alison bechdel

It’s been a bit since Kris and Tara sat down together, so there’s a lot of catching up to do! Kris reports back on her experience at the annual GCLS conference, as well as what to expect if you’re a newbie. And Tara’s been on vacation! Well, sorta. Some of it was working. She brings to the podcast tales of her hometown pizza and spending time with some of her many, many cousins. You have a favourite cousin, right? With all the pleasantries done, they dive deep into the oceans of backlogs and recommendations. Release the Kraken…of content!

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Carol (2015)

This week, Kris recommends the 2015 film that got all the sapphics excited: Carol. Having seen it before, Kris’s recollection was that the movie was pretty boring. Thankfully she gave the movie a second chance (to settle a bet, as one does) and….yeah, it’s a completely different movie now. That said, she does have a take that she doesn’t think you’ll see coming. 

From Tara: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

This week, Tara recommends Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomedy. It’s a difficult, challenging, and beautiful book that dives into Bechdel's childhood and her relationship with her father. There are books you read and then there are experiences you have with books. For Tara, this book is an experience.

Works/People Discussed

• Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS)
• Storm Crow Manor
• Glad Day Bookshop
• Alone, Season 10 (History)
• Suits (USA Network)
• A Lesbian’s Guide to Women by Erica Lee
• The Delicate Things We Make by Milena McKay (Narrated by Abby Craden)
• RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars, Season Eight (Paramount+)
• Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus, Seasons 1 + 2 (Cinemax)
• Hack My Home (Netflix)
• Siren: Survive the Island (Netflix)
• The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas
• Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas
• Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby
• Letters Never Sent by Sandra Moran
• The Swashbuckler by Lee Lynch

Support & follow the show

• Buy us a Ko-fi
• Sign up for our newsletter
• Twitter: @queerlyrec
• Facebook: @QueerlyRecommended
• Instagram: @queerlyrecommended
• Tumblr: @queerlyrecommended
• TikTok: @queerlyrecommended
• Get all our links on Linktr.ee
• Support local animal shelters by joining Kris's Patreon

Eric Newman is joined by scholar and critic Juana María Rodríguez to discuss her latest book, Puta Life: Seeing Latinas, Working Sex. Moving between stories gleaned from archives, interviews, and Rodríguez's personal experience, Puta Life explores the proliferating and often incongruous meanings of the term "puta" as it circulates in Latinx identity and culture as a signifier of power and powerlessness, rebellion and revulsion, exaltation and degradation. In accounting for how the figure of the puta is socially produced through the regimes of race, gender, class, and the state, Rodríguez's moving stories of those living, struggling, and thriving on the margins ask us to reckon with the past, present, and future of sex work. 
Also, Claire Dederer, author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma, returns to recommend Alison Bechdel's collection The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For.

Mark has finally selected a song from a musical -- "Ring of Keys" from Fun Home -- and it's got us talking about child actors, the adults we want to become, and the reason Sarah's books are color-coded.

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Booker T. To contact us or buy our pop music books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Listen to this week's news you may have missed, including the TSA's pot-related blunder on its new website; the new Ink Underground park being built under Interstate 93 in the South End; changes coming to the Boston City Council and what's next for the former Boston Flower Exchange building. All that and more on this week's local news roundup!