Pairings

This week, Amile & Phoebe step into the artisanal streets of Crouch End to discuss Josh Silver’s Fruit Fly. They discuss the novel’s satirical look at North London’s liberal intelligentsia — from decanted supermarket hummus to distressed mirrors and Reddit writing formulas. At the centre of this world, where authenticity feels carefully curated, is Mallory Maddox . She is an author who attempt...

In their latest sit-down, Amile & Phoebe turn their attention to Clarissa , the Esiri brothers' star-studded adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway . They explore why they connected more deeply with the screen adaptation than with Woolf's original text. As in the novel, we follow Clarissa over the ourse of a day as she prepares for an evening soirée. Through this, we revisit u...

This week, Amile & Phoebe immerse themselves in Caleb Azumah Nelson’s prize-winning debut, Open Water . Against the fluid, sun-drenched backdrop of South London, they explore the novel’s exquisite depiction of Black love, emotional safety & the familiar dizzying sensations of falling in love for the first time. They contrast the intimate sanctuary built through shared pizza slices and held...

Ahead of Taika Waititi’s film adaptation, Amile & Phoebe step into the quiet, disconcerting world of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun . Moving beyond the usual AI dystopia, they explore the commodification of childhood, the pressures of parental ambition and the complicated burden of maternal guilt. What happens when parents can buy their children every possible advantage, including a machin...

we needed extra time to obsess over the artistic architecture of the drama . consider this your post-viewing debrief! we dive into the visual language, immersive framing, and prop details that bring this relationship's unraveling to life on the screen. from the subtle horror of domestic kitchen scenes to that rain-soaked diner reset, we examine how kristoffer borgli uses the camera to turn a p...

With Netflix reviving Steinbeck's East of Eden for a whole new generation, we’re taking another foray into the world of classic lit. This week, we dive into the modern interpretation of Cathy Ames. And naturally, we’re back at it defending women’s rights (and wrongs). Does it matter that Steinbeck’s estranged second wife, Gwyn Conger, is often cited as inspiration for Cathy? And what are we to...

Amile & Phoebe take it to the movies with none other than Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama. It’s a film that asks a deceptively simple question: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done? When Emma, played by Zendaya, reveals her answer, the confession completely changes the way her friends and fiancé (played by Robert Pattinson) see her. We discover the moral outrage that follows and unpack the un...

Amile & Phoebe use Paul Lynch's Booker winning novel, P rophet Song, to discuss the creep of fascism and surveillance in today's culture. They reflect on Tony Benn’s famous speech about refugee mothers from war-torn lands and explore the psychology of living under constant threat. They move from moments in the novel, including when Eilish forcibly cuts her daughters hair, to real life scenario...

This week, Amile & Phoebe venture further back in time with James Baldwin’s 1956 masterpiece, Giovanni’s Room . As they discuss the social climate that forced Baldwin & his characters into literal and figurative exile, they consider the extraordinary subversiveness of writing so openly about gay desire in the 1950s. But the conversation quickly becomes about more than sexuality. They unpac...

In the 2nd part of their dissection of MJ Corey’s Dekonstructing the Kardashians , Amile & Phoebe distil the family's media playbook down to its core. They examine what happens when hyper-visibility evolves into a self-sustaining corporate empire. They revisit some of the legendary conspiracies from the " Kardashian Curse " to Amile’s naive theory that Kanye’s demise was actually a piece of hi...

This week, the girls turn to MJ Corey's Dekonstructing the Kardashians to examine how one family transformed the mechanics of modern celebrity. For the 1st part of their dissection, Amile & Phoebe have no qualms admitting they've been Kardashian fans, passive consumers and occasional apologists throughout their 19-year reality television reign. They contrast an older celebrity culture built on...

What does it mean to live in a tastefully decorated apartment, have good politics and know the best natural wine bar in town? And why did personal taste and aesthetic become such an important part of our identity. Amile & Phoebe respond to Vincenzo Latronico's scathing assessment of millennials in his translated novel  Perfection. They discuss the strange emptiness of a lifestyle built ar...

With a star-studded Nigerian adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway on the horizon, Amile and Phoebe return to the novel's intimate world of parties, private thoughts and social performance. Despite its famously demanding stream-of-consciousness style, the novel opens up a conversation about what it means to be considered by someone we love and the ways we protect ourselves and others from di...

Fresh off another summer of record-breaking heatwaves across England, wildfires sweeping through Europe, and worldwide concern over the environmental cost of data centres, Amile and Phoebe turn to Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass . In this conversation, they discuss stewardship, reciprocity, and our responsibility to the natural world. Drawing on Kimmerer's unique perspective as a botanis...

Only one book can make for a conversation peppered with equal amounts of laughter and cringe. Yes, Tony Tulathimutte's Rejection . Across a series of 4 painfully funny essays, Amile and Phoebe discuss rejection in all its forms: romantic, social and self-inflicted. From the "nice guy" performing wokeness in exchange for companionship, to the young woman lost in an obsessive spiral of limerence, no...

Fresh off reading Divya Maniar's soon-to-be-released novel After Care , Amile and Phoebe discuss the strange afterlife of reality television and the unspoken pressure to remain visible long after the cameras stop rolling. Through the story of Grace, a former reality star intent on clawing her way back into the public eye, they explore influencer culture, the attention economy, and the blurred line...

Amile & Phoebe use their next read as a springboard to discuss familial disharmony, competing ideas of freedom & the relational ties that can both sustain and hold us back. Tangerinn by Emanuela Anechoum is an intimate portrait of family identity & the complicated relationships that shape us. The story begins with an Italian Moroccan woman who returns to her childhood home of Calabria...

For our first-ever recap episode , we revisit the conversations that lingered long after the microphones were switched off. From Love Island analogies to our very different reactions to the Barbie movie, we reflect on the cultural moments that divided us, surprised us, and challenged the way we think. We also highlighted some of our favourite books from the season including Reel , Yesteryear , Str...

South Korea is home to one of the world's lowest birth rates, the radical feminist 4B movement, and some of the best performing IVF clinics. This juxtaposition provides the perfect backdrop for Amile and Phoebe's next deep dive into Kim Eui-Kyung's brilliant translated novel, Hello Baby . Using the novel as a springboard, they discuss fertility treatment, pregnancy loss, the choice to pursue mothe...

In a world where selling "identity art" might guarantee an extra $10,000 in the bank or a greenlit film in Hollywood, Amile & Phoebe question what happens when blackness becomes commodified. They also examine contemporary debates around authorship, influence and recognition. Yes, Patrick Ta, we are looking at you. Using Brandon Taylor's Minor Black Figures as a springboard, they explore a worl...

At last! Amile and Phoebe discuss Lena Dunham's hotly anticipated memoir, Famesick . They remember the cultural phenomenon that was Girls , reflecting on why its messy protagonists felt so jarring in a world of bandage dresses, millennial ambition & carefully curated femininity. As the conversation unfolds, they revisit the backlash directed at Lena from the moment she entered public life. Tog...

Amile and Phoebe discover one of the most provocative protagonists they've encountered in Imani Thompson’s debut, Honey . After a seemingly ordinary bee sting becomes a life-or-death trolley problem, they unpack Ysra's relationship with revenge and the men who cross her . From childhood memories of learning about "bases" to the everyday realities of misogyny and misogynoir, they explore the limits...

Beginning with the biblical story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Amile & Phoebe trace the ways in which women’s choices have long been shaped by patriarchal forces. Phoebe reflects on her experience of growing up culturally Catholic in Ireland. She shares personal insights from her time volunteering with the Repeal the Eighth campaign and the stories that shaped public understanding of abortion...

Turning to Kennedy Ryan’s Reel , Amile & Phoebe discuss romantasy & the male romantic leads who populate these worlds. Alongside the fantasy of emotionally intelligent billionaires and artistically gfted providers, they discuss the blackness of Reel & the importance of specificity and lived experience in storytelling. Through Neevah’s health battles and Dessi Blue's adventures, they de...

Set between Martha’s Vineyard and New York’s Upper East Side, Strangers by Belle Burden initially feels worlds away. But as Amile & Phoebe unpack its themes of marriage, compromise, and reinvention…familiar pressures emerge. Alongside the practical realities of divorce and prenups, they interrogate the public response to Belle’s story, and the tendency to dismiss certain experiences. They disc...