***Warning! Spoilers for Earthlings by Sayaka Murata in this episode*** After arguing about the intense and disturbing ending to Earthlings by Sayaka Murata in episode 45, James and Ashley rope past guest Jacinta Dietrich into returning to the podcast to try and figure out what might happened in the novel's closing pages. If you've read Earthlings, you know what we mean! If you haven't – well, Ashley says you can listen to this ep anyway, since this book doesn't hinge on a twist. James disagrees.

Our guest is author Jacinta Dietrich, a writer and editor who holds a Master of Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne. Her first book, This Is Us Now, was published in 2021 by Grattan Street Press.

Books, articles and authors discussed in this episode:

• This Is Us Now by Jacinta Dietrich (from ep 45);
• Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori;
• Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata;
• How to Be Australian by Ashley Kalagian Blunt;
• Certain Prey by John Sandford;
• Mortal Prey by John Sandford;
• David Vann (from ep 23);
• 'The Future of Sex Lives in All of Us' by Sayaka Murata for the NY Times;
• 'I acted how I thought a cute woman should act' by David McNeill for the Guardian;
• 'Of Darkness and Stars' by Sally Breen for Sydney Review of Books
• 'Earthlings' Summary and Study Guide from Bookrags
• Burgers, Beers and Books interview with Ashley

Get in touch!

• Ashley's Website: ashleykalagianblunt.com
• Ashley's Twitter: @AKalagianBlunt
• Ashley's Instagram: @akalagianblunt
• James' Website: jamesmckenziewatson.com
• James' Twitter: @JamesMcWatson
• James' Instagram: @jamesmcwatson