In this not-too-mini episode, Anastasia and Megan watch and discuss Joe Wright's 2012 film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Your hosts start by discussing the detrimental dichotomy of Freud's Madonna-Whore Complex as reflected in the characters Anna and Kitty, then explore how religious-based laws erode personal agency—especially for the marginalized. The hosts close this episode on a lighter note by imagining the idyllic ways they'd live if freed from the perils of capitalism and patriarchy. 

Reminders:

• Follow us on Instagram @biblio.phil.podcast
• Fill out our guest interest form if you'd like to be on the show; the link is in our Instagram bio
• Follow us on Spotify of Apple Podcasts
• Tell your friends and family about us

Sources:

• https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/his-life-was-good-but-his-thinking-was-bad/
• https://www.litcharts.com/lit/anna-karenina/characters/konstantin-kostya-dmitrich-levin
• https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/2022%20Official%20Religions%20and%20Government%20Laws%20Based%20on%20Religion%20Issue%20Update.pdf

In this episode of the podcast, your hosts are joined by indie author, Madeline Thorne, to talk about their steamy, dark romance Prohibited. The trio starts by discussing the idea of surrender as a form of liberation rather than defeat and find themselves delving into post-war community and relationship dynamics, inner turmoil, and the catharsis found in redemption arcs.

Reminders:

• Visit Madeline's site https://www.madelinethorne.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @biblio.phil.podcast
• Fill out our guest interest form if you'd like to be on the show; the link is in our Instagram bio
• Follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
• Tell your friends and family about us

Sources:

• https://www.hrpub.org/download/20180228/SA4-19610736.pdf

WARNING: We're sorry for the inconsistent volume levels! Anastasia's laptop won't recognize their mic input, so they had to use their bluetooth headphones.

In this episode, your hosts are joined by special guest Sarah, co-host of the HorrorSlashStories podcast, for an in-depth discussion of Weyward by Emilia Hart. Together, they explore the novel’s themes of bodily and social autonomy within patriarchal structures, retributive justice, and the concept of legacy as a conduit to immortality. The conversation examines how these motifs resonate across the lives of the novel’s three protagonists within each of their historical contexts. Your hosts wrap up the episode by connecting everything back to the idea (and illusion) of control.

Reminders:

• Don't forget to check out HorrorSlashStories wherever you get your podcasts. You can find them on Instagram @horrorslashstories_pod
• You can follow Sarah on Instagram @sarahhbeth_reads
• Follow us on Instagram @biblio.phil.podcast
• Fill out our guest interest form if you'd like to be on the show; the link is in our Instagram bio
• Follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
• Tell your friends and family about us

Sources:

• https://iep.utm.edu/immortal/
• https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/10/27/david-hume-selfishness/

In this episode, your hosts get into the popular 2024 mystery novel, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. In a novel driven by the secrets characters keep from each other, Megan and Anastasia question the morality of deception and how much intentions and context matter. Megan introduces Thomas Hobbes' theory of Contractarianism as a tool to think through the morality of the actions of the Van Laars, the Hewitts, and Detective Judyta Luptak. Anastasia brings up the philosophical roots of the phrase "Eat the rich" and how it plays out at Camp Emerson. They wrap up the episode by feeling their feelings about the overall strength of character of the women in this book.
Reminders:

• Follow us on Instagram @biblio.phil.podcast
• Fill out our guest interest form if you'd like to be on the show; the link is in our Instagram bio
• Follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
• Tell your friends and family about us

Sources:

• https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/2/4/ellis-eat-the-rich/

Anastasia and Megan are kicking off season three of the podcast with Heir by Sabaa Tahir. Your hosts are discussing if the ends justify the means (seems like they don't, y'all) and the Machiavellian antics of the MC, Aiz, in her quest to save her people. They reflect on redemption, but wonder why vengeance feels so much more cathartic. Lastly, they're questioning if powerlessness corrupts just as absolutely as power itself.

Reminders:

Sources:

In this episode, your host, Anastasia, discusses What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher with a special guest: Sara! This novella is a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and fleshes out (see what we did there?) its female characters. Anastasia and Sara consider the possibility that everything has consciousness, but not everything has a brain; the irony in choosing to relinquish free will; the ship of Theseus; adaptability of species as it relates to the theory of evolution; and what constitutes a human.

Digressions include: sexist and racist male filmmakers, polygraphing trees, how humans start as a butthole, purple prose, and the horrors of astral projection.

Sources:

https://www.thearticle.com/zombies-why-they-matter-in-the-philosophy-of-mind

In this episode, your hosts discuss the novel Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese, a story about the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's character Hester Prynne in the book you had to read in high school, The Scarlet Letter. Anastasia and Megan consider how ancestors can leave legacies that feel like burdens, the volatile existence of outsiders in a close-minded community, and loving someone for who they are rather than how you've idealized them. 

the damn pregnancy trope and how Nathaniel Hawthorne might have been a fuck boy.

In this episode, Anastasia and Megan discuss Katherine Arden's underrated 2017 fantasy, The Bear and the Nightingale. Your hosts look at aspects of Russian folklore and the repercussions when Christianity comes to rural medieval Russia. They discuss characters acting from a place of curiosity vs. a place of fear, the interplay between free will and fate, alongside control and acceptance, and finally the community's role in redemption.

Digressions include Chef Boyardee, The Office, and foreshadowing the sequels.

In this episode, Anastasia and Megan dive into the family dynamics of Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Your hosts get in their feelings when discussing both parental love and shortcomings, unpack parental and generational legacies (read: trauma), and compare Mick Riva's parenting skills to fairly low philosophical standards. 

Digressions include a lot of life updates! 

In this episode, Anastasia and Megan discuss the much beloved Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman. They reflect on aging, being teenagers, and the infamous peach scene. They try to determine if Elio is lovesick or in a tortured state of limerence. Finally, they stan Elio's father for encouraging Elio to feel the full range of his feelings and subverting toxic masculinity.

Digressions include the Tearsmith, Lil' Sebastian, MONTERO, and how speaking Italian is hard.