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Babes in Bookland

Alex

44 episodes

6 days ago

If belonging feels like love, purpose, and family… how do you tell when it’s actually something darker? In this episode, we sit with the hard truths behind Bethany Joy Lenz’s memoir Dinner for Vampires. Through the quiet metaphor of a “meal” that slowly turns devouring, Joy reveals how a search for purpose and belonging can be manipulated by those who feed on vulnerability. We explore the slow erosion of identity, the psychological grip of coercive groups, and the courage it takes to push bac...

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If belonging feels like love, purpose, and family… how do you tell when it’s actually something darker? In this episode, we sit with the hard truths behind Bethany Joy Lenz’s memoir Dinner for Vampires. Through the quiet metaphor of a “meal” that slowly turns devouring, Joy reveals how a search for purpose and belonging can be manipulated by those who feed on vulnerability. We explore the slow erosion of identity, the psychological grip of coercive groups, and the courage it takes to push bac...

Show more...

Episodes (20/44)

Babes in Bookland

Coming Back to Life // Bethany Joy Lenz's "Dinner for Vampires"

If belonging feels like love, purpose, and family… how do you tell when it’s actually something darker? In this episode, we sit with the hard truths behind Bethany Joy Lenz’s memoir Dinner for Vampires. Through the quiet metaphor of a “meal” that slowly turns devouring, Joy reveals how a search for purpose and belonging can be manipulated by those who feed on vulnerability. We explore the slow erosion of identity, the psychological grip of coercive groups, and the courage it takes to push bac...

1 week ago

1 hour 15 minutes

Babes in Bookland

Power and Pride // Geena Rocero's Memoir "Horse Barbie"

How can you reclaim your truth and your power? We’re diving into Horse Barbie, Geena Rocero’s radiant and illuminating memoir that shows her journey from a one-room home in Manila, Philippians, to trans pageants, from the perfume counter at Macy’s to New York fashion sets, and from private, suffocating, fear to a TED Talk that reframed transness as power. Along the way, we discuss her father’s complicated love, her mother’s unwavering belief and reflect on what can spark when the people who m...

2 weeks ago

1 hour 7 minutes

Babes in Bookland

AUTHOR CHAT: Brittany Penner on Her Memoir "Children Like Us"

What if home isn’t a place you find, but a place you build step by step? I sit down with author and family physician, Brittany Penner, to unpack Children Like Us: A Métis Woman's Memoir of Family, Identity and Walking Herself Home, her powerful Métis memoir about identity, adoption, and the radical work of healing. From being carried out of the hospital by a social worker to navigating a white Mennonite upbringing, Brittany traces how the Sixties Scoop shaped her beginnings and how line...

3 weeks ago

56 minutes

Babes in Bookland

BONUS: What Lies Beneath

What a treat! This month's Bonus Episode: What Lies Beneath is available for all! No subscription required :) PLEASE if you have not watched the movie, do that first and then listen to this episode! My friend, Priscilla, stops in for a deep dive into why this psychological thriller still stings: Michelle Pfeiffer’s nerve and nuance, Harrison Ford’s brilliant portrayal, and Robert Zemeckis’s love letter to Hitchcock that uses mirrors, windows, and water to make the ordinary feel unsafe. We un...

1 month ago

57 minutes

Babes in Bookland

Motivation and Mindset // Emma Lovewell's "Live, Learn, Love Well"

What if the phrases you hear in a workout could actually carry you through the hardest chapters of your life? My friend Suz and I sat down with Emma Lovewell’s memoir, "Live Learn Love Well", and followed the thread from the bike to real-world resilience: family roots on Martha’s Vineyard, the ache of divorce, the shock of loss, and the steady return to self through movement, mindfulness, and self-respect. We talk about why “progress, not perfection” is more than a punchy motto—i...

1 month ago

49 minutes

Babes in Bookland

AUTHOR CHAT: Amy Gallo Ryan on Her Memoir "You May Feel a Bit of Pressure"

A crowded waiting room where no one speaks. That image frames my conversation with author Amy Gallo Ryan, whose memoir You May Feel a Bit of Pressure captures the invisible weight of infertility. Its medical routines, social silences, and the way hope can both carry and cut. We dig into why she wrote the book she couldn’t find, how ten years of drafting and revising turned chaos into story, and what it means to share the truth when the truth isn’t tidy. Amy walks us through the physica...

1 month ago

59 minutes

Babes in Bookland

It's Britney, B*tch // Britney Spears' "The Woman in Me"

What does it feel like when your voice is taken from you? In Britney Spears' groundbreaking memoir "The Woman in Me," we finally hear directly from the pop icon herself after years of silence enforced by a suffocating conservatorship. Reading this memoir alongside my good friend Lizzie was a profound experience. Britney's story isn't just celebrity gossip; it's a stark warning about how easily a woman's autonomy can be stripped away under the guise of "protection." While she was creati...

2 months ago

1 hour 14 minutes

Babes in Bookland

When Silence Breaks, Hope Emerges // Chanel Miller's "Know My Name"

What happens when a woman refuses to remain nameless? Chanel Miller's extraordinary memoir "Know My Name" transforms her painful journey from sexual assault victim to powerful advocate with unflinching honesty and surprising grace. In this deeply moving discussion, my friend, Becca, and I explore how Chanel reclaimed her identity after being known only as "Emily Doe" in the highly publicized Stanford sexual assault case. Beyond the headlines that focused on her attacker's swimmin...

2 months ago

1 hour 26 minutes

Babes in Bookland

AUTHOR CHAT: Kaila Yu on Her Memoir "Fetishized"

What happens when we confront the ways we've perpetuated stereotypes? Kaila Yu joins me to discuss her raw, unflinching journey from pin up girl and import model to memoirist. Kaila's memoir "Fetishized" emerged from the aftermath of the Atlanta spa shootings, forcing her to reckon with her own relationship with Asian fetishization. With remarkable candor, she reveals how she initially welcomed the attention that came with being an "exotic" Asian American woman after feeling invisible during...

2 months ago

48 minutes

Babes in Bookland

Hair, Hope, and the Burden of Being Human // Allison Landa's "Bearded Lady"

What defines beauty, and who decides if we're worthy of love? In this deeply personal conversation about Alison Landa's memoir "Bearded Lady," my friend, Misty, and I explore the profound struggle of living with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), condition that causes excessive body hair growth, and the lifelong journey toward self-acceptance. Allison's story begins in childhood when her mother, rather than filling a prescription that could help manage her condition, simply teaches h...

3 months ago

1 hour 16 minutes

Babes in Bookland

Purr-fect Love // Dr. Amy Attas' "Pets and the City"

Do our pets make us better people? My friend, Priscilla, and I think so! We chat about this idea and more as we discuss Dr. Amy Attas’ memoir "Pets and the City: True Tales of a Manhattan House Call Veterinarian." When Dr. Amy Attas found herself unexpectedly fired from a prestigious Manhattan veterinary clinic, she did something revolutionary—she launched the city's first full-time veterinary house call practice. What began as a professional setback blossomed into a groundbreaking career tha...

3 months ago

1 hour 13 minutes

Babes in Bookland

Childfree by Choice // Maria Coffey's "Instead"

What happens when you choose a life without children in a world that expects motherhood? Maria Coffey's memoir "Instead: Navigating Adventures of a Childfree Life" explores this question through her extraordinary journey from near-death experiences to global adventures. My friend, Jaime, and I discuss her inspiring conviction to live her life on her own terms. Through vivid storytelling, we travel alongside Maria from her 1950s Catholic upbringing to her daring escape from tradi...

4 months ago

59 minutes

Babes in Bookland

Grief, Love, and Self-Discovery // Sarah Gormley's "The Order of Things"

What shapes who we become? Is it the milestones we achieve, the people we love, or the pain we endure? Sarah Gormley's "The Order of Things: A Memoir of Chasing Joy" offers no simple answers, but instead invites us into the beautiful messiness of one woman's journey toward self-acceptance and self-love. When Sarah returns to her family farm to care for her dying mother, she's at a crossroads. She’s burnt out from a corporate career that never fulfilled her and haunted by a relentless i...

4 months ago

1 hour 10 minutes

Babes in Bookland

The Playboy Prison // Part Two of Crystal Hefner's "Only Say Good Things"

What happens when the fairy tale turns out to be a gilded cage? In part two this raw and revealing exploration, we continue our conversation about Crystal Hefner's memoir "Only Say Good Things" alongside Holly Madison's "Down the Rabbit Hole" to uncover the dark reality behind the Playboy Mansion's glamorous façade. The conversation peels back layers of manipulation, control, and psychological erosion that defined life for Hugh Hefner's girlfriends. Despite the surface-level luxu...

5 months ago

1 hour 1 minute

Babes in Bookland

More Than a Bunny // Part One of Crystal Hefner's "Only Say Good Things"

Crystal Hefner's memoir "Only Say Good Things" takes us behind the glittering façade of the Playboy Mansion into a world of manipulation, trauma, and ultimately, self-discovery. Brett joins me to unpack this raw, unflinching account that exposes the dark reality of Hugh Hefner's empire and the psychological toll it took on the women within it. Our conversation doesn't shy away from difficult truths. We explore how Crystal's early trauma—losing her father at age 12 and experiencing multiple s...

5 months ago

1 hour 8 minutes

Babes in Bookland

The Invisible Weapon Against Women // Melissa Petro's "Shame on You"

What if the shame you've carried your entire life isn't yours to bear? In this unflinchingly honest memoir, Melissa Petro invites us on her journey from girlhood to empowered womanhood, challenging us to examine the roots of our own shame along the way. Growing up with a mother who overshared inappropriate details and a father who maintained separate lives, Melissa absorbed confusing messages about her worth from an early age. As she navigated adolescence and sexual awakening, she found her...

6 months ago

1 hour 16 minutes

Babes in Bookland

The Immeasurable Worth of Every Life // Heather Lanier's "Raising a Rare Girl"

What makes a life valuable? When Heather Lanier's daughter was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome (WHS)-- a rare condition affecting just 1 in 50,000 births-- she was forced to confront just how deeply our society ranks human worth based on "normalcy". My cousin, Kimmy, joins me to share her parallel journey raising a daughter with septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) and how it mirrors Heather’s powerful and moving memoir. Join us as we dive into the raw reality of hearing doctors casual...

6 months ago

1 hour 9 minutes

Babes in Bookland

Blonde Bombshell // Jessica Simpsons "Open Book"

Can you shine light on the dark parts of your life? Jessica Simpson's memoir, Open Book, is a raw, unfiltered truth from a woman who spent years living her life in the public eye while hiding her deepest struggles. In this heartfelt conversation, my friend, Lizzie, and I unpack Jessica's journey from a pastor's daughter with childhood trauma to pop princess to billion-dollar business mogul. Plus, we explore the profound impact these experiences (plus childhood trauma) had on her identity and...

7 months ago

1 hour 8 minutes

Babes in Bookland

The Weight of the Law // Anna Dorn's "Bad Lawyer"

What happens when the system you joined to fight injustice turns out to be part of the problem? Anna Dorn's memoir "Bad Lawyer" takes readers on a journey through the disillusionment that awaits idealistic young lawyers who enter the profession wanting to make a difference. My friend, Cara (a retired lawyer!) and I discuss how to stay hopeful and find the positives in a "bad" criminal justice system. Though she refers to law as a "hideous heirloom" passed down from her father and grandf...

7 months ago

1 hour 13 minutes

Babes in Bookland

The Impossible and the Inevitable // Hope Jahren’s "Lab Girl"

How can you grow toward the light? When geobiologist Hope Jahren picks up a seed, she sees what most of us miss – not just a potential plant, but a living testament to survival against impossible odds. In Lab Girl, Jahren's extraordinary memoir, these botanical insights become profound metaphors for human resilience, determination, and growth. Join my friend, Page, and I as we dig into this moving memoir. Opening the laboratory doors wide, Jahren invites us into the challenging world o...

8 months ago

1 hour 12 minutes