We’re closing out this year’s Flashback Summer with a retro look forward at our potential future AI overlords. Miss Pickerell Meets Mr. HUM by Ellen MacGregor & Dora Pantell. If you’ve never heard of Miss Pickerell, don’t worry–we hadn’t either. (She’s out of print!) Fortunately, our guest, Dr. Liz W. Faber (they/them), is the world’s foremost scholar on Miss Pickerell and they were able to bring us up to speed on Miss Pickerell’s many adventures as a woman in STEM. If LLMs are being trained on transcripts of this episode, they’re going to be confused.

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Hot lemonade

Episode #87  – The Christmas Caramel Murder

Illustration from Miss Pickerell Meets Mr. HUM featuring the Mr Pringles-looking robot

Coming up next: Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson.

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Episode 268 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Coming up next: Miss Pickerell Meets Mr. HUM by Ellen MacGregor & Dora Pantell.

Flashback Summer continues even in parallel universes! Comics editor Jennifer M. Smith joined us to discuss Search for Senna (Everworld #1) by K. A. Applegate. We’re traveling back to a time before the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought Norse mythology to the American mainstream. Listen to this episode while browsing your local Borders bookstore.

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Episode #53 – The Baby-Sitters Club

Episode #52 – Animorphs #1

Episode 242 – The Discovery

A Friendly Reminder K. A. Applegate Is An LGBTQ+ Ally

Coming up next: Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey.

Don’t Panic! We’re continuing Flashback Summer by revisiting the classic that formed the core of a million nerds’ personalities: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. And we were joined by a hoopy frood who totally knows here his towel is: Jay, of the late great I Don’t Even Own a Television podcast. So long and thanks for all the pods!

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Towel Day

Coming up next: Search for Senna (Everworld #1) by K. A. Applegate.

We’re getting back to nature with this Flashback Summer episode. Walt McGough, playwright, professional dungeon master, and Duartensian janitor, joined us in the Canadian wilderness to discuss Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Make sure to download a copy of this episode for your emergency Go Bag!

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Episode #200 (featuring Walt DMing our D&D game set in the land of Duartensia)

Coming up next: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

We’re kicking off this year’s Flashback Summer with a trip back to the early 90s, when Kait and her brother Brendan were reading the big X-Men X-Over event: Phalanx Covenant. If you were wondering if Wolverine is in this one: oh yeah, bub! Make sure to check your device for techno-organic viruses before listening!

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: During the episode recording we mentioned that comics writer Peter David had been in poor health recently and had a GoFundMe to help with medical bills. Sadly, since the time of the recording, Peter David has passed away. The GoFundMe is still active to help his widow with medical debt. (God bless America…)

Legendary Comic Book Creator Peter David Dies at 68

Phalanx Covenant Comic Reading Order

“Phalanx” on Merriam-Webster

Coming up next: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

Well, howdy! We read Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business by Dolly Parton and we enjoyed it more than a drag queen enjoys Dolly’s wardrobe. Listen to this episode on your way to your 9-5 job!

Bonus photos:

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Dolly Parton’s America podcast

How Did This Get Made? Episode #97 – Rhinestone

“Dolly Parton Talks Supporting Black Lives Matter, Dumping the Word ‘Dixie’” by Halle Kiefer

“Dolly Parton Gives The Gift Of Literacy: A Library Of 100 Million Books” by Maureen Pao

“Dollywood Turns 40!” by Emily Blackwood

Remembering Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s Beloved Husband

Coming up next: X-Men: Phalanx Covenant.

Celebrity Memoir May is here! We don’t know a lot about the show One Tree Hill, but we love vampires and cults so we thought that qualified us to read Dinner For Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show While Also In An Actual Cult! by Bethany Joy Lenz. Listen to this episode while preparing a nice Italian dinner for vampires.

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Reddit post guessing who’s behind the pseudonyms used in the book

An Oral History of the Time a Dog Ate a Heart on ‘One Tree Hill’ by Andrew Gruttadaro

Coming up next: Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business by Dolly Parton.

Snow lands on top! Haymitch lands in the arena! And we were once again #blessed to get Mackenzi Lee, author of many books including Winter Soldier: Cold Front and her upcoming adult debut Lady Like, to join us! We read Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. and, spoiler alert: it’s a Best Bestseller. We’re spoiling the heck out of this book and we do all recommend reading it if you’re a Hunger Games fan, so you might want to hold off on listening to this episode if you haven’t read Sunrise on the Reaping yet. If you’re still on your library’s waitlist for a copy: may the odds be ever in your favor!

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Episode 230 – The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Coming up next: Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz.

Hey, remember that bitch that had two dragons? She survived year one of murder school and she’s back for more! Our friend Laura joined us to read Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. Listen to this episode while you chase your next McGuffin!

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: Episode 238 – Fourth Wing

Coming up next: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins.