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 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 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.

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 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