Fabulist

In this week's episode, Shannon tells us all about Yetis.

It's spooky time, bitches.

The greatest love stories according to Shannon and Elizabeth. Jane Eyre, Emily Henry, and loving yourself.

Let's get one thing straight and two things gay; romance is for everyone and everyone loves romance. SOURCES Nytimes.com I Just Want Something That’s Gay and Happy: L.G.B.T.Q. Romance Is Booming by Elizabeth A. Harris https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/books/lgbtq-romance-novels.html Theguardian.com Queer, hilarious, and full of joy: the rise of LGBTQ+ romance fiction by Ella Braidwood https:/...

Please enjoy this awesome episode all about the romances of Jane Austen and William Shakespeare.

This episode is all about the names for different genitalia and why we care so much. SOURCES Word Slut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montel Bbc.com The Case for Renaming Women’s Body Parts by Leah Kaminsky https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180531-how-womens-body-parts-have-been-named-after-men Gizmodo.com How Genitals Got Their Names, or Why a Penis Is Called a...

Shannon explains, once and for all, why so many romance novel heroines have red hair.

Young women, the experts in bubble lettering on poster board and the innovators of language. SOURCES Word Slut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/teenage-girls-have-been-revolutionizing-language-16th-century-180956216/ https://esl.uchicago.edu/2021/10/27/who-leads-linguistic-change/#:~:text=William%20Labov%20has%20long%...

When the story is too good to end, there's always fan fiction!

What is Chick Lit and why do we gender fiction? Let's stop that and start reading romances. SOURCES Men fear ‘chick-lit’ and read far fewer books by female authors, says Women’s Prize judge . What is Chick Lit? The Chick Lit Conundrum: Will Renaming Genres Demystify Stereotypes? Let's Discuss! What Was Chick Lit? A Brief History From the Inside Women's Fiction vs. Chick-Lit: Choosing t...

Get your mans into romance novels.

This episode is all about the reasons women read romance novels. SOURCES https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/16/romance-novels-book-genre-holiday-romance-pandemic https://bookriot.com/why-women-read-romance-novels/ https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/why-you-should-read-romance-novels/ https://www.npr.org/2023/02/13/1154798284/romance-books-club-novel-group-reading#:~:text=Sarah%20...

Please enjoy this episode all about romance novel tropes.

Welcome to episode 2 of Romancing the Masses. This episode is all about the history of romance novels. SOURCES A Natural History of the Romance Novel by Pamela Regis https://www.rwa.org/Online/Romance_Genre/About_Romance_Genre.aspx#Romance_Reader https://markmanson.net/history-of-romance

An Overview of Romancing the Masses, a season all about romance novels.

Season 1 starts 4.28.23

Shannon tells us how the iconic heart shape originated and Lizz tells us the history of CPR. SOURCES https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/02/where-does-the-ubiquitous-valentine-s-heart-shape-come-from.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_symbol https://www.history.com/news/what-is-the-origin-of-the-heart-symbol https://ideas.ted.com/how-did-the-human-heart-become-associated-with-love-and-h...

Please enjoy two of our favorite pirate stories, Ching Shih and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. SOURCES https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqBhDhuyD4Q&t=562s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEC0wsXkx1o https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/magic-kingdom/pirates-of-the-caribbean/ https://www.disneylists.com/2021/04/19-fun-facts-about-pirates-of-the-caribbean-at-disneyland-...

To celebrate the treasured holiday, National Tater Day, please enjoy this re-post of episode 27 all about potatoes. It's a real pleasure, just like taters.

In this episode Shannon and Lizz go back to past episodes to answer some unanswered questions. SOURCES https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-obtains-its-coca.html https://grammarist.com/compound-words/nevertheless-vs-nonetheless/#:~:text=Nevertheless%20means%20in%20spite%20of,Nonetheless%20means%20in%20contrast%20to .

In this yummy episode Shannon tells the story of the origins of Kellogg's and Lizz tells the origins of The Hershey Company. SOURCES https://www.thehersheycompany.com/en_us/home/about-us/milton-hershey.html https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2019/07/07/maillards-chocolates/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_S._Hershey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hershey,_Pennsylvania https://en.wikipedia.org/w...

May the road rise up to meet you and may this St. Patty's themed episode find you well. SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104911304;jsessionid=D6AF5EB8D6A8488336E85DC6FEE00C79 https://www.trafalgar.com/real-word/history-of-leprechauns-trickster-fairies/ https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Leprechaun https://en.wikipedia...

Please enjoy this Jimmy Buffet episode about mythological imagery in modern advertising. SOURCES https://www.designhill.com/design-blog/popular-logo-symbols-and-their-shocking-mythological-stories/ https://pixteller.com/blog/how-ancient-symbols-inform-brand-design-240 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_(mythology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_Victory_of_Samothrace https://www.greekmyths-gr...

This week Shannon tells the story of the iconic San Francisco Cable Car System SOURCES https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/cable-cars/cable-car-history#:~:text=Cable%20cars%20were%20invented%20by,for%20more%20than%2030%20years . https://sf.curbed.com/2017/9/20/16338488/cable-cars-facts-sf-san-francisco-historic http://www.cablecarmuseum.org/heritage.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Fra...

Lizz tells the beautiful, innovative, and kinda scary story of the New York City subway system. SOURCES https://www.mcny.org/story/contemplating-and-commemorating-rapid-transit-new-york-city?gclid=Cj0KCQiA54KfBhCKARIsAJzSrdpSwsz7gaY3coZmrHvKX1iWtzRotkw_og1lJ-6mMA1r9mVuf1EwpoEaAtMhEALw_wcB http://web.mta.info/nyct/110Anniversary/history.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blizzard_of_1888 https...