The Grand Thunk

Chelsey is a writer and journalist who uses tarot and oracle cards to help spark creativity and guide her writing. We had a fascinating chat discussing her path to tarot, the ways in which tarot helps her as well as the ways in which it intersects with the heroes journey. Chelsey tells us about some of her favourite books that inspire and nourish her, including Wintering by Katherine May and Harry Potter. Through these books we dive into topics like cycles of productivity and the different ways to experience magic, including getting your sex education from Harry Potter fan fiction. Find Chelsey on instagram @pipcardstarot or on her website: https://www.pipcardstarot.com/.

We have transcripts in our linktree on our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Message us there or email us - [email protected]. Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

Visit our patreon www.patreon.com/thegrandthunk for bonus episodes and all sorts of extra content, like exclusive interviews and deep-dives into our favourite things.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

The Artist's Way and The Listening Path by Julia Cameron

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack 

Harry Potter by JK Rowling

Wintering by Katherine May

Rhiannon watched Hamilton live and Alex has finally gleaned a recommendation that Rhiannon will actually like. Rhiannon was entranced by Martin Freeman’s transformation in his thought-provoking ‘The Responder’ as it explores the nuances of the penal system. Alex has been reading Levy’s memoir and attempting to trace its links to Orwell’s Why I Write. And finally, both Alex and Rhiannon tell stories of their experiences of sharing bodily fluids with James McAvoy. Signing off, the Best of Wives and the Best of Women, Alex and Rhiannon

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

Visit our patreon www.patreon.com/thegrandthunk for bonus episodes, extra content and exclusive interviews.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

Hamilton by Lin Manuel-Miranda

The Crown, Unsane with Clair Foy

My Son on Amazon Prime

Cyrano de Bergerac with James McAvoy

The Responder on ITV

Game of Thrones

Line of Duty

Why I Write by George Orwell

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy

Dear Writer, Dear Actress by Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper

Useless Magic by Florence Welch

@BetweenTwoBooks

@VenitiaLaManna

40 - The Freaky Chairs of Monarchs, the Importance of Napping and Periods

We discuss babies, Nadal’s success and the importance of sanitary products in hospitals. Rhiannon has been reading about the importance of sleep whilst Alex has found her sleep impacted by the ninth book in the Outlander series. Rhiannon has been listening to the moving stories of diagnoses that turn lives upside down on Radio Four. And finally, we are so excited about our book club on the 10th March, where we will be reading The Song of Achilles. 

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

BBC Article - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-60081504

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker.

Go Tell The Bees I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon 

Outlander TV Series

Room 5 on Radio 4 (Episode 3 - Serena)

Whenever It Kicks with Jessie Cave

We Can’t Talk About That Right Now

This is Us

Dolly Alderton’s Love Stories (podcast)

This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes

Spencer

The Song of Achilles - Book club book!

The book for our next book club - on 10th March - is THE SONG OF ACHILLES. Let’s get reading! This episode, Alex has been exploring the purpose of having distance between a character and the audience, as well as the motivation behind unlikeable protagonists. Meanwhile, Rhiannon has been delving into the genius of Ricky Gervais’ acerbic grief in After Life, as well as a modern perspective of body image.

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

This Way Up, Channel 4

After Life, Netflix

This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes

Graham Norton Show

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

Killing Eve

Mission Impossible

The Bodyguard, BBC1

The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10440489/Kim-Kardashians-hourglass-figure-harmful-body-image-study-says.html

The Social Dilemma, Netflix

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Listen up for Rhiannon’s top, never-before-heard, crisp tips! Alex has been interrogating the standards of beauty as a tool of the patriarchy with Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth, whilst winding down with a hilarious early 2000s rom-com. Meanwhile, Rhiannon has been pondering how women are treated in the workplace with a gripping murder mystery as well as breaking hearts with a moving story about a hen called Sprout.

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!

For exclusive episodes, check out our Patreon at patreon.com/thegrandthunk. Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

The League of Gentlemen

Sentimental Garbage (Caroline O’Donoghue) with Ella Risbridger Podcast

This is Us, Amazon Prime

The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

Marlowe Granados

Rules of the Game, BBC iPlayer

Sex Education

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang

Chicken Run

The Boy, the Horse, the Fox and the Mole by Charlie Mackesy

The Sweetest Thing

Sex in the City

We’re back for Season 4! Can you believe it? After a beautiful Christmas break, we’re brimming with joy, verve and recommendations! Rhiannon has been luxuriating in the well of Julia Davis’ work whilst Alex is delighted that the podcast, Strippers in the Attic, are back with a second season. Alex and Rhiannon disagree about Naiose Dolan’s Exciting Times and Alex will share with you the best and worst books of her holiday. We’re so happy to be back!

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

Sentimental Garbage with Ella Risbridger

Gavin and Stacey

Dear Joan and Jericha podcast

Love Actually

The Adam Buxton Podcast, Julia Davis’ episode

Strippers in the Attic podcast

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

A 1940s verbal test given to prospective announcers at the Radio Central New York

The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

We have such a fun, bumper episode filled with so much nonsense and laughter. Rhiannon is buzzing about the Harry Potter Reunion, has been adoring Stanley Tucci’s open and touching interview with Elizabeth Day and has dived into the real-life story of Mahmood Mattan and the Cardiff justice system. Alex has been finding out more about the tragedy at Travis Scott’s concert and on a lighter note, delighting in a horni fantasy series called The Court of Thorns and Roses.

If you miss us on our break, sign up to our Patreon for fresh, new content!

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

The Great Escape on Channel 5 (with sets by Alex!)

Return to Hogwarts, HBO Max

James Bond

Stanley Tucci on How to Fail by Elizabeth Day

The Devil Wears Prada

The Shit Show podcast

The Shit I Care About Instagram

Chicken Shop Dates

Showtrial, BBC 1

Shadow and Bone

Dune

Succession

Lady Literacy Book Club

The Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

To Kill a Mockingbird

Red (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift

Vogue 73 Questions; Emily Blunt, Emma Stone, Taylor Swift, Adele, Liam Gallagher

Architectural Digest

Today we had the pleasure of speaking to Susan Furber about her debut novel, The Essence of an Hour, her writing processes as well as her recommendations. Susan comes in hard with corkers like Simone de Beauvoir’s recently released novel, The Inseparables - which Susan tells us is an excellent entry point into de Beauvoir’s oeuvre - as well as diving into her simultaneous love for and eye-rolling at the Titanic.

CW: Sexual assault.

Solace Women’s Aid, Rape Crisis and Mind are all organisations if you are in need of support.

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

The Essence of an Hour by Susan Furber

Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger

The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald

What Red Was by Rosie Price

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man James Joyce

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante

American In Paris

Funny Girl

Jane Austen

Simone de Beauvoir:

She Came to Stay

The Inseparables

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter

The Second Sex

The Mandarins

The Woman Destroyed

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

Titanic

Alex crept out of her home to consume large amounts of popcorn at the cinema whilst marvelling at the epic resplendence of Dune whilst Rhiannon has been enjoying the hilarious Andy Samberg in an infinite time loop. Alex still hasn’t let go of Halloween with the bizarre but vastly entertaining Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Rhiannon, meanwhile, has been exploring the heart-wrenching politics of the compensation scheme after 9/11. Following a number of dud reads, Alex was charmed by Piranesi and its enthralling and dilapidated halls.  

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]

We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends. 

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

Pride and Prejudice with Zombies 

Shaun of the Dead 

Zombieland  

Harry Potter 

Worth 

Devil Wears Prada 

US Office 

Roald Dahl 

Meet Me At Our Spot by Willow Smith 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 

Palm Springs 

Brooklyn 99 

Groundhog Day 

Dune 

2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy  

Squid Game 

Red Sparrow 

Charlie's Angels

This episode heralds the last of our spooky watching (just joking, it will never end) with The Cabin in the Woods, as Alex delves deep into the meta-language of horror films. Rhiannon has been exploring complex family dynamics with Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. Alex has been on a little jolly to London and has come back bursting with events and exhibitions to tell you about whilst Rhiannon has been on tenterhooks, waiting for the next episode of Succession. And we have some more EXCLUSIVE updates about our Zoom book club on the 12th November (sign up via our linktree to get free tickets and 40% off our book club book, Happy Hour)!

We are an accessible podcast so find transcripts on our linktree in our instagram bio @thegrandthunk. Follow us on social media @thegrandthunk or email us - [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, rate, review and tell all your friends.

See below for a full list of what we discuss:

Succession, HBO

Game of Thrones

The House of Dragons

Good News Movement

Sara Blakely, Spanx

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Charleston Exhibition ‘The Bloomsbury Muse’ in the Philip Mould Gallery

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Libraries West App

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Cheaper by the Dozen

The Cabin in the Woods

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Jennifer’s Body

Three Little Words hosted by John Bishop and Tony Pitts (guest episodes; Aisling Bea and Rob Brydon)

The Mean Reds

Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados

Sentimental Garbage

Breakfast At Tiffany’s

The Grand Thunk, the podcast in which Alex Blanchard and Rhiannon Kearns discuss the books they've been reading, the films and TV shows they've been watching and the podcasts they've been listening to!