Bad On Paper

By Becca Freeman & Olivia Muenter

Society & Culture Arts

What's Bad On Paper about?

Join Becca Freeman and Olivia Muenter every Wednesday for a dose of books and banter, along with interviews with women who inspire us.

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Tom Lake Book Club

09.27.2023

It’s time for the September book club and we’re discussing Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. We dive into our opinions on the writing, the mother/daughter dynamics, the reveals that surprised us, and the “Tom Lake” moments in our own lives. ...

Bad On Paper episodes:

09.27.2023 Tom Lake Book Club It’s time for the September book club and we’re discussing Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. We dive into our opinions on the writing, the mother/daughter dynamics, the reveals that surprised us, and the “Tom Lake” moments in our own lives. ...
09.20.2023 How Becca’s Book Got Made This week we’re recapping an accomplishment three years in the making: Becca’s book: The Christmas Orphans Club! To get a full overview of the process, we’re joined by her agent Allison Hunter and her editor Marie Michels. So grab your ...
09.13.2023 Little Luxuries This week we’re talking about our favorite little luxuries: things that are low-cost and low-effort but make a major impact on our happiness! Listen to Becca, Olivia, and our listeners share their little luxuries from afternoon walks, to drive thru ...
09.06.2023 How a Cookbook Gets Made with Dan Pelosi This week we’re chatting all things cookbooks with our favorite Italian meatball-making-meatballs, Dan Pelosi! Dan is the mind behind GrossyPelosi, the popular Instagram account for all things comfort and food. Dan’s first cookbook, Let’s Eat, hits bookshelves on September 5, ...
08.30.2023 Family Lore Book Club It’s time to discuss our August Book Club Pick, Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo! We talk about how we interpreted the magical elements, the family dynamics, our thoughts on the concept of a living wake, the ending, and more! Check ...
08.23.2023 August 2023 Three Things What do we have? Things! How many of them do we have? Three! Olivia’s Things What you do on a ‘life catch up’ day The year 2013 (sparked by this article in Glamour) Everything showers Becca’s Things How do you ...
08.16.2023 How Libraries Work This week, we’re learning all about how libraries work with a BOP listener, Carley! Carley has worked in public libraries for over ten years and has a Master of Library and Information Science and is the host of the Tales ...
08.09.2023 Getting Creative This week we’re talking all about creativity! We talk about creativity’s role in our lives, major misconceptions about creativity, creative people we admire, and share advice for those who don’t know how to start incorporating creativity into their life. Obsessions ...
08.02.2023 A Conversation with Annabel Monaghan (spoiler-free) This week, we’re chatting with the author of our July Book Club Pick, Annabel Monaghan! Annabel is the author of Same Time Next Summer and Nora Goes Off Script as well as two young adult novels and Does This Volvo ...
07.26.2023 Same Time Next Summer Book Club! We’re so excited to dive into our July Book Club Pick, Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan! We discuss our feelings about the book, if we identify with the characters, and how the story surprised us! We also talk ...
07.19.2023 July 2023 Three Things This week we’re talking about things, and guess what!? We’ve each got three of ‘em! Becca’s things Summer Bucket List Definitions of Success Bringing Author Interviews Back to BOP Olivia’s things Grocery Shopping Habits Things we’ve changed our minds about ...
07.12.2023 Summer Listener Q&A Part 2 It’s time for part 2 of our Listener Q&A;! This week we’re covering all things shopping, books, and more! Olivia’s Holy Grail Makeup Items It Cosmetics CC Cream Thrive Causemetics Mascara Caliray Waterproof Mascara Becca’s Holy Grail Makeup Items Anastasia ...
07.05.2023 Summer Listener Q&A Part 1 It’s time for a listener Q&A;! We’ve gathered questions from you via voicemail, emails, and Instagram, answering a variety of questions spanning from how to start a virtual book club to our favorite summer jams! Our Summer Jams Cruel Summer ...
06.28.2023 Fourth Wing Book Club Buckle up dragon riders! It's finally time to talk about our June Book Club Pick, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. We share our thoughts on the book, why we think it went so viral, what quadrant we’d pick if we ...
06.21.2023 June 2023 Three Things! It’s time for our June edition of Three Things! We have some fun ones, some thoughtful ones, and even one about hot aliens! Fun times ahead! Becca’s Three Things Celebrity Doppelgangers Lobster roll cookoff planning TV Series Finales Olivia’s Three ...
06.14.2023 2023 Reading Preview: Part 2 Sorry to your TBR pile, it's time for another reading preview! We brought a few of our favorite book lovers on the pod to share the upcoming releases they’re excited about! And, of course, we ask THE question: If you ...
06.07.2023 2023 Mid-year Goals Progress Update! How is it halfway through 2023 already!?! In this episode, we revisit the personal and professional goals we made in January and discuss the progress we’re excited about, the goals we’re changing, and the ones that need a little more ...
05.31.2023 Happy Place by Emily Henry Book Club! It’s time to discuss our May Book Club Pick: Happy Place by Emily Henry! We had so much listener participation for this book (and some unexpected mixed reviews!) and we can’t wait to dive in. In addition to discussing Happy ...
05.24.2023 A Conversation about Postpartum Psychosis and More with Ayana Lage This week we’re speaking with friend of the pod (and previous guest!) Ayana Lage! Ayana is a lifestyle blogger and freelance writer based in Tampa, Florida. She writes about motherhood, mental health, social justice, and everyday life, and she published ...
05.17.2023 The Official BOP Beach Read Roundup! Summer is on our mind and we are ready to break out the beach reads! This week we talk about what characteristics make up a perfect beach read, share some books we loved reading at the beach and pool, and ...
05.10.2023 May 2023 Three Things We’re back with more things!!! This time we’re talking about A.I., time management, Nicolas Cage, our Barbie selves, NYC real estate, and our current hyperfixations! Olivia’s things Thoughts on A.I. Hyperfixations Nicolas Cage Becca’s things Time management You personal Barbie ...
05.03.2023 Creating a Journaling Practice with Amber Burns This week we brought on our friend (and past podcast guest) Amber Burns to talk all about journaling. We ask Amber about how she got into journaling, why bullet journaling doesn’t have to be fussy, her adult school supplies, tips ...
04.26.2023 Before We Were Innocent Book Club We’re so excited to discuss Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman, a 2 time BOP book club author! This book fits right in the venn diagram of Becca and Olivia’s differing book tastes. We discuss how we felt about ...
04.19.2023 April 2023 Three Things Time for another episode of Three Things! Featuring Succession, living closer to friends, the romantic allure of Pete Davidson, our spring mood board, and a mystery guest! Becca’s 3 things The ‘Article Live Closer to Your Friends’ by Adrienne Matei ...
04.12.2023 Bonnie Garmus, Author of Lessons in Chemistry This week we interview Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry and overall delight! We talk about her path to publication, what inspired her to write Lessons in Chemistry, how it feels to have this instant success after years of ...
04.05.2023 The Best & Worst Book to Screen Adaptations Time for us to answer the age old question: Is the movie ever better than the book? Our current selves have a very different answer than we would have had 5 years ago. We’re talking about our favorite and least ...
03.29.2023 The Measure Book Club It's time to discuss our March Book Club Pick, The Measure by Nikki Erlick! We discuss why we thought it would make such a great book club pick, if we would open our box, how we’d change our lives if ...
03.22.2023 Obscure Erotica Book Reviews After a stroke of genius on Olivia’s part, we’re spending this episode reading snippets of erotica we found in the dark corners of the internet. In addition to reading the glorious pieces we chose, we also ask ourselves questions like ...
03.15.2023 Three Things March 2023 It’s time to break down our March 2023 Three Things! We each brought pop culture topics, nostalgic reflection prompts, and thought starters to discuss this week. Olivia’s Things The Hailey Beiber / Selena Gomez / Justin Beiber situation Our go-to ...
03.08.2023 The Advice Episode: Personal Style, Wedding Guest Resentment, Friend Breakups & More. We’re here to bring you our best and brightest advice, responding to your questions about everything from professional jealousy to writing productivity to wedding planning to personal style and more. Some follows/reads we suggested during this episode @anindigoday @carlywatters @mrsdowjones ...
03.01.2023 A Day in the Life This week, we’ll be sharing a day in our life. We each picked a specific day in our past week to break down in EXTREME detail (including the dreams we had the night before). We talk about what we did ...
02.22.2023 Before I Let Go Book Club We’re excited to discuss our February Book Club Pick Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan! We really enjoyed this book (as did many readers, it has a 4.49 rating on Goodreads!) We talk about our thoughts on this book, ...
02.15.2023 February 2023 Q&A Today we’re pretending to be guests on our own podcast and letting YOU ask the questions! We fill you in on our thoughts about the pressures to be on social media, our long-term goals, thoughts on “deinfluencing,” Olivia’s house updates, ...
02.08.2023 A Romcom Roundup! Books, Movies, Tropes, and more! Valentine’s Day coming up and we are rounding up our favorite romantic comedies (in both book and movie form!) On top of our recommendations, listeners called in with so many amazing recs, your watching/reading agenda for the weekend will be ...
02.01.2023 February 2023 Three Things We have some THINGS to talk about today (3 each to be exact!) spanning from makeup, to movie casting, to a personal Pinterest renaissance, and more! Becca’s Things What is the smallest hill you will die on? (Becca’s: Friends with ...
01.25.2023 The Villa Book Club It’s time for our first book club of 2023! This month we’re talking about The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. We’ve heard a lot from our listeners about this book, and we’re so excited to talk about it finally! We share ...
01.18.2023 2023 Spring Bookstagram Preview It's time for a 2023 book preview! We brought on some of our favorite book people on the internet to share 2 books they’re excited about this year, and boy has our TBRs grown! We also ask the age-old question: ...
01.11.2023 January 2023 Three Things Time for our first Three Things in 2023! We have a fun grab bag of things to discuss! P.S. Does Anybody else want to crawl into a hole for the rest of the year already? Olivia’s Three Things WFH wardrobe ...
01.04.2023 Our 2023 Goals! For our first episode of the new year, we’re talking about our 2023 goals! We reflect on what we achieved and what didn’t pan out in 2022, and we’re giddy to share our personal and professional goals for 2023! If ...
12.14.2022 Best of Books 2022 We’re finishing 2022 on a strong note by talking about our favorite books of 2022! We cover our favorite reads spanning 6 different categories, and play voicemails from YOU about your favorite books! Favorite Book Club Pick Olivia: Black Cake ...
12.07.2022 Best of 2022! It's time for us to look back on our best of 2022! We’re talking about our personal best moments and also our best purchases, entertainment favorites, and more! Tune in for our favorite episodes of the podcast, hard-boiled eggs, and ...
11.30.2022 The Cloisters Book Club It’s our final book club of the year! Today we’re talking about The Cloisters by Katy Hays. We chat about which plot twists we saw coming in this atmospheric mystery (and which surprised us!), and also dive into our love ...
11.23.2022 2022 Holiday Gift Guide with Grace Atwood This week we’re catching up with friend of the pod (and former co-host) Grace Atwood! Grace shares everything she’s been up to from buying a house to creating a shoe with Sarah Flint! We also share a few gift ideas ...
11.16.2022 A Conversation with Nora McInerny! This week on the podcast we’re chatting with Nora McInerny! Nora is the host of the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking and the author of five books, most recently Bad Vibes Only, a collection of essays that came out in ...
11.09.2022 What Hyped Products Are Worth It? This week, we’re sharing our reviews on products that have gotten a lot of internet hype and answering the question: IS! IT! WORTH IT! Our listeners requested items in various categories they wanted our opinions on, and we’re breaking down ...
11.02.2022 Three Things: November 2022 We’re back with this month’s three things—hopefully a new monthly-ish tradition. We each brought something fun, something productive, and we both wanted to talk about an album we’ve had on repeat. Becca’s Three Things -Making a plan to vote: Go ...
10.26.2022 When We Were Bright And Beautiful Book Club This week we’re discussing our October Book Club Pick: When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff. We talk about the theories we had while reading this book, what we did and didn’t like, our thoughts on the ending, ...
10.19.2022 Our favorite childhood reads! This week we’re talking about the books we loved when we were growing up! We highlight our favorite books from Elementary, Middle, and High School, and hear from listeners about their favorites! Elementary School Olivia: Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt, Nancy ...
10.12.2022 Three Things It’s time for Three Things: our new series where we each bring three miscellaneous topics that we want to talk about, but don’t need a full podcast episode to break down. This month’s things include fall clothes shopping, walking desks, ...
10.05.2022 Ask BOP! Advice about friendships, dating, major life changes, and more! It's time for an advice episode! We’re excited to answer your questions about staying motivated while writing a book, maintaining long-distance friendships, learning how to stop holding yourself back from dating, making big career changes, and more! Obsessions Becca: Custom ...

Older episodes

Bad On Paper

What's Bad On Paper about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Bad On Paper episodes:

Tom Lake Book Club

How Becca’s Book Got Made

Little Luxuries

How a Cookbook Gets Made with Dan Pelosi

Family Lore Book Club

August 2023 Three Things

How Libraries Work

Getting Creative

A Conversation with Annabel Monaghan (spoiler-free)

Same Time Next Summer Book Club!

July 2023 Three Things

Summer Listener Q&A Part 2

Summer Listener Q&A Part 1

Fourth Wing Book Club

June 2023 Three Things!

2023 Reading Preview: Part 2

2023 Mid-year Goals Progress Update!

Happy Place by Emily Henry Book Club!

A Conversation about Postpartum Psychosis and More with Ayana Lage

The Official BOP Beach Read Roundup!

May 2023 Three Things

Creating a Journaling Practice with Amber Burns

Before We Were Innocent Book Club

April 2023 Three Things

Bonnie Garmus, Author of Lessons in Chemistry

The Best & Worst Book to Screen Adaptations

The Measure Book Club

Obscure Erotica Book Reviews

Three Things March 2023

The Advice Episode: Personal Style, Wedding Guest Resentment, Friend Breakups & More.

A Day in the Life

Before I Let Go Book Club

February 2023 Q&A

A Romcom Roundup! Books, Movies, Tropes, and more!

February 2023 Three Things

The Villa Book Club

2023 Spring Bookstagram Preview

January 2023 Three Things

Our 2023 Goals!

Best of Books 2022

Best of 2022!

The Cloisters Book Club

2022 Holiday Gift Guide with Grace Atwood

A Conversation with Nora McInerny!

What Hyped Products Are Worth It?

Three Things: November 2022

When We Were Bright And Beautiful Book Club

Our favorite childhood reads!

Three Things

Ask BOP! Advice about friendships, dating, major life changes, and more!

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