Idiot's Alphabet Soup

A podcast episode about a book about books! What could be better? In this episode, Jenny and Kathrine review "The Cat Who Saved Books" by Sosuke Natsukawa. In the process, they discuss the mistreatment of books and whether they actually love books or not. Why does Kathrine always dog-ear pages? What did Jenny and Kathrine (sort of) fight about in this episode? Listen to find out.

If you have comments or questions for us, DM us on Instagram! (@idiots.alphabet.soup)

If you have comments or questions for us, DM us on Instagram! (@idiots.alphabet.soup)

In this episode, Jenny and Kathrine bring in Dorcas Smucker to talk about her new book Coming Home to Roost. They discuss the personality types of chickens, how to raise children well in a changing world, and the lady priest who didn’t know what Easter was all about. Who is Dorcas Smucker’s favorite child? Why the chicken theme? What does Jenny even study? Listen to find out!

Also, you can buy her book at muddycreekbooks.com or as an Ebook on Amazon!

In this shorter episode, Jenny and Kathrine lament the fact that they can’t review Dorcas Smucker’s book, Coming Home to Roost this episode. Instead, they discuss their favorite topic: themselves! Who are Jenny and Kathrine outside of math? What do they even do when they’re together? Why do they try to do so much? Listen to find out!

If you have comments or questions for us, DM us on Instagram! (@idiots.alphabet.soup)

We may be in the presence of two great up-and-coming authors! In this episode, Jenny and Kathrine pass around ideas for the plots of books they could write together. With little-to-no plan for how the episode is going to go, they embark on an adventure of figuring out what happens in the “sock dimension” and the ethical dubiousness of sending a 12-year-old to space. How can an author make a book timeless? What would the ideal book about math look like? Can you apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to relationships? Listen to find out.

Jenny and Kathrine are borderline disrespectful of their elders as they discuss the book Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. How does culture change the way we treat old people? What is the ideal aging experience? How can two best friends rule the nursing home when they are elderly? Listen to find out.

If you have any comments or questions, DM us on Instagram! (@idiots.aphabet.soup)

Battling through weird audio issues (in the first half of the episode), and an absurd number of uses of the word "like" (on Jenny's part especially), Jenny and Kathrine discuss the books that raised them. Or at least, the books they were obsessed with in their childhood. Why were the boxcar children solving mysteries? When is the right age for a kid to start reading? Listen to hear these topics hashed out, more complaints about math, and an analysis of the things Jenny and Kathrine used to imagine as they fell asleep.

If you have comments or questions for us, DM us on Instagram! (@idiots.alphabet.soup)

In their first actual book review, Jenny and Kathrine discuss Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. They give a summary of the book, discuss the themes and big ideas, and also pontificate about whether or not aliens could have a moral code (or be religious). Do the SciFi pieces of the book seem plausible? Does MaFi (Math Fiction) exist? Tune in to find out.

If you have comments or questions for us, DM us on Instagram! (@idiots.alphabet.soup)

Jenny and Kathrine introduce themselves, talk about what they look for in books, and go on a little rant about the media's portrayal of mathematics.