A special gift from our Patrons, originally released December 2023.

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The girls ended 2024 (and now, apparently 2024) by embarking on a new series by time traveling to the year 2013. In this first episode, we cover the world building that happens in the first few chapters of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and some of the inspiration behind it. 

Spoilers all The Hunger Games trilogy; hints to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Want more coverage about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel book? Check out Arah's YouTube channel, ieatzebra: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGu9dGopzdFfXUhoMP2BNAchBWIkx0AGX 

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Intro by Kevin MacLeod, "Fairytale Waltz"

And so we close our coverage of A Feast for Crows for good... with a diva down.

affuck.

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric

Whether this diva is up or down, one thing's for sure: The Blue Bard won't be playing in any of this diva's backing tracks.

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric

Eliana's reddit account: https://www.reddit.com/user/glass_table_girl

Eliana's blog: https://themanyfacedblog.wordpress.com/

Chloe's twitter: https://twitter.com/liesandarbor

Chloe's blog: liesandarborgold.com

Intro by Anton Langhage

Cersei ate. (So did Chloe.)

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric

"Ten thousand of your children perished in my palm, Your Grace, she thought, slipping a third finger into Myr. Whilst you snored, I would lick your sons off my face and fingers one by one, all those pale sticky princes. You claimed your rights, my lord, but in the darkness I would eat your heirs."

Professor of Cerseiology at the University of Lesbos, Rohanne, joins us to do a deep dive about Cersei, queerness, and the importance of complex narratives.

Where to find Rohanne:

https://x.com/cyrilwoodcock and https://bsky.app/profile/cyrilwoodcock.bsky.social

Essays and resources mentioned in the episode:

A Most Uncommon Woman: Cersei Lannister’s Gender Trouble by Rohanne and Lo the Lynx https://lothelynx.wordpress.com/2021/10/17/a-most-uncommon-woman-cersei-lannisters-gender-trouble/ 

Rohanne’s psychoanalytic analysis of Jaime and Cersei’s relationship: https://www.youtube.com/live/vLi47CKhFPA?si=tJL7BpchfyqTXY4Q 

Rohanne on Melisandre and PTSD on NotACast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0VPklta6R9p7JLxVfoRQj1?si=2f98e700206745b6 

Scholarly works mentioned in this episode- 

The Traffic in Women by Gayle Rubin https://summermeetings2013.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/rubin-traffic.pdf 

This Sex Which Is Not One by Luce Irigaray https://www.columbia.edu/itc/architecture/ockman/pdfs/feminism/Irigaray.pdf 

Tori Amos being Cersei- https://youtu.be/a9zAE3qL-sU?si=rtxQExndYDxKZDBu and https://youtu.be/tQ9mpu-t-7Y?si=mz83A5W2kXfMA4E6 

Rohanne's Cersei playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Vqe6prPlLf54kdP0iYX2W

Music credits:

"Spring Thaw" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric

Get on your knees: The queen is visiting the Great Sept of Baelor and giving new rights to the Faith. Special guest Maddy breaks down the historical influences and parallels (particularly from the history of the Catholic Church) for the outcomes of Cersei's meeting with the new High Septon.

Where to find Maddy:

https://twitter.com/madeleinewintr

Recommended by Maddy: https://twitter.com/hightowerfunk 

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric

It's hard to juggle work-life balance when you're Cersei.

Where to find Maddy:

https://twitter.com/madeleinewintr

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric

Cersei finally gets to join and lead a Small Council meeting made up of mostly unqualified people with newfangled titles.

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric

There's a wedding (again) where no one dies except Cersei's patience. Ghosts of weddings haunt her (and the reader).

Bonus: Listen to a developing, ongoing B plot where the "B" stands for baseball.

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric

It's a fitting day for rain at Tywin's funeral. It's not a very comforting one for the family, though, as Cersei bats away the grasping mourners and tries to keep the pack—er, lion's pride—together. (They do not wish to be together.)

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Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric