Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr

Brenna and Joe return for Skins S03E02 and...someone isn't feeling it. "Cook" is too slight an episode and the archetypes and narratives are too familiar to series one. Plus: Praising Jack O'Connell (but hating the character); Pandora's bag of drugs; and guest star Mackenzie Crook in an unconventional role. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag...

Joe and Brenna move on to Enola Holmes , the first film in the franchise, which was meant to go theatrical but debuted on Netflix due to the pandemic. Starring Millie Bobby Brown (who's clearly proving she can do more than Stranger Things ), the film is plenty of fun, even if it is a bit too long. Plus: good Sherlock and bad Mycroft; aging up a love interest; and Helena Bonham Carter in a beefed u...

Brenna and Joe kick off another summer of Skins , which a look at Series 3, episode 1 "Everybody" We're concerned that this is just a new cast with the same storylines, though Joe is a bit more optImistic. Plus: Effy's bad decisions; different career paths for the twins; and our immediate dislike of Cook. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #...

Brenna and Joe dip a toe into Nancy Springer's mystery series with the first Enola Holmes Mystery : The Case of the Missing Marquess (2006) This Middle grade text is deft, but surprisingly deep, particularly the way Springer uses women's fashion as a central component of the narrative. Plus: sexist Sherlock Holmes and Mycroft; a bad mother; and the novel's subtle, but specific historical/political...

Listener Hannah writes in to offer a more optimistic/happy reading of the end of You Can Live Forever . Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod: > Brenna: @brennacgray > Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky) Have a mail bag question? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com   Theme music: Rewind Kid "Rhythm Revol...

Joe and Brenna are joined by returning guest Jes Battis to discuss Jim Henson's Labyrinth (1986) for its 40th anniversary. Jes literally wrote the book on the film, It's Only Forever: Labyrinth , which means this celebratory episode is filled with tons of insights into both the film and Jim Henson. Plus: 80s nostalgia; academia as goblin-world; our fave characters/puppets and songs; and, of course...

Brenna and Joe check out singer/writer Hayley Kiyoko's queer romance novel Girls Like Girls (2023) in advance of the feature adaptation. C/W: Discussions of suicide It's a great approximation of the fiery heat of young love, though we can't fully invest in the main couple (ugh Sonya!) Plus: father/daughter relationships; "wrong" partners; and our hopes for the film. Wanna connect with the show? Fo...

Joe and Brenna return to discuss director Amber Sealey (the voice of The Princess Diaries audiobook?!) and writer Daniel Stiepleman's adaptation of Out Of My Mind (2024). Starring real life disabled actor Phoebe-Rae Taylor, this Peabody-winning film will definitely get the waterworks going, especially Luke Kirby (who gives Stanley Tucci a run for his money for Best Dad in YA). Plus: the visualizat...

Brenna and Joe catch up on emails from Tea, Books, and Chocolate and Charlotte about Lord of the Flies , including a disturbing read on Simon and the pig and the comic adaptation by Aimee de Jongh. Plus: Joe recommends the Amazon show The Wilds . Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod: > Brenna: @brennacgray > Joe: @bstolemyremote...

Brenna and Joe check out Sharon Draper's Out Of My Mind (2010) about Melody, a non-verbal girl with Cerebral Palsy who wants to be able to communicate more than anything. Unlike so many other books about disability, however, this isn't a book about how Melody changes the world...and it's better for it! Plus: exceptional Middle Grade fiction; resisting the temptation of a fantasy ending; and garbag...

Joe and Brenna boldly explore a YA topic they've never discussed before: the sex comedy! We're getting filthy and profane with Jillian Bell's directorial debut, Summer of 69 (2025) in which a teenager hires a stripper to teach her about sex. This is a ton of fun, which great performances, a sex (and sex worker) positive perspective, and a group of women doing it for themselves. Plus: a schwoopy ha...

Brenna and Joe return to discuss the eight episode S01 adaptation of Finding Her Edge , co-created by Jeff Norton and Shelley Scarrow (disappointingly - she worked on Canadian faves like Wynona Earp and Being Erica ). This is BAD on multiple levels (try to count Joe's innumerable rants), most egregiously in how little anyone seems to care. Plus: digging into that Rotten Tomatoes score; the show's...

Brenna and Joe hit the ice with Jennifer Iacopelli's 2022 novel Finding Her Edge . It's the story of an ambitious 16 year old with Olympic dreams, and her gaslighting trash father and dismissive older sister. Oh...and a love triangle. It's fine! The novel is a bit too long & tropey and the romance is the least interesting part, but it's readable and the sports stuff is engaging. Spoiler alert:...

Lord of the Flies is back thanks to the new four episode limited series from Adolescence creators Mark Munden and Jack Thorne. After revisiting William Golding's original text, Brenna has a list of adaptation changes and how they affect the colonial, queer, and race readings. Plus: non-professional child actors; fish eyed lenses; the impact of B/W vs colour; and why this series isn't exactly enter...

Brenna and Joe return to discuss D.J. Caruso's film adaptation, I Am Number Four (2011). Screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar ( Smallville ) and Marti Noxon ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer ) make some smart decisions, though they also jettison a few key book ideas. Meanwhile star Alex Pettyfer makes for a petulant John Doe and he lacks romantic chemistry with co-star Diana Agron. Plus: decent CG...

With Brenna back from her French vacation, we dig into the mailbag to address messages from Neera, Spencer and the creative team behind You Can Live Forever ! Neera's recommendations: > Lady's Knight  by Meagan Spooner & Amie Kaufman > Gwen and Art Are Not in Love  and  Not For the Faint of Heart  by Lex Croucher Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and...

Brenna and Joe kick off Book 8 with the first entry in The Lorien Legacy series: I Am Number Four (2010). Ostensibly written by "Pittacus Lore", this is actually from James Frey's Fiction Factory, which paid MFA students $250 to write YA books for the disgraced author. The book is basically Teen Superman as alien John Doe falls in love with human girl, alien species "the Mogs" try to murder him, a...

Brenna and Joe wrap up Book 7 with a look at the 2002 Disney adaptation of Tuck Everlasting , starring Alexis Bledel and Jonathan Jackson (and his schwoopy hair!) The big change in the film is the focus on Winnie and Jesse's love story, as well as an updated time period (and no jailbreak!) Plus: Joe's movie-ruining factoid; Ben Kingsley's villainous performance; and why being abducted on a horse i...

Brenna and Joe return to middle grade fiction with Natalie Babbitt's 1975 classic novel, Tuck Everlasting . It's a beautifully simple, but effective story with some age-appropriate moral lessons. Plus: Brenna's experience with the graphic novel; the jailbreak finale; and why immortality is such a drag. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKH...

Brenna and Joe return to discuss the film adaptation of Along For The Ride , written and directed by Sofia Alvarez ( To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before ). Shocking no one: the complicated relationship with the parents is downplayed in favour of the romance with Eli. But we're thankful that the friendship with the girls remains in place, and the parents still suuuuck (though Andie McDowell is barely...

Brenna and Joe return to the world of Sarah Dessen to discuss 2009's Along For The Ride . There are no surprises here: it's all predictable conventions and tropes...and we don't care *at all* thanks to Dessen's fantastic writing and characterizations. Plus: possibly the worst parents we've ever seen; internalized misogyny; and issues with the title and cover art. Wanna connect with the show? Follo...

Brenna and Joe check out Tracey Deer's Indigenous Canadian film, Beans (2020), which we've both been eager to check out for years. Pre-teen actor Kiawentiio gives an incredible performance as the title character in a film that mixes coming of age elements with historical re-enactments of the 1990 Oka Crisis, when settler colonialists tried to take over Indigenous land to build a golf course a...

Joe and Brenna venture into new territory to discuss writing/directing duo Sarah Watts and Mark Slutsky's queer Canadian Jehovah's Witness romance. Featuring stand-out performances by Anwen O'Driscoll and June Laporte, the 90s-set film is beautifully quiet and contemplative. Plus: debate about the effectiveness of the ending; a surprising best friend character; and questions about the "mom on...

Brenna and Joe return to the world of Jim Henson to discuss the one-off reboot of The Muppet Show (2026). We discuss why Sabrina Carpenter was an inspired first host, how kiddos handle the "scary" Beeker skit, why Kermit sounds a little different, and our hopes for more felt friends in the future. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:...

Former guest Alex Heeney writes in to gently read Brenna and Joe about recent comments that suggest they may be aging out of YA. At what point do you realize you're no longer the target audience and move onto New Adult literature? Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod: > Brenna: @brennacgray > Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram...