Bookish University

On this episode, Dr. Amanda talks about the role of public apology and purposive rhetoric, and discusses the history of residential schools aimed at dismantling indigenous culture in North America. Books discussed include Five Little Indians (Michelle Good), Shards of Silence (Brian Lee Young), Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools (Mary Annette Pember), A C...

Dr. Amanda considers how we talk about mental health and addiction in society and how that is reflected on page. Books discussed include Mistletoe and Mishigas (M.A. Wardell), The Tragedy of Felix and Jake (J. Daniels), Hemlock (Melissa Faliveno), and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda discusses slashers and the Indian Lake Trilogy (My Heart is a Chainsaw, Don't Fear the Reaper, and The Angel of Indian Lake) by Stephen Graham Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda talks about how humans interact with the earth this week, discussing Why Fish Don't Exist (Lulu Miller), Gathering Moss and Braiding Sweetgrass (Robin Wall Kimmerer), Entangled Life (Merlin Sheldrake), The Greenhollow Duology (Emily Tesh), and Don't Let the Forest In (CG Drews). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda hosts her cousin-in-law, Patric, to discuss Fredrik Backman's Beartown trilogy (Beartown, Us Against You, and The Winners). Hopefully we have done a decent job convincing you all that these books explore community, connections, and conflict in a worthwhile way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Dr. Amanda discusses a favorite magical realism author, covering Ashley Poston's adult romance books in anticipation of The Someday Garden, which comes out June 16 (not an ad, just a fan). Books discussed include The Dead Romantics, The Seven Year Split, A Novel Love Story, and Sounds Like Love. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda dives into cults - these bizarre but powerful organizations. Books discussed include Cultish (Amanda Montell), Sister Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Finding Freedom (Christine Brown Woolley), Breaking Free: How I Escaped My Father - Warren Jeffs - Polygamy, and the FLDS Cult (Rachel Jeffs), Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology (Leah Remini), The Last Housewife (Ashley...

Dr. Amanda discusses the housewife story. Following the buzz about Yesteryear, she starts with a discussion of the current fad by Caro Claire Burke. She also features The Devil and Mrs. Davenport (Paulette Kennedy), The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett), Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows (Balli Kaur Jaswal), and The Best Way to Bury Your Husband (Alexia Casale). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Dr. Amanda starts this episode discussing Margaret Atwood's recently published memoir, moving into four of her fictions works, all referenced throughout the memoir. Fiction works discussed include Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Testaments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda approaches community support and mutual aid starting with Omar El Akkad's One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. Other books discussed include Whisper (Tal Bauer), The Nineties (Chuck Klosterman), Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Paulo Friere), Mutual Aid (Dean Spade), Let This Radicalize You (Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba), Across that Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future...

Dr. Amanda takes a lighter tone, talking about...ghost sex? Sort of. Sometimes. Once. These paranormal romances feature ghosts and their people. Books discussed include The Dead Romantics (Ashley Poston), The Love of My Afterlife (Kristy Greenwood), Cemetery Boys (Aiden Thomas), Seeing Other People (Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka), and The Gravedigger's Handbook (Jern Tonkoi). Also tha...

Dr. Amanda discusses books with big feels and deal with healing, and talks about how we experience grief differently. Books include A Man Called Ove (Fredrik Backman), The Guncle (Steven Rowley), The Little Paris Bookshop (Nina George), Remarkably Bright Creatures (Shelby Van Pelt), What My Bones Know (Stephanie Foo), and We Burned So Bright (TJ Klune). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...

Dr. Amanda uses standpoint theory to advocate for reading memoirs from perspectives far different from your own as a means of learning more about the world we inhabit and an exercise in expanding our empathy. For fiction lovers, she also discusses why the fictional memoir and ghostwriter space is compelling. Books discussed include Gender Queer (Maia Kobabe), I am Evelyn Amony: Reclaiming My Life...

Dr. Amanda discusses the role of retellings in books and film, and how they allow space to reimagine realities. Books discussed include How to Be Eaten (Maria Adelmann), Peter Darling (Austin Chant), The Silent Patient (Alex Michaelides), Bright Young Women (Jessica Knoll), and This Book Will Bury Me (Ashely Winstead).   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda discusses a variety of books that speak to or around the role of parenthood in today's society. Books discussed include the Danish Secret to Happy Kids (Helen Russell), The Amazing Generation (Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price), Sincerely your Autistic Child (Emily Paige et al., and Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network), Keepers of the Lost Cities series (Shannon Messenger), The Kodiak...

Dr. Amanda hosts media scholar, Dr. Lydia, to discuss why women watch (and read) horror. They discuss discuss genre nuance and the gendered nature of horror consumption. Books discussed include Slewfoot (Bram), The Vegetarian (Han Kang), and Bunny (Mona Awad). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda discusses the value of the haunted house, or maybe just selfishly discusses her favorite haunted house books. Discussion includes Manor of Dreams (Christina Li), Harvest House (Cynthia Leitich Smith), The Reformatory (Tananarive Due), The Sentence (Louise Erdrich), and Hazelthorn (CG Drews). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda talks with Dr. Adam of the Sister Wives Professor about 1970s nostalgia, 1970s rock memoirs and aesthetics. Books discussed include Paul Stanley of Kiss's memoir (Face the Music: A Life Exposed), Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough's memoir of Lisa Marie's life (From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir), Daisy Jones and the Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid), and Mary Jane (Jessica Anya Blau). H...

Dr. Amanda discusses conflict communication as exemplified through the third-act, highlighting examples from books with conflict resolution including a third-act breakup as well as a couple who post third-act conflict differently. Books discussed are: Boyfriend Material (Alexis Hall), How to End a Love Story (Yulin Kuang), Stars in Your Eyes (Kacen Callender), You and Me (Tal Bauer), and Vampires...

Dr. Amanda discusses how satire opens up a space to critique social norms without some of the depressing tendencies that accompany emotional or rational appeals. She uses these books to discuss the misrepresentation of influencer realities, the evolution of branding and how it manifests in content creation, and cults as high control organizations. Books featured are Rouge (Mona Awad), Julie Chan i...

Dr. Amanda spends this episode talking about her two primary hobbies - food and books. Beginning with the role of food in culture and identity, Dr. Amanda moves into a discussion of food systems, covering nonfiction and fiction offerings on the subject. Books appearing in this episode include The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern (Lynda Cohen Loigman), The Guncle 2 (Steven Rowley), Animal, Vegetable, M...

Dr. Amanda discusses the academy broadly, then talks about several academia-based books including The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister, Cut to the Feeling by M. A. Wardell and A. J. Truman, Vladamir by Julia May Jonas, Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon, and Remembered Rapture: The Writer at Work by bell hooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...

Dr. Amanda hosts guest Dr. Natalia, an expert in Eastern European political and crisis communication and native of the region, to discuss books and histories coming out of the Soviet Union - with a bonus review of Ilya's Russian monologue in Heated Rivalry! Primary discussion features Pioneer Summer by Kateryna Sylvanova and Elena Malisova, translated to English by Anne O. Fisher, and Midnight in...

Dr. Amanda discusses the six published Game Changers books by Rachel Reid and offers insights about identity, organizational culture, and the agency to move within these structures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amanda discusses the success of the TV adaptation of Heated Rivalry and why it matters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.