Fat Girl Book Club

Unbearable Weight by Susan Bordo

Amanda's Book Recommendations

The Embodiment of Disobedience by Andrea Elizabeth Shaw

Can't Buy My Love by Jean Kilbourne

Episode Links

Big Fat Blog

Fat Body Politics Blog

Abundant Bodies

Maintenance Phase Podcast

Fat Activism by Charlotte Cooper

Killer Fat by Natalie Boero

NHANES Survey

Katherine Flegal Study

Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings

Fat in the Fire Article

This is Thin Privilege Blog

Body of Truth by Harriet Brown

All About Love by bell hooks

In Transit by Dianna E. Anderson

enSeptember 01, 2022

BONUS EPISODE: What Do I Listen To During Your Break?

List of a few of the podcasts I really like for you to check out during the break:

Friend recommendations

Going Beyond the Food Show

Skate Date

Fat Like Me

More Than Tracy Turnbald

Fat Chicks on Top

Fat Girl Book Club Guests and Podcasters

Fat Theory Book Club

Fierce Fattie

Embodiment for the Rest of Us

Body Liberation for All

The Gaslit Fattie

Lala's Bedtime Tales

Popular Podcasts to Check Out

Maintenance Phase

Rebel Eaters Club

Swipe Fat

The Fat Doctor Podcast

enAugust 30, 2022

body acceptance podcast

Fat on Film by Barbara Plotz with Haz Cady

I've had a lot of chats on this podcast with people who've become friends after the show but rarely do I get to chat to a friend I had before getting them on the show (see my chat with Chavonne about Fierce Fattie or with Pascale about The Fat Lady Sings to see a couple I have done), but this episode is with a friend. I met Haz Cady when my podcast was very new and we've had some great chats ever since (almost three years worth of chatting about books!). This episode is basically an opportunity for you listeners to sit in with us as we talk about Fat on Film by Barbara Plotz. I know you're going to love the relaxed vibe. We talk about a lot of things, including:

Haz's journey to fat acceptance (in three parts...like a book...get it?)
Haz's eating disorder and what food means now
Melissa McCarthy and Rebel Wilson as our only fat representation (...and Queen Latifah but we talk about how her representation is different than the other two)
Masculinity in film or how men have to walk a body image line too
Femininity in film or how femininity always comes back to men
The lines fat actors have to walk
The use of a larger body as an inherently funny body in comedy
The way the camera angles, the sound effects, the choreography allow for the audience to laugh at the actor's body
Is there any attempt to soften the fat phobia in film?
The trope of the fat person eating
A discussion about Harry Potter
Fat people as outsiders and deviations from the norm
Fat, people of color in film
The way this book has changed our film watching experiences FOREVER!
Difference between film and theatre representation

Keep Reading Everyone!

Haz's Links

Haz's Twitter

Archive of our Own Page

Fat Girl Book Club Podcast Links

Fattily Ever After by Stephanie Yeboah

Fat Girl Book Club on IG

Email: fatgirlbookclubpod@gmail.com

Book Recommendations

You Have the Right to Remain Fat by Virgie Tovar

Episode Links

Sadie Collins article

You Should See the Other Guy Podcast

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Fat Girl on a Plane by Kelly DeVos

enAugust 18, 2022

Big Girl by Kelsey Miller with Chelsea Levy

I had Big Girl by Kelsey Miller on my TBR pile for a really long time. I even sent out a note a few years (yes YEARS!) ago on social media looking for someone to read it with me, but I didn't get any takers so when Chelsea Levy mentioned this book as being a really important part of her journey to body liberation during an IG live a few months ago, I had to invite her on to discuss it with me and boy am I glad I did! This book is so good. I don't think there is a better memoir that covers intuitive eating out there (correct me if you have another title). Hear all about it in my discussion available for download tomorrow. Here are some of the topics Chelsea and I cover:

Chelsea's journey with intuitive eating and body liberation
Being on an intuitive eating journey while pursuing a dietetics certification
Why Big Girl was important to Chelsea's journey and how Kelsey Miller's experience overlaps with Chelsea's life
Defining intuitive eating
What parts of intuitive eating is Chelsea working on now?
The difference in the way that Kelsey approached food versus exercise
A discussion around "reasonable" dieting
The similarities between new diet and new love
Does our body size have meaning?
Mindfulness as a tool for distraction
The ending that wasn't really an ending
What this book was missing (please write another book Kelsey!!!!)

Keep Reading Everyone!

Chelsea's Links

Website

Fat Girl Book Club Links

Patreon

Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls by Jes Baker

Episode Book Recommendations

The Fat Lady Sings by Cheryl Fuller

enAugust 04, 2022

Fat Girls in Black Bodies by Joy Arlene Renee Cox with Angel Austin

I don't think I knew when Angel Austin of Sacred Space for Black Bodies asked to read Fat Girls in Black Bodies by Dr Joy Cox that it would be such a perfect match, but Angel and this book go hand-in-hand. A big theme of this book is building community and Angel has incredible community building projects on the go, including mutual aid resources, a fat resource directory and sacred space, which is a vision of such proportions that you will have to listen to Angel's own words to understand how incredible it truly is. Other topics we covered in our chat include:

• How Angel got into fat liberation

• The creation of Sacred Space for Fat Bodies

• Dealing with trolls on the internet

• Weight stigma around health

• How this book connects to Angel's life

• Community - what it is and how we create it

Keep Reading Everyone!

Angel's Links

I will put a kickstarter link when the campaign starts but in the meantime stay connected with Angel using any of these links:
IG: @Sacredspaceforfatbodies (https://instagram.com/sacredspaceforfatbodies?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

Facebook: Sacred Space for Fat Bodies (https://www.facebook.com/sacredspaceforfatbodies/)

Twitter: @SSforFB (https://twitter.com/SSforFB?t=N2omoHRx3nsYDWO3e7CtaQ&s=09)

Tiktok: @Sacredspaceforfatbodies (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdotm366/)

Discord: Sacred Space for Fat Bodies (https://discord.com/invite/HudYxm7PC2)

Website: Sacredspaceforfatbodies.org

Email: angel@sacredspaceforfatbodies.org

Support Angel’s work directly by subscribing to her Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/Sacredspaceforfatbodies) or sending a tip via Paypal to: aaustin0828@gmail.com

Fat Girl Book Club Podcast Links

Patreon page

Email: fatgirlbookclubpod@gmail.com

Other Episode Links

enJuly 21, 2022

Gendered Bodies and Public Scrutiny by Victoria Kannen with Layla Cameron

This is the second of two episodes on Gendered Bodies and Public Scrutiny by Victoria Kannen. This time though I chatted with Layla Cameron, a fat activist based close to my hometown in Vancouver, BC, Canada. You definitely do not have to listen to the first episode to get something out of this conversation but the first conversation provides a framework of the book and of this discussion. We cover a lot of ground including:

Layla's journey to becoming a fat activist
Changes Layla has seen in Vancouver
Differences between Vancouver and Toronto
Clothing for fat people and the fat tax
The concept of the third eye
The elimination of fatness from the discussion in the book
The fat spectrum
Fat stigma as the "last" acceptable form of discrimination
What is a body story and how does that interact with your identity
How body positivity has been made palatable to the masses
The Well Meaning Stranger
Let your freak flag fly!!!
Staring and the gaze
What resistance means to Layla
Fat Joy and body movement
The ultimate radical act

Layla's Links
Layla's Website
Stay Fat Website
Layla's work
Fat in YVR podcast

Fat Girl Book Club Links
Patreon page
Fearless Podcasting
Fat Girl Book Club IG

Episode Links
Gendered Bodies and Public Scrutiny by Victoria Kannen
Bodies by Susie Orbach
Exile in Pride by Eli Claire
Thickening Fat: Fat bodies, intersectionality and social justice edited by May Friedman, Carla Rice, Jen Rinaldi
Big: Stories about life in plus-sized bodies edited by Christina Myers
Fat Girls Hiking IG
Fat Girls Hiking Documentary

enJuly 07, 2022

Gendered Bodies and Public Scrutiny by Victoria Kannen with Victoria Kannen

This week on the pod we are doing another round of a book deep dive. In the episode released tomorrow I will be chatting to Victoria Kannen about her book called Gendered Bodies and Public Scrutiny. In two weeks, I'll be chatting to a fat activist about the same book for extra insights and powerful takeaways. In this discussion Victoria and I set up the framework of how our body stories are constructed. Here are some of the highlights of our discussion:

Who is Victoria Kannen and what is her body story?
How different Victoria's experience has been to her sister's experience even though they are close to the same height
Being awed and odd
Blending
The way the book combines art, theory and stories
Covid and how it could have impacted the interviews
The meaning of a stare
The Well-Meaning Stranger
Quiet Resistance
How this framework can apply to fat bodies

Keep Reading Everyone!

Victoria's Links

Gendered Bodies and Public Scrutiny

Victoria's Twitter

Victoria's IG

Fat Girl Book Club Links

Patreon Link

IG Link

Email address: fatgirlbookclubpod@gmail.com

enJune 23, 2022

Fat Girl Walking by Brittany Gibbons with Katie Winnen

I am so excited for you to listen to this week's episode. I stumbled across Katie Winnen's podcast by chance and heard a genuine joyfulness in her voice. I invited her on my pod and was so happy to find out that she is authentically joyful. I mean, I really wish I lived closer to her because I have a feeling I would be trying to hang out on patios constantly with this woman. She is just real and authentic. It was an absolute pleasure getting to know her. Here are some of the highlights of our discussion:

How Katie found body liberation
The value and importance of community
Katie's trip to Armenia and her encounters with fatphobia while there
How Katie knew about Brittany Gibbons
What Katie related to in this book
Body image construction
Feeling sexy in larger bodies
Does creating social media content help with confidence?
Revenge eating and our relationships with food
People's comments on our bodies
What it means to be a doer

Keep Reading Everyone!

Katie's Links

Peach Please! Podcast

Katie's IG

Fat Girl Book Club Podcast Links

Email Address: fatgirlbookclubpod@gmail.com

Episode Links

Girls Girls podcast

Kelly Belly Ohio IG

Tik Tok accounts to follow:

Hannahtalksbodies

Justmeandmymirror

Fat Girl Book Club

enJune 09, 2022

Fierce Fattie by Vinny Welsby with Chavonne McClay

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Abuse, O-word, biohacking and my disordered body building behaviours, derogatory use of the word, "fat"

This week on the podcast I have a chat with my friend Chavonne about Vinny Welsby's book, Fierce Fattie. I did something I rarely do and just had a chat with my friend, no discussion questions, no intense preparation, just a good old-fashion chin wag! We laughed, we got reflective and hopefully we provided you with things to think about.

In this conversation I chat with Chavonne about:

Chavonne's new podcast adventure
Initial overall thoughts about the book
What we liked about the book
The value of The Life Audit
Cake and why we're hungry now
The connection between the TedX talk and the book
How watching commercials can wreck havoc on our body liberation journeys
Brain trenches
The subtlety of diet culture
The humour in the darkness
Life lessons that impact our body liberation work
What we will take away from this book
Reading this book through a lens of current events
Who we recommend this book to
Body or food grief

Keep reading everyone!

Chavonne's Links

Therapy Homework Podcast and IG

Embodiment for the Rest of Us Podcast and IG

Chavonne's IG

Fat Girl Book Club Links

Fat Girl Book Club Patreon Page

Fat Girl Book Club IG

Episode Links

Fierce Fattie Book

Fierce Fattie Podcast

Vinny's Ted Talk

Body Image with Bri IG

enMay 26, 2022

Fierce Fattie by Vinny Welsby with Vinny Welsby

TRIGGER WARNINGS GALORE: Abuse, disordered eating behaviours, food scarcity, we name a diet

This week on the podcast I have the first of two episodes on Vinny Welsby's book Fierce Fattie. This week I'm chatting with Vinny and next week I'll be chatting with my friend Chavonne about Vinny's book. You get a month of Fierce Fattie - ness!!!!

In this conversation I chat with Vinny about:

I'm thinking about changing my name
Why dogs are the best and Doogle's schedule
Who is Vinny Welsby and how did they become so fabulous?
Getting over the idea that fat is bad
Vinny's Ted Talk and how that turned into the book
How our social media impacts our self-esteem and confidence
The wild moment when things looked "off" to Vinny with the models on an online shopping site
How Vinny's history of food scarcity and abuse factored into their relationship with food
How they eventually got off the diet rollercoaster
How The Life Audit can help you Marie Kondo your body love journey
What does Vinny want you to feel after reading their book?
What has happened since Vinny wrote the book?
Canadian fatphobia versus UK fatphobia

Keep reading everyone!

Vinny's Links

Fierce Fattie Academy

Consulting

Fat Girl Book Club Links

Fat Girl Book Club IG

@bodyliberationwithlindley post

Episode Links

enMay 12, 2022

Alternatives to Health at Every Size

TRIGGER WARNINGS GALORE: Intentional weight loss, disordered eating, disordered exercise, before/after photo discussion, eating disorders

This is a solo episode where I chat about my history with the books Health at Every Size by Lindo Bacon and The F*ck It Diet by Caroline Dooner. I also talk about why I've harmed others when I've talked about these books and what I am going to do going forward.

I also give you a big ol' list of books that are all good alternatives to individual behaviour books like Health at Every Size and The F*ck It Diet. Get that book list HERE

Other links:

@marquisele post

Nicola Haggett

Vinny Welsby

Fat Girl Book Club links:

@fatgirlbookclubpod

My new email address: fatgirlbookclubpod@gmail.com

enApril 28, 2022

The Fat Lady Sings by Cheryl Fuller with Cheryl Fuller and Pascale Jenkins

I don't know why the thought never occurred to me. But it didn't.

If finding a doctor is hard because of the way diet culture has made us all fatphobes, why did I think finding a therapist would be any different?

But I never thought about it like that, until a friend told me about The Fat Lady Sings by Cheryl Fuller, which explores being a therapist in a larger body and finding a therapist in a larger body. It got me thinking and the concepts of the book lingered.

So obviously I asked my friend to talk about it on the show. She asked if we could ask the author to be on the show. So a few months later my friend Pascale, Dr. Fuller and I recorded this really interesting interview where we talk about Dr. Fuller's work and about being fat in therapy spaces. If you have ever been made to feel uncomfortable about your weight when talking to a therapist, this episode is for you.

We discuss:

Dr. Fuller's writing journey
How Pascale found Dr. Fuller's book
Advocating for ourselves in therapy spaces
The grey area between body image issues and body activism
The trauma of microaggressions
How the sitcom Mad About You explains Jungian Complexes
How Dr. Fuller rejected and related to Marion Woodman's work
Dr Fuller and the meaning of fatness
Conversion therapy vs Weight Loss Techniques
How to help people in larger bodies in therapy spaces and how to find a good therapist as a fat person
Love in a larger body

Keep reading everyone!

Dr. Fuller's Links

Website

Twitter

Email - cfullerphd@gmail.com

Fat Girl Book Club Links

Patreon

Episode Links

The Fat Lip interview with Dr. Fuller

Marion Woodman

Book Recommendations

Fat Girl by Judith Moore

Bodies by Susie Orbach

enApril 14, 2022

[REPOST] - Fat Activism by Charlotte Cooper with Cat Pausé

This week I am re-releasing this episode with Cat Pausé. I didn't know her well, in fact we only met twice. I was on her podcast Friend of Marilyn and she was on mine. But her work was brilliant and I was so honoured to have her on the show. She recently, vey suddenly passed away. I wanted to do something to show how amazing she was and how much of an impact she has had on me. The fact she came onto my growing podcast and gave her limited time to a fledging fat liberationist is a true testimony to her generous nature. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to talk to her about something she clearly had so much passion about. Here is the newsletter notes I released just before the show was available for download:

The episode that is going to be released tomorrow is amazing. Truly. If you have never heard of Cat Pausé, then you need to immediately go here and here and here! I don't think I fangirl enough in this episode but in all honesty, I look up to this woman. I think the things she has done in the world of fat activism are exemplary and worthy of praise. Please don't miss this episode.

Cat and I discuss:

Cat's journey to fat politics and her political activism in New Zealand
Why the key too fat liberation has nothing to do with health
Defining fat activism
The palatability of certain fat activism proxies
The different types of fat activism
The three "defining" events of fat activism
The messiness of activism
Cat's experience with burnout and the direction her radio show took because of it
The dominance of US voices in the movement
What it means to Queer fat activism

Rest In Power Cat

Keep reading everyone

enMarch 31, 2022

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad with Serena Nangia

In this conversation with Serena Nangia we get vulnerable. I think part of the reason for that was this book, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad, was personal and triggering. Having said that, we both had really different perspectives because Serena never dieted and grew up in a household with someone who struggled with an eating disorder whereas, I had an eating disorder and spent a few years in a straight sized body. Get ready for a powerful conversation where we cover:

Serena's body image journey
Learning to take care of herself while lifting up the voices of others
Finding support as a fat person
Dating and having sex as a fat person
The thin gaze on the fat body
Trying on clothes in a fat body
The problem with before and after photos
The fetishization of fatness
The experience of watching her sister go through an eating disorder
Exercise when it is a disordered behaviour
The unsatisfying ending of the book

Keep reading everyone!

Serena's links

The Body Activists on IG and FB

The Body Activists Website

The Body Activisim Podcast

The Body Activism Podcast on IG and FB

Fat Girl Book Club Links

Fat Girl Book Club IG

Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings

Fat Girl Book Club Email - fatgirlbookclubpod@gmail.com

Book recommendations

Hunger by Roxane Gay

Belly of the Beast by Da'Shaun Harrison

enMarch 17, 2022

Body of Truth by Harriet Brown with Dr. Lisa Folden

I love book people. If you talk the language of books, you and me, we'll get along and Dr. Lisa, she talked the language of books. Her story into body liberation began with a book that was also my starting point and in this discussion we jump into Harriet Brown's Body of Truth. We cover a lot of ground, including:

Lisa's body liberation journey
How she got away from using diet culture in her physiotherapy practice
Why Lisa picked this book
Harriet Brown's journey with her daughters anorexia
Parenting children to positive body image
Where Lisa got messages about her body growing up
How science, history and culture drive our obsession with weight
Navigating every day life while trying to be body positive
Wanting to burn it all down!
How money and diet culture are entwined
Bypass surgery and the problems it can create
The solutions
Where can people start?

Keep reading everyone!

Dr Lisa's Links

Fat Girl Book Club Links

Health at Every Size by Lindo Bacon

Patreon

Write me an email - fatgirlbookclubpod@gmail.com

Book Recommendations

Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch

Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings

Other Mentions

Let their bodies be blog post

Hunger by Roxane Gay

Killer Fat by Natalie Boero

enMarch 03, 2022

Unashamed by Leah Vernon with Jenn Jackson

Oh boy is this discussion juicy! You remember my chat with Chavonne McClay about Savala Nolan's book Don't Let It Get You Down? Well, my guest this week is Chavonne's cohost on their podcast, Embodiment for the Rest of Us. Meet Jenn Jackson! I am delighted to be chatting to her about Leah Vernon's book Unashamed and boy do we dig deeply into the meaning of that word! We also talk about a bunch of other things, including:

Jenn's body justice and fat liberation journey
Discussing emodiment
Playing the comparison game and finding the space of frictionlessness
What does it mean to be unashamed?
The difference between being unashamed and being vulnerable
How Jenn relates to the word unashamed
Leah's intersections
Handling the binary
How this is different than other autobiographies
Why representation is important

Keep reading everyone!

Jenn's Links

Jenn's website

Embodiment for the Rest of Us Podcast

Fat Girl Book Club Links

I Wish I Were Me Website/ Your Better Body Image Checklist