Cracked Spines

What does a feel-good video about compassion in nursing, a trainwreck of social ineptitude at the site of a roadside attraction, and the television show Gravity Falls all have in common? Well, they're all in this episode, kinda funny, and somehow blisteringly earnest!

After winning a prestigious Daisy Award for nursing last year, Sarah was selected for an exciting opportunity: recording a video meant to showcase her compassion and dedication set to soft piano music. Sarah doesn't quite spontaneously combust while talking about it, but it's a close thing.

Meanwhile, Cyrus recounts their renewed obsession with the television show Gravity Falls, and the stop they made at the real-life Mystery Shack on a road trip down to California. They were definitely super normal and the experience hasn't haunted their dreams in the month since this was recorded.

Originally we recorded this to be a single bonus episode about Gravity Falls, but as it turns out we had so many thoughts and feelings about things only tangentially related that we just had to turn this into a three-part series.

You can find part two, where we actually talk about Gravity Falls, uploaded for free on our Patreon right here. Part three, where we cover The Book of Bill, is right here in our main feed! It's a triple episode day!

Support the show

In today's episode, Cyrus bullies Sarah into reading a book she really enjoys. Sucker! For fans of pining, fealty, political maneuvering in a fantasy setting, and panic attacks, you can't go wrong with A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland. Naturally, Sarah spends the entire episode second-guessing how to pronounce the names after literally looking it up. 

Support the show

This week, we're reading Nat Cassidy's second horror novel about vampires, babies, and New York real estate that is so completely not ADA compliant. With special guest, our friend and resident horror book recommender Katie! Talking points include: navigating the inherent antisemitism of vampire mythology, Capri-sunning a human being, different types of evil landlords, and truly so much stuff about motherhood. I'm sure three childless adults in their thirties are really gonna be the expert on that subject. 

Support the show

Cyrus saw Alien Romulus and loved it so much they immediately went back to see it a second time; Sarah saw Alien Romulus and experienced an internal crisis about the state of feminism in 2012. Somehow, we reconcile these two experiences. 
Contains spoilers for all of Alien Romulus, discussions of racism, and discussions of sexual assault in the context of the Alien franchise. But mostly a lot of excited babbling about set pieces and what it means to make a great genre film. 

Also, exciting news: this is our last holdover episode before we go off hiatus! As part of our new vibe, we're going to start posting our episodes in advance so ya'll can have a chance to read along if you feel so inclined. To that end, here are the episodes you can expect to hear coming up:

• Nestlings by Nat Cassidy
• A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
• DANMEI BEAT-DOWN: Sarah pitches three separate danmei novels to Cyrus with one of them becoming a future episode. 

Support the show

It makes a valiant effort to try to be, but ultimately fails. We're rusty! We took the summer off! We're just vibing! We're so rusty that frankly the audio on this episode is maybe our worst ever. We're working on it, guys. 

We come in fresh off watching an episode of Interview With the Vampire, and we won't shut up about it. Cyrus explains all the different types of work, including the work of having fun so you can have fun with MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY. I touch so briefly on Heaven Official's Blessing which need to convince Cyrus to read, cmon buddy it's just eight books. Shout out to Katie, you made us the creamiest falafels, we promise. 

Support the show

Is there anything better than receiving package in the mail? Well, it helps if you actually enjoy the stuff inside of it. Cyrus and Sarah discuss three months worth of Illumicrate subscription boxes with the ultimate conclusion that maybe this one isn't for us. Cyrus remains a freak for body sharing. Sarah cannot resist trinkets. We also talk about the house too much, but specifically how it is trying to kill one of us, which is something we already suspected but now is a process in actual motion. 

Also, hiatus! We'll be back around August with hopefully regained literacy. 

Support the show

Oh my GOD we finally read this book. And it was good! But we are not without thoughts. Turns out 400+ pages of characters hating themselves is occasionally a bummer. Cyrus flip flops on the topic of duologies. Sarah is weirdly positive about the constant misogyny. They both don't talk enough about the horny pain play. 

Support the show

This week we read Ex Marginalia, a collection of essays edited by Chinelo Onwualu that focuses on the experiences of marginalized creators writing speculative fiction. In addition to talking about our favorite essays, we discuss everything from Sofia Tolstoy to Sarah's complicated relationship with her own identity, the joys and pitfalls of masculinity in the media and our own experiences with publishing. Sadly, our multiple digressions talking about how cute our cat was being had to be cut for time. We apologize for what is no doubt a devastating emotional blow. 

Support the show

The episode title actually doesn't refer to the whole concrete and flooring situation Cyrus has got going on in the basement. This week, we're talking about Things Have Gotten Worse Since Last We Spoke and Other Misfortunes, a collection of horror stories by Eric LaRocca. We. Didn't LOVE it. 

Support the show

Who's hungry? This week we're sampling the delights of Dungeon Meshi, aka Delicious in Dungeon, a manga by Ryoko Kui. 50 percent of our podcasting duo is scared of eating zucchini, while the other 50 percent would probably give boiled boot leather a try, so reading a food-related manga really brings out our spirit of debate. But mostly about how to tally up visual novels in our relative book tallies. Also featuring discussions of adaptations, favorite recipes, and the inescapable horrors of immortality. 

Support the show