Episodes

  • Mad Scientist Edition

    Mad Scientist Edition
    Jun 11 2024

    There’s been a strong mad scientist motif running lately with a feminist bent, and we needed to talk about it. Poor Things. Lisa Frankenstein. The Tortured Poets Department--we get into all of it, plus some of our other faves on the trope.

    To keep up with FANTASY+GIRL, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform follow us @TypoPodcasts on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and subscribe to the Typo Podcasts newsletter.

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    59 mins
  • 2023 in Books, Happy New Year, Etc.

    2023 in Books, Happy New Year, Etc.
    Jan 11 2024

    Em and EJ get their act together long enough to rehash the best stories they consumed in books and screen over the past year. Stay tuned for a deep dive into Bunny, Saltburn, Poor Things, among others, and a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT from Em about what to look forward to in 2024.

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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Summer Reading Assignments: EJ's Report on Bunny

    Summer Reading Assignments: EJ's Report on Bunny
    Aug 29 2023

    As we wrap up the summer, E. J. and Emma have completed their summer reading and are ready to report back. Emma assigned E. J. to read Bunny by Mona Awad, a speculative/horror cult favorite with shocking twists and a lot of takes. Bunny, we have a lot to talk about. Egregious spoilers ahead.

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    32 mins
  • Summer Reading: The Series

    Summer Reading: The Series
    Jul 9 2023

    FANTASY+GIRL is going back to school with a series dedicated to the nostalgia of summer reading assignments! For the series, Emma C. Wells and EJ Wenstrom will be challenging each other with SFF books to read, and then come back to discuss.

    Keep going--Emma and EJ have already announced what they're challenging each other to read first:

    Tune and and read along to join the discussion in the next episodes:

    • What EJ is Assignging Emma to Read
    • What Emma is Assignment EJ to Read
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    19 mins
  • Summer Reading Series: Emma's Assignment for EJ

    Summer Reading Series: Emma's Assignment for EJ
    Jul 8 2023

    FANTASY+GIRL Podcast is back with a new series celebrating summer reading! Emma and EJ are
    choosing a book for the other to read. The duo will then lead a deep dive into the chosen stories on the podcast! Which book did Emma choose for EJ?

    BUNNY by Mona Awad. Emma chose this book hoping to appeal to EJ’s love of weird—but well
    written—speculative fiction. EJ loves Catherine House and Her Fearful Symmetry—and Emma thinks
    Bunny fits nicely with those titles (even if it is a bit weirder…possibly even darker?). The story has dark academia vibes with a dose of Mean Girls…but with magic and monsters. Sort of…

    How can you join the fun? Easy! Read Bunny, and let the Emma and EJ know what you think!

    You can comment on their social media or email them at fantasygirlpodcast@gmail.com

    Bunny, we can’t wait to hear from you!

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    2 mins
  • Summer Reading Series: EJ's Assignment for Emma

    Summer Reading Series: EJ's Assignment for Emma
    Jul 6 2023

    FANTASY+GIRL is going back to school with a series dedicated to the nostalgia of summer reading assignments! For the series, Emma C. Wells and E. J. Wenstrom will be challenging each other with SFF books to read, and then come back to discuss. Here, E. J. reveals what she's challenging Emma to read first, and why.

    EJ is assigning Emma to read HOW TO LIVE SAVELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE by Charles Yu.

    EJ has been a Charles Yu fan for years and this was the novel that started the obsession. This story starts with a time travel repairman stuck in a mutliverse full of tropey playfulness that any science fiction fan is going to get a kick out of, but underneath it, this is a story about a man trying to untangle the mess left behind when his father mysteriously disappeared, and what that means for himself and his mother left behind.

    (Hint: EJ loves audiobooks but says to read this one in print because of the mathematical formulas and creative use of space on the page)

    How can you join the fun? Easy! Read How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and let the Emma and EJ know what you think!

    You can comment on their social media or email them at fantasygirlpodcast@gmail.com

    ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
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    4 mins
  • Stuff We (Mostly) Liked in 2022

    Stuff We (Mostly) Liked in 2022
    Dec 18 2022
    In which we ramble on about random things we like and a few things we don’t. NOTE: FANTASY+GIRLS stands with the HarperCollins union.Wow! It’s been an entire year since Emma and EJ hosted their last episode of SFF Girls. Last we saw our heroes, they were in a cabin in the Georgia mountains, drinking and making s’mores.Em plugs TikTok bc why not?It has been a good year for speculative fiction—but especially horror. 2021 was the year for Rom-Coms—but 2022 is all about the horror (and okay—rom-coms still reign supreme…but horror is having a moment!)Em shares how she went on sub in 2020 with a dark book, and it didn’t do well because no one was in the headspace to deal with a really dark book—but now it seems readers (and editors) have come back to the dark side.EJ talks about films like BARBARIAN, THE MENU, and NOPE. Female cannibal stories are also having a moment. Em talks about the cannibal to smutty smut pipeline. Em read WE WERE EARTHLINGS. Em suggests checking the trigger warnings before beginning this book. The second book was BONES AND ALL—the book came out in 2015, and the movie was released recently. BONES AND ALL is a warm, coming of age story—except she eats people she cares about. Again, check the trigger warnings.Next up was TENDER IS THE FLESH. Holy crap. This book broke Em. Em says the ending of the book is bad—but not BAD as in not good. Bad as in everything. Devastating.Next up for Em was A CERTAIN HUNGER—but after TENDER IS THE FLESH, she had to take a break from dark books, and this is how she discovered Ruby Dixon and alien corn. EJ read and liked the book MANHUNT by Gretchen Felker-Martin.MANHUNT is a futuristic dystopian where there are no men. The book centers on trans characters who are attempting to navigate this post-apocalyptic world that is being ransacked by an army of TERFs who are trying to reorganize society.Em asked EJ what horror movies she watched in 2022 that made her stand up and take notice.EJ segways into mentioning the amount of really good content that came out in 2022 and how it was almost too much—talk about decision paralysis. EJ points out how she is over big franchises—simply because of the sheer amount of content. She says the exception is WANDAVISION. Em asks if she has seen DOCTOR STRANGE and says that Marvel did Wanda very dirty in that movie.Em asks EJ if she watched HOUSE OF DRAGONS. EJ hasn’t and Em says she believes it is worth sticking out the slow first couple of episodes because it gets good…but adds that EJ could probably just wait for next season.Em points out that Matt Smith is in HOUSE OF DRAGONS—and Em was a huge Doctor Who fan, so it was fun to see him in this completely different role.EJ points out that there was a big announcement in the DOCTOR WHO universe. The next Doctor was announced and will be Ncuti Gatwa—who will be the first Doctor Who of color.EJ asked Em if she is still following Doctor Who and Em explains how she hasn’t watched as much as she usually does. She wanted to really like Jodi Whitaker—the first female Doctor Who—but felt the writers did the character dirty and couldn’t sink into any of the story lines.Of course, we must talk about WEDNESDAY. Em is still watching—but EJ devoured the entire series. Jenna Ortega is perfect as the titular character.EJ and Em make plans to unpack the series once Em finishes the show. EJ isn’t 100% with how the story arc wraps up.We must talk about STRANGER THINGS. EJ points out that it ended on a cliffhanger—and Em says she didn’t remember that. Em thinks that EJ missed the release of the second half. However, since this episode wrapped—Em has concluded that EJ is correct.Em keeps calling Vecna, Vecnal. Oops.Em really is just inventing STRANGER THINGS facts at this point. Here is a link to an article that summarizes what EJ and Em are discussing and gives detailed information in case, like Em, you are a bit foggy on the subject: How Many Kids Were In Hawkins Lab (& How Many Are Dead?) (screenrant.com)STOP SAYING VECNAL. Lol.Em brings the conversation back to horror in 2022. She follows a Big Five editor on Tik Tok who does publishing question and answers. One of the questions was, why have so many witch books come out recently.The editor (on TikTok as @bhvide) speculates that the books that are coming out now were written by authors who got their first spark of an idea for the stories years ago during the women’s march. Witches have long been a symbol of women’s pain and rage and one of the slogans chanted during the march was something like, “We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn’t burn.” Em asks EJ about her witch novel. EJ worries that she is missing her moment, since her novel is not yet out. Em says that she doesn’t think EJ has anything to worry about—witches aren’t going anywhere. EJ asks Em if she watched OUTER RANGE on Amazon.OUTER RANGE science fiction with a Western motif. EJ ...
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • In Which We Rise from the Dead

    In Which We Rise from the Dead
    Oct 22 2021
    We're back, and just in time for a Halloween episode! Tag along (and bring your best axe and/or brain-bashing bat) as we take a deep meandering dive into our favorite zombies.
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    1 hr and 22 mins