Christine and Jessica discuss one of the most controversial books in the world since its publication in 1988. Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses caused an immediate uproar; after the Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa, Rushdie s...

Whew, Christine has THOUGHTS in today's episode as she and Jessica discuss All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson, one of the most frequently banned books in the country. Christine makes the point that, just because a book shou...

In the first episode of season 3, Christine and Jessica ask the question that is on everyone's lips: WTF, USA? They look at the state of the country and book banning in these deeply unprecedented times--and still, as always, find both humor and...

In this season finale, Christine and Jessica reflect on the first two seasons of "The Beautiful and Banned" in a year in which book banning has exploded in our country--more than

Christine and Jessica discuss Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. This seminal work explores the idea that we are always connected to our national and familial past--in this case, literally. As they discuss, many of the concepts in The H...

Carolyn Foote, co-founder of Texas FReadom Fighters joins Christine and Jessica in a riveting conversation about the recent history of book banning in the US, and what's about to come. This discussion blew our minds--we understand the outrage, ...

Jessica and Christine discuss THE HANDMAID'S TALE, a shockingly relevant book for our current political moment. As Margaret Atwood says in her 2017 introduction to the 1985 books, times of political authoritarianism bring out the true believers...

GO VOTE! On this Election Day, Christine and Jessica talk about The 1619 Project by focusing on two essays in particular: "Capitalism" by Matthew Desmond and "Politics" by Jamelle Bouie. These essays provide fascinating insights into o...

In a continuation of last week's episode, Christine and Jessica discuss THE 1619 PROJECT by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times Magazine, and others, especially "Democracy" (by Hannah-Jones), "The Creation of Race" (by Dorothy Roberts), and...

In this mini-episode, Christine and Jessica have a live conversation at the Brooklyn Public Library's first ever Freedom to Read Rally at the Grand Army Plaza! On October 19, the BPL organized a nationwide rally with more than 200 libraries acr...

ON SATURDAY, OCT. 19, JOIN CHRISTINE AND JESSICA AT THE BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY! Stay tuned for the end of the episode for all the details about Saturday's "

THIS EPISODE, y'all. Christine and Jessica have an absolutely fascinating conversation with Courtney Gore, a school board member from Granbury ISD. Courtney ran on a campaign to change what was happening in public schools because she'd heard th...

Christine tells Jessica about Fahrenheit 451 the Musical...oh, wait, no, that's just what she invented on the spot. This is about the 1953 novel by Ray Bradbury, a staple of high school and college classrooms that  eerily predicts...

Jessica interviews Charley Rejsek, the CEO of BookPeople, the largest independent bookstore in Texas (and Jessica's hometown bookstore in Austin). This incredible conversation sheds light on what is happening in Texas, which is, in many ways, t...

In Episode 3, Jessica tells Christine about Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. This fast-paced book--which shows "what life might have been like for a queer Asian American girl who dreamed of rocket ships, growing up in th...

Christine is joined by special guest, actor Kelly AuCoin, who plays "Dollar" Bill Sterns on Billions and Pastor Tim on The Americans (among many other roles!). They discuss "Life of Brian," the 1979 Monty Python sensation that...

Send us a textIn Episode 1 of Season 2, Christine and Jessica discuss I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. This book has been deeply infl...

In this special bonus episode, Christine and Jessica recorded a conversation with NPR's Maureen Corrigan live at Wilkes University! Listen in to this incredible, wide-ranging conversation as Maureen--who recorded a Great Course about banned boo...

In Part 2 of the season finale, Christine and Jessica watch and discuss the second half of Birth of a Nation (screenplay by D.W. Griffith and Frank E. Woods). Part 2 is...well, bonkers doesn't cover it. The racist wheels are O...

In Part 1 of the season finale, Christine and Jessica watch and discuss the first half of Birth of a Nation (screenplay by D.W. Griffith and Frank E. Woods). The movie, which was the catalyst for the resurgence of the Ku Klux ...

Jessica tells Christine about Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, an utterly beautiful graphic memoir about Bechdel's coming of age as a queer artist and the death of her father. The layered narrative is funny, poignant, brilliant, and heartbr...

Christine tells Jessica about A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. The groundbreaking play premiered in 1879, and yet it's shockingly relevant today. Christine goes into the history of the play, the fascinating plot, and her own personal co...

Jessica tells Christine about The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, and the wild number of rabbit holes she went down in researching this fast-paced, often bonkers thriller: she's never seen so many papyrus-font-fueled conspiracy theories in...

Christine tells Jessica about Brokeback Mountain, the 2005 film based on a short story by Annie Proulx, with a screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry. Often reduced to being called the "gay cowboy movie," as Christine te...

In this teaser, you can hear the first 18 minutes of the rich conversation we had with Patty McCormick, author of SOLD, about a banned book that had a big impact on her. Tobias Wolff's THIS BOY'S LIFE is consistently one of the most challenged ...