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Join two Antipodean imports as they get up close and personal with their favourite books through a committed practice, all in the name of developing a closer understanding of a text, themselves, and each other. This is about the magic of storytelling, the power of always being open to learning, and the joy of honouring friendship despite distance, pandemics, and other pesky obstacles.
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Womanist notes on pop culture, politics & the personal. Temar & Aura share their perspectives & navigate the world within & around them. Host: Temar France (@etmafrance) & Auralynn Rosario (@amazingaura) IG: @MarginaliaPodcast
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Here we are, at the end of all things. It's time to say goodbye to the Gansey as we read chapters 62 to the epilogue of The Raven King through the theme of promise this week. In this section, Ronan is being unmade and Adam, unable to bear it, scries and gets some useful advice from Persephone. Meanwhile, Gansey accepts that there is no time to save…
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Wah wah, things are going awry and one might say, the Gangsey are at risk of feeling a bit disillusioned... That's the theme for chapters 55-61 of The Raven King this week. In this section, Gansey walks the tunnel to Glendower until his phone battery runs out... but the Gangsey find him. They find Glendower—but there is no waking this sleeping king…
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Chaos is a ladder... into this week's episode as we read chapters 48-54 of The Raven King through, you guessed it, the theme of chaos. In this section, Gwenllian gives Gansey some advice, and then he rushes off to follow a storm of birds to his king. He gets in the Camaro and goes. Ronan is woken by Blue to the news that Gansey has gone–he offers t…
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We're reading chapters 41-47 of The Raven King through the theme of shame this week. In this section, Gwenllian attacks Artemus, who retreats into Blue’s favorite beech tree. Adam and Ronan dream together and find disease and death in Cabeswater. Gansey, meanwhile, has taken Henry and Blue to lunch with his parents. The Gangsey is reunited to suppo…
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We fancy ourselves quite good at observing, so it's a great theme for us as we read chapters 34-40 of The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater this week. In this section, Declan and Ronan have a nice moment. Back in Cabeswater, Neeve is trying to mitigate the harm of Piper Greenmantle and the demon, and is unmade for her efforts. At the Barns, the Gangs…
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We're reading 27-33 of The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater through the theme of bravery this week. It feels like a veyr apt theme as these characters have been called upon to be brave time and time again. In this section, Gansey is waiting for Blue at the urgent care when Ronan and Adam turn up, post-Cabeswater misadventure. Gansey comes clean abou…
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Get ready to dive deep cause we're all about discovery this week! That's our theme for chapters 21-26 of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven King. In this section, Adam and Ronan run into trouble retrieving Orphan Girl from Cabeswater. Adam finally asks all the right questions, and discovers that Ronan manifested Cabeswater—which raises lots of questions…
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This week, we're reading chapters 14-20 of The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater through the theme of friendship. In this section, Blue and Adam have a conversation that turns into an argument about Blue and Gansey secretly falling in love. Adam and Ronan go looking for the devil attacking Cabeswater. They end up at Adam’s father’s house— the wrong d…
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What does commitment mean to you? It's a big theme and there's a lot to work with in chapters 7-13 of The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. In this section, we are introduced to the Laumonier triplets, one of whom happens to be Piper Greenmantle’s father. The Gangsey take Orphan Girl to Cabeswater to live with Aurora, for lack of any better options.…
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We’ve reached the final book in the Raven Cycle as we read The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater for season 12. You can check out season 5 for The Raven Boys, season 8 for The Dream Thieves, and season 10 for Blue Lily, Lily Blue. We’re returning to the foundational theme of connections, and also reading the prologue to chapter 6 through the theme of…
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So excited to be watching the modern Kiwi classic Hunt for the Wilderpeople and chatting about it through the loose themes of community and survival. We didn't choose the skux life, the skux life chose us! You can find the show notes on the website. This episode was recorded on 30 September 2023. Thanks for listening! We're taking a week off and th…
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Here we are again, at the end of another season! It always comes around too fast. This week, we read chapters 84-epilogue of Any Way The Wind Blows through the theme of love and wrap up our time with this book. It's the perfect theme to end our journey with this wonderful series! In this section, Lady Ruth and Jamie invite Simon and Baz over for a …
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This week, we read chapters 74-83 of Any Way The Wind Blows through the theme of maturity. It's a loaded concept, often used as a compliment when in actuality it might not come from a healthy place. Lots to talk about! In this section, Agatha and Niamh are surprised to find there's another—which survives, along with the doe. And they kiss! Simon Sn…
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Our theme this week is duty which is something Simon Snow certainly thinks about a lot. What does it mean to do your duty? And where do you draw the line? We unpack that this week as we read chapters 64-73 of Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell. In this section, Agatha and Niamh head to Watford to check up on the pregnant doe. Simon, Baz, Penn…
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This week, we’re reading chapters 56-64 of Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell through the theme of responsibility. In this section, Simon and Baz go to Ikea. Baz remembers who Philippa is... and has a crisis. He marches straight to Fiona’s for answers... and interrupts her and Nicodemus Petty! Meanwhile, Penny summons Shepard’s demon and undo…
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Finally, something light and joyful! That's right, this week, we’re reading chapters 47-55 of Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell through the theme of optimism. In this section, Agatha and Niamh head back to Watford for more goat maintenance, and meet Simon and Baz, who happen to be there researching Smith Smith-Richards. Mitali Bunce definite…
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Boy, we love getting in our feelings, don’t we? This week, we’re reading chapters 38-46 of Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell through the theme of grief. In this section, Penny decides to trust Shepard and they start working on getting out of the demon contract. Simon and Baz are taking things one step at a time, and working out what to do ab…
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We’re reading chapters 29-37 of Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell through the theme of envy - not to be confused with jealousy! Important distinction. You can find the show notes on the website. This episode was recorded on 12 August 2023. This is the last part of the Carry On trilogy - you can check out season 6 for Carry On and season 9 fo…
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This week, we’re reading chapters 20-28 of Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell through the theme of vulnerability. In this section, Simon is weathering his vulnerability hangover and Baz has to explain all the dodgy Chosen One things going on. Penny decides she’s too much of a mess to help Shepard and tries to send him home, but she just can’t…
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Everything hurts and we’re dying… this week is a lot! We’re reading chapters 11-19 of Rainbow Rowell’s Any Way The Wind Blows through the theme of confusion. In this section, Baz turns up at Simon & Penny’s flat only to discover that Simon has left. He refuses to accept this and hunts him down… only for SImon to break up with him. Honestly, it’s pr…
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It’s time to wrap up the Carry On trilogy! For season 11, we read the final book in the series, Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell. You can check out season 6 for Carry On and season 9 for Wayward Son. Our theme for chapters 1-10 is loneliness, and we’re also picking up the ongoing theme of expectations. In this section, we meet Lady Ruth - L…
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We’re taking a wee break as Jen V's away on holiday but we hope you'll enjoy re-visiting our first ever one shot with us! In this episode, we watched Tarsem Singh's 2006 film The Fall through the themes of innocence and despair. Content warning: The Fall is a film that portrays suicide ideation and one suicide attempt on screen (through overdose of…
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Well, who can believe it, we’ve yet again reached the end of a book before we were ready for it! This week, we read chapters 48-epilogue of Blue Lily, Lily Blue through the theme of discovery and wrap up our journey with this wonderful book. In this section, Ronan and Blue discover a lake that is also a mirror, and Blue uses her mirror magic to cro…
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🎶Turn and face the strange, ch-ch-changes🎶 Yep, we're all about change as we read chapters 43-47 of Blue Lily, Lily Blue this week. And we are barrelling head first towards the conclusion! In this section, Ronan and Adam deliver their distasteful package to Colin Greenmantle, who is thoroughly ready to leave town, but Piper still insists on going s…
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Brace yourself for big feelings cause this week, we’re reading chapters 38-42 of Blue Lily, Lily Blue through the theme of heartbreak! In this section, Adam is facing his father’s hearing alone–until Gansey and Ronan show up to support him, unasked but not unwelcome. Adam takes Blue and Noah along to the national park to repair the ley line. Later,…
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Pretty grim topic this week but one that comes up often enough for these characters, sadly – we're reading chapters 33-37 of Blue Lily, Lily Blue through the theme of violence. In this section, the Greenmantles go spelunking. Piper continues to be weird and it's freaking Colin out! Gwenllian, meanwhile, is wreaking noisy havoc at 300 Fox Way, but t…
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We're all about hospitality this week as we read chapters 28-32 of Blue Lily, Lily Blue. In this section, it’s raining blood and there’s a comet and they’ve rescued an ancient madwoman who just happens to be Gwenllian, illegitimate daughter of Owen Glendower. They trundle her back to 300 Fox Way, where Persephone has been waiting for her. Malory te…
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This week, we’re reading chapters 22-27 of Blue Lily, Lily Blue through the theme of suffering and boy, do we suffer with these characters. In this section, Blue makes another attempt to get into Jesse Dittley’s cave and Noah goes very dark and scary. Back at 300 Fox Way, Blue mentions Jesse Dittley is on the church watch list and Adam immediately …
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Inside you are two wolves… or something! This week, we’re reading chapters 17-21 of Blue Lily, Lily Blue. In this section, Blue finds Jesse Dittley’s name on the church watch list. Gansey has begun waiting for Blue to call… which she does. We finally meet Henry Cheng but Gansey, while polite, doesn’t have much time for him. Adam and Ronan visit the…
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What does it mean to have faith? In a greater power, in your friends, in yourself? That's our theme this week as we read chapters 11-16 of Blue Lily, Lily Blue. In this section, the boys tell the women of 300 Fox Way about Greenmantle. Blue joins Gansey and Malory in search of a cave, and they meet Jesse Dittley. Adam and Ronan fight about the futu…
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Wasting no time having the deep conversations, this week we talk about family as we read chapters 6-10 of Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. In this section, Blue’s first day back in school is pretty terrible–she’s reminded again of the impossibility of dreaming beyond her means, and then Noah goes nuts and supernaturally breaks things in h…
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We’re back in Henrietta! We’re continuing our journey with The Raven Cycle by reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. You can check out season 5 for The Raven Boys and season 8 for The Dream Thieves. We’re starting how we mean to go on (in our feelings) by reading the prologue to chapter 5 through the theme of loss. And we’re picking up …
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We are tackling another 2000s classic this week and watching Legally Blonde! And our loose themes were confidence and ambition. What, like it's hard? You can find the show notes on the website. This episode was recorded on 9 April 2023. Thanks for listening! We're taking a week off and then well be back with Season 10 (!!!) on 4 May. We'll be back …
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Well, here we are again! We're wrapping up Wayward Son this week through the theme of failure. It's been a big ol journey. In this section, Baz thinks Simon is dead. Simon is trying to rally, but he can’t get up, not until he hears Baz calling for him. Shep gets Agatha and Penny out of the SUV, and they come to the rescure with magic. Shep comes up…
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What we've got here is failure to communicate... like actually, that's the whole book. This week, we're reading chapters 54-59 of Wayward Son through the theme of communication! In this section, Lamb helps the crew get to an alleged NowNext lab in the desert to rescue Agatha… but it turns out to be a big fat trap. Simon goes into fight mode and the…
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Loyalty is such a big topic - and a great way for looking at the way our trio behaves! It's our theme as we read chapters 47-53 of Wayward Son this week. In this section, Simon is devastated at the thought of losing Baz. He goes out to get a haircut. Baz goes shopping. Penny and Shep try to scry for Agatha. Baz and Lamb meet up for their lunch, and…
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We're getting back to nature this week while reading chapters 41-46 of Wayward Son. In this section, Simon and Baz share several lovely, tender moments. Agatha realises NowNext is just a fancy vampire nest. Once in Vegas, our intrepid heroes and their cheerful guide check into a vampire hotel and go out to find some vampires to learn more about Now…
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Everything hurts and we’re dying - that’s right, the theme is heartbreak this week as we read chapters 34-40 of Wayward Son. In this section, Simon, Baz and Penny encounter a dragon. Shep’s timely intervention is the only thing that gets them out of this jam, so they agree to let him be their guide. They head towards Hoover Dam where Shep’s got a “…
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We’re channeling Ted Lasso by being curious and not judgemental this week as we read chapters 28-33 of Wayward Son through the theme of curiousty! In this section, there’s a nasty fight but our trio manages to escape with Shep’s help. He offers to be their guide but Penny shuts him down repeatedly. They ditch Shep at the first opportunity. While Si…
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We love escaping into Wayward Son every week, and there’s certainly a lot of escaping happening in chapters 21-27 as well. From feelings, from talking, from reality… good thing it’s our theme this week so we can get stuck in! In this section, our faves have some fun exploring the Ren Faire until they find some actual vampires taking advantage of th…
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We're all about freedom this week as we read chapters 14-20 of Wayward Son. In this section, our intrepid trio discover that America is actually really, really big. While this is joyful and amazing to Simon, Baz is supremely unimpressed by the Midwest. Penny remains too crushed to pay attention to the scenery (or lack thereof). They decide to press…
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We're getting straight into our feelings this week - no messing around! We are commited! Which also happens to to be our theme this week. In this section, Agatha is at a NowNext conference/seminar/retreat as a favour to her mate Ginger, but she’s bored and annoyed. Braden, the founder, takes a special interest in her, which is even more annoying. M…
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It’s time to dive headfirst back into the World of Mages! We’re so looking forward (?) to getting our hearts ripped out by Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell for season 9. This is the second book in The Simon Snow Trilogy - we read the first, Carry On, for season 6. We’re picking up the same overarching theme of expectations. This week, we read the epil…
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Scott, if your life had a face, I'd punch it! We're watching one of our fave films for this one shot - Scott Pilgrim vs the World! Our (very loose) themes are closure and arrogance. You can find the show notes on the website. This episode was recorded on 17 December 2022. Thanks for listening! We're taking a week off and then well be back with Seas…
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Take heart everyone, it's our last episode of season 8. We’re reading the final chapters of The Dream Themes through the theme of courage, and wrapping up the novel. In our section this week, The Gray Man is forced to face his worst fear. Gansey and Ronan enlist Blue’s help in finding Kavinsky’s fourth of July party. Kavinsky dreams a dragon, drain…
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Second to last episode! It always comes around so quickly. This week, we read chapters 54-59 of The Dream Thieves through the theme of integrity. In this section, the Grey Man decides to run but has one last dinner at 300 Fox Way. Adam and Peresephone race against the clock to focus the ley line. Gansey and Blue avoid each other after their not-kis…
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Ah yes, revenge! Fun to think about, but not great for the soul, if we’re honest. That’s our theme this week as we read chapters 48-53 of The Dream Thieves. Fair to say some of our characters are more hung up about revenge than others - lots to discuss! In this section, Blue calls on Calla’s psychometry and then has a hard conversation with Adam. P…
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We're back! This week, we're reading chapters 41-47 of The Dream Thieves through the theme of arrogance. And look, there's a lot of different flavours of arrogance at play with the Gangsey so we've got lots to unpack! In this section, Kavinsky and Ronan indulge in some destructive dreaming. In DC, Adam goes missing and the whole Gansey family searc…
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Happy Festivus! We interrupt your regular season with this re-run of our Festivus episode because... well, it's festive! And this was delightful! We watched three festive films and discussed their feats of strengths, and aired our grievances. At this metaphorical Festivus dinner, we gather round to chat about Happiest Season, Last Christmas, and Th…
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We get furstrated when we want something and we're not getting it... and a lot of Gangsey are not getting what they want at the moment! This week, we read chapters 34-40 of The Dream Thieves through the theme of frustration. In this section, Ronan takes the Camaro and meets Kavinsky for a race... it does not end well. Meanwhile in DC, Gansey and Ad…
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