Survivor S38e08: “I’m the Puppet Master”

April 5, 2019 Todd & Mary

Hey everyone! We missed last week because we were SO SHOCKED by that TWIST (j/k, but welcome back Devens!). In other events, Joe did not win the immunity challenge (Julie won! You go Julie!), and instead of trying to convince the Kama 6 not to vote him out, he painted a phoenix on the merged tribe’s new flag. And then, Joe was voted out! But he immediately went to the Edge of Extinction. If you have other thoughts on that episode, or any Survivor thoughts, leave them in the comments section below, but without further ado, let’s jump into this week’s episode of...Survivor!

EDGE.

OF.

EXTINCTION!

Wheel of Time Dream Cast

April 3, 2019 Mary

I’ve been reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan slowly but surely, taking long pauses to read for the podcast and my dissertation (which also feels slow but sure). I’ve written about what parts of Jordan’s epic fantasy I enjoy, but I admit that it’s hard for me to picture what’s happening in the novel. With so many unfamiliar worlds (that are different than other fantasy novels I’ve read) and words (seriously, how do you pronounce ter’angreal or sa’angreal?), my brain protects itself by blipping over the unfamiliar. Sure, I know what certain words look like, and I know the emotions and motivations of characters, but the details sometimes get lost. I don’t have a reference.

Amazon Studios obtained the rights to adapt the series, and plans to release season one of their hour long Wheel of Time drama, helmed by Rafe Judkins (of Agents of SHIELD fame, and also the campy Netflix show Hemlock Grove), doesn’t have many details yet--no release date, no cast, no nothing. I’m here to give us the fan cast we deserve. So without further deliberation, I give you...Mary’s dream Wheel of Time Cast! [Some spoilers for the Wheel of Time series to follow, but TBH the books came out in the early 90s and I am just now reading them myself, soooooo consider the spoilers light at best]

Summer Movie Anti-Preview: 10 Summer Movies Most Likely to Suck

March 30, 2019 Emily

We’re a little over a month away from the summer movie season, and you know what that means.

Summer movie trailers are in full swing. As an avid film watcher with OPINIONS, I have already made a lot of decisions about which movies I’m excited to see and which movies are most likely to disappoint. So of course, I am absolutely ready and armed to give you my full on summer movie preview.

But what’s the fun in being positive? We all know summer is the season where studios drop all of their big budget crowd-pleasing movies that will get butts in seats but aren’t likely to be winning any awards. In other words, most of these movies are going to be crap, my dudes. But which ones are the most likely to be terrible and/or disappointing? Well, here are my predictions, from least terrible to most terrible. And… go!

The Fyre Festival of Silicon Valley: Why I'm Obsessed with Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos

March 28, 2019 Susan

2019 is the year fraud documentaries assume the mantle formerly held by murder documentaries in 2017-2018. Fraud is having a real pop culture moment, and I, for one, am super on board. This month, HBO blessed us with The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, a documentary about “innovator” and business founder Elizabeth Holmes and her ill-fated healthcare startup, Theranos.

BSG #26: Is Eggplant A Berry? / Fruit of the Drunken Tree

March 25, 2019 The Squad

81MT5qAMzGL (1).jpg — BSG #26: Is Eggplant A Berry? / *Fruit of the Drunken Tree*

The #BookSquad takes a shady trip to 1990s Colombia this week as we discuss *Fruit of the Drunken Tree* by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. We talk about the historical fiction genre, trauma and violence, womanhood, and the relationship between the book's two protagonists, Chula and Petrona. Plus, we talk more about *Captain Marvel* and get Susan’s thoughts on how awesome the movie is. There’s plenty of great content on the #BookSquadBlog, including TV recaps, movie reviews and more! LISTEN UP, GOALIES: Please send us listener feedback on any of our episodes or blogs to **thesquad@booksquadgoals.com**. We love hearing from you, and we missed you this week. :)

Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!

Us vs. Us: Our Spoiler-Heavy Review of Jordan Peele's "Us"

March 23, 2019 Mary & Emily

Us is the sophomore follow-up to Jordan Peele’s highly successful critically acclaimed horror movie Get Out, which Mary and Emily both loved. So there was a lot of expectations and excitement over here at the #BookSquadGoals camp for this latest movie. Naturally, Mary and Emily went to see this movie the day it came out and had to get their thoughts down immediately.

With a movie like this, there is a lot to process and there’s a lot going on, so please keep that in mind. Were they better people, perhaps Mary and Emily would have been responsible and would have gone to see this another one or two times before committing their thoughts to the written word. But they’re both too eager for that. And as you’ll soon discover, we are all our own worst enemies.

Naturally, all of the spoilers are to follow. Enter at your own risk.

9 Artist Instagrams to Fix Your Horrible Feed

March 22, 2019 Kelli

I think we can all agree that social media can be a real shitshow.

Here is a cycle I find myself in often: Because I tend to get my information about the world by following people and publications with voices I respect, my feed is invariably flooded with the day’s horrible events and everyone else’s loud opinions about them. When all of the noise starts to stress me out, I decide to switch gears and check out some of the frivolous fashion, lifestyle, and food accounts I follow, but then those accounts start to fill me either with FOMO or a general sense of inferiority. Stop looking at this stuff, I tell myself! It doesn’t matter anyway, the world is literally on fire! Read some news!!!

Switching back and forth between these two extremes is how I end up lying awake far past my bedtime, searching for some note of satisfaction to end the day on, and never, ever finding it. So far, there are only two corners of Instagram that really break the cycle for me: kittens and illustration.

I’m sure I’ll get to kittens eventually, but today I’m highlighting some of my favorite illustrators on Instagram. Follow them to inject a little bit of joy into that endless scroll.