utah and Arizona. It’s summer! Woooo! Tweet us @bellwetherfrnds with your best celebratory gifs!

Elizabeth Banks is everywhere!

Links
Secret Garden: 20 Postcards
Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest and Colouring Book
Johanna Basford on NPR
Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian, by E.L. James
Two Bossy Dames
Appointment Television (@atvpodcast on Twitter)
Secret Stacks Episode 1
Ant-Man
Minions
Trainwreck
LeBron James wants you to visit Cleveland
Inside Amy Schumer

Pop Culture from Home
The Great Brain books by John D. Fitzgerald
Little House on the Prairie
¡Three Amigos!
Tombstone
Young Guns
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
World’s Fastest Indian
High School Musical
The Stand television series
Touched by an Angel
Big Love
Revenge of the Nerds
Can’t Buy Me Love
Practical Magic
“Human” by The Killers
Raising Arizona
Rubin & Ed
Footloose
Breaking Bad
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The Osmonds
Neon Trees
Imagine Dragons
David Archuleta
SheDaisy
Peter Breinholt
Nancy Hanson
Linda Ronstadt
Jimmy Eat World
Ozomatli
Calexico
Roseanne Barr
Ken Jennings
Robert Redford
Barbara Kingsolver

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Run Away With Me” by Carly Rae Jepsen
Carolyn: “I Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd

Obsessions
Anna: “Cool for the Summer” by Demi Lovato
No, Queer Women Aren’t “Just Experimenting” by Shannon Keating
Carolyn: Pretty Girls, by Karin Slaughter
The Philosopher Kings, by Jo Walton
Taylor Swift (perennial obsession)

Episode 24: Magic Mike and Celebrity Crushes

 

In this episode, Anna and Carolyn delve deep into the world of Magic Mike (both Magic Mike XXL and Magic Mike Original Flavor) and revisit the topic of celebrity crushes in exhaustive detail.

Show notes here.

Episode 24: Magic Mike and Celebrity Crushes Show Notes

Download episode here.

In this episode, Anna and Carolyn delve deep into the world of Magic Mike (both Magic Mike XXL and Magic Mike Original Flavor) and revisit the topic of celebrity crushes in exhaustive detail.

Links – they’re GIFTASTIC!

It

Knights Who Say Ni

Twitch // So You Think You Can Dance

Dana Scully // Gillian Anderson

Ewan McGregor // Trainspotting

Kim Legaspi // Elizabeth Mitchell

Captain Janeway // Kate Mulgrew

Regina // Lana Parilla

Benedict Cumberbatch

Abby Wambach

Charlie Hunnam // “That Motorcycle Show”

Don Draper // Jon Hamm

Ruby Rose

Musical Obsessions

Horrible Song that Carolyn hates

Heaven by Bryan Adams

Pony by Ginuwine

Obsessions
Anna: Blacklight mini golf
Ana of California by Andi Teran

Carolyn: VACATION

Episode 23: Inside Out and Listener Questions Show Notes

Download episode here.

During this episode, Anna and Carolyn talk about the latest Pixar release, Inside Out, as well as answering listener questions. Everything you ever wanted to know about us, all wrapped up in one tasty episode.

Links
Anna’s presentation at ALA Annual in San Francisco
Pop Culture Happy Hour Inside Out episode
Terms of Endearment
A League of Their Own
Steel Magnolias
Up
Magic Mike XXL (and Magic Mike)
Big Sexy Kevin Nash
We have an email!! bellwetherfriendspodcast@gmail.com
X-Files new episodes
Supergirl
Scream Queens
Netflix vs. Hulu
Fun Home original Broadway cast recording
Batman stamps
How about those Blackhawks?
Duran Duran
John Taylor

Eye of Horus
Cake or Death?
Brandon Sanderson Alcatraz series
Circulating Ideas
HASHTAG WITHDRAWN
BOP, Tiger Beat, etc.
Kirk Cameron
Judy Garland

Musical Obsessions
Carolyn: Taylor Swift, “Out of the Woods,” “All You Had To Do Was Stay”
TWO BOSSY DAMES on 1989
Anna: Kelly Clarkson, “Heartbeat Song”
Spotify playlist

Obsessions
Anna: A Million Tiny Little Things by Foxbones
Carolyn: It by Stephen King

Episode 22: Y: The Last Man and Graphic Novels with Amy Diegelman

 

For this episode, we had special guest Amy Diegelman (@amydieg) of #girlgang (@jointhegirlgang) and Panels (@heypanels) with us to talk about graphic novels in libraries in general and Y: The Last Man in particular!

Show notes here.

Episode 22: Y: The Last Man and Graphic Novels with Amy Diegelman Show Notes

Download episode here.

For this episode, we had special guest Amy Diegelman (@amydieg) of #girlgang (@jointhegirlgang) and Panels (@heypanels) with us to talk about graphic novels in libraries in general and Y: The Last Man in particular!

Readalikes for The Craft!
Ally Watkins of #girlgang
Bitch Planet
A-Force
Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Game of Thrones
Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, et al.
Young Avengers
Batgirl of Burnside
Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson et al.
Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi
This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Musical Obsessions (Have you subscribed to our Musical Obsessions Playlist yet? Why not?)
Amy: “Our Own House” by Misterwives; 4 Non Blondes “What’s Up” cover
Anna: “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” from the Spy soundtrack
Carolyn: “Fool for Love by Lord Huron” by Lord Huron

Obsessions
Amy: Video games; Mass Effect
Anna: Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
Carolyn: Orange is the New Black

Episode 21: BookExpo America and Leverage (plus Fun Home!)

This week, Anna reported in on her experience at BEA (aka BookExpo America) and did her worst to booktalk some of the books she learned about in New York City! Then we discussed our first encounter with the show Leverage, and were both very happy about Fun Home–the book and the show.

Show notes here.

Episode 21: BookExpo America and Leverage (plus Fun Home!) Show Notes

Episode here.

This week, Anna reported in on her experience at BEA (aka BookExpo America) and did her worst to booktalk some of the books she learned about in New York City! Then we discussed our first encounter with the show Leverage, and were both very happy about Fun Home–the book and the show.

Next time we will have special guest @amydieg on to talk about Y: The Last Man and other topics!

Links
BookExpo America
Library Journal Day of Dialog
Maryrose Wood
Armada and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson aka The Bloggess
Rising Strong by Brené Brown
Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin
Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford
BookCon
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Leverage
The blog Carolyn read before it actually happened
Ocean’s Eleven

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Matter of Time” by Barenaked Ladies (from Silverball)
Carolyn: “Ring of Keys” from Fun Home: The Musical

Obsessions
Carolyn: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Anna: Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce
SPQR by Mary Beard

Episode 20 Show Notes: Musical Firsts and Pitch Perfect 2

Episode here.

This week, Anna and Carolyn talk about their first music purchases and concerts, and Pitch Perfect 2.

Mango Punch!

The Bangles “Different Light”
The B-52’s “Cosmic Thing”
They Might Be Giants “Flood”
Pretty in Pink soundtrack
Debbie Gibson
Johnny Gill
Boomerang soundtrack
Dragon soundtrack
Jodeci
Stone Temple Pilots
Peter Breinholt
Sarah McLachlan
Lilith Fair
Pitch Perfect 2
Hoopla

Episode 19 Show Notes: TV Advisory

Episode here.

This week, we invited each other to watch TV episodes from shows we hadn’t seen before, with shocking results! It’s TV Advisory!

Links
Extra Hot Great podcast
Supernatural “Changing Channels” (S5E8)
Parks and Recreation “The Fight” (S3E13)
Slings and Arrows “Oliver’s Dream” (S1E1)

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Steal My Girl” by One Direction
Carolyn: “Ghost” by Halsey

As promised, our musical obsession Spotify playlist! Do you have a musical obsession right now? Let us know and we’ll add the song!

Obsessions
Anna
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison aka Sarah Monette
Rat Queens

Carolyn
Sex Criminals v. 2
Bitch Planet
Free Comic Book Day
Gronk by Katie Cook

Episode 19: TV Advisory

This week, we invited each other to watch TV episodes from shows we hadn’t seen before, with shocking results! It’s TV Advisory!

Show notes here.

As promised, our musical obsession Spotify playlist! Do you have a musical obsession right now? Let us know and we’ll add the song!

 

Episode 18 Show Notes: Serial Killers with @loather

Episode here.

We had a very special guest this episode: Dolly aka @loather aka one half of the Withdrawn podcasting team (@withdrawntweets) talked with us about serial killers and mysteries in general. And . . . Starbucks? Surprisingly, we did not talk about her star cats.

Links
Here’s Why We Love Serial Killers from Psychology Today
Best Fictional Serial Killers from Ranker
“Dead Girls Sold Here” by Anna March for The Rumpus
Circulating Ideas podcast
Patricia Cornwell
Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper – Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
Thomas Harris
Criminal Minds
Sue Grafton
Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson
Zodiac
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Musical Obsessions
Dolly: “Earned It” by The Weeknd
Anna: “Shut up and Dance” by Walk the Moon
Carolyn: “Can’t Do Without You” by Caribou

Obsessions
Dolly: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case and “F*ck the Police” by J Dilla and The Book of Strange New Things
Anna: Jem and the Holograms comic
Carolyn: The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals that Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker and Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Episode 18: Serial Killers with @loather

We had a very special guest this episode: Dolly aka @loather aka one half of the Withdrawn podcasting team (@withdrawntweets) talked with us about serial killers and mysteries in general. And . . . Starbucks? Surprisingly, we did not talk about her star cats.

Show notes here.

 

Episode 17 Show Notes: Kimmy Schmidt and Outlander

Episode here.

We took a break from our various nostalgia tours to talk about some current television shows. Each of us had watched the entirety of one show and the other had watched at least a few episodes.

Warning: some spoilers and discussion of sexual assault.

Links
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
“Why It’s So Hard for Us to Agree About Dong from ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt‘” — NPR’s Code Switch
“Why Kimmy Schmidt’s Native Subplot is Great: A Native Fan’s Opinion” — Indian Country Media Today
“Behind the Death of Dr. Frederic Brandt, Cosmetic Dermatologist to the Stars” — New York Times
Outlander
Outlander Recaps on Vulture
Game of Thrones
“You’re So Cool” from True Romance

Obsessions

Anna
“California Gurls” by Katy Perry
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Carolyn
“Running in Circles” by POP ETC
“Our Own House” by Misterwives
Baked Crispy Tofu recipe

Episode 17: Kimmy Schmidt and Outlander

We took a break from our various nostalgia tours to talk about some  current television shows. Each of us had watched the entirety of one show and the other had watched at least a few episodes.

Warning: some spoilers and discussion of sexual assault.

Show notes here.

Episode 16 Show Notes: Comics, Comics, Comics!

Episode here.

In this episode, Anna took the wheel after reading Amy’s post “Comics Aren’t For Girls.” We tackled comic strips, webcomics, comic books, and graphic novels in our usual rambling and spontaneous fashion.

Links

Comic Strips and Webcomics
Garfield
Family Circus
Doonesbury
Cathy
Nancy
For Better or For Worse
Blondie
Hägar the Horrible
Marmaduke
Tintin
Asterix
Bloom County
Boondocks
The 25 Best Sunday Comic Strips of All Time
Dykes to Watch Out For
Questionable Content
xkcd
PhD
Wondermark
Girls With Slingshots
Hark! A Vagrant
Nimona
Oh Joy Sex Toy
The Non-Adventures of Wonderella
Monster of the Week
John Allison
A Softer World
Prince Valiant
Dinosaur Comics

Comic Books and Graphic Novels
Archie
Josie and the Pussycats
Wonder Woman
ElfQuest
The Warlord
Battlestar Galactica
Dragonlance
Forgotten Realms
X-Men
Green Arrow
Catwoman
Birds of Prey
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Strangers in Paradise
Anya’s Ghost
Smile
Fruits Basket
Bleach
Antique Bakery
Azumanga Daioh
Lumberjanes
Gotham Academy
Princeless
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
Jem and the Holograms
The Infinite Loop
Ms. Marvel
Locke & Key
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
She-Hulk
Captain Marvel
Hawkeye
Sex Criminals
Saga

Obsessions

Carolyn
The Fall
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Anna
The L Word
The X-Files reboot (or whatever you want to call it)
New Vorkosigan book!

Episode 16: Comics, Comics, Comics!

In this episode, Anna took the wheel after reading Amy’s post “Comics Aren’t For Girls.” We tackled comic strips, webcomics, comic books, and graphic novels in our usual rambling and spontaneous fashion.

Show notes here.