To talk about ACOTAR, Jessica is joined this week by special guest Alyssa Morris, whose popular Romancing the Phone newsletter demystifies into BookTok trends and digs into the publishing industry. Alyssa and Jessica talk about the phenomenon of A Court of Thorn and Roses (banned statewide in Utah schools), what's really happening with romance and romantasy, and why these genres deserve such respect. Don't worry, we also cover fairy smut!

Join the conversation on Substack! If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support our podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us in two weeks as Christine and Jessica discuss Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin!

Episode 6 links:

• Alyssa's newsletter, Romancing the Phone
• Alyssa's website
• About ACOTAR from Alpha Reader, AP News, and Utah State Board of Education

Alyssa's Recs:

Romance:

• We Could Be So Good and You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian
• Beach Read and Book Lovers by Emily Henry
• Pretty Face by Lucy Parker
• Psy Changeling series by Nalini Singh
• You Made A Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
• A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
• What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long

YA:

• Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door, and Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, plus her upcoming adult romance debut Overdue (October)
• The Wallflower series by Lisa Kleypas

Romantasy:

• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Taahir,
• The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi,
• Radiance by Grace Draven

Jessica's Romance/Romantasy Recs:

Anything by:

• Naina Kumar
• Ali Hazelsood
• Nisha Sharma
• Ehi

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Read, Review, and Recommend! These are the suggestions by today's guest, children's book author, Rob Sanders, about how to support writers of challenged and banned books. Join us for this delightful conversation about the cutest book we will ever feature on this show, Book Comes Home: A Banned Book Journey--Rob's most recent book that had us reminiscing about our own dearly beloved childhood favorites--as well as Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag, which remains one of the most banned children's book in the US. Make sure to check out Rob's recommendations for organizations he loves below!

Join the conversation on Substack! If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support our podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us in two weeks as Jessica discusses A Court of Thorn and Roses with special guest, Alyssa Morris (May 6)!

Episode 5 links:

• Rob Sanders's website
• Book Comes Home
• Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag
• Pride and Less Prejudice, which provides LGBTQ-inclusive books to Pre-K through 3rd grade classrooms to help students and teachers “Read out loud, read out proud!”
• Florida Freedom to Read Project: defending every student’s right to access information and ideas while at school.

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Is this the funniest episode about The Satanic Verses ever recorded? We like to think so! Join us as Christine and Jessica finish their discussion on this controversial book. Jessica loved it, Christine not so much, but they both found it deeply relevant to our current day.

Join the conversation on Substack! If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support our podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Episode 3 Links:

• "The Satanic Verses," Brittanica
• "A tsunami of outrage: Salman Rushdie and The Satanic Verses," The Guardian, August 2022
• "What is a fatwa and why did Iran issue one against Salman Rushdie for The Satanic Verses in 1989?" The Independent, April 2024
• "New Jersey man is convicted of attempted murder in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie," Associated Press, February 2025
• “The Salman Rushdie Affair: Apostasy, Honor, and Freedom of Speech," M.M. Slaughter,Virginia Law Review, vol. 79, no. 1, 1993, pp. 153–204. JSTOR.

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Christine and Jessica discuss one of the most controversial books in the world since its publication in 1988. Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses caused an immediate uproar; after the Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa, Rushdie spent ten years in hiding. Even when it was over, he was not safe: a knife-wielding attacker in 2022 stabbed him in the face and neck, resulting in several injuries and the loss of his sight in one eye--that attacker will be sentenced in April. Ever wondered why the book was so controversial and what Rushdie said that was so offensive? Join us for the first of two parts on this fascinating, scandalous book!

Join the conversation on Substack! If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support our podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Episode 3 Links:

• "The Satanic Verses," Brittanica
• "A tsunami of outrage: Salman Rushdie and The Satanic Verses," The Guardian, August 2022
• "What is a fatwa and why did Iran issue one against Salman Rushdie for The Satanic Verses in 1989?" The Independent, April 2024
• "New Jersey man is convicted of attempted murder in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie," Associated Press, February 2025
• “The Salman Rushdie Affair: Apostasy, Honor, and Freedom of Speech," M.M. Slaughter,Virginia Law Review, vol. 79, no. 1, 1993, pp. 153–204. JSTOR.

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Whew, Christine has THOUGHTS in today's episode as she and Jessica discuss All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson, one of the most frequently banned books in the country. Christine makes the point that, just because a book shouldn't be banned, doesn't mean it shouldn't be critiqued. But what are the boundaries of that criticism, and how do we grapple with those questions in an age of censorship?

Please note: this episode uses explicit language in a few instances.

Join the conversation on Substack! If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Episode 2 Links:

• George M. Johnson's website
• Publishers Weekly book deal announcement for their forthcoming books
• A 2022 NPR piece about the book being banned

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

In the first episode of season 3, Christine and Jessica ask the question that is on everyone's lips: WTF, USA? They look at the state of the country and book banning in these deeply unprecedented times--and still, as always, find both humor and hope.

We announced in this episode: you can now find us on Substack too! Sign up to join our community and support our work; you can hear episodes of "The Beautiful and Banned" there (though nothing else will change--we're still on all the same podcast sites). You can support us by pledging to "The Injustice Report," where we're including the podcast as part of Jessica's relaunched newsletter that delivers "reporting that bends the arc of justice." If you'd prefer to be a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you have questions for us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us in two weeks as Christine and Jessica discuss All Boys Aren't Blue (March 11).

Episode 1 Links:

• From The Guardian, a look at what PEN America says about this particular moment
• January 24 notice: U.S. Department of Education Ends Biden’s Book Ban Hoax and a response from The 19th News; ALA's response: "Book bans are real"
• January 29 Executive Order: “ENDING RADICAL INDOCTRINATION IN K-12 SCHOOLING”
• Every Library's report on "Legislation of Concern"
• From Texas Freedom to Read Project's Texas Legislative Session Overview, and Frank Strong's "Anger and Clarity" newsletter: subscribe today!
• Read Jessica's latest book, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

In this season finale, Christine and Jessica reflect on the first two seasons of "The Beautiful and Banned" in a year in which book banning has exploded in our country--more than 10,000 books were banned in the last school year alone, up from a record 3,000+ the year before. After two seasons of the podcast, Jessica and Christine talk about what they've learned, four moments that stood out to each of them, what is coming next year, and what brings them hope for the future. You don't want to miss it!

"The Beautiful and Banned" will return with Season 3 in early 2025! Stay tuned for more details!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

Read Jessica's latest book, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Episode 14 Links:

• Frank Strong's "Anger and Clarity" newsletter: subscribe today!
• "The Threat of Project 2025" (In the episode, Jessica erroneously said Project 2025 was 900 words long--it's 900+ pages long. Words are hard.)

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

Christine and Jessica discuss Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. This seminal work explores the idea that we are always connected to our national and familial past--in this case, literally. As they discuss, many of the concepts in The Handmaid's Tale that are apocalyptic possibilities--oppressive treatment of women, forced pregnancies, restricting the right to read and write--are all things that actually happened to Black women in US history. This book (among many others) is a necessary addition to the conversation about preserving the freedom to read for everyone. Plus, this book is just so dang good!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

Read Jessica's latest book, We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you!

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Steph Karpuek is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Join us next week as Christine and Jessica recap the year in the season finale!

Episode 13 Links:

• Bio of Octavia Estelle Butler
• Buy Kindred by Octavia Butler
• "Octavia Butler's Science Fiction Predicted the World We Live In," New York Times
• Book banning in prisons, Equal Justice Initiative
• Jessica's last event of 2024 at BookWoman in Austin, Texas on December 15

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!