It's Rhonda's Birthday Bonus, so she roped Erin into talking about Twilight! As long-time listeners know, Rhonda is contractually obligated to bring up Twilight at regular intervals, and after this episode her quota will be met for quite some time.

In our scholarly and insightful discussion, we talk about every Twilight consumer's burning question: Team Edward or Team Jacob? We also talk about our personal experiences with the books and movies, theorize about what makes the series so compelling to so many, and even (casually) dip into the literary history connected to Twilight.

We also acknowledge the problems with the series, including racism against Indigenous people and internalized misogyny, and talk about whether we think the recently-announced TV adaptation will be able to sufficiently address those issues.

Further Reading:

Hollywood Reporter article announcing the new TV series

Rhonda's blog post from 2020 reflecting on the series (links to other posts)

A Case Study from Evergreen State College analyzing the Twilight series' portrayal of Indigenous people

Post from the Burke Museum at the University of Washington on cultural theft in Twilight

The Quileute Nation's official website