Michael and Hannah take on creators of poetic #content, try to decide what poetry is (eep) and compare the current vogue for Instagram poetry with pop giants Lady Gaga and Robyn. Plus, a quiz!

Poets Cited:

• @rupikaur_
• @atticuspoetry
• @tylerknott
• @langleav
• @yrsadaleyward
• @jewel

Links:

Don’t miss this Molly Fischer profile from The Cut. Or her Rolling Stone profile. Here are a couple articles for Rupi. And a couple that are against her. Also this is where Atticus was Doxed.

Audio Sources:

Rupi Kaur reading, Rupi on the Tonight Show, Yrsa Daley-Ward.

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Stamp our passports because we are in VERSAILLES this week talking about Nancy Mitford’s Madame de Pompadour! We’ve got crazy court rules, a charming mistress, wild English sisters, and a few too many Nazis. Join us!

Books mentioned: Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, Robert K. Massey; Cleopatra: A Life, Stacey Schiff; Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Siegfried Sassoon; The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford; Hons and Rebels, The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford.

Links: Diana Mitford interview, Jessica Mitford interview.

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Hannah time travels to her youth and Michael teleports to Pern to discuss Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight, the first book in the seminal Dragonriders of Pern series.  

Links: Anne interview for the BBC; the best place on Earth i.e. Enya’s castle; Anne being sweet with fans; Real Estate Corner!

Books Mentioned: Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight; Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game; Naomi Novik, His Majesty’s Dragon; Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation; Naomi Alderman, The Power.

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Hannah and Michael check in with listeners at the halfway point of Season 2. Plus: pretentious newsletters, nutso e-books, and the latest in Jack Reacher's large-handed quest to be on a screen near you.

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Boy oh boy, we go deep on Anastasia, the first book in the Ringing Cedars series by Vladimir Megre. Is it a Russian cult?  A ponzi scheme? An elaborate prank on us, your sweet and unsuspecting hosts? All we know for sure is that this sh*t is f*cking insane. Wake up and smell the cedars, people, this is a wild ride.

Links: Video on homesteading, Vladimir explains Anastasia, more about homesteading.

Books mentioned: Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl; Dan Brown, Angles and Demons; Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch; Maxwell Maltz, Psycho Cybernetics; Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk; Paul Le Farge, The Night Ocean; Dara Horn, Eternal Life; Sarai Walker, Dietland.

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Hannah and Michael discuss Brenda Jackson, romance author extraordinaire.  Along the way they address a blind spot, wade through some wild romance subgenres, and discover new innovations in kissing.

This ep owes a huge debt to Phoebe Judge’s This is Love podcast. Check it out!

Books mentioned: Delaney's Desert Sheikh and The Savvy Sistahs by Brenda Jackson, Calypso by David Sedaris, The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Leguin, The City & the City by China Miéville.

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See you on Brenda’s cruise!   

We check in with Nelson DeMille, proud writer of mega-thrillers and prouder member of Mensa.  Hear all about his faux-Tudor manse and learn what his (second) favorite cuisine is! Oh yeah, we read a couple of his books, too.  

Mentioned in this episode: Nelson Demille’s Writing Process and his Tudor Castle, McMansion Hell

Books mentioned: Nelson DeMille Gold Coast and The Charm School; Mohsin Hamid, Exit West; Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping; Shirley Hazzard, The Transit of Venus; Barbara Walters, Audition.

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And we're BACK for season two and for Halloween! We talk Anne Rice, author of The Vampire Chronicles and so, so, so much else. Find out what she’s reviewing on Amazon, get her writing advice, and learn way more about her kinks than you ever wanted or needed to! Plus, Hannah creeps out Michael with a truly chew-tacular game.

Books mentioned: The Witching Hour and Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice; Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Of interest: Amazon reviews, Guardian Q & A, Anne’s Youtube Channel, Anne’s opinion on editors.

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In this, the final ep of Season One, your faithful guides return to patron saint Barbara, explore fringe wings of romance writing (Bitcoin???), and enjoy a Dispatch from Hudson News.

Sources:

• Book Stuffing
• Barbara’s Singing
• Killer Romance
• Bitcoin-bodice-rippers-are-romances-most-sizzling-new-subgenre
• Article about blockchains that we'll never read

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Michael and Hannah unpack pink misogynist Dame Barbara Cartland’s...prodigious output, wading their way through her daughter’s voluminous hair, plagiarism charges, and her deep deep deep hatred of her fellow women.  They also talk about what else their reading, aspirationally or otherwise.

Books mentioned: A Hazard of Hearts and The Ghost Who Fell in Love by Barbara Cartland.  The His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami, A History of Love by Nicole Krauss, and Call Me By Your Name and The Enigma Variations by Andre Aciman.  

Articles mentioned: Plagiarism!, Raine Spencer (the HAIR), Barbara Interview, The will with no money

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