The Beautiful and Banned

Christine and Jessica discuss one of the most controversial books in the world since its publication in 1988. Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses caused an immediate uproar; after the Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa, Rushdie spent ten years in hiding. Even when it was over, he was not safe: a knife-wielding attacker in 2022 stabbed him in the face and neck, resulting in several injuries and the loss of his sight in one eye--that attacker will be sentenced in April. Ever wondered why the book was so controversial and what Rushdie said that was so offensive? Join us for the first of two parts on this fascinating, scandalous book!

Join the conversation on Substack! If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support our podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Episode 3 Links:

• "The Satanic Verses," Brittanica
• "A tsunami of outrage: Salman Rushdie and The Satanic Verses," The Guardian, August 2022
• "What is a fatwa and why did Iran issue one against Salman Rushdie for The Satanic Verses in 1989?" The Independent, April 2024
• "New Jersey man is convicted of attempted murder in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie," Associated Press, February 2025
• “The Salman Rushdie Affair: Apostasy, Honor, and Freedom of Speech," M.M. Slaughter,Virginia Law Review, vol. 79, no. 1, 1993, pp. 153–204. JSTOR.

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Whew, Christine has THOUGHTS in today's episode as she and Jessica discuss All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson, one of the most frequently banned books in the country. Christine makes the point that, just because a book shouldn't be banned, doesn't mean it shouldn't be critiqued. But what are the boundaries of that criticism, and how do we grapple with those questions in an age of censorship? 

Please note: this episode uses explicit language in a few instances.

Join the conversation on Substack! If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Episode 2 Links:

• George M. Johnson's website
• Publishers Weekly book deal announcement for their forthcoming books
• A 2022 NPR piece about the book being banned

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

In the first episode of season 3, Christine and Jessica ask the question that is on everyone's lips: what's going on in our country? They look at the state of the country and book banning in these deeply unprecedented times--and still, as always, find both humor and hope.

We announced in this episode: you can now find us on Substack too! Sign up to join our community and support our work; you can hear episodes of "The Beautiful and Banned" there (though nothing else will change--we're still on all the same podcast sites). You can support us by pledging to "The Injustice Report," where we're including the podcast as part of Jessica's relaunched newsletter that delivers "reporting that bends the arc of justice." If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us in two weeks as Christine and Jessica discuss All Boys Aren't Blue (March 11).

Episode 1 Links:

• From The Guardian, a look at what PEN America says about this particular moment
• January 24 notice: U.S. Department of Education Ends Biden’s Book Ban Hoax and a response from The 19th News; ALA's response: "Book bans are real"
• January 29 Executive Order: “ENDING RADICAL INDOCTRINATION IN K-12 SCHOOLING”
• Every Library's report on "Legislation of Concern"
• From Texas Freedom to Read Project's Texas Legislative Session Overview, and Frank Strong's "Anger and Clarity" newsletter: subscribe today!
• Read Jessica's latest book, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration. 
• Delayed Gratification, a slow journalism magazine

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

In this season finale, Christine and Jessica reflect on the first two seasons of "The Beautiful and Banned" in a year in which book banning has exploded in our country--more than 10,000 books were banned in the last school year alone, up from a record 3,000+ the year before. After two seasons of the podcast, Jessica and Christine talk about what they've learned, four moments that stood out to each of them, what is coming next year, and what brings them hope for the future. You don't want to miss it! 

"The Beautiful and Banned" will return with Season 3 in early 2025! Stay tuned for more details!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

Read Jessica's latest book, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Episode 14 Links:

• Frank Strong's "Anger and Clarity" newsletter: subscribe today!
• "The Threat of Project 2025" (In the episode, Jessica erroneously said Project 2025 was 900 words long--it's 900+ pages long. Words are hard.)

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Christine and Jessica discuss Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. This seminal work explores the idea that we are always connected to our national and familial past--in this case, literally. As they discuss, many of the concepts in The Handmaid's Tale that are apocalyptic possibilities--oppressive treatment of women, forced pregnancies, restricting the right to read and write--are all things that actually happened to Black women in US history. This book (among many others) is a necessary addition to the conversation about preserving the freedom to read for everyone. Plus, this book is just so dang good!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

Read Jessica's latest book, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us next week as Christine and Jessica recap the year in the season finale!

Episode 13 Links:

• Bio of Octavia Estelle Butler
• Buy Kindred by Octavia Butler
• "Octavia Butler's Science Fiction Predicted the World We Live In," New York Times
• Book banning in prisons, Equal Justice Initiative
• Jessica's last event of 2024 at BookWoman in Austin, Texas on December 15

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Carolyn Foote, co-founder of Texas FReadom Fighters joins Christine and Jessica in a riveting conversation about the recent history of book banning in the US, and what's about to come. This discussion blew our minds--we understand the outrage, the fear, and the political strategies in totally new ways. Of course it was the experienced librarian who is also a freedom fighter whose words changed our lives!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

Read Jessica's latest book, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us next week as Christine and Jessica talk about Octavia Butler's Kindred!

Episode 12 Links:

• The Texas FReadom Fighters
• FReadom Fighters Becky Calzada and Carolyn Foote featured in People Magazine as the 2023 Women Changing the World
• The organizations Carolyn mentioned to support currently: The ACLU, American Library Association, and PEN America
• And don't forget your local libraries--here's a place to find one near you

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Jessica and Christine discuss THE HANDMAID'S TALE, a shockingly relevant book for our current political moment. As Margaret Atwood says in her 2017 introduction to the 1985 books, times of political authoritarianism bring out the true believers, sadists, and opportunists, and the "literature of witness" is an important "act of hope." Join in as Christine and Jessica laugh and cry and talk about what is coming next.

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

Read Jessica's latest book, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us next week as Christine and Jessica talk to Carolyn Foote of the Texas FREADom Fighters!

Episode 11 links: 

• Margaret Atwood bio on Britannica (Happy 85th birthday, Margaret Atwood!)
• On The Handmaid's Tale being banned, including a very recent article about it being banned (again) in Florida
• Atwood with a flamethrower trying to burn her "unburnable" book
• "Who's Afraid of The Handmaid's Tale?" in The Atlantic

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

GO VOTE! On this Election Day, Christine and Jessica talk about The 1619 Project by focusing on two essays in particular: "Capitalism" by Matthew Desmond and "Politics" by Jamelle Bouie. These essays provide fascinating insights into our current own moment--and the inequality and tensions that were built into our political systems from the very beginning. It's perfect to listen to while you're standing in line to vote today!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

Read Jessica's latest book, which she talks about in this episode and which goes well with The 1619 Project, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration. 

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us next week as Christine and Jessica discuss their next book, which will be determined based on what happens this week in our country. 

Episode 10 links: 

• The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine
• Nikole Hannah-Jones
• The 1619 Project podcast from the New York Times
• The 1619 Project documentary on Hulu
• The 1619 Project curriculum from The Pulitzer Center

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

In a continuation of last week's episode, Christine and Jessica discuss THE 1619 PROJECT by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times Magazine, and others, especially "Democracy" (by Hannah-Jones), "The Creation of Race" (by Dorothy Roberts), and "Sugar" (by Kahlil Gibran Muhammad). They talk about why this book is controversial, what it means for it to be a "new origin story," and the power of fuller narratives being added to our national myths. This book is a rich text--you don't want to miss a minute of this episode!

Special thanks to the entire Brooklyn Public Library team for last week's incredible Freedom to Read Rally, but especially Nick Higgins, Robin Lester-Kenton, Eliana Miller, Damaris Olivo, Fritzi Bodenheimer, and Jamar Vailes.

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

Read Jessica's latest book, which she talks about in this episode and which goes well with The 1619 Project, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us next week as Christine and Jessica finish discussing The 1619 Project!

*Episode 9 Corrections:

• Jessica says "the snap and pop" from Legally Blonde, when the move is correctly called "the bend and snap." :)
• Once when Jessica goes off on the history of racism in America, she says the American Revolution instead of the Civil War.

Episode 9 links: 

• The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine
• Nikole Hannah-Jones
• The 1619 Project podcast from the New York Times
• The 1619 Project documentary on Hulu
• The 1619 Project curriculum from The Pulitzer Center
• One of Jessica's favorite podcasts about slavery in America: "The History of American Slavery," by Jamelle Bouie and Rebecca Onion for Slate

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

In this mini-episode, Christine and Jessica have a live conversation at the Brooklyn Public Library's first ever Freedom to Read Rally at the Grand Army Plaza! On October 19, the BPL organized a nationwide rally with more than 200 libraries across the country celebrating our freedom to read. Jessica and Christine talk about The 1619 Project and the importance of allowing people to learn a more complex view of history. When they planned the discussion, they didn't realize that Nikole Hannah-Jones would be opening an exhibit on Tuesday, October 22, at the Brooklyn Public Library to show art from her latest book, The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience, which will be available till November 24, 2024: if you're in Brooklyn, you should go check it out!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jess Cannon and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @JessCannonWrites.

Read Jessica's latest book, which she mentions in this episode and which goes well with The 1619 Project, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us next week as Christine and Jessica discuss more of The 1619 Project!

Episode 8 links: 

• More about the Freedom to Read Day of Action (support these libraries!)
• The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine
• Nikole Hannah-Jones
• The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience (the book)
• The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience (the exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library)

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!