Geek Between the Lines

This week, we have officially entered the 74th Hunger Games in these chapters and a lot happens! Brittany and Chris discuss survival strategies, commentators, the gift of water, and even Capitol-ist Hunger Games branding that would surely exist. They also explore Gale, Haymitch, Effie, and Cinna's POVs watching Katniss in the Games. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your po...

Britt and Chris are on to Chapters 9 - 10 this week and there is so much to discuss, including Peeta's crush confession, arena tourism, Caesar Flickerman during the interviews, feminist fiction and why we really love Katniss, and so much more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patro...

Brittany and Chris explore Chapters 7 and 8 in this week's episode, looking at everything from Rue, to Katniss shooting at the Gamemakers, to Haymitch using the irkdearment 'sweatheart', to food, food, and more food. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and get even more of it...

This week, Brittany and Chris discuss Chapters 5 - 6 of The Hunger Games book. Their conversation includes Cinna obversations, Effie doing more than her job, internalized standards of beauty, ceremonial horses, and so much more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and get even...

This week, Brittany and Chris discuss what happens in Chapters 3 and 4 of The Hunger Games book. From Madge's goodbye and gift, to mentor-mentee relationships, to Peeta's perspective on how Katniss flagrantly defies Effie on the train, there are so many fascinating things to explore in these chapters! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really en...

This new Hunger Games Read-Through has Brittany and Chris exploring Chapters 1 and 2 of the first book of the trilogy! They have a blast looking at striking observations, POVs other than Katniss, elements that connect to our world, and ideas they are wondering about from the chapters. Give the episode a listen and join in on this new book club! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a revie...

This week, we have a fascinating exploration of creativity in the world of The Hunger Games books. We discuss our favorite #softboy cake decorator, Game Makers, Victor talents, creativity in District 12, and so much more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and get even more o...

This week, we have a fun special episode discussing Season 1 - 2 of the The Umbrella Academy Netflix show! We look at the things we love (I mean Five in that school uniform 😂), the things that could be improved, and the things we hope for in Season 3. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amaz...

This week, we have a rich discussion on race within the world of Avatar and representation and appropriation in the making of the show. We take a look at Swamp Benders, Sand Benders, how Sokka engages with his own (as well as other people's) ethnic identities, and much more! We also spend some time discussing casting and representation for the animated and live action versions of ATLA. Please tell...

This week, we have a great conversation on ideas of personhood within The Hunger Games and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes . In a place like Panem, there's clearly a lot to talk about - from Tribute caricatures, to Avoxes, to Gale and Katniss' perspectives on killing. We even discuss Suzanne Collins' intentional writing and development of very small characters like Fox Face. Please tell a geeky...

This week, we look at the theme of responsibility in Harry Potter. We of course talk a lot about Harry and Hermione, but also discuss the trio's dynamics, apologies, Dumbledore's competing responsibilities, and much more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and get even more o...

This week, we have a great discussion about how loss impacts characters in ATLA and LOK. We look at Iroh's journey, Katara and Zuko's relationship, Aang(/Rava?) responding with the Avatar State, Korra losing her connection to past lives, and so much more! Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our a...

We have a great conversation this week about characters exerting agency in The Hunger Games! We of course discuss Katniss a lot as she actively pushes the plot forward -- from volunteering to ending Coin, she constantly forges her own path in a society that gives her so few choices. We also explore not 'playing the game' in the Quarter Quell, Peeta painting Rue's burial, and characters like Pollux...

This week we talk about ideas of privilege in the Harry Potter Books. We explore races of magical peoples, social motivation to join the Death Eaters, and the intersectionalities of characters like Ron Weasley, Rubeus Hagrid, and Winky. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing patrons and...

This week, we tackle the topic of justice in ATLA and LOK and start off with the Mayor Tong "just us" quote from the Avatar Day episode. We also discuss everything from Korra's character growth, to taking bending away, to Fire Nation reparations, and so much more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider be...

This week, we have a deep discussion about ability and disability in the world of the Hunger Games. We of course talk a lot about Katniss before, during, and after the Games, and also discuss Peeta's leg, Victor coping mechanisms, and characters like Mags, Annie, Reaper, Jessup, and the boy from District 10. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you re...

This episode is the last of our Hunger Games Sorting Chats where we discuss what Hogwarts Houses we think Prim, Coin, Boggs, Cressida, and Plutarch would land in. And bonus: we also decide what tabletop games a couple of the characters would be! 😂 Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really enjoy our content, consider becoming one of our amazing...

In this episode we discuss education at Hogwarts and, as you could guess, there is a lot to talk about (especially with our own resident Professor Chris)! 😅 We have tons of questions and critiques -- from how magic complicates normal classroom settings, to ways this school (that we love and sigh at) could make changes for the better, to what's going on with Hogwarts professors. #snape #hagrid #bi...

This week, we look at the theme of trust in ATLA and LOK! We spend time discussing how crucial characters like Azula and Toph interact with trust. We also think about how trust (or lack of trust) in the Avatar influences leaders and ordinary people in both series, how Katara didn't trust Zuko, and so much more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you...

This week, we talk about the theme of responsibility in The Hunger Games and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes books. We cover everything from Effie Trinket, to Mentors in the Games, to Katniss having so much responsibility forced on her at such a young age, to social responsibility in a place like Panem. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really e...

This week, we discuss the fascinating theme of order and chaos in the Harry Potter books! We of course have to spend some time with the queen of Educational Decrees, Dolores Umbridge, looking at her methods, aims, and results. We also explore the Room of Requirement, moving staircases, the Order of the Phoenix, and magic itself. We enjoy placing characters like Luna Lovegood as 'chaotic good' and...

On this week's episode, Chris and Brittany discuss the theme of Play in Avatar: the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra. Listen to us talk about the humor of characters like Bolin and Sokka, the ways that games like Pro Bending and Pai Sho help build the world, and the positive and negative outcomes of play in the series. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast ap...

This week, Chris and Brittany talk about Class in the Hunger Games and the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, featuring discussions on Coriolanus' and Sejanus' upbringings, how the tesserae reveal the classist implications of the Hunger Games, and the intersections between class and language, gender, and law in Panem. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if...

This week, Chris and Brittany explore the theme of Identity in Harry Potter, discussing how characters might hold different identities for themselves than those placed on them, the way that Harry is introduced to the magical world, and Snape's thematic place between Harry and Voldemort in navigating his half-blood identity. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app...

This week's episode covers Loneliness in Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra. We discuss how characters like Ty Lee and Katara can feel lonely even when part of a group, how being the Avatar brings community and isolation, how loneliness impacted Aang's and Korra's upbringing, and more. Please tell a geeky friend about us and leave a review on your podcast app! And, if you really en...