Julia has questions. Victoria does some digging. They both gain context on the voice of author Cho Nam-Joo of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 and the impact the novel had on the life and politics of South Korea in 2016.

Julia and Victoria meet up with their internet friend Sofía Syntaxx (of the ANGR podcast) to talk about how much they loved Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, swap stories, compare languages and knowledge systems, and laugh about all the things American scientists “discovered” which indigenous peoples have known for thousands of years. A good deal of swearing is involved, but like, in a fun way.

Julia and Victoria learn about the history of mental health stigma in the United States and have some lightbulb moments with Nobody’s Normal by Roy Richard Grinker.

Julia and Victoria lose their minds talking about reality and worldviews in Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

Julia and Victoria reflect on their winding work histories and the rise of pointless labor with the help of Bullshit Jobs by anthropologist David Graeber. They get very excited about it.

Julia and Victoria imagine new stories for the future.

Julia and Victoria talk inevitability and unreliable narrators in The Story of the Lost Child and celebrate finishing Elena Ferrante’s iconic Neapolitan series. They try and fail to solve the unsolvable ending.

It’s finally happening. We are going to finish our discussion of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series! To catch you up on the conversations about books 1-3, we’ll be re-releasing those episodes over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for the discussion of book 4, and our wrap up of the entire series coming your way NEXT WEEK!

It’s finally happening. We are going to finish our discussion of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series! To catch you up on the conversations about books 1-3, we’ll be re-releasing those episodes over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for the discussion of book 4, and our wrap up of the entire series coming your way in a couple of weeks.

It’s finally happening. We are going to finish our discussion of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series! To catch you up on the conversations about books 1-3, we’ll be re-releasing those episodes over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for the discussion of book 4, and our wrap up of the entire series coming your way next month.

Julia and Victoria acknowledge that they do not always know what is going on while diving headfirst into the incredible debut poetry collection from Ocean Vuong: Night Sky With Exit Wounds.

Julia and Victoria needed to scream about how much they loved crying over the romantic, angsty sci-fi novella This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, so now it is an episode.