It’s 2020, and as promised during our Riverdale Season 4 First Impressions post last year, we’re back, and we have opinions! As we luxuriate in these precious episodeless weeks between the first half of this trash fire of a season and the second half, we’re here to talk about what’s gone down so far, what is yet to go down, and whether or not it should be legal for this television show to exist at all.
Read moreDC Ink: YA Superhero Bliss
Last year, DC Comics--one of the two biggest comics publishers in the world--began releasing titles under it’s DC Ink imprint. This specialized line of graphic novels feature one-shot tales about some of DC’s biggest heroes and antiheroes, like Catwoman and Harley Quinn, with a special twist: they’re aimed at younger readers.
Read moreThe Bachelor S24E01: The Flight Reasons
Security check: Who let Hannah Beast in? (We’re ok with it.)
New year, same airplane puns. We’re back to recap Hannah Brown’s – er, I mean Pilot Peter’s – season of The Bachelor! We’ve picked our teams, and we’re ready to rack up the points for crying, kissing, screaming, and of course, windmilling. And since ABC gave us a three hour premiere, the competition between Team The Book Club (Emily’s team) and Team Risk It for the Biscuit (Susan’s team) starts NOW. Let’s go.
Read moreCharli XCX Starter Pack
Mary: Following in Susan and Kelli’s footsteps, we present to you another important artist you should be listening to on repeat. Every day. In all stages of life.
We present, Charli XCX.
Chances are, like CRJ, you probably already know some of Charli’s work, but you may not know you’re familiar with her. We’re here to reintroduce you to some of those older songs you may know while also exploring her more experimental pop bangers.
Todd: Truly, Charli XCX (aka Charlotte Aitchison) is one of the most influential pop artists of the last decade, and while she is not necessarily a household name, she has still had a hand in shaping the sound of pop music.
Read moreHis Dark Materials S1E8: Parents Are More Trouble Than They're Worth
His Dark Materials picked a hell of a time to air its final episode of the season.
I mean… the week of Christmas? They expected me to go to this dark place when I was already having to deal with my relatives and traveling and food comas? Well. I didn’t watch this episode last week because of all of the aforementioned reasons, so I apologize that this final recap of the final episode is coming a week late. This one is going to be less of a recap of this episode and more of a reflection of this first season. With, yes, many thoughts about the final episode. Our journey has been a long one. Let’s wrap up season 1.
Read moreBSG #36: All Poets On Deck / Nature Poem
BSG #36: All Poets On Deck / Nature Poem
Explore the meaning of “nature” with the Squad as we discuss Nature Poem by Tommy Pico. We dig into the book-length poem to talk about what constitutes a “nature poem,” how the speaker’s identity affects his connection to nature, and how Pico uses language to analyze questions of white privilege, queer sexuality, indigenous issues and more. Check out the #BookSquadBlog for TV recaps, Emily’s 12 Days of Christmas Movies series, YA Book Club, and so much more! Go see the new Little Women film for our next #othersode on 1/13, and read Stephen King’s novella Elevation for our next #bookpisode on 1/27! Send listener feedback on this episode or any other to thesquad@booksquadgoals.com!
Special Offer for BSG Listeners! Get 20% off the 2020 Refresh Weekly Planner by Workspacery when you enter the code BOOKSQUAD at checkout at www.workspacery.com!
Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!
Read moreSusan's #PodSquad: The Last Days of August
August Ames and her husband, Kevin Moore, an adult film producer.
Photograph: Ethan Miller / Getty Images
The inner workings of the porn industry are largely misunderstood or unknown to outsiders, despite the ubiquity of porn itself. Jon Ronson's latest project — the second of his about the porn industry — is a podcast that uncovers tough truths about the porn world as he investigates the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of 23-year-old porn star August Ames. My final #PodSquad post of the year is about one of my favorite podcasts of 2019. The Last Days of August is an outstanding podcast that tackles difficult issues in a unique industry and humanizes the people who work in it.
Read moreLate to the Game: Mutazione
IT’S BEEN A WHILE, BUT I’M BACK. The holidays are usually a perfect time to take a break and play some video games, but this year it didn’t work out that way for me. I’m stretched between two states and three cities for celebrations, I have tons of work to do on my dissertation, and lugging around a game console (even the Switch) is not my idea of fun.
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12 Days of Christmas Movies, Day 12: Die Hard
Christmas ain’t over ‘til the Nakatomi Plaza Christmas Party goes down, am I right?
Look up the 1988 movie Die Hard, and you’ll quickly discover that the Internet is filled with articles asking the age-old question: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Yes or no? Well, I, Emily Martin, having never watched Die Hard previously before embarking on this 12 Days of Christmas Movies project, knew I had to end the series with a bang. And here it is: today, on the blog, for our final installation of 12 Days of Christmas Movies, we’ll be definitively answering the question once and for all.
And by we, I mean me. I’m alone.
So… is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Let’s take the film through our (my) patented Christmas movie scoring system to find out.
Read moreThe Bachelor First Impressions: It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
We’re less than two weeks away from Peter Weber’s Bachelor season premiere, which means it’s time to judge some women based on their badly written bios!
While we here at #BookSquadGoals were all very vocally in support of a Mike Johnson-led season, we’re not gonna lie. At least 3/4 of us will be watching this season nevertheless. Even though Peter Weber does, at first, second, third, and fourth glance, definitely feel like more of the same. Another white dude. Another pilot. At least we know he’s not a virgin this time. And… At least the cast pictures are a little more flattering this year?
Let’s put on our judging goggles and get this party started.
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