On today’s show: BookTok is engulfed in controversy after an Australian rugby star was seemingly handed a book deal after just a month of posting on BookTok and with no former writing experience or manuscript to his name. We discuss the accusations of white male privilege, the inner workings of influencer publishing and whether we need more ‘literary men’ in our age of incel culture. Plus, is Sydney Sweeney selling droplets of her used bath water to male fans genius marketing or normalising objectification? And, following the news of Bella and Gigi Hadid’s secret sister, how wise is genealogical testing? Finally our usual film and TV recs (including a very honest And Just Like That review), and a highly revealing update on the Beckham feud. 

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Recs/reviews

• Sydney Sweeney, Dr Squatch ad 
• The Elysian, Elle Griffin, Substack 
• The disappearance of literary men should worry everyone, New York Times  
• Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
• The Principle of Moments, Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
• Evenings and Weekends, Oisín McKenna (audiobook on BookBeat)
• The Gift, BBC Radio 4 podcast 
• You’ve found a lost relative. Now what? Vox
• The Better Sister, Prime Video 
• Long Bright River, c4
• Overcompensating, Netflix 
• And Just Like That, NOWTV
• The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Disney +
• Mormon wives on swinging scandals, friendship fallouts and religious backlash, BBC

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