Truer Words: Recent Episodes
Truer Words
Melissa and Kathryn talk creativity, hustle, and real life with writers, artists, and other creators.
In the 68th episode of Truer Words, we speak with Michelle Quach about graphic design, unlikable female characters, and creating a love interest who does more than just the assigned reading. Michelle is the author of the debut YA, NOT HERE TO BE LIKED. Michelle can be found on Twitter @michellequach and Instagram @_michellequach. Her website is michellequach.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Gold-Plated Girls newsletter: ‘Never Have I Ever’ & Dead Dads & Me by Victoria Edel
Laura Hankin
A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin
The Other Two on HBOMax
Munich
Schitt’s Creek on Netflix
Ted Lasso on Apple+
Constance Grady
Why a Christmas Episode Supercharged the Ted Lasso Debate by Kathryn VanArendonk
Reservation Dogs on Hulu
Only Murders in the Building on Hulu
Moving On, A Love Story - Nora Ephron Apthorp article
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore
League of Extraordinary Women series
The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
Suddenly You by LIsa Kleypas
Fated Mates podcast
Sally Rooney
Why is the Sex in Sally Rooney’s Novels So Good? by Amil Niazi
She’s All That
Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Merritt
Macbeth
Life: A User’s Manual by Georges Perec
The Book Doctors
PitMad
If You, Then Me by Yvonne Woon
In-Between Girl
The Ezra Klein Show: How Blue Cities Became So Outrageously Unaffordable
The Ezra Klein Show: That Anxiety You’re Feeling?
Hana Kh Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 67th episode of Truer Words, we speak with Emma Kress about writing girls in sports, taking risks, and social media as an author. Emma is the author of DANGEROUS PLAY, available now! Emma can be found on Twitter @emma_kress, TikTok @emma_kress, and Instagram @kress.emma. Her website is emmakress.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
All I Wanna Do
Bluey
Bluey is the Best Kids’ Show of Our Time by Kathryn VanArendonk for Vulture
Flat Stanley
The Nanny
Drawn That Way by Elissa Sussman
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Born in Fire / Born in Ice / Born in Shame (Irish Born trilogy) by Nora Roberts
The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery
Reservation Dogs
Sterlin Harjo on WTF with Marc Maron
Killers of the Flower Moon movie
Brendan Fraser Joins Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
The Great House Revival
Cynthia Leitich-Smith
Mary Quattlebaum
Amy King
David Macinnis Gill
A.R. Capetta
Cory McCarthy
Nova Ren Suma
Our episode with Nova Ren Suma
Ruth Ware
Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
Our episode with Tirzah Price
In the Same Boat by Holly Green
Sarah Dessen
When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris
Mare of Easttown
Ted Lasso
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 66th episode of Truer Words, we speak with Margot Wood about Emma retellings, marketing a book as “queer,” and finding community in book lovers. Margot can be found on Twitter @margotwood and Instagram @margotmwood. Her website is margotwood.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Epic Reads
Immersive Van Gogh exhibit
Carrieres de Lumières
Georges Méliès
Hieronymous Bosch
L’Atelier des Lumières Paris
A Black Lady Sketch Show
Issa Rae’s wedding photos
A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin
While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory
Our episode with Jasmine
Emma by Jane Austen
Emma (2020 film)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Adrienne Kisner
Our episode with Adrienne
Meisner technique
Kiersten White
Alphasmart Neo Typewriter
The Princess Diaries
Love, Simon
Insurgent movie
Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Fraser
The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
Bones
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Freddie Prinze Jr.
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 65th episode of Truer Words, we speak with Azadeh Westergaard about illustration, the joys of research, and Nikola Tesla. Azadeh is the author of A LIFE ELECTRIC: THE STORY OF NIKOLA TESLA. She can be found on Twitter @ahwestergaard and Instagram @ahwestergaard. Her website is ahwestergaard.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults
Heartburn by Nora Ephron audiobook read by Meryl Streep
Heartburn movie
Nora Ephron’s “Heartburn” is an Ideal Audiobook by Helen Rosner
Quotation from Heartburn
Fresh by Margot Wood
Emma by Jane Austen
Clueless
Hacks
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Never Have I Ever
Virgin River
Black Widow
Seven Days in June
Thanks for Waiting by Doree Shafrir
Forever35 podcast
Amelia Bedelia
Roseanne Rosannadanna
Júlia Sardà (illustrator of Azadeh’s book)
She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lynn Fulton
Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Júlia Sardà
Laura Hankin
Andrea Bartz and Laura Hankin Talk About Accidentally Writing Similar Novels
Elizabeth Gilbert
Ann Patchett
Big Magic
Newspapers.com
Nikola Tesla Museum
New York Public Library
Archive.org
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Theatre on Film and Tape Archive
Oklahoma! on Broadway
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne
Liz Garton Scanlon
Maira Kalman
Ooh-La-La Max in Love by Maira Kalman
School of Visual Arts
Monica Wellington
Mary Quattlebaum
Martha Brockenbrough
Linda Urban
Patent Pending bar
Patent Pending in Nomad is a Cafe by Day, Speakeasy by Night
Call My Agent!
The Worst Witch
The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy
Sing
Sing 2
Misery
Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe
The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction
Jhumpa Lahiri
“Brownies” by ZZ Packer
The Aspiring Poet’s Journal
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 64th episode of Truer Words, we speak with Cassie Gustafson about writing about sexual assault responsibly, loving dark stories, and Tana French. Cassie can be found on Twitter @cassiegusty and Instagram @cassiegusty. Her website is cassiegustafson.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Djerassi
Nova Ren Suma
Our episode with Nova Ren Suma
World of Our Fathers: The Journey of Eastern European Jews and the Life They Found and Made by Irving Howe
Norma Klein
Just Friends
Margaret
The Cinematic Traumas of Kenneth Lonergan
Melissa’s Bright Wall / Dark Room essay
Margaret issue of Bright Wall / Dark Room
- Smith-Cameron
Succession
You Can Count on Me
Manchester by the Sea
Angels in America
West Side Story
Gosford Park
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
Truly Devious Trilogy by Maureen Johnson
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Finding Water by Julia Cameron
By Now, Burnout is a Given
Band Candy
Earshot - Buffy saves Jonathan
Danny Strong
Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak
Tana French
The Secret Place by Tana French
The Trespasser by Tana French
In the Woods by Tana French
Laurie Faria Stolarz
Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz
The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu
Land directed by Robin Wright
Songland
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 63rd episode of Truer Words, we speak with Kristy Everington about Australian authors, why Americans call everything “cute,” and Ethan Hawke. Kristy is the author of the debut picture book ISOBEL ADDS IT UP. Kristy can be found on Twitter @kmeverington and Instagram @kristyeveryington. Her website is kristyeverington.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey
Our episode with Kerry Winfrey
Starstruck on HBO Max
Ted Lasso on Apple+
Dickinson on Apple+
Hacks on HBO Max
Succession on HBO
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Our episode with Rachel Lynn Solomon
Kirkus review of Isobel Adds It Up
Kathi Appelt
Praise by Andrew McGahan
Sara Zarr
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Jaclyn Moriarty
Melina Marchetta
Tomorrow, When the War Began series by John Marsden
Martine Leavitt
Jane Kurtz
An Na
Not Great, Bob!
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Buffy on Hulu
Angel on Hulu
The X-Files
THE X-FILES TWEET (allegedly, please don’t sue us)
Dawson’s Creek
Our episode with Laurie Morrison
Mare of Easttown on HBO Max
Cruel Summer on Freeform
Vampire’s Promise by Caroline B. Cooney
You by Caroline Kepnes
You TV series
Dig by A.S. King
The Project by Courtney Summers
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 62nd episode of Truer Words, we speak with Camryn Garrett about journalism, film, writing for teens as a teen (and young adult), and DIRTY DANCING. Camryn is the author of two young adult novels, FULL DISCLOSURE and OFF THE RECORD. Camryn can be found on Twitter @dancingofpens and Instagram @camryngwrites. Her website is camryngarrett.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
#1000wordsofsummer on Twitter
#1000wordsofsummer/Craft Talk newsletter by Jami Attenberg
Jami Attenberg
Film at Lincoln Center
World of Wong Kar-Wai
In the Mood for Love
Chungking Express
Criterion Channel
High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America
High on the Hog host Stephen Satterfield
Magnolia Plantation
Michael Twitty
High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica D. Harris
Legacy by Nora Roberts
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Mare of Easttown
Dirty Dancing
Girls5eva
Rutherford Falls
We Are Lady Parts
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Our episode with Rachel Lynn Solomon
The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon
We Can’t Let Physical Media Die by Kieran Fisher
Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman
Time for Kids Reporters
Nicola Yoon
Jacqueline Woodson
Almost Famous
The Chris Farley Show on Saturday Night Live
Shruti Ganguly
NYU MBA/MFA program
Spike Lee
Kasi Lemmons
Ang Lee
Martin Scorsese
Tamara Jenkins
NYU MFA Acting shows
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris
Who? Weekly
Leah Johnson
The Movies That Made Us
Eleanor Bergstein
Love & Basketball
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 54th episode of Truer Words, we speak with Evan Griffith about writing stories about animals, the magic of Mary Quattlebaum, and the beauty of The Crown on Netflix. Evan is the author of SECRETS OF THE SEA: THE STORY OF JEANNE POWER, REVOLUTIONARY MARINE SCIENTIST as well as an upcoming middle grade novel tentatively titled MANATEE SUMMER. Evan can be found on Twitter @Evan_Griffith. His website is evangriffithbooks.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai
The Magician and The Spirits by Deb Noyes
The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Call My Agent! on Netflix
Buffy on Hulu
Angel on Hulu
The Dry by Jane Harper
The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
2021 ALA Awards
Our episode with Yamile S. Mendez
Furia by Yamile S. Mendez
Our episode with Jenny Torres Sanchez
We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Our episode with Kekla Magoon
Workman Publishing
Mary Quattlebaum
Joanie Stone (illustrator of Evan’s book!)
The Writing Barn
Katherine Applegate
Salima Alikhan
Our episode with Salima Alikhan
Austin SCBWI
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth Bunce
Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Crown
The Crown Style Archives from Tom + Lorenzo
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 61st episode of Truer Words, we speak with Laurie Morrison about writing upper middle grade, carving up old manuscripts for parts, and Judy Blume. Laurie is the author of the middle grade novel UP FOR AIR, the just-released SAINT IVY: KIND AT ALL COSTS, the upcoming COMING UP SHORT, and the co-author (with Cordelia Jensen) of EVERY SHINY THING. Laurie can be found on Twitter @LaurieLMorrison and Instagram @laurielmorrison. Her website is lauriemorrisonwrites.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Dawson’s Creek
Amy Spalding
Our episode with Amy Spalding
Amy’s OUTFOXED book announcement
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Beach Read by Emily Henry
The Nanny
Crossing Delancey
Mare of Easttown
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Office
Sex and the City
The Bachelor
Six Feet Under
Law & Order: SVU
SyndicatedBK
Y Tu Mama Tambien
In the Heights
Film at Lincoln Center
Jill Santopolo
Cordelia Jensen
Eighth Grade
The Canada Geese Quilt by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
Judy Blume
Just As Long As We’re Together by Judy Blume
Goodbye, Stranger by Rebecca Stead
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret? by Judy Blume
Alan Cumyn
Franny Billingsley
Mary Quattlebaum
Shelley Tanaka
Never Have I Ever
Losers at the Center of the Galaxy by Mary-Winn Heider
The Comeback by E. L. Shen
Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Joy McCullough
Our episode with Joy McCullough
Lost in Space (Netflix version)
Lost in Space (movie)
Lost in Space (1960s)
Ted Lasso
Schitt’s Creek
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
In the 60th episode of Truer Words, we speak with A. S. King about writing EMOTIONS, respecting teens, and astrology. Amy is the author of multiple middle grade and young adult novels, including her newest, SWITCH, which comes out May 11th. Amy can be found on Twitter @AS_King and Instagram @as_king. Her website is as-king.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Jacques d’Amboise
Jacques d’Amboise in China: The Other Side of the World
Jacques d’Amboise dancing “Apollo”
Jacques d’Amboise in the dream ballet in Carousel
Jacques d’Amboise in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’ Oscar-winning documentary directed by Emile Ardolino
National Dance Institute
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
Whiteout by Adriana Anders
Fated Mates podcast
Stacey Abrams romance novels
I Crawl Through It by A. S. King
Dig by A. S. King
The Dust of 100 Dogs by A. S. King
David Gill
Vonnegut’s Shape of Stories diagram
David Levithan
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M. T. Anderson
The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King
Paul Zindel
John Mulaney
Kae Tempest
The Handmaid’s Tale (audiobook version read by Claire Danes) by Margaret Atwood
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
The Man Suit by Zachary Schomberg
Scary No Scary by Zachary Schomberg
Louise Glück
The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry
Aaron’s Books
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Larissa is the author of the picture books A Way with Wild Things, Born to Ride, How Do You Do? and the just-released Kafka and the Doll, as well as the short story collection Fat & Bones. Larissa can be found on Twitter @larissatheule and Instagram @larissa.theule. Her website is larissatheule.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Nanny
Golden Girls
Whatfranwore on Instagram
The Switch by A.S. King
Dig by A.S. King
Kafka and the Doll by Larissa Theule and illustrated by Rebecca Green
Kafka’s Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant by Kathi Diamant
Rita Williams-Garcia
Micol Ostow
Our episode with Micol
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
“Third-Culture Kid”
On Being with Krista Tippett Podcast
Hamilton
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham
Grantchester
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
About Us:
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Joy is the author of the YA novels BLOOD WATER PAINT and WE ARE THE ASHES, WE ARE THE FIRE, the middle grade novels A FIELD GUIDE TO GETTING LOST and ACROSS THE POND, and the picture book CHAMP & MAJOR: FIRST DOGS. Joy can be found on Twitter @JMCwrites and Instagram @JMCwrites. Her website is JoyMcCullough.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Tickets to Joy’s 17-minute show, The Volcano, at Macha Theatre Works
How NYC’s Street Artists Have Responded to the Pandemic
The Electric Horseman
Emmy Lane Potter
Our episode with Emmy
Spotlight
Barefoot in the Park
California Split
The Farewell
Many Points of Me by Caroline Gertler
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Jesse L. Martin in RENT
The Fosters
The House on the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Good Trouble
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Mya-Rose Craig
Three Sisters
John Logan
Sarah Ruhl
The Clean House
The Laramie Project
Jocelyn Bioh
School Girls, or the African Mean Girls Play
Talia Hibbert
Act Your Age, Eve Brown
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone
Anne with an E
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Tzippy is the author of the Sydney Taylor Honor middle grade novel, NO VACANCY, and the upcoming picture book biography ON THE CORNER OF CHOCOLATE AVENUE: HOW MILTON HERSHEY BROUGHT MILK CHOCOLATE TO AMERICA. Tzippy can be found on Twitter @tzippymfa. Her website is tziporahcohen.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Not Great, Bob!
Good Trouble
The Fosters
Judas and the Black Messiah
Fred Hampton
The Lucas Brothers
Minari
The House on the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Joy McCullough
We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire by Joy McCullough
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
Emma
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Highlights Jewish Symposium
PJ Library
Sydney Taylor Awards
The Carp in the Bathtub by Barbara Cohen
Shelley Tanaka
Sarah Ellis
Groundwood Books
Sarah Aronson
Micol Ostow
Our episode with Micol
Nova Ren Suma
Our episode with Nova
Mary Quattlebaum
Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars by Joel Glenn Brenner
Hershey: Milton Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams by Michael D’Antonio
Hershey Archives
Derry Girls
Barbie “Math is hard!”
The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder
Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Our episode with Rachel Lynn Solomon
Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Schitt’s Creek
Modern Family
Lupin
Ted Lasso
The Good Lord Bird
Kacen Callender
Kacen’s post on Social Media Expectations
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Rachel is the author of several YA novels, including YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE, OUR YEAR OF MAYBE, and TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW, and the upcoming WE CAN’T KEEP MEETING LIKE THIS, as well as the author of the just-released adult romcom THE EX TALK. Rachel Lynn Solomon can be found on Twitter @rlynn_solomon and Instagram @rlynn_solomon. Her website is rachelsolomonbooks.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Rocky Callen
Our episode with Rocky Callen
Robin Benway
Our episode with Robin Benway
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Jeremy Jordan
It’s a Sin
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Love at First by Kate Clayborn
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
Fated Mates podcast
First Comes Like by Alisha Rai
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
Lagaan
Satyajit Ray
Ira Glass
Sarah Vowell
Starlee Kine
In a World . . .
Michelle Wolf
Sarah Dessen
John Green
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
Emily Henry
The Princess Diaries
Meg Cabot
Marisa Kanter
Laura J. Silverman
Becky Albertalli
Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed
Judy Blume
Forever . . .
Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant
How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams
The Leftovers
Lost
Watchmen
The West Wing
The Crown
Crowning Around
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Lauren is the author of six YA novels, including the upcoming IT’S KIND OF A CHEESY LOVE STORY. Lauren can be found on Twitter @laurenemorrill and Instagram @laurenmorrill. Her website is laurenmorrill.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Glasstown Entertainment Under Fire from Former Employees, Authors
How Joss Whedon’s Feminist Legacy Unraveled
‘Justice League’ Actor Ray Fisher: Joss Whedon Was “Abusive, Unprofessional”
Joss Whedon is a “Hypocrite Preaching Feminist Ideals” Ex-Wife Kai Cole Says
Joss Whedon Exits HBO Series ‘The Nevers’
Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Charisma Carpenter Speaks Out About Joss Whedon
Charisma Carpenter accuses Joss Whedon of emotional abuse on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
How Joss Whedon Fans Are Reckoning with Charisma Carpenter’s Allegations
WandaVision
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella aka Brandy Cinderella
The Oral History of Brandy’s Cinderella
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Lesley Ann Warren
Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Miss Scarlet and the Duke
All Creatures Great and Small
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Jackson Pearce
Huffington Post: I Don’t Know How to Explain to You That You Should Care About Other People
A Young Adult Author’s Tweet Went Viral - But Somehow, Dr. Fauci Got the Credit
Lauren’s husband Adam Ragusea’s YouTube channel
Cyrano de Bergerac
Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Sarah Dessen
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Clueless
Gilmore Girls
Father of the Bride
Tiffany Schmidt
RWA (Romance Writers of America)
Ted Lasso
Bridgerton
The Project by Courtney Summers
Wednesday Books
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
St. Martin’s Press
Just As Long As We’re Together by Judy Blume
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
American Girl books
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Ellie can be found on Twitter @Cypher_ec and Instagram @cypher_ec. Her website is elliecypher.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
VCFA WCYA Virtual Residency
Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai
Pretend It’s a City
The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
The Wilds
The Revenant - book & movie
Frozen
True Grit - book & two movies
V.E. Schwab
Hadestown
Alpacas!
Samwise Gamgee’s pony
MOMA
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Mexican Gothic and Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, Every Living Thing, and All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot
Inspector Lewis
Endeavour
Vera
Van der Valk
Bob’s Burgers
Parks and Recreation
Radiolab
The Exploress Podcast
The Partial Historians
Keeping a Notebook with Nina LaCour
Amie Kaufman On Writing: A Podcast
Deadline City with Dhonielle Clayton and Zoraida Córdova
Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!
Kekla is the author of many award-winning books for young people. Her next book is the upcoming THE HIGHEST TRIBUTE: THURGOOD MARSHALL’S LIFE, LEADERSHIP, AND LEGACY. Kekla can be found on Twitter @keklamagoon. Her website is keklamagoon.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn
Bridgerton series on Netflix
Derry Girls
Laura Freeman
Ruby Bridges
The Blue Stars by Kekla Magoon and Cynthia Leitich-Smith
Cynthia Leitich-Smith
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
X: A Novel by Kekla Magoon and Ilyasah Shabazz
Our episode with Amanda Gotera
Norma Fox Mazer
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Great British Bakeoff
Revolution in Our Time
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott-Heron
Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Amanda can be found on Instagram @amandapractica and Twitter @amandapractica. Her website is AmandaGotera.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Jacqui Lipton - Kathryn’s new agent!
Query Shark blog
Christina Bryza
Our episode with Christina
Bridgerton novels by Julia Quinn
Bridgerton on Netflix
Ted Lasso
Anthony Head
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren
The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan
Well Played by Jen Deluca
Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (Netflix)
Happiest Season (Hulu)
Kristen Stewart
Mackenzie Davis
Clea DuVall
The Faculty
Veep
Dan Levy
Mary Steenburgen
Victor Garber
Ana Gasteyer
Aubrey Plaza
Tamora Pierce
Die Hard
Spirited Away
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Moonstruck
Star Trek
The Neverending Story
Return to Oz
The Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce
Lo-Fi Hip Hop Radio Beats to Relax To
Star Trek Voyager
Star Trek Next Generation
Star Trek Prodigy
Captain Janeway
Gibson Girl
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
VCFA
Alumnx Mini Residency
When it Happens playlist by Melissa
Resistance Revival Chorus
Fuck Donald Trump by YG & Nipsey Hussle
Fifth Avenue video of marching singing “Na Na Hey Hey Good-bye”
“Watch: New York City Erupts in Celebration After Race is Called for Biden” - New York Magazine
Adam Sternbergh on Twitter comparing it to V-E Day: “Hard to quantify the mood in the streets of NYC today. Non-stop honking and cheering, people just roaming and greeting each other in joyous disbelief. I wasn’t around for VE Day but that feels like the closest analogy.”
Vote Save America
Get Mitch or Die Trying
Every Last Vote Fund
Fair Fight Action
Vote Forward
Jenny Han
Aisha Saeed
"Steve Kornacki is the Only Cute Thing About the Election"- New York Magazine
“Steve Kornacki Step on My Maps Challenge” - AV Club
“Steve Kornacki’s genuinely flustered reaction to thirst tweets is so hot” - AV Club
Leslie Jones mad about Ali Velshi filling in for Steve Kornacki
The Drew Barrymore Show
Emmy Lane Potter on Twitter
Our episode with Emmy Potter
Dash & Lily
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
The West Wing
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Martha is the author of the multiple picture books, YA novels, and biographies for young people. UNPRESIDENTED, her biography of Donald Trump, is now out in paperback. Martha can be found on Instagram @marthabee and Twitter @mbrockenbrough. Her website is marthabrockenbrough.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
UNPRESIDENTED by Martha Brockenbrough
Pose
Paris is Burning
The West Wing
Wet Hot American Summer
A Chat with Chris Mooney about The Republican Brain
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Cynsations blog
Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour
Julia Quinn
Bridgerton (Netflix)
A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat
All Thirteen by Christina Soontornvat
Kate Messner
Don Tate
Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes
Celia Perez
Rick by Alex Gino
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Tirzah is the author of the upcoming JANE AUSTEN MURDER MYSTERIES, starting with PRIDE AND PREMEDITATION, and has a story in the new RURAL VOICES: 15 AUTHORS CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT SMALL TOWN AMERICA anthology. Tirzah can be found on Instagram @tirzah.price and Twitter @tirzahprice. Her website is TirzahPrice.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Publisher’s Weekly review of RURAL VOICES
The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon
You’re Wrong About . . .
Why Are Dads?
The War
Buffy
Angel
New York Film Festival
The West Wing
The West Wing reunion
Ted Lasso
4 Reasons Why I Love Hopepunk by Robin Galbraith
Parks and Recreation
Schitt’s Creek
Dickinson
The Morning Show
The Trial of the Chicago 7
American Utopia
Romeo + Juliet
Weetzie Bat
Moulin Rouge
Oklahoma!
RURAL VOICES: 15 AUTHORS CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT SMALL TOWN AMERICA edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter
Our episode with Nora Shalaway Carpenter
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Agatha Christie
Death Comes to Pemberley
Georgette Heyer
Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen
Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix
Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas
The Agency series by Y.S. Lee
Dear America
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Writing for Children and Young Adults program at VCFA
Bookriot
Taylor Martindale Kean (Tirzah’s agent!)
Forest App
SelfControl App
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
Real Men Knit by Kwame Jackson
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham-Jones
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
Bodyguard on the BBC/Netflix
Designated Survivor
Tirzah’s articles on Book Riot
All the Books Book Riot podcast
Read This Book newsletter for Book Riot
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Hayley is the author of two middle grade novels, The Turnaway Girls and The Sisters of Straygarden Place. Hayley can be found on Twitter @hayley_chewins. Her website is HayleyChewins.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Common Cause
Sign up to do Election Protection!
Vote Save America
Postcards to Voters
NYC Board of Elections
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
UnREAL on Lifetime
PEN15 on Hulu
That’s So Gay’: How ‘PEN15’ Nailed the Heartbreaking Experience of the Closeted Y2K Middle-Schooler - The Daily Beast
Literally, What Did We Do When We Were 13? - The Cut
The West Wing
Bath Spa University
Kate DiCamillo
David Almond
Karen Foxlee
Neil Gaiman
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Shelley Tanaka
Noisli
Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Stavely
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Samantha has received a Ruth Stone Poetry Prize and a Vermont Poetry Society prize, and her manuscript “Jewel Tones” was a semifinalist with the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry’s 2019 First Book Prize. She coordinates author events at Bear Pond Books and is the Poetry Series Editor at Rootstock Publishing. Her chapbook, “Birth of a Daughter,” is availabl now from Kelsay Books. Samantha can be found on Instagram @sampoetmfa and Twitter @Samanthakolber. Her website is SamanthaKolber.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Museum of the City of New York
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
The Switch by Beth O’Leary
Kerry Winfrey
Our episode with Kerry Winfrey
Tweet from R.O. Kwon:
I've never been more convinced of the absolute necessity of art. Often, the best part of my day has to do with art of some kind, books, photos, music, movies, all of it; often, it's the only good part of my day. It's like my pandemic Popeye spinach & artists, I thank you
New Girl
The Complications of Hilma af Klint lecture
The Parent Trap (1998 Lindsay Lohan version)
The Parent Trap (Hayley Mills version)
Bewitched
Julie and the Phantoms
Julie and the Phantoms novel by Micol Ostow
Our episode with Micol Ostow
Adventure Time
The Duchess
Fleabag
The X-Files
All the President’s Men
Dick
Dick, the 1999 teen Watergate comedy, captures the enduring weirdness of political scandals by Alissa Wilkinson
The People vs. OJ Simpson
OJ Simpson: Made in America
Veep
Register to vote
What is a Chapbook? from Writer’s Digest
Kelsay Books
Keep This to Yourself by Kerrin McCadden
The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms by Ron Padgett
Fruit Rot by James R. Gapinsky
Hunger Mountain Journal for the Arts
Rootstock Publishing
To the Man in the Red Suit by Christina Fulton
Kirkus Reviews
Bear Pond Books
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
Libro.fm
Bookshop.org
Poetry Foundation
Poetry 180 ed. by Billy Collins
Best American Poetry 2019 ed. by Major Jackson
Chen Chen
Ilya Kaminsky
Jericho Brown
Ocean Vuong
Sylvia Plath
Please Excuse This Poem edited by Brett Fletcher Lauer and Lynn Melnick
Ada Limon
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara (*I said “East Bay” but it’s about the Golden State Killer)
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark series
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Saving Ruby by Catherine Adel West
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Sarah is the author of several books, most recently Guantanamo Voices. Sarah can be found on Instagram @sarahmirk and Twitter @sarahmirk. Her website is mirkwork.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Stranger
Portland Mercury
Bitch Media
Popaganda
You Do You by Sarah Mirk
Sex from Scratch by Sarah Mirk
Open Earth by Sarah Mirk, illustrated by Eva Cabrera and Claudia Aguirre
March graphic novels
Making the Met exhibit
Making the Met audio tour narrated by Steve Martin
A Rogue of One’s Own by Evie Dunmore
Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai
New Girl
What We Do in the Shadows
The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert
Black Enough anthology edited by Ibi Zoboi
The X-Files
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Nib
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
Pose
The Great
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Kristina is the author of I Wanna Be Where You Are and Now That I’ve Found You. Kristina can be found on Instagram @kristinaforest_ and Twitter @kristinaforest. Her website is kristinaforest.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Leo Fuchs: Special Photographer from the Golden Age of Hollywood
Matt Sayles / Matt’s instagram
The Black List
The Black List Earmovies archive - Selznick’s Folly (based on a book of the same title) is the Hattie McDaniel biopic. We can’t link to it directly but you can listen or download it on the page; there is also a separate episode featuring an interview with screenwriter Gesha-Marie Bland.
Heidi Joyce’s Stand Up Against Domestic Violence
Randall Craig Fleischer
Youngstown Symphony Orchestra Virtual concert with Randall Craig Fleischer
Brother Jimmy’s
Wet Hot American Summer
What We Do in the Shadows
A French Village
Rick Steves’ Europe
Travel Man
The Trip / The Trip to Italy / The Trip to Greece
The Durrells in Corfu
No Offense by Meg Cabot
Rachel Fershleiser
Jasmine Guillory
Nora Roberts
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes
How Vivian Stephens Helped Turn Romance Writing Into a Billion-Dollar Industry. Then She Got Pushed Out - Texas Monthly
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Roman Holiday
Sabrina
Diahann Carroll
Audrey Hepburn
Marilyn Monroe
Dorothy Dandridge
The Philadelphia Story
Katharine Hepburn
Jimmy Stewart
Cary Grant
Sidney Poitier
Harry Bellafonte
Denzel Washington
John David Washington
Dakota Johnson
Melanie Griffith
Tippi Hedren
The Birds
Antonio Banderas
Bright Lights
Fisher Stevens
Clint Eastwood
Scott Eastwood
Mamie Gummer
Evening
Jamie Lee Curtis
Janet Leigh
Tony Curtis
Sunset Boulevard
Pommes Frites
The New School MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults
David Lubar
Sarah Dessen
Hamline MFA
Jill Santopolo
Our episode with Christina Bryza
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
The Last Dance
Chloe x Halle
The Gift - Beyoncé
Black is King - Beyoncé
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Micol is the author of over 50 books for kids and young adults. Micol can be found on Instagram @micolostow and Twitter @micolz. Her website is micolostow.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Mediabistro.com
Save the Cat! Writes A Novel by Jessica Brody
Our episode with Erin Foley Chan
Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Beach Read by Emily Henry
The Turnaway Girls by Hayley Chewins
Now That I’ve Found You by Kristina Forest
Clive Cussler
Mary Higgins Clark
Christopher Pike
R.L. Stine
Sweet Valley High
Francine Pascal
Get a portrait from the Sweet Valley High portraitist
Mean Girls movie / Mean Girls novelization by Micol
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Riverdale / Riverdale book series by Micol
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - Sarah Rees Brennan
Sabrina the Teenage Witch series with Melissa Joan Hart
Charmed
Angel
Archie Comics
Amy Berkower
Writers House
Jodi Reamer
Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa by Micol
Alloy
Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
MediaBistro
Stephenie Meyer
John Green
Kami Garcia
Ally Condie
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Feed by M.T. Anderson
ttyl by Lauren Myracle
Hamline MFA
The New School
NYU MFA
David Levithan
Kathi Appelt
Uma Krishnaswami
Tim Wynne-Jones
Louise Hawes
family by Micol
So Punk Rock: And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother by Micol and illustrated by David Ostow
The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Heeb Magazine
The Devil and Winnie Flynn by Micol and illustrated by David Ostow
David Ostow in The New Yorker
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Alex Segura / Alex on Twitter
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson
Sullivan, Who Is Always Too Loud by Micol, illustrated by Brian Biggs
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
The Worst Bestsellers Big Little Lies podcast episode
The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
Patricia Cornwall
Tana French
Marvel Cinematic Universe movies
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Captain America
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Kate is the author of the young adult novel Elysium Girls. Kate can be found on Instagram @katepentecost and Twitter @pentecostelle. Her website is katepentecost.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
$279 a Day: Good Luck Finding a Cheap Rental Car in N.Y.C
Slow Novel Lab with Nina LaCour
Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Buffering the Vampire Slayer podcast
Angel on Top podcast
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
Tirzah Price
Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Akira Kurosawa
Seven Samurai
A Bug’s Life
Weird West
Attack on Titan
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
The Dust Bowl Ken Burns documentary
No Man’s Land Historical Society
Dust Bowl Museum at No Man’s Land
Mark Karlins
April Lurie
Susan Fletcher
Louise Hawes
Sara Crowe
Pacific Rim
Lord Byron
Rudyard Kipling
The Great Unknowable End by Kathryn Ormsbee
Truer Words episode with Kathryn Orsmbee
Once Upon a Crime
Unsolved Mysteries
Where the Crawdad Sings by Delia Owens
Studio Ghibli
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Anna is the author of the debut YA novel, I KISSED ALICE. Anna can be found on Instagram @ab_is_writing and Twitter @almost_anna. Her website is annabirchbooks.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix
The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin
Clueless
Babysitters Club style/Claudia’s homage to Clueless
Dick streaming on Showtime
Pump Up the Volume
Christian Slater
Samantha Mathis
Radio Days
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Beastie Boys
BabySitters Club audiobooks
Caboodles
Rachel Shukert
Glow
Love Me by Rachel Shukert
Starstruck by Rachel Shukert
Smash recaps for Vulture by Rachel Shukert
Kathryn VanArendonk’s review of The Babysitters Club
Babysitters Club graphic novels
Raina Telgemeier
Harry Potter series
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
The Iliad by Homer
The Odyssey by Homer
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Circe by Madeline Miller
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by C.S. Lewis
Jessica Dore
The Creative Tarot by Jessa Crispin
Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck
Art Nouveau tarot deck
Golden Thread tarot deck
Sailor Moon tarot deck
Maggie Stiefvater tarot deck
PitchWars
The Language of Cherries by Jen Marie Hawkins
A Dangerous Year by Kes Trester
Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass
The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Thank You Books in Crestwood, Alabama
The Emperor’s New Groove
The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Grand Designs
Property Brothers
The Restoration Man
Escape to the Country
Escape to the Continent
The Martian
HAIM
Carly Rae Jespen
Hozier
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Ann is the author of the young adult horror novels FIVE MIDNIGHTS and CATEGORY FIVE, co-author of SISTER CHICAS, as well as the Director of Student Recruitment for Vermont College of Fine Arts. Ann can be found on Instagram @anndavilacardinal and Twitter @anndcardinal. Her website is annhcardinal.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
America to Me on Starz
Irène Némirovsky
Suite Française
Slow Novel Lab
Nina LaCour
Dracula
Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Hope, and Terror During a Pandemic
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Brendan Reichs
Cory McCarthy
Julie Larios
Tim Wynne-Jones
Sharon Darrow
Tor Teen
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
Lucifer
Midsommar by directed Ari Aster
Hereditary directed by Ari Aster
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Robyn is the author of several young adult novels, including YOU DON’T LIVE HERE, which comes out June 2nd. Robyn can be found on Instagram @robynschneider and Twitter @robynschneider. Her website is robynschneider.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Our Black Lives Matter post with lists and links
Our Modern Minstrelsy by Kekla Magoon
Black Book, TV Show, and Movie Recommendations #BlackOutTuesday by Akilah Brown
Kristina Forest Believes Black Girls Deserve Happy Endings Too
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider
Invisible Ghosts by Robyn Schneider
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Grey’s Anatomy
The West Wing
See Jane Write: A Girl’s Guide to Writing Chick Lit by Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Infinity Son by Adam Silvera
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
The Great on Hulu
The Witcher on Netflix
The Favourite
Hayao Miyazaki scores on Spotify
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel) on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel) original by Billy Joel
Veronica Mars
The OC
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Jenny can be found on Instagram @jennytsanchez and Twitter @jetchez. Her website is JennyTorresSanchez.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Slow Novel Lab
Nina LaCour
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Hulu
Angel on Hulu
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider
Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery
The Fall of Innocence by Jenny Torres Sanchez
The Half of It on Netflix
Cyrano de Bergerac
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum
Highlights Foundation
Highlights Magazine
Jody Casella
Las Musas
Laurie Halse Anderson
Jerry Spinelli
Because of the Sun by Jenny Torres Sanchez
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Prophecy Girl
Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny
All Summer in One Day by Ray Bradbury
Alex Villasante
Donna Higuera
Those Winter Sundays poem by Robert Hayden
John Green
A.S. King
Lauren Gibaldi
The Downside of Being Charlie by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Which Way Home
Disappeared by Francisco Stork
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante
The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zeleny
Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Jules can be found on Instagram @conjure_shrubs. Her album can be streamed on Bandcamp: Independence Day - Jules Thomson Effect.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration
Elaine Stritch singing “I’m Still Here” at Sondheim’s 80th Birthday Gala
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
A Parks and Recreation Social Distancing Special
Never Have I Ever
Mindy Kaling
Buffering the Vampire Slayer
Slayerfest ‘98
The Stories We Tell by Kristen Lepionka
Pride Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
The Ripped Bodice
Joule-Thomson Effect
Florence and the Machine
Maria Callas
The Indigo Girls
Steeleye Span
Antje Duvekot
Samson G USB mic
Blue Yeti
Noisy Girls
Cakewalk
Eleventh Hour Lecture Series: Iowa Writers Workshop
Mary Allen: Writing and the Power of Now
Writing Excuses
Write-Minded
Writers Aloud
How Fiction Works by James Wood
By Cunning and Craft by Peter Selgin
Virginia Woolf
Vladimir Nabakov
The Bonnie Road by Suzanne d’Coursey
King Princess
Muna
Janelle Monae
Julien Baker
Little Women by Greta Gerwig
Portrait of A Lady on Fire
Plants and People in Ancient Scotland
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre miniseries
You’re Wrong About
Queery by Cameron Esposito
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Nicole can be found on Twitter @nicolekronzer and Instagram @nicolekronzer. Her website is nicolekronzer.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Christina Bryza
Our episode with Christina Bryza
Brene Brown on “Comparative Suffering”
Our episode with Erin Foley Chan
Rumble Boxing on Instagram
Down Dog Yoga
Mary Horne Yoga / Mary’s YouTube channel
Gluten-Free Matzo recipe
Cottage Cheese Dill Bread
All-of-A-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Hart of Dixie
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Firefly
The X-Files
Angel
Marti Noxon
Gilda Radner
Roseanne Rosannadanna
Judy Miller
Amy Poehler
Nina LaCour
Anna Nicole Smith
The Sleepover sketch from the first season of SNL episode hosted by Madeline Kahn (transcript) / tribute video
The Gap Girls on SNL
Gene Luen Yang
American-Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Hold Still by Nina LaCour
David Levithan
You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
Sara Crowe
Our episode with Nora Shalaway Carpenter
Monty Python
The Three Stooges
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood
Some Like It Hot
Alison McGhee
Holly McGhee
Books narrated by Julia Whelan
Julia Whelan on Twitter
Orphan Black
Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes by Kathleen West
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
Jane Levy
Suburgatory
Skylar Astin
Pitch Perfect
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Pippin
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams / movie
My Fair Lady
Kiss Me, Kate
The Taming of the Shrew
Nickolas Butler
Historic Charleston app
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Jenae Marks
A Breath Too Late by Rocky Callen
Our episode with Rocky Callen
Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
The Alex Award
Frankly in Love by David Yoon
Nicola Yoon
The Last Best Story by Maggie Lehrman
His Girl Friday
What I Leave Behind by Alison McGhee
Black Enough edited by Ibi Zoboi
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
American Street by Ibi Zoboi
Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
Maurene Goo
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Taherah Mafi
Knives Out
Monty Don’s Big Dreams Small Spaces
The Repair Shop
Agnes Varda
Ydessa, the Bears, etc. teddy bear documentary
Little Women by Greta Gerwig
Frances Gabe’s (inventor of the self-cleaning house) obituary in the New York Times
Lynn Spigel
Bewitched
I Dream of Jeannie
Jeffrey Sconce
All That Heaven Allows
Douglas Sirk
Jane Wyman
Rock Hudson
Constance Grady
CatStronauts by Drew Brockington
Maureen Johnson
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Rocky can be found on Twitter @rocky_writes and Instagram @rockywrites. Her website is rockycallen.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Jandy Nelson
Melissa’s friend Dr. Rachel Shively on CNN
PJ Library seder plate activity
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Emma. directed by Autumn de Wilde
Georgette Heyer
Venetia by Georgette Heyer
The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren
Babylon Berlin
The Great Pottery Throwdown
Big Dreams, Small Spaces
Stand Up, Yumi Chung by Jessica Kim
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonsen
Hope Nation
Jenny Torres Sanchez
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale tv show on Hulu
Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day
Masterclass
RuPaul’s Masterclass
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Kristy is the author of Isobel Adds It Up, which will be released from Random House in fall 2021. She can be found on Twitter @kmeverington. Marianne is a teaching artist, poet, performer, animator and modern day da Vinci (per Melissa). Her classes are available at The Writing Center. Marianne can be found on Twitter @flamingoboots, Instagram @flamingoboots, and her website is flamingoboots.com. You can also buy her prints at Society6.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Mary Horne yoga on YouTube
Mary’s instagram has more info on online classes
Hart of Dixie
Leslie Sansone
Below Deck
Survivor
Siesta Key
Westworld
Remembrance by Meg Cabot
Cate Berry
Our episode with Cate Berry
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
Marianne’s first episode with us discussing The Artist’s Way
Quarantine Art Club by Carson Ellis
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Outbreak
Contagion
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Gumroad
Little Fires Everywhere based on the book by Celeste Ng
Dare Me based on the book by Megan Abbott
Cheer
Pop Culture Happy Hour episode about Cheer and Dare Me
The Plot Against America based on the book by Philip Roth
David Simon
The Wire
Zoe Kazan
Winona Ryder
John Turturro
How to pronounce Turturro
Babylon Berlin
New York Times Crossword
Wordscapes
Everything’s Going to Be Okay
Please Like Me
Awkwafina is Nora From Queens
Crashing
Arthur
Detective Barbie
Love is Blind
The Circle
German Big Brother
Rafting article
Sex Education
The Great Pottery Throwdown
Terrace House
The Bachelorette
The Real World
Emma. directed by Autumn de Wilde
The Invisible Man directed by Leigh Whannell
Headspace
MNDFL Meditation on Instagram
Shannon_Esti on Instagram
Outlander based on the book series by Diana Gabaldon
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Nora is the author of The Edge of Anything, which will be released on March 24th, 2020, the Rural Voices anthology (to be released October 13, 2020) and the picture book Yoga Frog. She can be found on Twitter @norawritesbooks and Instagram @noracarpenterwrites. Her website is noracarpenterwrites.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Sleepless in Seattle
Meg Cabot
Stacy Abrams / Selena Montgomery
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Mary-Winn Heider
Tirzah Price
Victoria Wells-Arms
Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Sanditon
Emma directed by Autumn de Wilde
Little Women directed by Greta Gerwig
Murdoch Mysteries
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
Miss Fisher’s Mysteries
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Emmy has written for publications like Bright Wall/Dark Room, the Belladonna, CultureSonar, and more! Emmy can be found on Twitter @emmylanepotter and Instagram @emmylanepotter.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Mindy Kaling
Matt and Ben
Martin Scorsese
The Departed
The Light in the Piazza
Chicago
Cabaret
A Little Night Music
Oklahoma!
I’m Not at All In Love
Great American Songbook
My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall
The Souvenir
Nick Nadal
Ray Bradbury short stories
Truman Capote short stories
Walking as Creative Fuel - Brainpickings
Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Reese Witherspoon
Ava DuVernay
Parasite
Mad Men
Matt Weiner on what he learned working on The Sopranos
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Girl, Interrupted directed by James Mangold
See Jane Write by Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs
Ready Player One (movie) by Steven Spielberg
Ready Player One (book) by Ernest Cline
Goodfellas by Martin Scorsese
End of the F***ing World on Netflix
Life Isn’t Everything: Mike Nichols, as remembered by 150 of his closest friends by Ash Carter and Sam Kashner
Fleabag on Amazon Prime
Call My Agent! aka Dix Pour Cent on Netflix
The Good Place
Heartburn (movie) directed by Mike Nichols, written by Nora Ephron
Heartburn (book) by Nora Ephron
Postcards from the Edge (movie) directed by Mike Nichols, written by Carrie Fisher
Postcards from the Edge (book) by Carrie Fisher
Schitt’s Creek
Clueless
Succession
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
Angels cover by Jessica Simpson
Angels by Robbie Williams
Miss Americana Taylor Swift documentary on Netflix
Gaga: Five Foot Two Lady Gaga documentary on Netflix
Coal Miner’s Daughter
Loretta Lynn
On Becoming a God in Central Florida on Showtime
Dolly Parton
Bright Wall/Dark Room
A League of Their Own
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Juleah is the author of YA novels 500 Words or Less and the upcoming Turtle Under Ice. Juleah can be found on Twitter @juleahwrites, Instagram @juleah.delrosario, and her website is Juleahdelrosario.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Nova Ren Suma
Our episode with Nova Ren Suma
Djerassi
A.M. (Amanda) Jenkins
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lại
Ghost pottery scene
All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
“The Unexpected Pleasure of Being Mediocre” by Laura Lippmann
Seth Rogen’s pottery
Art gifts made by writer David Rakoff
Jami Attenberg
Adrienne Kisner
Our episode with Adrienne
Abigail Hing Wen
Our episode with Abigail Hing Wen
Sabrina and Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Tracy and the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge can be found on Twitter @WWfilmchallenge, Instagram @womensweekendfilmchallenge, and at womensweekendfilmchallenge.com.
Content warning: Melissa and Tracy briefly discuss rape and sexual assault around the 58 minute mark of this episode.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Little Women by Greta Gerwig
Atlantics by Mati Diop
The Farewell by Lulu Wang
Hustlers by Lorene Scafaria
You Have to Fail A Little (Melissa’s piece on Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola for Bright Wall/Dark Room)
Wendy Wasserstein
The Heidi Chronicles
Uncommon Women and Others
Women’s Weekend Film Challenge
Katrina Medoff (Tracy’s co-founder of Women’s Weekend Film Challenge)
Lily + Mara - Tracy’s short film co-directed by Caroline Roberts
Oona Laurence
Meghann Fahy
Pete’s Dragon
The Bold Type
Christina Bryza
Our episode with Christina Bryza
Agnès Varda
Leslie Schultz BRIC Entertainment
Kathryn O’Kane
Salt Fat Acid Heat on Netflix
Bandersnatch
Reese Witherspoon
Oprah
Mindy Kaling
Lena Waithe
Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Mustang
Lightbulb Grip & Electric
Transformers
Avengers
Gotham Sound
Museum of the Moving Image
Queens Council of the Arts
Sesame Street
Mike Sayre
Queens Museum
Music for Icebergs
Olivia Wilde Talking About a Gender-Swapped Reading of American Pie
It’s A Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories edited by Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman
Harvey Weinstein article
The HeSo project
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Succession on HBO
Girls on HBO
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Amy can be found on Twitter @theames, Instagram @thatames, and her website is theamyspalding.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Last Five Years (musical)
The Last Five Years (movie) streaming on Amazon Prime
Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
Abigail Hing Wen
Our episode with Abigail Hing Wen
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Agnès Varda: A Retrospective
Jacques Demy
Jacquot de Nantes
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Schitt’s Creek
In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried by Amy Hempel
Amanda (A.M.) Jenkins
Jason Robert Brown
Merrily We Roll Along
Hairspray (movie)
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray (movie musical)
Christie Baugher
The Fitzgeralds of Saint Paul
Norbert Leo Butz
Sherie Rene Scott
Lauren Kennedy
“They Didn’t Speak for a Decade. Then They Made a Show About it.” - article about Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott in the NY Times
The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy
Sweet Valley High
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
UCB
Mad Men
Watchman on HBO
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
Rebecca Traister
Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
Oklahoma!
Our episode with Ally Hord
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Christina Bryza
Our episode with Christina
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Insight Timer
Headspace
Calm
Jessie Janowitz
Our episode with Jessie
You’ve Got Mail walking tour
Adrienne Kisner
Our episode with Adrienne
Jennifer (J. Albert) Mann
Our episode with Jen
Marianne Murphy
Our episode with Marianne
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Nova Ren Suma
Our episode with Nova
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
She Said by Jodi Kantor and Meghan Twohey
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow
Casey McQuiston
Kerry Winfrey
Our episode with Kerry Winfrey
Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall
Booksmart
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You
Varda by Agnès
New York Film Festival
Varda: A Retrospective at Film at Lincoln Center
Star Wars
Rogue One
Solo
Little Women
Hustlers
Books of Wonder
The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh
Succession
Fleabag
Derry Girls
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Superstore
Justin Spitzer
The Office
Parks and Recreation
Lizzo
Robyn dance party on the subway
You’re Wrong About
The Sauce Podcast
American Girls
Night Call
The Quibbler
The Indigo Girls
Pod Save America
Lovett or Leave It
What a Day
Says Who?
Hot and Bothered
The Worst Bestsellers
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Thirst Aid Kit
Fuckbois of Literature
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Abigail is the author of Loveboat, Taipei, which will be released on January 7th, 2020. She can be found on Twitter @abigailhingwen and Instagram @abigailhingwen. Her website is abigailhingwen.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Shelley Tanaka
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Sandra Nickel
Amanda Jenkins
Kristen Pettit
Phantom of the Opera
Les Misérables
Miss Saigon
Cleveland Playhouse
Judy Chu
Eddie Huang
Fresh Off The Boat
Loveboat, Taipei documentary
Valerie Soe
Andrew Yang
Sabaa Tahir
David Yoon
Nicola Yoon
Mulan (animated, 1998)
Mulan (live-action, 2020)
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Denise is a teaching artist, actor, and writer/editor who works with arts integration and arts program management. Denise is on Twitter at @dasantamouro and Instagram @denisesantomauro. Her editing services are available at Angellela Editorial and Story Studio Chicago. Denise’s website is https://www.denisesantomauro.com/.
Marianne is a teaching artist, poet, performer, animator and modern day da Vinci (per Melissa). Her classes are available at The Writing Center. Marianne can be found on Twitter @flamingoboots, Instagram @flamingoboots, and her website is flamingoboots.com. You can also buy her prints at Society6.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Hebru Brantley
Nevermore Park
Inside Nevermore Park
L’Atelier des Lumières
Carrières des Lumières
Georges Méliès
Hieronymous Bosch
Argosy Book Store
Mrs. Astor’s New York
Atlas Obscura
Martini Junction Train in the woods
Jim Henson
Leonardo da Vinci
Our episode with Christina Bryza
Oklahoma! revival on Broadway
Daniel Fish’s Dark Take on “Oklahoma!" in The New Yorker
Jud Fry the Incel? in Theatermania
Patrick Vaill
Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month)
Making Comics by Lynda Barry
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Kathryn is the author of the young adult novels Tash Hearts Tolstoy, The Great Unknowable End, and The Sullivan Sisters, as well as the books for young readers The Water and the Wild, The Doorway and the Deep, The Current and the Cure, The House in Poplar Wood, and Midnight on Strange Street. Kathryn can be found on Twitter @kathsby and Instagram @kathsby. Kathryn’s website is keormsbee.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Our episode with Ally Hord
Dave Holstein
Kidding on Showtime
Jena Friedman
Late Show with David Letterman
The Daily Show
Ted & Gracie
Our episode with Christina Bryza
Stephenie Meyer
Beth Phelan
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
The Crown on Netflix
Nanowrimo
A Christmas Duet
Christmas at Dollywood
Plus One movie on Hulu
Blake Edwards
The Pink Panther
Jessica Lange
Alfred Hitchcock presents
Good Evening: An Alfred Hitchcock Presents podcast
The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
The Innocents film co-written by Truman Capote
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
His Hideous Hearts edited by Dahlia Adler
The Mask of the Red Death
The Monkey’s Paw by W. W. Jacobs
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
The Adventure Zone podcast
My Brother, My Brother, and Me podcast
Oh no, Ross and Carrie! podcast
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Varda by Agnès
New York Film Festival
Tulsa Artist Fellowship
Molly Backes
Our episode with Molly Backes
Juliana Goodman
David Rakoff
Live Funny or Die
Larry King
The Brady Bunch
A Closer Look on Late Night with Seth Meyers
Sal Gentile
Pod Save America
Crooked Media
Impeachment sketch on Late Night with Seth Meyers
Funny or Die
Paley Center
Newseum
Lee Huebner
Nixon-Kennedy first televised debate
Women’s March sketch from Late Night with Seth Meyers
Woman Scouts (Ally’s pilot)
Christina Bryza
Our episode with Christina
Daria
Jane Espensen
Mee-Ow
Titanic Players
Adam Sachs
NSTV
Jake Szymanski (director of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and the greatest Robyn tribute ever)
Dave Holstein (creator of Showtime’s Kidding)
Broad City
Stick Figure Productions
Lisa Loeb
#1 Single on E!
Chris Bruss
Mike Farah
Adam McKay
Will Ferrell
Studio 22
Late Show with David Letterman
UTA job list
UCB Theatre
Harvey Weinstein sketch on Late Night with Seth Meyers
Tarana Burke
Unscripted by Nicole Kronzer
ICE Raids followed a massive sexual harassment settlement at Mississippi plants
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman on Hulu
The Break with Michelle Wolf on Netflix
RuPaul’s Drag Race on VH1
Pose on FX
Succession on HBO
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire by Kurt Andersen
The Dream podcast
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Cate is the author of the picture books PENGUIN AND TINY SHRIMP DON’T DO BEDTIME and the upcoming CHICKEN BREAK. Cate can be found on Twitter & Instagram @cateberryatx. Her website is CateBerry.com
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Podraland
Podraland article about Truer Words!
Our episode with Jen Doll
The Secret
Laws of Attraction
Prosperity Gospel
The Prosperous Heart by Julia Cameron
Leonardo da Vinci’s Saint Jerome at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Edith Wharton house
Fleabag
Ocean’s Eleven
Die Hard
CBGB
Arlene’s Grocery
Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen (with Matisse illustrations)
The Iridescence of Birds by Patricia MacLaughlan
Kwame Alexander
Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything exhibit at the Jewish Museum
Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry
K.A. Holt
House Arrest by K.A. Holt
One by Sarah Crossan
AWP
Mary Quattlebaum
Marianne Murphy
Meg Cook
Jen Mann (aka J. Albert Mann)
Our episode with Jen (J. Albert Mann)
Guess Again! by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Adam Rex
Martha Brockenbrough
Tammi Sauer
Sudipta Barhan-Quallen
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Nova Ren Suma
Our episode with Nova
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
Tom Birdseye
Nina LaCour’s Keeping a Notebook podcast
Shadow Artist concept from The Artist’s Way
Ira Glass quote about beginners
Liz Garton Scanlon
Kelly Barnhill
Deep Creek by Pam Houston
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Bristol is a hand-knitting designer and teacher. Her website is bristolivy.com and she can be found on Twitter: @bristolivy and Instagram: @bristolivy. Her designs can be found and purchased on Ravelry.
Mentioned in this Episode:
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Our episode with Nova Ren Suma
Our episode with Robin Benway
Raise Your Hand by Alice Paul Tapper
Goethe
The Secret
Our episode with Kerry Winfrey
Law & Order: SVU
WWOOF
Brooklyn Tweed
Bristol’s designs on Ravelry
MyBluprint
Lovecrafts
Knitting Outside the Box by Bristol
Ravelry
New York Sheep and Wool Festival
The X-Files
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
Future Night of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich
How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price
Deep Work by Cal Newport
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Lauren is the author of two YA novels, YOUR DESTINATION IS ON THE LEFT and SHE’S THE WORST, and an associate literary agent at TriadaUS. Her website is LaurenSpieller.com and she can be found on Twitter: @laurenspieller and Instagram: @laurenspieller.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Forever 35 podcast episode with Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin
Co-Star Astrology App
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything exhibit at the Jewish Museum in NYC
The Mount: Edith Wharton’s house
Kripalu
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Hamilton
“Hurricane” from Hamilton
Tiffany Schmidt, author of Bookish Boyfriends series
Follow your curiosity - Elizabeth Gilbert
Dessert First by Dean Gloster
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Marc Maron
Glow
Alison Brie
Jim McCarthy (Lauren’s agent)
City of Bones by Cassie Clare
Nova Ren Suma
Our episode with Nova Ren Suma
Fleabag
The Great British Baking Show
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Sawkill Girls by Claire LeGrand
Vita Nostra by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko
The Wolf of Cape Fen - Juliana Brandt
Lauren’s manuscript wish list #mswl
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Julia Cameron
Julia Cameron Wants You to Do Your Morning Pages by Penelope Green, The New York Times
The Artist’s Way in an Age of Self-Promotion by Carrie Battan, The New Yorker
Our interview with Christina Bryza
Micol Ostow
Viacom Permalance Slave System from Gawker (R.I.P.)
The Artist’s Way Every Day: A Year of Creative Living by Julia
The Right to Write by Julia
Finding Water by Julia
Elizabeth Gilbert Facebook post about The Artist’s Way
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Secret
The Laws of Attraction
The Worst Bestsellers episode on The Secret
Courtney Sheinmel
Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything at the Jewish Museum
Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Design for Opera and Ballet at the Morgan Library
Cooper Hewitt Museum
Amanda Jenkins
Nova Ren Suma
Libba Bray
Djerassi Resident Artist Program
Corey Ann Haydu
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Kerry is the author of the YA novels Love and Other Alien Experiences and Things Jolie Needs To Do Before She Bites It and the adult romcom Waiting for Tom Hanks.
Find Kerry on Twitter: @kerryann and Instagram: @kerryann. Her website is kerrywinfrey.com.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Just Wright
Rosie’s Theater Kids
U.N.I.T.Y. by Queen Latifah
Billy Wilder’s Rules of Good Filmmaking
Conversations with Billy Wilder (Vanity Fair excerpt here) by Cameron Crowe
Margaret Bechard
Made of Honor - Patrick Dempsey / Michelle Monaghan movie
The Wedding Date - Debra Messing movie
Ghostbusters
How Red, White, and Royal Blue Became the Unlikely Book of Summer
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
The Last Holiday
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
You’ve Got Mail
Sleepless in Seattle
I’ll Have What She’s Having by Erin Carlson
“Instant Messenger May Be Dead, but You’ve Got Mail is Forever” by Hilary Weaver
A Year of Romcoms tumblr
Meg Cabot
Nora Roberts
You’ve Got Mail walking tour
Cafe Lalo
Boat Basin
Books of Wonder
Colson Whitehead quote from The Colossus of New York
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead
Fitzgerald as Screenwriter: No Hollywood Ending
HelloGiggles
Glasstown Entertainment
Lauren Oliver
Lexa Hillyer
"Why is Gen Z Obsessed with The Office?" by Sonia Saraiya
Jen Maschari
Jody Casella
The Book Loft
Tom Hanks and the Great Lakes Theater Festival
Rainbow Rowell
"Real Romance" - Nora Roberts profile in The New Yorker by Lauren Collins
Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
The Holiday
Our interview with Jasmine
About Us:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Salima is the author of Emmi in the City and the illustrator of many picture books, including Rocky Mountain Night Before Christmas and Pieces of Another World.
Find Salima on Twitter: @salimaalikhan and Instagram: @salimaalikhan. Her website is SalimaAlikhan.net.
Mentioned in the Episode:
SCBWI: Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
Rocky Mountain Night Before Christmas, by Joe Gribnau and illustrated by Salima
Pieces of Another World by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Salima
Puss in Boots
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
All Dogs Go to Heaven
Cynthia Leitich-Smith
BookPeople bookstore
Texas Book Festival
Austin Teen Book Festival
Vermont College of Fine Arts
St. Edward’s University
Capstone Publishing
Scholastic “I Survived” series
Lauren Tarshis
Chicago History Museum
Chicago Architecture Tours
Emmi in the City by Salima
Jake Maddox series
Kar-Ben publishers
Feivel’s Flying Horses by Heidi Smith Hyde
Jessie Janowitz
Jessie’s episode of Truer Words
Vincent & Theo by Deborah Heiligmann
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Jacqui Lipton
Fleabag
Parks & Recreation
Stranger Things
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
Rick Riordan Presents
Percy Jackson series
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Jen is the author of a memoir, Save the Date, a YA novel, Unclaimed Baggage, which is currently being adapted for television. She also has an advice column for WeWork, writes for many publications and is working on her second novel.
Find Jen on Twitter: @thisisjendoll and Instagram: @thisisjendoll. Her website is JenDoll.com.
Show Notes:
Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
Taffy Brodesser-Akner profile in Cosmopolitan by Jen Ortiz
A response to the Taffy profile in Longreads by Soraya Roberts
Roxane Gay’s WealthSimple essay
Sassy Magazine
Scholastic Awards
Jen’s work space
Reader’s Digest
Ella Dawson’s tweet about Jen’s Harper’s story
Why Does It Feel Like Everyone Has More Money Than You? by Jen Doll in Harpers Bazaar
Abigail Disney Has More Money Than She’ll Ever Spend by Sarah McVeigh
Make Art, Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career by Elizabeth Hyde Stevens
WeWork column
The Real Ramona by Sarah Jaffe
A Girl from Yamhill by Beverly Cleary
Dear Prudence
Dear Sugar / Cheryl Strayed
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Leda is the artistic director of the Strawdog Theatre Company in Chicago.
Find Leda on Twitter: @ledahoffmann and Instagram: @ledahoffmann. Her website is ledahoffmann.com.
Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Show Notes:
Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
The Island by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Nshona
Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn
Hadestown
Hadestown director Rachel Chavkin’s Tony speech
The Cat in the Hat
Texas Ranger Museum
New London Texas School Explosion Museum
Stuff You Missed in History Class about the New London Texas School Explosion
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Molly is the author of THE PRINCESSES OF IOWA and a 2019 Tulsa Artists fellow.
Find Molly on Twitter: @mollybackes. Her website is mollybackes.com.
Show Notes:
Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
Alliance of Artist Communities
Books are Magic
Little Manhattan
Tirzah Price
Rural YA
School segregation in NYC in the New York Times
George Kaiser Family Foundation
Tulsa art article in the New York Times
Wisconsin art fellowship
Cornell College fellowship
Route 66 Museum
Molly’s Route 66 Adventure by Dottie Raymer
Ragdale Foundation residency for artists
The Time-Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
“Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.”- Flannery O’Conner, from Mysteries and Manners: Occasional Prose
Iowa almond milk tweet story
Field of Dreams
Iowa Writers’ Workshop
NaNoWriMo
Candlewick Press
The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
Alex Awards for adult books with YA crossover appeal
Linda Holmes
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Robin is the National Book Award-winning author of FAR FROM THE TREE, as well as: EMMY & OLIVER, ALSO KNOWN AS, GOING ROGUE, THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE and AUDREY, WAIT!
Find Robin on Twitter: @robinbenway and Instagram: @robinbenway. Her website is robinbenway.com
Show Notes:
Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
The Confusion of Laurel Graham by Adrienne Kisner
Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner
Rachel Cohn
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
David Levithan
Holly Black
Baby-Sitters Club
Sweet Valley High
Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
Beverly Cleary
Mitch and Amy by Beverly Cleary
Ribsy by Beverly Cleary
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
Bianca Turetsky
Baby-Sitters Club Netflix reboot
Lucia Aniello Architectural Digest story
Lucia Aniello
Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn
Audrey, Wait! by Robin
Katy Perry The Movie: Part of Me by Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz
It Might Get Loud by Davis Guggenheim
Paul McCartney: The Love We Make by Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan
Blackbird by Paul McCartney
Heartbreaker by Mariah Carey
Los Lobos
The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June by Robin
Going Rogue by Robin
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Quibbler podcast
Emmy & Oliver
Far From the Tree
Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machine
National Book Foundation / National Book Awards
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Lisa Kudrow interview on Nerdist
Meg Medina
Noah Centineo
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Rob Sheffield at Rolling Stone
Taylor Swift
Pitchfork
The Ripped Bodice
Sarah McLean
Meg Cabot
Judy Blume
Samantha Bee
Wifey by Judy Blume
Tavi Gevinson
Julie Klausner
Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself by Judy Blume
Forever … by Judy Blume
Hasan Minhaj
Molly Ringwald
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Bright Lights by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens
Becky Albertalli
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson (Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin)
Deep Creek: Finding Hope in High Country by Pam Houston
Stevie Nicks
Five Seconds of Summer
Shrill
Salt Fat Acid Heat
Amy Spalding
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Jessie is the author of the middle grade novels THE DOUGHNUT FIX and THE DOUGHNUT KING.
Find Jessie on Twitter: @jessiejanowitz and Instagram: @janowitzjessie. Her website is jessiejanowitz.com.
Show Notes:
The Baby-Sitters’ Club
Glazed Over Donuts in Beacon, NY
Wassaic Project
Dave’s Cosmic Subs
Joyce Carol Oates
Toni Morrison
Russell Banks
Beverly Cleary
Harry Potter
Meg Cabot
Fulbright Scholarship
Norma Klein
You’re Wrong About . . . podcast Preppy Murder episode
SCBWI - Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
Jandy Nelson
I’ll Give You the Sun
R.J. Julia bookstore in Connecticut
The Bookworm bookstore in Omaha
The Bookmark Shoppe bookstore in Brooklyn
The King’s English bookstore in Salt Lake City
There There by Tommy Orange
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Killing Eve
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com
Yamile is the author of Scholastic’s Blizzard Besties, the upcoming picture book Where Are You From? and many more books to come!
Find Yamile on Twitter: @YamileSMendez. Her website is YamileSMendez.com.
Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.
Show Notes:
Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
Samantha Hahn
Coffee is for closers only watercolor by Samantha Hahn
Well-Read Women by Samantha Hahn
Make Art, Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career by Elizabeth Hyde Stevens
Marianne Murphy’s Society6 page (flamingoboots)
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Random Acts of Kittens by Yamile
On These Magic Shores by Yamile
Furia by Yamile
NaNoWriMo
Harry Potter
Martine Leavitt
Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers
Carol Lynch Williams
Cynthia Leitich-Smith
Mary Quattlebaum
Cynsations - Cynthia’s blog
Yamile’s agent Linda Camacho’s interview on Cyn’s blog (note: she has since switched agencies and has a newer interview here)
Lee & Low
New Visions Award for Authors of Color
Uma Krishnaswami
Jaime Kim - illustrator of Where Are You From?
Clarissa Wong editor of Where Are You From?
Nova Ren Suma
Elise Howard at Algonquin Books
Council of 100
Christina Bryza (Our Episode 9 guest!)
Write Out Camp
Ally Condie (Our Episode 7 guest!)
Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey
Las Musas
Robert Polk (Inteview via Bookish Babes)
Latinos in Action
Aida Salazar
Sara Faring
K.K. Perez
The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie
Game of Thrones
Avengers: Endgame
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Julia is the author of several romance and historical fiction novels and co-host of the podcast, You’re Never Going to Read This.
Find Julia on Twitter: @the_julia_kelly and Instagram: @juliakellywrites. Her website is juliakellywrites.com.
Show Notes:
Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
The Light Over London by Julia
The Matchmaker of Edinburgh series by Julia
Alexis Anne
Alexandra Haughton
Audra North
One Week in Wyoming
One Week in Hawaii
You’re Never Going to Read This - Julia’s podcast with her sister Justine
The Martian by Andy Weir
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com
Christina is the author of the picture book parody, ARE YOU MY BOYFRIEND?
Find Christina on Twitter: @christinabeane and Instagram: @christinabeane. Her website is christinabryza.com.
Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.
Show Notes:
Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
The Artist’s Way
Julia Cameron
A recent profile of Julia Cameron in NYTimes
The Daily Northwestern
How to Change Your Mind, by Michael Pollan
Medill diplomas misspelled
The Wizard of Oz
Popular Science
Parenting Magazine
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Are You My Boyfriend?
Are You My Mother?
Urban Outfitters
Pretty is the kid-safe “sexy”
Spiritual Mechanic - Erin-Ashley Kerti
Glo.com meditation
Christina’s website (you can sign up for #ThankYouThursday here)
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter@truerwordspod and on Instagram@truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website,truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Bianca is the author of the Time-Traveling Fashionista books and co-author of the upcoming Magic on the Map series with Courtney Sheinmel.
Find Bianca on Twitter: @biancaturetsky and Instagram: @biancaturetsky. Her website is biancaturetsky.com. Magic on the Map #1: Let's Mooove! will be available May 7th from Penguin Random House.
Show Notes:
Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
Writopia Lab
Writopia Worldwide Plays Festival
Minds Matter
Bridge to Terabithia
The Baby-Sitters Club
Sweet Valley Twins
Sweet Valley High
Nancy Drew
Christopher Pike
R.L. Stine
The Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel
Lucia Aniello in Architectural Digest
Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix
Robin Benway / Robin’s instagram
Steven Kellogg
Rolling Stone
Julian Schnabel
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Before Night Falls
Javier Bardem
Les trésors de les parfums françaises
Versailles
Sofia Coppola
Marie Antoinette
Titanic exhibit
Great Lakes Science Center
New York Historical Society
Hamilton exhibit at the New York Historical Society
Hamilton
Hamilton app
TDF - Theater Development Fund
Hello, Dolly!
TodayTix
HipTix
LincTix
Twilight
Sandra Suy - illustrator for The Time-Traveling Fashionista
Sandra Suy on Instagram
Children’s animation on the Titanic
Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra
Fashion Plates
Full Fathom Five
James Frey
Writopia
Radical Candor, by Kim Scott
Writopia Sleepaway Camp
Bug Juice
Courtney Sheinmel
Magic on the Map
Celeste Ng
Little Fires Everywhere
Everything I Never Told You
Tana French
The Met Gala
Ocean’s 8
FIT Museum
Isla Fisher
Marge in Charge
Hollywood’s Eve by Lili Anolik
Seduction by Karina Longworth
You Must Remember This - Karina Longworth’s podcast
Ecuador Service Trip with Writopia
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter@truerwordspod and on Instagram@truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website,truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Ally is the author of the MATCHED trilogy, ATLANTIA, the Edgar-nominated SUMMERLOST, and the DARKDEEP series (with Brendan Reichs).
Find Ally on Twitter: @allycondie and Instagram: @ally.condie. Her website is AllyCondie.com. THE LAST VOYAGE OF POE BLYTHE comes out March 26th from Penguin Random House.
Show Notes:
Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
Ally Carter’s A Letter to Baby Author Me (circa 2004)
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk about following up Eat, Pray, Love
Cynthia Leitich-Smith
Cynsations Survivor Series
Madonna
Kekla Magoon
Shadow Mountain
Brandon Mull
Jodi Reamer
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
John Green
Dan Santat
Carolyn Mackler
Julie Strauss-Gabel
On women writers using grants for childcare: Financial Windfalls: 15 Stories of the Money That Changed Everything
Edgar Awards
Brendan Reichs
YAllWest
VCFA Writing for Children and Young Adults
Martine Leavitt
Soman Chainani
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, by Daniel H. Pink
The Good Place
The Olympics
P.D. James
Agatha Christie
Laurie King
An Na
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter@truerwordspod and on Instagram@truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website,truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Jasmine is the author of the wildly popular romance novels, The Wedding Date and The Proposal, along with the upcoming The Wedding Party and future novels yet to be written.
Find Jasmine on Twitter: @thebestjasmine and Instagram: @jasminepics. Her website is JasmineGuillory.com.
Show Notes:
The Worst Bestsellers Podcast / @worstbestseller
Kathryn’s episodes of The Worst Bestsellers:
Episode 117: Year One
Episode 28: Black Hills
The Sauce Podcast / @saucepodcast
Melissa’s All I Wanna Do essay
Jasmine on the Today Show!
Reese’s Book Club
Berkley Romance
Tessa Dare
Courtney Milan
Beverly Jenkins
Nora Roberts
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Rachel Fershleiser
Tessa Dare quote that Kathryn mentions
The Ripped Bodice store
The Ripped Bodice Diversity Report
Thinking About Jewish Children’s Literature in a Time of Rising Antisemitism - Katherine Locke
NaNoWriMo
Holly Root, Jasmine’s agent
Holly’s interview on 88 Cups of Tea
The Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang
Intercepted, by Alexa Martin
Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfield
Betsy-Tacy, by Maud Hart Lovelace
Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery
Little House on the Prairie series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Girls of Canby Hall, by Emily Chase
Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz
Sherry Thomas
The Hollow of Fear (third book in Lady Sherlock series), by Sherry Thomas
@ThatEricAlper tweet about waking up in 1918
The Agency series, by Y.S. Lee
All You Can Never Know, by Nicole Chung
Unmarriageable, by Soniah Kamal
Pride, by Ibi Zoboi
Judy Blume
Back to the Future series
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Jen is the author of the new YA biographical historical fiction WHAT EVERY GIRL SHOULD KNOW, about the early life of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. She is also the author of the Sunny Sweet middle grade series and another historical novel, Scar.
Find Jen on Twitter: @jenannmann and Instagram: @jenniferannmann. Her website is JAlbertMann.com.
Show Notes:
Books, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
Scar by J. Albert Mann
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell
The Autobiography of Margaret Sanger
My Fight for Birth Control by Margaret Sanger
Woman of Valor by Eleanor Chesler
Other books by Margaret Sanger
Planned Parenthood
Racism, Birth Control, and Reproductive Rights by Angela Davis
Surprise! The ERA is back!
Jennifer K. Mann
People I Want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann
Highlights Magazine
Kerry Sparks, literary agent
Kirby Larson
Unpresidented by Martha Brockenbrough
Eugene V. Debs
Heartland by Sarah Smarsh
Just As I Thought by Grace Paley
Monica Hesse
Ruta Sepetys
Amanda West Lewis
Rachel Syme on Twitter
Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly
Eloquent Rage by Dr. Brittney Cooper
Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister
My Life As a Goddess by Guy Branum
We Need Diverse Books
Ellen Oh
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter@truerwordspod and on Instagram@truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website,truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Media referenced in the episode includes:
Better Than Before, by Gretchen Rubin
David Rakoff on Rent / transcript
More David Rakoff
Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish by David Rakoff
“No More Little White Gloves”: Sarah Kernochan’s ‘All I Wanna Do’ by Melissa
You Have to Fail A Little by Melissa
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
Apocalypse Now
Goodreads
Book Riot Read Harder challenge
Dear Heartbreak, edited by Heather Demetrios
ALA Awards
The Season of Styx Malone, by Kekla Magoon
Coretta Scott King awards
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter@truerwordspod and on Instagram@truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website,truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Find Nova on Twitter: @novaren and Instagram: @novaren. Her website is novaren.com. She is also the co-founder of the Foreshadow YA anthology, which is on Twitter @foreshadowYA and online at ForeshadowYA.
Show Notes:
Books, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
Daily Rituals: How Artists Work edited by Mason Currey
Distraction 99 - Nova’s blog
Vermont College of Fine Arts
A Room Away from the Wolves - Nova’s latest book
The Walls Around Us - Nova’s previous book
The Writers Room
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Feathered by Laura Kasischke
Boy Heaven by Laura Kasischke
Winter Institute
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Shirley Jackson
The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Find May online at MayYang.net or Flashfloodprint.com and Instagram: @electrofervor and @flashfloodprints.
Show Notes:
Books, movies, comedy specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:
Danielle Steel’s desk (believe us, you want to see it)
Nora Roberts
Amy Tan, misandrist hero
Small Business Development Center of Tulsa
MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art)
Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition
Time Blocking
Jessica Hische
Podcast: Song Exploder
The Gathering Place Tulsa
And here’s the mural May painted!
Philbrook Museum of Art
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Matt Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Find Erin on Twitter @erinrosechan and Instagram: Erinrosechan. And find Erin’s dog, Thor, on Instagram: @Thebiteythor. She’s also on the How to Watch Movies the Right Way podcast.
Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.
Show Notes:
Books, movies, comedy specials, and other media mentioned include:
Nanette by Hannah Gadsby
My Life as a Goddess by Guy Branum
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Forever Princess by Meg Cabot
Cash Cab
Samantha Bee’s This Is Not A Game The Game
Jantsen’s Gift by Pamela Cope / The COPE Foundation
Bubble Guppies
Brooklyn 99
Get Out
Inside You by Heather Fink
Game Night
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.
Find Adrienne on Twitter @adriennekisner and visit her website, adriennekisner.com. Her debut novel is Dear Rachel Maddow, and her upcoming June 2019 release is The Confusion of Laurel Graham.
Show Notes:
We reference our MFA program, Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award.
Books and other media mentioned include:
Sadie by Courtney Summers
Sawkill Girls and Furyborn by Claire Legrand
Murphy Brown
The Good Place
Veronica Mars
About Truer Words:
Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.
You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.