Bad On Paper

This week, we're talking all about portfolio careers! We discuss the current iteration of our own careers and then chat with Leigh Stein and Ali LaBelle —two other professionals with portfolio careers—to break down the work they do, time management, and advice for people interested in transitioning to a portfolio career.    Obsessions Becca - West End Girl Olivia - Beth's Dead   What we read this...

November Things are coming in HOT! Keep listening for podcast recs, supernatural talk, guessing games, and more!   Also, donate to your local foodbank! Find one local to you here .   Olivia's Things Emma Straub's newsletter about David Harbor's pseudonym Do you believe in ghosts? 1 new habit we like, 1 that we want to kick to the curb   Becca's Things Current Podcast Listening Lineup (Olivia's is...

We can't wait to discuss our October Book Club Pick, Heart The Lover by Lily King ! We're talking about Lily King's favorite shape (the triangle!), the surprising crossover with Writers & Lovers, crying on airplanes, male friendship, and so much more.   Obsessions Becca - The Diplomat Season Three Olivia - Twinless   What we read this week Olivia - Heart The Lover by Lily King , The Correspondent...

This week, we're chatting with 4 debut authors about their experience bringing a book into the world in 2025! They share the pitch for their book and what surprised them about their debut experience.   Our debut authors & their books!  Katie Yee - Maggie; Or A Man and A Woman Walk Into A Bar Natalie Guerrero - My Train Leaves at Three Laura Leffler   - Tell Them You Lied Aisha Muharrar - Loved One...

We're so excited for you to hear our conversation with Nic Stone ! We chat with Nic about her author origin story, why she made the jump from YA to adult with her (very!) adult debut Boom Town, writing off her strip club visits for research, and more!    Obsessions Becca - Shonda Rhimes on Call Her Daddy Olivia - Floor lamp from Wayfair   What we read this week Becca - The Idiot by Elif Batuman ,...

This week, we're sharing an inside look at our reading habits! We dive into how we choose what to read, our favorite times to read, who we talk about books with IRL, our rules of thumb for DNF-ing, and more!    Becca's TBR - The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers , Daddy Issues by Kate Goldbeck , Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston    What we read this week Becca - Boom Town by Nic Stone (Out October...

Time for another round of three things! And this one's very bookish: we're talking about 2025 books that flew under the radar, plot twists, mood writing, what we want to learn about this fall, and more!   Becca's Things Underrated Books of 2025 Becca's - Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine , Loved One by Aisha Muharrar | Olivia's - Tilt by Emma Pattee , Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild . How m...

September is coming to a close, and you know what that means! Time to talk about this month's book club pick, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach . We discuss our expectations going into this book based on the cover, how it balanced its dark themes with humor, what we thought of the relationships, and more!     Obsessions Olivia - One Trick Pony Peanut Butter Becca - Westman Atelie...

We are SO excited to chat with Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter, Shelby Cunningham , about their new book, The Academy ! We ask how their collaborative writing process worked, about Shelby's boarding school experience that inspired the book, and Elin's feelings on venturing into a new world outside Nantucket. We also have adaptation updates and some exclusive behind the scenes gossip!   These day...

What do we want? Things! When do we want them? Now! It's time to talk about big pop culture moments, focus tools, and what we're excited about for fall.    Olivia's Things Taylor Swift getting engaged What's on our Q4 Radar Our Fall TBR (Olivia's are The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia , Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild , What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang , Becca's are The Wilderness by...

People who judge books by their covers, this ep is for you! This week, we brought on Art Director and Book Cover Designer Molly von Borstel to talk about how book covers come to life. She shares how she got into book design, the surprising parts of the job, how she deals with feedback, cover trends, and more!    Obsessions Olivia - Sorel Roam'n Clogs Becca - Travel mahjong set from Oh My Mahjong  ...

It's Book Club day! We're excited to chat about The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig . We discuss the book's setting and world-building, the main characters (and their romance), how this fits into the romantacy genre overall, and more!     Obsessions Olivia - Night Moves by Bob Seger Becca - J.Crew yellow suede bucket bag   This Month's Book Club Pick - STAY TUNED! (have thoughts about this bo...

We are SO excited for this week's conversation with journalist E. Jean Carroll! We chat with her about why she decided to write her book about her experience in court against Donald Trump, her 30-year tenure as an advice columnist, and more!     E. Jean Carroll is the author of five books, including a biography of Hunter S. Thompson , and the New York Times bestselling book NOT MY TYPE: One Woman...

It's time for the most August 2025 Three Things to Ever Three Things. From AI to face shapewear to Labubus, and more, there's so much to discuss! Let's get into it.   Olivia's Things DNF-ing Skims Face Shapewear Labubus   Becca's Things The articles " I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students " by Meghan O'Rourke [gift link] and "The Force-Feeding of AI on an Unwilling Publi...

As a bonus to our episode discussing comparison and competition, we invited Chelsea Bieker to continue the conversation, and how comparison and competition manifest for her, specifically within her publishing career and the strategies she's learned to quiet these emotions.   Read more from Chelsea in her newsletter Make Up Your Life , fountainpractice.com , and her latest book Madwoman is out now!...

We've been trying to make an episode about comparison and competition (an Olivia Muenter favorite topic!) happen for a while, and it's finally here! We're discussing our personal histories with comparison and competition and how it manifests in our personal and professional lives. We're even diving into whether we ever compare ourselves to each other.   We're talking about if we define ourselves a...

It's book club day! We're so excited to talk about our listener-selected book club pick, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid . There's a lot to cover in this story set during the 1980s space race. We discuss our feelings about the main characters, the aspects of the book we gravitated towards, our favorite space songs, and more!    Obsessions: Becca - Ruby lobster roll off watercolor painting Olivia...

Our last desert island episode was so popular, we hopped a quick trip back to the island for part 2. This time we're talking all things clothing and travel.   Jeans  Becca - Frame Le Slim Palazzo Olivia - Gap Ultra Soft Barrel Leg Jeans    Bra Becca & Olivia - Skims T-Shirt Bra   Underwear Becca - Skims fits everybody thong Olivia - CUUP high waisted   Shoe Becca - Onitsuka Tigre Mexico 66 Olivia...

We are so excited to have Navessa Allen on the pod to talk about all things spicy romance!    We hear about how she got started writing romance, how she handles taboo topics, what it's like having viral success, and her experience as self-published author who began working for a traditional publishing house.   Her books Lights Out and Caught Up are out now.    Obsessions Becca - Watercolor set & w...

This week, we're going to be sharing our desert island picks for categories from entertainment, to food, clothing, beauty, and more!  Shoutout to Hillary Kerr's newsletter for the episode inspo!     Some of our picks  Books to read for the rest of time:  Becca - The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer The Wedding People by Alison Espach Olivia - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver , The God of The Woo...

It's time for July Three Things! Tune in for a game, fantasy dinner parties, writing process dives, best books of the year (so far), Materialists thoughts, and more!    Becca's Things Materialists Hallmark Movie Game Dream Summer Dinner Party    Olivia's Things Materialists Favorite Reads in 2025 so far (Becca's includes One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune, Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall , He...

We're excited to dive into our June Book Club Pick: June Book Club Pick - All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman . We had a great time reading this hilarious and Scaredy Cat approved mystery, and can't wait to hear what you think!    Watch the full interview with Sarah Harman Olivia mentioned here .   Obsessions Becca - Milk Duds Olivia - Vitality Leggings/Shorts (Bonus: Olivia's High is Yo...

It's time for Part 2 of our 2025 reading preview! We invited some friends of the pod to chat about the books they're most excited to pick up this year!    Lauren Puckett-Pope's Picks - Katabasis by R. F. Kuang (Out August 26), Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab   Kristen L. Berry's Picks - Greenwich by Kate Broad (Out July 22) , It's Different This Time by Joss Richard (Out Septem...

It's time to check in on our 2025 Goals! Are we on track with our writing goals? Did Becca reduce her screen time? Did Olivia manage to give up Jarlic? Keep listening to find out!    Obsessions Olivia - Bose Ultra Open Headphones Becca - Stick Season (Her Version) by Deeps   What we read this week Becca - Hazel Says No by Jessica Berger Gross (out 6/17), The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig ,...

It's time for our June Three Things! But first, vote for our July Book Club Pick in our Facebook Group ! Stay tuned for discussions about TJR getting the star treatment in Time magazine, the state of indie podcasting, a book battle mini-game, and more!    Becca's Things Taylor Jenkins Reid's Time Profile The efficacy of learning languages via Duolingo Podcast Longevity    Olivia's Things Hailey Bi...