Podcasts about strong female characters

Today I spoke to Mike about his journey in content creation and what it means to be a full time podcaster.Make sure to subscribe so you know when our next episode drops and rate and review if you like what we are doing.SocialsFind Mike at schub.esFind Sam's Socials on this link: https://linktr.ee/samuelobrienFind the Podcast's Socials on this link: https://linktr.ee/contentncapable Plugs and MentionsPlug: Sam plugged Black Bag. Mike plugged How to do Everything by NPR and Strong Female Character by Fern Brady.Check out the other shows on the Deus Ex Media Network!

In this week's episode, I take a look at the movies and streaming shows I watched in winter 2024/2025, and share my opinions on them. I also take a look at my ebook advertising results from January 2025. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Half-Orc Paladin, Book #3 in the Half-Elven Thief series, (as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward) at my Payhip store: PALADIN50 The coupon code is valid through February 28, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for the bad February weather, we've got you covered! 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 238 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is February 7, 2025 and today we are discussing the movies and streaming shows I watched in Winter 2024 and 2025. Before that, we will do Coupon of the Week, an update on my current writing projects, Question of the Week, and my ad results from January 2025.   First, let's start with Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Half-Orc Paladin, Book Three in the Half-Elven Thief Series (as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward) at my Payhip store. That coupon code is PALADIN50. This coupon code will be valid through February the 28th, 2025, so if you need a new audiobook to get you through the bad February weather, we have got you covered.   Now for an update on my current writing and audiobook projects. As I mentioned last week, Shield of Deception is now out and you can get it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple Books, Smashwords and my Payhip store. It is doing quite well. Thank you all for that. I hope you enjoy the book and I've been hearing good things about it from people who read it.   Now that Shield of Deception is done, my main project is now Ghost in the Assembly and I am 36,000 words into it as of this recording, which puts me almost on Chapter 8 of 21. So I'm about one third of the way through the rough draft, give or take. If all goes well. I'm hoping that book will be out in March. My secondary project is Shield of Battle, which is the sequel to Shield of Deception and I am about 2,000 words into that. I'm also 50,000 words into what will be the third and final Stealth and Spells book, Stealth and Spells Online: Final Quest. It was originally named Reactant, but I decided to change the name to Final Quest because that sounds better and if all goes well, that will probably be out in the middle of the year, give or take.   In audiobook news, Cloak of Masks (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) is now out at all audio stores, including Audible, so you can listen to that there. Work is almost done on Cloak of Dragonfire. It's being proof-listened to as I record this and hopefully that should be out before too much longer. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects.   00:02:19 Question of the Week   Next up is Question of the Week, which is intended to inspire interesting discussions of enjoyable topics. This week's topic, which ties into our main topic: what was the favorite movie you saw in 2024? No wrong answers, obviously (including “I hate everything I saw in 2024”). We have a few responses for this.   JD says: It was either Transformers One or Deadpool and Wolverine.   Mary says: I didn't see any movies in 2024.   Doug says: Dune was one of the books I read in the ‘70s. Like your books, I never got enough back then. I was buying Hardcovers. I still have six of them. I have seen the two versions of the books. Can't wait to see this version of the books. I have seen the first movies. Hope to see more.   David says: Godzilla versus Kong was pretty much the only one from last year I saw. I just bought Gladiator 2 but haven't watched it yet.   Davette says: I enjoyed both Dune 2 and The Fall Guy and Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine. My favorite was Wicked, mainly because I've been waiting on that movie for years.   Bonnie says: I haven't seen any movies or watched TV in years.   For myself, I think it would be a tie for my favorite movie of 2024 for between Dune 2 and The Fall Guy. The two Dune movies, for all the stuff they changed from the book, are probably the most faithful adaptation it was possible to make with that very dense and very weird book. I thought The Fall Guy was just hilarious and I had no idea it was based on TV series from the ‘80s until I read up about it on the Internet after I saw the movie. It was interesting that we didn't have very many responses to this question the week and of those responses, one third of them was “I didn't see any movies in 2024.” So if the movie industry is wondering why it's in so much trouble, I think we might have just found the answer here in that nobody wants to go to see movies in the theater anymore.   00:04:09 Ad Results for January 2025 Now onto our next topic, how my ads performed in January 2025. Now as usual for my books in January, I used Facebook ads, Amazon ads, and BookBub ads, so let's break them down by category- first, by Facebook ads. As usual, I advertised The Ghosts and Cloak Games/Cloak Mage.   GHOSTS: $4.08 for every dollar, with 22% of the profit coming from the audiobooks.   CLOAK GAMES/MAGE: $3.38 for every dollar, with 6% of the profit coming from the audiobooks. So that went pretty well. I'm hoping that percentage will go up once Cloak of Dragonfire is done and we can put together Cloak Mage Omnibus Three.   I also did some Amazon ads – specifically for HALF-ELVEN THIEF, STEALTH & SPELLS ONLINE: CREATION, and THE LINUX COMMAND LINE BEGINNERS GUIDE.   Remember, for an Amazon ad to be effective, it usually needs to be generating at least one sale for every eight clicks on the ads.   HALF-ELVEN THIEF: $4.65 for every dollar spent, 1.85 sales for every click. It's just an amazing ratio-thank you for that.   STEALTH & SPELLS ONLINE: CREATION: Lost $0.15 for every dollar spent, 1 sale for every 4.76 clicks.   THE LINUX COMMAND LINE BEGINNER'S GUIDE: $3.16 for every dollar spent, 33% of the profit from audio, 1.34 sales for every click.   The standout was HALF-ELVEN THIEF, which actually had more sales than clicks on the ads. That hardly ever happens!   You can see there's a reason I'm going to conclude STEALTH & SPELLS with the third book, because it just doesn't sell well. All of the advertising experiments I have tried to make it sell well have not responded to date. That said, we did improve from December, where I only got a sale for every 14 clicks.   Additionally, Amazon ads work really well with nonfiction books, since they respond a lot better to keyword ads.   Finally, I used Bookbub ads for THE GHOSTS on Apple. That went pretty well.   THE GHOSTS: $4 for every $1 spent.   So, all in all, a pretty good month for ads, though STEALTH & SPELLS remains the weak point. As always everyone, thank you for buying the books and listening to the audiobooks.   00:06:50 Main Topic: Movie/TV Show Reviews of Winter 2024/Early Winter 2025 Now onto our main topic, the movies and streaming shows I watched in Winter 2024 and early winter 2025. As always, my ratings are totally subjective and based on nothing more concrete than my own opinions.   Our first one is Red One, which came out in 2024. This was a strange mashup of genres, a holiday movie, urban fantasy, a thriller, and just a little bit of existential horror. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays Callum Drift, who is the head of Santa Claus's security. Meanwhile, Chris Evans plays an unscrupulous hacker and thief named Jack O'Malley. Jack unwittingly helps unknown malefactors kidnap Santa Claus and so Callum and Jack have to team up to rescue Santa from his kidnappers. This sounds like a lighthearted holiday movie, but it really isn't. The movie is rather dour and takes itself very seriously. Callum acts like he's in a Jason Bourne movie and deals with various supernatural creatures like a special forces operator assessing targets. Additionally, there are some urban fantasy elements with the vast government agency dedicated to hiding the supernatural world from normal people. I don't think the dissonance really worked at all. It had pieces of a light holiday movie and pieces of a thriller and they really didn't mesh. It's not hard to see why this one didn't do well in the theaters, on top of its enormous budget. Overall Grade: D (In the spirit of Christmas generosity)   Next up is Argylle, which came out in 2024. This was a dumb movie, but I enjoyed it, kind of like Murder Mystery with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston on Netflix. I mean that wasn't exactly Shakespeare or Milton, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy myself while watching it. Same thing applies to Argylle. The plot is that the protagonist Ellie Conway is a bestselling spy novelist. Ellie is a bit of an eccentric personality and travels everywhere with her cat in a backpack that has a window in it so the cat can see what's going on. However, it turns out that Ellie's novels are accurately predicting events in real life espionage, so several sinister spy agencies are hunting her down to learn her secret. A spy named Aidan saves Ellie, claiming that he's the only one she can trust. Of course, this is the kind of movie that has a shocking betrayal and plot twist every eight minutes or so, and the revelation of the central twist made me face palm a bit. There is a fight scene at the end involving colored smoke that's absolutely bonkers. It was on Apple Plus or Apple TV or whatever it's called, but that means all the characters did all their computing on shiny new Apple devices, which is always amusing. Overall Grade: D+ (but barely)   Next up is Venom: The Last Dance, which came out in 2024. It wasn't as good as the first two since so many of the characters did not return, but it brought the Venom Trilogy to a mostly satisfying conclusion. Eddie Brock and Venom are on the run after the events of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Unbeknownst to either of them, the US government has a secret facility holding captured symbiant aliens and the agency that runs the facility is hunting for them. Unbeknownst to the US government, the creator of the symbiotes, an evil entity named Knull is preparing to escape his prison and to do that, he needs Eddie/Venom delivered to him alive, so he dispatches his creatures to Earth hunt down Eddie and Venom, with disastrous results. The best part of the movie was the comedic duo of Eddie and Venom since the movie takes the absurdity of their situation and leans into it. Overall Grade: B- Next up is the Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which came out in 2024. I read an interview with Brandon Sanderson where he said that a big part of the problem with movie adaptations of books is that the filmmakers often want to tell their own story, not the books'. So they basically used the book as a framework for telling their own story, which inevitably annoys the readers of the book. I suspect that was what happened with The War of the Rohirrim. This movie was a mixture of strong points and weaknesses. Apparently it only exists because New Line needed to put out something or they'd lose film rights to Tolkien's stuff, and so The War of the Rohirrim was fast-tracked.   The strong points: the animation looked pretty, the battle scenes were fun to watch, the voice performances were good, and the music was also good.   The weak points: it felt too long and slow-paced. I think a good half-hour could have been cut of the characters looking pensive and thoughtful (and saved the animators a lot of work in the process). Additionally, I don't think the changes to the plot quite worked. It's based out of the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings, specifically the history of Rohan. In the book, the plot is touched off when the corrupt Lord Freca demands that King Helm's daughter Hera marry Freca's son Wulf. Helm takes exception to this and ends up killing Freca. His son Wulf swears vengeance, gathers an army from Rohan's enemies, and sets out to seize the crown for himself. In the book, Helm's sons are killed, and Helm himself dies in the defense of the Hornburg (which later becomes known as Helm's Deep), but his nephew Frealof gathers an army, kills Wulf, and becomes the new king of Rohan.   That would have been perfectly good for the plot, but as we mentioned above, I think the screenwriters decided they wanted to write about a Strong Female Character, so they massively expanded Hera's part and made her the protagonist. The problem with this as an adaptation is that Hera is only mentioned once in the book, so the script has to make up a lot of extra stuff to justify Hera's presence, which always weakens an adaptation of a book. This version of Hera would have been in danger of becoming a stereotypical #girlboss character, but she acts more like a Japanese anime protagonist, which does work better in this sort of movie than an Americanized Strong Female Character.   So, in the end, not a bad movie, but I think it would have worked better if they had stuck closer to the original plot in the book. Overall Grade: B-   Next up is Golden Era, which came out in 2022. This is a documentary about the making of the classic Nintendo 64 game Goldeneye and the company behind it. Until I watched this, I never knew that Rare, the company that made Goldeneye, was based in the UK.   I admit I really didn't play Goldeneye back in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. I did a few times at various social events, but I never really got into it since I didn't own a game console from 1998 to 2019. Nonetheless, Goldeneye was a very influential game that left its mark on all first-person shooter games since. The documentary interviews most of the people who were involved in the making of Goldeneye, and it was fascinating to see how they more or less accidentally created a genre-defining game.   If you enjoyed Goldeneye or are interested in video game history at all, the documentary is worth watching. After many years of official unavailability, Goldeneye is now available on Nintendo Switch and Xbox, so I may have to give it a try. Overall grade: B     Next up is Wonka, which came out in 2023. I didn't really intend to watch this, but it was on in the background while I was playing Starfield…and Starfield has a lot of loading screens. This movie wasn't made for me, not even remotely, but I thought it was a competently executed example of a movie musical.   Anyway, the plot revolves around a young Willy Wonka coming to a city that seems like a weird hybrid between Paris and New York. Wonka sets out to start selling his innovative chocolates, but soon runs into stiff opposition from the corrupt local candy industry, the corrupt local police chief, and his equally corrupt landlady, who has somehow transitioned from hospitality to luring people into debt slavery. Wonka makes allies from his fellow indentured workers, and soon he is conducting local chocolate manufacturing like a heist.   Like I said, this really wasn't made for me, and I'm sure people who actually like musicals would have many more detailed opinions. But this had some genuinely funny bits. Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa was hilarious, and so was Rowan Atkinson as a corrupt bishop. The best line: “Judgment has come…in a most unexpected form!” Overall grade: B     Next up is Man on the Inside, which came out in 2024, and this is a Netflix comedy series from Mike Schur, who created Parks and Recreation, The Good Place and Brooklyn 99. To describe this show, think of a meditation about accepting the inevitability of aging and death through Schur's comedic style, and you'll be there.   Anyway, Ted Danson stars as a recently widowed retired professor of engineering named Charles. His daughter is worried that he's not handling things well and becoming too isolated, so suggests that he find a hobby. Charles answers a classified ad for an “older man who can use technology” and finds himself recruited by a private investigator named Julie. Julie's company has been hired to find a thief within a retirement home, and Julie is about 35 years too young to convincingly infiltrate a retirement home. Hence, Charles pretends to be a new resident, and finds himself befriending the residents he is supposed to investigate. All the while, he tries to deal with the remaining grief from his wife's death, which he never got around to processing in the moment.   In my opinion, The Good Place and Brooklyn 99 both kind of fell apart in their final seasons, but Man on the Inside avoids that in its final episodes, providing good resolution to both the conflict and the emotional stakes. I thought it was both bittersweet and quite funny, and I approve that there's going to be a 2nd season. Overall grade: B   Next up is Minted, which came out in 2023, and this was an interesting documentary about the rise in the fall of the NFT, which in the early 2020s we were assured was going to be the next big thing, but it just turned out to be yet another scam.   The documentary follows an interesting course, first explaining what an NFT is, and then interviewing artists who made life-changing money from minting their early NFTS. But then the speculators arrived, and followed swiftly by the scammers. As of 2025, of course, NFTs are quite worthless, like so many much-vaunted Web 3.0 style technologies.   I think the documentary's biggest weakness was assuming that NFT technology was around to stay and would find a use that would help artists. I agree that it's around to stay, but I don't think it adds value to anything at all. Nevertheless, an interesting look into the NFT fad and the impact it had on artists. Overall grade: B     Next up is Gladiator 2, which came out in 2024. This is basically the same movie as the original Gladiator, just reshuffled a bit and with twenty years of improved technology. The main character Hanno is a soldier in an African city that rebels against Rome. After the rebellion is inevitably crushed, he is taken as a slave and ends up as a gladiator in Rome, determined to take his vengeance on the Roman general who ordered the death of his wife. However, the general was only carrying out the orders of the insane twin emperors Geta and Caracalla. For that matter, Hanno's owner, the charming and affable Macrinus, has his own agenda. As Hanno seeks revenge, he finds himself drawn into the deadly game of imperial politics and must confront the secrets of his own past.   The movie is only very vaguely accurate in terms of history, but it does a good job of capturing the corruption and decadence of the Roman Empire at that time. The empire was in very bad shape, and in fact was only a few years from what historians call the Crisis of the Third Century, a fifty year period of continual civil war, assassination, usurpation, and economic meltdown that resulted in the empire breaking into three separate states for about fifteen years. Everyone knows that the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD, but it very nearly didn't make it even to 300 AD. So the ending of Gladiator 2 is a total fantasy, like one of those alt-history books where the Roman Empire ends up conquering the Americas or expanding into outer space.   That said, I enjoyed the movie. Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and Connie Nielsen in particular gave very good performances, with Denzel Washington's Macrinus as the standout. Overall grade: B Next up is High Sierra, which came out in 1941, and this is 1940s true crime grimdark. A common misconception is that black and white films are generally more sanitized and saccharine than modern fare. This definitely isn't true – there wasn't any gratuitous violence and nudity in ‘40s movies, but some of them were very cynical and dark. High Sierra definitely falls into that category. Humphrey Bogart plays Roy Earle, a bank robber currently in Indiana state prison. His former boss Big Mac arranges a pardon for him, and brings him out to California for one last big job.   Unfortunately, the other people on Earle's crew are idiots, and he has a growing sense of impending disaster. Additionally, Earle gets emotionally entangled with two women – Velma, a sick woman from his hometown, and Marie, a woman inured to the lifestyle of criminals. As Earle prepares for the job and attempts to deal with the two women, things get more and more complicated. Definitely on the darker side as I mentioned, but well worth watching, both as a historical artifact and a crime story in its own right. Overall grade: B+   Next is Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, which came out in 2024. Lower Decks is an example of a parody of a thing that is so good that it sort of loops around the horseshoe and becomes a good example of the thing it is parodying. Season 5 is the undeserved end to the very funny Lower Decks series. Paramount really, really wants to get purchased by Skydance, and that's probably going to happen in 2025, so there's a lot of clearing the decks at Paramount, and I expect Lower Decks was one of the casualties.   Then again, our protagonists are no longer lower deckers but junior officers, so perhaps it was a natural place to end the show. So Lower Decks went out pretty strong with a collection of funny and good episodes. All the characters experienced plot arcs and development. The lower deckers matured from the callow ensigns they were in Season 1, and the senior officers likewise experienced character growth and development. (I liked Commander Ransom's triumphant battle cry of “high intensity interval training!”)   I'd say the only weakness is that the show ended with multiverse stuff, and I don't like multiverse stuff in general. Still, the show made a compelling argument for the multiverse as a concept, and the multiverse plot did give an excuse to bring back various Trek actors for speaking parts. And, to be fair, Star Trek has been doing multiverse stuff long, long before the Marvel movies ran the concept into the ground – Captain Kirk was dealing with alternate universe stuff back in the 1960s.   The last episode was a satisfactory conclusion to the series. Lower Decks might be over, but once the Skydance acquisition settles down, maybe the character will return in a new show called Junior Officers? One can hope! Overall grade: B+   Next up is the Frasier reboot Season 2, which also came out in 2024. I liked this about as much as I liked Season 1, which is to say I enjoyed it and found it funny. Frasier's and his son Frederick's relationship seems to have reached equilibrium, so the season spent more time on more 1940s style screwball comedy, which is not a bad thing. Some of the best comedy remains the conflicts between Frasier and Frederick, which is of course an echo of Frasier's own conflicts with his father back in the original show in the 1990s.   I think the best episode was the return of Frasier's scheming, Machiavellian agent Bebe and her daughter Phoebe, who did not exactly fall far from the maternal apple tree. The 10-episode format for the season does seem rather cramped compared to the 20-ish episodes per season of the original show, but that was a different era.   Frasier remains, as one of the characters said in the previous season, the same well-meaning buffoon who goes “that extra, ill-advised mile.” I hope we get a Season 3, but with the shakeups we mentioned at Paramount, that seems unlikely. Overall grade: A-     Finally, let's close with the three best things I saw in Winter 2024/2025.   The first of my favorite three is Saturday Night, which came out in 2024. This is a biopic about the chaotic first night of Saturday Night Live back in the 1970s. Quite hilarious in a vicious sort of way, and (from what I understand) it accurately captures the sheer chaos of live TV. Of course, the chaos surrounding SNL is probably a bit higher than usual for standard live television.   After I watched it, I looked it up, and it seems the movie compresses about three months' worth of events into the hour and a half before the launch of the very first episode. What's amusing is that the more outlandish an event in the movie was, the more likely it was to have actually happened in the leadup to the show's launch. It was the mundane stuff that was made up, not the crazy stuff.   JK Simmons was hilarious as Milton Berle. Nowadays, SNL is an Institution, so it was amusing to see it back when everyone thought it was a bad idea that would fail catastrophically. The movie convincingly captured the “look” of the 1970s – all the characters looked like they were made of nicotine, cholesterol, and cocaine, and in some instances, a lot of cocaine. That stuff is bad for you, as several SNL stars later found out to their sorrow.   It really shows the randomness of history – watching the creation of SNL, you wouldn't expect it to have lasting cultural impact, but it did. Overall grade: A The second of my three favorite things I saw was The Thin Man, which came out in 1934. This is based on a novel by Dashiel Hammett (most famous for writing The Maltese Falcon), and was made pre-Hays Code, so the female lead tended to wear outfits that show off a bit more skin than you would otherwise expect in a 1930s movie. Interestingly, The Thin Man is a fusion of a noir detective movie and a screwball comedy, not two genres that are usually connected, and somehow it all works.   Anyway, the movie centers around detective Nick and his wife Nora, who have returned to New York after a four-year sojourn to California. Nick used to be a private detective, but then he married the wealthy Nora, and wanted to retire to a life of ease and parties with a lot of alcohol. Except everyone in New York assumes that Nick isn't retired and is back on the case, and so he gets dragged into the disappearance of an eccentric factory owner and a string of murders that pop up around it. Of course, Nick isn't as reluctant to come out of retirement as he pretends.   As is often the case in many movies made in the 1930s, many of the rich characters are shown as malicious buffoons, especially the factory owner's ex-wife. Nick and Nora, as the protagonists, are of course exempt from this.   This is considered a classic, and deservedly so – the characters are sharply drawn, the dialogue is good, the performances are excellent, the movie manages to portray a fairly complex plot in 90 minutes. You'll want to watch it with the captions on, of course, because while human nature may not have changed in the ninety years since this movie came out, audio technology has sure improved.   Fun fact: Nick and Nora's dog is named Asta, which is apparently a frequent answer in crossword puzzles due to the double vowels. Overall grade: A   Now, for the third of my three favorite things I saw in Winter 2024/2025, that would be Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which came out in 2024. This is Star Wars meets The Goonies meets Pirates of the Caribbean, and despite that very odd combination of influences, the show was really quite good. The show opens on the idyllic planet of At Attin, which looks like an idealized version of 1980s suburbia filtered through Star Wars. Everyone on the planet has the same job – contributing to the Great Work (whatever that is). Since our four protagonists are kids, they don't pay much attention to that or the concerns of the adults. When one of the children discovers a derelict spaceship in the woods, they accidentally activate it and fly off-planet.   This is a problem because At Attin is protected by a Barrier that doesn't allow travel, and the galaxy is a dangerous place with a lot of pirate gangs roaming around looking for prey. However, the children fall in with Jod, who claims to be a Jedi who will help the kids get back to their home. Everyone they meet warns them that Jod is a con artist and not to be trusted, but he demonstrates Force powers again and again (which would seem to support his claim that he's a Jedi). And the kids' home of At Attin has a mysterious secret, one that Jod desperately wants to claim for himself.   This is very entertaining all the way through. Star Wars really works best as a kids' adventure show (in my opinion), though I'm still looking forward to the second season of Andor, which is Star Wars crossed with a John le Carre spy thriller. Overall grade: A     So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave your review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

Welcome to a special FANGIRLING episode, in which your Beasts (Courtney and Ghabiba) discuss Season 1 of Arcane with the incredible ⁠Ruth Mckell⁠. In this episode, you'll hear: Major fangirling!! And spoilers!!! Don't say we didn't warn you! What makes a strong female character A discussion of various characters and if they qualify as "strong" Different types of strength Join us for final (for now) FANGRILING OVER ARCANE episode to discuss corruption arcs. Are you ready? For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribe ⁠to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠ Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks! A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify. As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast. Be brave, stay beastly!

In this episode of My Simplified Life, host Michelle Glogovac interviews author Gemma Tizzard about her historical fiction novel, Grace Of The Empire State. The conversation explores the extensive research Gemma conducted on the construction of the Empire State Building during the Great Depression, the portrayal of strong women in her story, and the balance between her writing career and day job. Gemma shares her insights on American history, the writing process, and the importance of relationships in storytelling, all while celebrating the release of her book. What We're Talking About Gemma Tizzard's book is a historical fiction set in 1930 New York. The research for the book took over three years. Women played a crucial role during the Great Depression. Gemma's background in American Studies influenced her writing. The writing process for the first draft took only six weeks. Gemma balances her writing career with a full-time job in marketing. The book highlights the emotional labor women undertook during tough times. Gemma aims to make history engaging and relatable through her storytelling. The importance of relationships is a central theme in the book. Gemma's next project will continue exploring women's stories in history. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Gemma Tizzard and Her Book 03:06 Researching the Empire State Building 04:54 Exploring the Historical Context and Female Perspectives 07:06 Strong Female Characters in Historical Fiction 08:45 The Realities of the Great Depression 11:04 Gemma's Journey in American Studies 12:28 Balancing Writing with a Day Job 13:54 The Writing Process and Speed 15:56 Future Projects and Themes 18:18 Gemma's Secret Life as a Writer 19:36 Promoting the Book and Future Plans 21:41 Capturing the Danger of Construction 24:06 The Importance of Historical Perspective 25:58 Themes of Friendship and Family 27:07 Conclusion and Where to Find Gemma 28:09 Appreciating History Through a New Lens Links Mentioned Grace Of The Empire State by Gemma Tizzard https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Grace-of-the-Empire-State/Gemma-Tizzard/9781668056943 Gemma Tizzard's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gemma_tizzard/

Nothing brings a child and mother closer than listening to Cinema To The Letter together! Actually, maybe mom doesn't need to listen with you. Regardless, it's time to hear Thomas, Bryan special guest Manish Mathur of Bollywood Drafts discuss the I for Indie film for this Criterion-themed season All About My Mother! Together, our trio answers the crucial questions. What makes the films of Pedro Almodovar so special? How can female representation be complex compared to Strong Female Character™ archetypes? Why are the vibes at a sex worker fire pit so immaculate? Well, look both ways before crossing the street before you listen to find out! Join our Patreon for $1 for monthly bonus episodes and the chance to vote for new podcasts at patreon.com/cinema2letter! Follow us @cinema2letter on socials! Artwork by Michelle Kyle! Music by Burial Grid! We're a proud member of the TalkFilmSociety podcast network!

Nothing brings a child and mother closer than listen to Cinema To The Letter together! Actually, maybe mom doesn't need to listen with you. Regardless, it's time to hear Thomas, Bryan special guest Manish Mathur of Bollywood Drafts discuss the I for Indie film for this Criterion themed season All About My Mother! Together, our trio answers the crucial questions. What makes the films of Pedro Almodovar so special? How can female representation be complex compared to Strong Female Character™ archetypes? Why are the vibes at a sex worker fire pit so immaculate? Well, look both ways before crossing the street before you listen to find out! Join our Patreon for $1 for monthly bonus episodes and the chance to vote for new podcasts at patreon.com/cinema2letter! Follow us @cinema2letter on socials! Artwork by Michelle Kyle! Music by Burial Grid! We're a proud member of the TalkFilmSociety podcast network! 

My guest this episode is Sylvia Bourgeois, who writes stories featuring strong, unconventional women set against the natural beauty and industry of the Pacific Northwest. A former heavy equipment operator and project manager, Sylvia uses her unique life experiences to craft compelling historical fiction. Her latest novel, Here, Now, takes readers on a journey from 1920s Seattle to a remote logging camp in British Columbia. I spoke to Sylvia about how her childhood, career, and creative process have shaped her work—and how she juggles a demanding day job with her passion for writing. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of 2,000+ blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. We invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. Sponsor Inspirational Indie Authors is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for 40 years and now amplifies the voices of independent author-publishers and works with authors as a developmental editor. Find Howard at howardlovy.com, LinkedIn, and X.

Send us a textA warm welcome today to Rebecca Henleywillis, who describes herself as a "Patchwork GP". Listen on to find out what a patchwork GP is. (spoiler: I love the term and I think I'm going to start using it myself fairly soon.) This is the final episode of season seven of Bedside Reading, and we are talking about Strong Female Character by Fern Brady. This is an astonishing memoir. Fern Brady is a comedian. Many of you may have seen her on Taskmaster. She is articulate. She is funny. She is capable. She is autistic. This book explores her life, some of the challenges she's had, and her late diagnosis of autism. It was really, really good to talk to Rebecca and think particularly about autism in women but also autism as a later life diagnosis and thinking about adjustments, families,  the myriad of ways that we can make things better or worse for people. We also spent some time thinking about autism in healthcare professionals and how easy it is to miss and how important it is to ask the right questions. I've loved revisiting this book and I've thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Rebecca.

Halle Berry doesn't need an introduction. She's the first Black woman to win the Oscar for best actress and has been a fierce advocate for women's rights, raising awareness about menopause. She's also got a new horror film out called “Never Let Go,” that she produced through her own production company HalleHolly — just in time for spooky season this fall. Halle joins the Bright Side to discuss her new horror film, what she hopes her legacy will be, and how she paves the way for herself and others.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eve made her mark in the rap scene in the late '90s as the first lady of Ruff Ryders. And over the past decades, she's had platinum albums, hit singles, and a Grammy Award. She was also one of the first female rappers to have a sitcom, launch a clothing line and co-host the daytime talk show, “The Talk.” Eve joins the Bright Side to share how she's navigating life in London with a blended family and she's spilling all the details in her new memoir, “Who's That Girl?”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Film critic and broadcaster Hanna Flint joins us to talk about her cinematic memoir, “Strong Female Character.” Also, film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz and fellow film critic Walter […]

Join us on the show as we look at a video by Broey Deschanel where they discuss the ways that Hollywood failed Daenerys! Join us at 5pm Eastern!

In this very special episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin (@Gilligan_McJew) is joined by the "Cosplay Queen of NYC" and the lip sync assassin assassin of Rupaul's Drag Race season 16, who will also be a special guest at this year's Flame Con, and the host of the afterparty The Fireball, Megami (@MegamiNYC)! They catch up on life on tour, what fans can expect to see from Megami at this year's Drag Con, and share our thoughts on X-Men '97, the trailer for Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, and find out what we're getting Down & Nerdy with in pop culture right now. BIG OPENING:   KEVIN: Marvel & DC Pride MEGAMI: X-Men ‘97 finale   DOWN & NERDY:  KEVIN: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Bridgerton, Dark Matter, Sugar MEGAMI: X-Men ‘97, Madam Web, Gameboy Advance games via emulators    STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER:  New-ish trailer for Wicked   THIS WEEK IN QUEER: Nintendo reveals new Paper Mario remake includes a trans character   CLIP OF THE WEEK:  New trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice   SHILF KEVIN: Wolverine MEGAMI: Morph  

Fern Brady, one of the UK's most exciting stand-ups, visited The Wheeler Centre to discuss her bestselling book Strong Female Character as part of the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Hosted by Australian stand-up comedian and writer Laura Davis, Brady discussed her writing process, Catholic upbringing and late diagnosis of autism.This event was recorded on Wednesday 3 April 2024 at The Wheeler Centre.It was presented in partnership with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The official bookseller was Mary Martin Bookshop. Featured music is ‘Lucy's Trail' by Sarah the illstumentalist.Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Kelley and Mirandia as they talk about their strong female characters they really resonated with in their youth, and still today.

Tony Brewer reads "Tea Party of Grief," "Maximum Dog," "Strong Female Character," "Seeing Things," "What Would Thoreau Do?," and "Manual for Fixing."

In today's show we feature all four category winners in the first ever Nero Book Awards, First up we listen to a clip from the Non-Fiction winning book Strong Female Character by Fern Brady  We have a long chat with Michael Magee about his Debut Fiction winning book, Close to Home   We listen to a clip from The Swifts by Beth Lincoln, the Children's Fiction winner Then, from the Booker Prize shows, we chat to the Fiction winner Paul Murray about The Bee Sting Then (after a swift last minute edit) we reveal the overall winner.

Madame Web might be the worst superhero movie of all time but what are its similarities to other female centric comic book movies? Is it indicative of a pattern unique to the super-heroine genre that predestined it to be bad or is there something much more sinister at play with the reception and creation of these films? Host, Megan Cruz, unpacks the unpleasant realities of being sold a "strong female character" and the discomfort that comes with finding yourself on the wrong side of internet discourse. Madame Web, the Marvels, and Birds of Prey are all part of the larger discussion on what we get, what we deserve, and why these movies are the way they are.

In the latest episode of book(ish), the girls talk all about comedian Fern Brady's memoir Strong Female Character. The book is a honest & raw telling of Brady's autism diagnosis journey and the challenges faced along the way. This episode is sponsored by The Tandem Collective & Octopus Books. ~ trigger warnings; the memoir does help in understanding meltdowns and the struggles of people with autism, before and after diagnosis. While it could be educational for readers, the content and the tone it is written in could be challenging for some. There is a comedic tone used in some parts of the book that could be disarming for some readers but could be perceived as flippancy by others. Similar tone was used for discussions about serious topics such as self harm. We think this is an exceptionally raw, honest discussion of Fern's own experience and we're thrilled she's sharing it with us. We'd also encourage readers to ensure they're looking after themselves when reading sensitive content. #StrongFemaleCharacterReadalong #StrongFemaleCharacter #TandemReadalong --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bookishpod/message

This week, on Geek Off The Street, Trent and Marc about the problem with the Mary Sue or Strong Female Lead in modern movies! We get into all things like what makes a good protagonist and why modern characters are lacking that and why so many of writers and studios are getting that wrong now! All that and a bunch more on this week's exciting episode of the GOTS official podcast!Podcast Timecodes[6:20] What are we drinking this week?[24:25] What makes a good Protaganist?[31:45] The problem with Mary Sue characters[1:13:20] What are we into this week?Check Out These Books!When the White Crane Calls by J. Leroy Tucker!Greb Sorber's Mech Haven!Wilbur Mckesson's Insertion!Resentment Anthology With Wilbur Mckesson's award winning short story!Join us in the discussion!Email: thegeeksoffthestreet@gmail.comInstagram: @thegotspodLike our Facebook! Subscribe on Youtube!Twitter: @thegotspodTrent Personal: @trentctuckerMusic: @iamerictuckerStuff We MentionedTrent Tucker Vlogs!Clerk!Undead Unluck!Flight of the Conchords!People We MentionedTree of Dreams Music@chikara_ramen@therealerictucker@badicalradness@jenjoink@gregerationx@author_wilbur_m@mcpodcast

In this episode I have a deeply inspiring conversation with Dr. Marie Weitbrecht about the question what it really means to follow your bliss. In Human Design you hear us say a lot "follow your bliss, or do what lights you up". Yet it is very often misunderstood and often leads to avoidance or as an "excuse" not to do what is necessary to create desired habit change. We also touch a little bit on our newly discovered resonance with Cosmic Human Design. Marie is a 5/1 Generator in Tropical Human Design and a 2/4 Manifesting Generator in Cosmic Human Design. And I am just the mirror of that - a 2/4 ManiGen in Tropical and a 5/1 Generator in Cosmic HD. Get ready for a super juicy conversation that may help you walk away with lots of clarity! Want to watch & listen to this episode on YouTube? https://youtu.be/igCq7ON_sHk About Dr. Marie Weitbrecht: Mentoring and coaching female leaders since 2017, Marie brings a unique blend of expertise to empower women in their professional journeys. Holding a PhD in Media Studies with a focus on "Strong Female Characters in Mainstream Movies," she critically explores the narratives shaping mass culture perceptions of women's power. Transitioning from a media career, she is now a certified Systemic Coach, Leadership Embodiment Coach, Hatha and Kundalini Yoga Teacher, Ayurvedic Habits Coach, and Human Design practitioner. Marie's own journey, initially marked by a desire to become an actress but deemed "too much in her head," evolved through challenges, leading her to embrace embodiment practices such as meditation, yoga, and Ayurveda. Guided by her experiences, she shares wisdom gained from a nuanced understanding of the intricate connections between mind, body, and leadership. Marie's Website: https://frau-in-fuehrung.com/ Marie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarieweitbrecht/ Special 2 Session Offer: Human Design in German. Special offer with code "Slow down": Package of 2 Sessions (60 Mins each) for 222€. Valid if booked until February 29, 2024. Inquire via Email: marie@frau-in-fuehrung.com (if you only speak english, you can also reach out to her!) How to connect with Analena? E-mail: bloom@analenafuchs.com Analena's Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.analenafuchs.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Analena's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/analena.fuchs/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Analena's Offers & Latest Heart Projects: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://analenafuchs.com/info⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-art-of-slowing-down/message

In 2020, Scottish comedian Fern Brady was diagnosed with autism. Her award-winning Sunday Times Bestselling book ‘Strong Female Character' is an incredibly honest and hilarious account of Fern's life as an autistic girl and woman. Fern regularly appears on comedy panel shows like 8 Out of 10 Cats and Taskmaster as well as touring her own shows all over the world. In this episode, she discusses her catholic upbringing in Scotland and when she realised that she was different to other people, the “unrelenting chaos” prior to her diagnosis (including her time working at a student newspaper and lap dancing at the same time) and how her autism diagnosis as an adult has changed her. There's no holding back. Fern is currently preparing for her worldwide 2024 stand up tour ‘I Gave you Milk to Drink'. Tickets are on sale now.https://fernbradycomedian.com/Buy a copy of Strong Female Character here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/strong-female-character-fern-brady/6460207?ean=9781914240447GET IN TOUCHContact us at changespod@gmail.com with your emails and voice notes.Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode Jess and Lauren dive in to comedian Fern Brady's fantastic memoir, Strong Female Character which explores everything from mental health, sexism, neurodivergence and much more. Today's episode is brought to you by Tandem Collective but as always all views are our own and are completely sincere.Books mentioned in this episode:Strong Female Character by Fern Brady - use code STRONG for 10% off at checkout!Book Reccos Website, Shop & newsletter: Don't forget to check out our website and checkout the Book Reccos shop to purchase your very own Book Reccos Reading Journal! And whilst you're there sign up to our newsletter to receive a monthly email from us to fill you in on our favourite reccos of the month. Head to www.bookreccos.com Get in Touch: Instagram: @bookreccos Email: hello@bookreccos.comWebsite: www.bookreccos.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THERE ARE STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS Already Exist #truth #strongfemalecharacters link- https://youtu.be/RmJW02ArouY HEY GUYS BACK AGAIN FOR ANOTHER VIDEO CHECK IT OUT. ANY AND ALL COPY RIGHTS AND ARTWORK BELONG TO THERE RESPECTFUL OWNERS LINKS DOWN BELOW http://gamsterindustries1.wixsite.com... https://twitter.com/Gamsterwolf92 https://www.facebook.com/Gamster92 https://www.instagram.com https://anchor.fm/gamster-world

Are these women powerful enough to shatter expectations? We'll find out! In the last Dollar Bin Discoveries of the year, we're checking out comics focused on "Strong" female characters. Jessika read Elektra: Root of Evil #3 and Mike checked out Valeria the She-Bat #1! ----more---- Our new site is live! For the transcript of this episode, head over to https://www.tencenttakes.com/transcripts.   Email: tencenttakes@gmail.com Twitter: @Tencenttakes Instagram: @Tencenttakes Facebook: /Tencenttakes Mastodon: retro.pizza/@tencenttakes Our banner art is original work by Sarah Frank  (https://www.lookmomdraws.com/) Hive: Tencenttakes

Eleanor Elliott Thomas worked for many years as a human rights lawyer before devoting herself full-time to writing. She lives in Melbourne with her partner, two kids, and three cats. Today, we're discussing her debut novel, The Opposite of Success. Our interview begins at 00.17.00We've got a Substack publication now! On the last day of the month, we share recommendations for two things we reckon you should read/watch/listen to. The beauty of Substack is you can revisit all our old editions and comment on our episode updates to share your thoughts. Come say hi! Mini book club: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusFinally, we've read one of the most hyped books of 2022, and we loved it. It follows Elizabeth Zott, a scientist who has to fight against the misogyny of 1960s society in her science career and personal life. This is an emotional and clever novel we both highly recommend (along with everyone else).In this interview, we chat about:How Eleanor settled on the one-day timeframe and dual POV Review culture and how it feels to be on the other side of opinions about workEleanor's incredibly smooth publishing deal and adjusting expectations after publication How to classify and compare The Opposite of Success in the bookstoreSwitching to writing after working as a lawyer for 15 yearsBooks and other things mentioned:Minnie Darke (listen to our interview)Mad Men (TV series)Fleabag (TV series)Motherland (TV series)A Single Man by Christopher IsherwoodBarbie (film)Strong Female Character by Fern BradySorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (listen to our interview)Follow Eleanor and take a look at her Substack.The Opposite of Success is available now. Thank you to Text Publishing for providing us with copies of the book in preparation for the interview. Connect with us on Instagram: @betterwordspod

Janice Hallett is the author of three best-selling novels. Her debut, The Appeal, was awarded the CWA Debut Dagger of 2021. Her second novel, The Twyford Code, was named Crime & Thriller Book of the Year in the British Book Awards 2023. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels was an instant Times and Sunday Times bestseller on its launch in January 2023. Janice is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. As a playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and co-wrote the feature film Retreat. Today, we're discussing her festive novella returning to the world of her debut: The Christmas Appeal. Our interview begins at 21:00We've got a Substack publication now! On the last day of the month, we share recommendations for two things we reckon you should read/watch/listen to. The beauty of Substack is you can revisit all our old editions and comment on our episode updates to share your thoughts. Come say hi! Caitlin has been shimmying away in Jersey Boys and hasn't had time to read much, so instead, Michelle is giving two recommendations for the week. Michelle recommends: Strong Female Character by Fern BradyThis memoir is, at times, tough to read because it is unflinchingly honest. Fern was told she 'couldn't be autistic' because she had boyfriends and made eye contact – but this book explores the ways that being female has got in the way of an autism diagnosis and how understanding herself as autistic has helped her understand herself better. Michelle recommends: The Schoolhouse by Sophie WardThis literary thriller introduces us to Isobel – a woman who lives an isolated life and feels safe in her routines. When she gets a letter from an old teacher and a local schoolgirl goes missing, it sends her spiralling into the memories of a traumatic experience at an experimental school from the 1970s. The story dips between the present investigation in 1990 and Isobel's diary entries from 1975. In this interview, we chat about:Janice's almost accidental turn to book publishing after a decade of trying to get a screenwriting career off the ground – and how this inspired The Appeal's groundbreaking formatThe joy of community theatre and how it's shaped Janice's lifeHow Janice plans and writes her novelsRevisiting the world of Lockwood for The Christmas AppealA little teaser for Janice's 2024 novel, The ExaminerHow Janice feels about the success of her books after so many years of screenwritingBooks and other things mentioned:Maisie Peters in her Wembley era (like it's hard)Book Bar (follow them here!)Cool Story Podcast by Bridie Jabor and Bri Lee (discussing The Fraud by Zadie Smith)Treason (musical production)Partygate (TV series)Attachments by Rainbow RowellFollow @janice.hallett on InstagramThe Christmas Appeal is available now. Thank you to Viper Books for sending us copies of the book to read in preparation for the interview....

Grab a hot drink and a snack because it's time for a catch-up episode with Emily! Links to things I mentioned: Durham University research project: https://sensorystreet.uk/2023/08/25/new-durham-university-impact-funding/ Keren's podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NjpJ34V6WLb4hUhQgwXqy?si=3d619eac11b34e77 Neurospicey Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neurospicy.podcast/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/21andsensory Books I mentioned: 'Strong Female Character' By Fern Brady 'The Cassandra Complex' by Holly Smale 'Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies' and 'Nothing But The Truth: The Memoir of an Unlikely Lawyer', both by The Secret Barrister 'Gas Man' by Colin Black 'Life lessons from a brain surgeon' by Jandial Rahul 'Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter' by Angela Hui My 21andsensory links:  @21andsensory on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.instagram.com/21andsensory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  @21andsensory on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.tiktok.com/@21andsensory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  21andsensory on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.youtube.com/c/21andsensory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  21andsensory Blog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠21andsensory.wordpress.com⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠  @21andsensory on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitter.com/21andsensory⁠

Ever dunked your chips in a milkshake? Or sprinkled Bombay mix over an ice cream? Comedian Fern Brady is inviting some of her famous pals for a feast like no other - tucking into a bunch of the best (and worst) food combos about. Fern Brady is one of Britain's most exciting comedians – according to The Daily Telegraph she's the 48th funniest person of the 21st Century! You might know Fern from Taskmaster, Live At the Apollo, or her Sunday Times best-selling memoir Strong Female Character, but now she's turning her hand to her true passion: FOOD. In this comedy podcast she gets to know her guests over three dishes: first, their perfect Snacking Combo – think banana and peanut butter, delightful! – then their Wild Combo – aka, the bizarre one you've never admitted to anyone before. Finally, they try the Twisted Combo, cooked up by the food scientists at Twisted (the UK's number one social media food brand). Which of the flavour combos will work, and which will just be a colossal fail? You might find some of them strangely enticing. Maybe you'll even be tempted to try them yourself! Why stop at food chat? If you want to see Fern's meals IRL just had over to the Twisted YouTube channel. A Twisted & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark and Iain are joined by comedian, actor and writer Toby Hadoke for a chat about Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln's Yeti sequel 'The Web Of Fear'. Toby's website Toby's podcasts Iain recommends 'Did You Know There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd' by Lana Del Rey Mark recommends 'Strong Female Character' by Fern Brady Toby recommends 'I'm Just The Guy Who Says Action' by Alvin Rakoff All Of Time And Space on Twitter All Of Time And Space on Mastodon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/alloftimeandspace/message

I go into more detail in my blog post that accompanies this episode at PrMarlon.comCheck out our church at Cloverdale.orgThe intro music Fleet of Happy Fingers by Ryan Bell

This podcast was originally a YouTube video. Watch that video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQnXGP-So9cGet my free book: '5 Lessons That Transformed My Writing': https://jedherne.com/lessons Join my Easy Writing Habits course: https://easywritinghabits.com/ Apply for my 1-on-1 Story Coaching program: https://jedherne.com/coaching ABOUT THE SHOW: Jed Herne is the author of three fantasy novels: Fires of the Dead, Across the Broken Stars, and The Thunder Heist. He also wrote the bestselling video game, Siege of Treboulain. On this podcast, he shares the best writing advice he's learned along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alicia McCalla creates thrilling stories, audiobooks, and merchandise featuring courageous Black heroines. After losing her son, she dedicated herself to sharing empowering tales of overcoming adversity. Her sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal horror celebrate badass Black women - superheroes, slayers, and more. Fin out more about Alicia and her books on her website here: https://aliciamccalla.com/Sign up for my writer's newsletter here:https://katcaldwell.com/writers-newsletterSign up for my reader's newsletter here: https://katcaldwell.com/readersFind me at https://katcaldwell.com or on Instagram as @katcaldwell.author or @pencilsandlipstick

We begin this episode with a little bit of sad news: the Indiescovery podcast is going on hiatus, due to the fact that Rachel and Rebecca are both leaving Rock Paper Shotgun for pastures new. However, there's no need to be too downhearted, as your favourite indie-loving trio has every intention of continuing to collaborate on video game-related projects. Who knows, maybe we even drop a few subtle hints about what we've got planned next. Onto the episode proper: our first topic is a round-up of our recent experiences as jury members for Indie Cup UK '23, a festival celebrating indie game devs that ran throughout May and June. As jurors for the Critics' Choice award we enthuse over our shared love for the well-deserved winner VIDEOVERSE, before diving into our slightly more divided opinions on the category's other nominees, the highlights of which for us included Phoenix Springs, Full Void, Loco Motive, and No Body. Ultimately though we all agree that it was an incredibly strong showing all around, so our congratulations again to everyone who participated: not just the winners and nominees, but everyone who submitted a game for consideration, and indeed to the organisers! As you may be able to tell, we had a lovely time. Even though we could probably keep talking about the Indie Cup all day, we next turn our attention to another group who deserve our thanks and recognition: you, our dear listeners. To mark the end of the podcast's first season, we dive back into the mailbag and get very sidetracked while pondering some of your questions, including (but not limited to) the topics of our favourite very short indie games, and the genres we'd love to see enjoy an indie renaissance. We end, as ever, on our hyperfixations. Rebecca's been laid up with a fever and so has had the dubious luxury of reading and playing whatever she likes for a few days: Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, and the Animal Crossing: New Horizons manga series all emerged as comforting favourites. Liam puts in a good word for yet another rather sad book (Strong Female Character by Fern Brady) before really ramping up his efforts to make his co-hosts cry by listing off some of his favourite articles Rachel and Rebecca have written for RPS, the big loveable dork. He's also put the author of this synopsis in a very awkward position by promising links in the show notes, so here you go: Rachel: Why Citizen Sleeper's cast of interstellar nobodies matter A Space For The Unbound review: a supernatural teen romance with a wonderful sense of time and place TikTokers have created a player-generated RPG full of money-dealing cats, and it's absolutely wild Rebecca: Where are all the good Stephen King games? Returning to The Sims 1 in 2023 is a weird challenge I fully recommend A decade later, the Lutece Twins are still the best thing in BioShock Infinite Finally, Rachel unintentionally brings the season full-circle by talking about The Traitors Australia, the (you guessed it) Australian version of the social deduction TV show she was hyperfixated on when we recorded our very first episode. Indiescovery is a podcast from RockPaperShotgun.com. All music is by Dylan Sitts; the songs are Tahoe Trip, Pool Sticker, and Express Check-in. Thanks for listening, and don't be strangers! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruminations today on what we mean by the "strong female character" and why this might be a more relevant conversation than I thought, given the state of feminism and challenges some female friends are facing.ROGUE FAMILIAR out now! https://jeffekennedy.com/rogue-familiarRead the Falling Under books  in Kindle Unlimited! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C1ZMDW1YJoin my Patreon and Discord for mentoring, coaching, and conversation with me! Find it at https://www.patreon.com/JeffesClosetIf you want to support me and the podcast, click on the little heart or follow this link (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jeffekennedy).Sign up for my newsletter here! (https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r2y4b9)You can watch this podcast on YouTube here https://youtu.be/HiXVJfm7NS8Support the showContact Jeffe!Tweet me at @JeffeKennedyVisit my website https://jeffekennedy.comFollow me on Amazon or BookBubSign up for my Newsletter!Find me on Instagram and TikTok!Thanks for listening!

The New Nightcrawler™ takes centre stage only to be upstaged by another new Meggan and Mav's story about wrestling Doink the Clown. Jamie James from the Marvel by the Month podcast joins us to jam about that plus Hellfire Clubs, marvelous Marvel jigsaw puzzles, shared universe storytelling, and what makes a Strong Female Character in Excalibur #97, “Counterfire.” Also: shocking truths from Anna's high school transcript!

We talk disordered eating, body image and diets through the prism of pop culture, with Hanna Flint, the author of Strong Female Character. Is there such a thing as a "responsible" way to depict an eating disorder? Can we ever forgive Richard Curtis for what he did to Martine McCutcheon? And can we fairly say that we in a more body positive era when Ozempic is becoming more normal than ever? And has pop culture made us think that eating disorders are a White Girl Problem? We mention Love Actually, Bridget Jones Diary, The Whale, Heathers, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Jacqueline Wilson, School of Rock, Queen Latifah, and the Special K "drop a jean size" challenge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.New music, merch, live show info and much more available at https://www.clairetonti.com/ – stay tuned for UK & Ireland Tour ticketsThis week's Suggestibles:04:33 Air29:36 Damien Rice on Tour36:15 Strong Female Character by Fern BradySend your recommendations to suggestiblepod@gmail.com, we'd love to hear them.You can also follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @suggestiblepod and join our ‘Planet Broadcasting Great Mates OFFICIAL' Facebook Group. So many things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The issue of identity and how much a critic brings theirs into their work has been a longstanding debate. Traditionally critics believed in assuming a neutral detached standpoint. Now however, that supposed 'universal' position is being challenged for actually being the white male perspective born of their domination of the field. My guest this week Hanna Flint and her book Strong Female Character are great examples of how a critic's love of film is woven into the very fabric of their life. And in turn, how our life experience from whatever background informs how we see the world and the films made about it. Hanna's also a lot of fun and provides much food for thought about the continued misrepresentations and appropriation of Arab and MENA culture onscreen, and how female archetypes are so often simplified and misused to negative effect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Text us and say hello!In this episode, Beth and I delve into the world of 90s TV moms and explore the different roles they played in shaping pop culture. These moms were often the heart and soul of their respective shows, providing guidance, love, and support to their families and viewers alike.We talk about how these moms were often portrayed as strong, independent women who could balance both work and family life. They were role models for young girls and women, inspiring them to pursue their dreams and ambitions while still being present for their families.We also examine how these moms challenged traditional gender roles and stereotypes. They were shown as capable and intelligent, often taking charge and making tough decisions. They were not afraid to speak their minds and stand up for what they believed in.Finally, we look at how these moms contributed to the overall success of their shows. They were often the glue that held the family together, and their storylines provided both comedic relief and heartfelt moments. They were relatable and endearing, making them beloved by audiences everywhere.Overall, these 90s TV moms left a lasting impact on pop culture and continue to be celebrated and remembered today.  So, in the spirit of Mother's Day (Happy Mother's Day mom!), sit back, and enjoy!Support the Show.We've got merch!Check out the site for some awesome Gen 'S' swag :)

Neither “Tom!” nor “Ben!” want to Blow Up 100 Balloons to celebrate this being the 100th Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown… so Matthew says we're gonna have to have our 100th Flatshare Slamdown!Matthew Crosby, Tom Parry Wicks, and Ben Clark recorded live at The Phoenix pub with Ivo Graham and Fern BradyWithFern Brady - https://twitter.com/FernBradyFern's Book, Strong Female Character - https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/fern-brady-2/strong-female-character/9781914240447/Ivo Graham - https://twitter.com/IvoGrahamIvo's show at Bloomsbury Theatre - https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/whats-on/ivo-graham-my-future-my-clutterPappy's Twitter - https://twitter.com/pappystweetPappy's Insta - https://www.instagram.com/pappyscomedy/Support us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/pappysflatshareFind tickets to all our live shows here - pappyscomedy.com/liveEdited by Emma Corsham Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Breaking News! According to recent studies, women are, in fact, people. Who knew! Tune in this episode to learn how to write female characters that don't suck. It's not that hard, and yet somehow we had to make an episode about it. Including such groundbreaking revelations as “strong female characters shouldn't be male coded characters with boobs,” “characters who claim to be able to kick everyone's ass but just fall down a lot are the actual worst,” and “even the strongest female characters who can never quite be stronger than your main male characters are not, in fact, good enough strong female characters.” Learn how to avoid all these pitfalls and more in this far from comprehensive rant about why so many existing Strong Female Characters™ suck. Oh, and there's some writing advice, too. Have a trope you want us to talk about or a question about the episode? Email us at totropeornottotrope@gmail.com!

RIP Lance Reddick: As the #1 Fringe podcast Jim and Them pays proper tribute to Lance Reddick, which leads us to health issues of Shannen Doherty and Sam Neill. James Gunn Vs. Ben Affleck: Ben Affleck taking shots at James Gunn for lying about being in talks to direct something for the DCU?! Let the motherfucking beef cook. NEPO BABIES: You never know when you are watching a nepo baby in a movie or tv show. Jim fell down an Elvis Presley legacy rabbit hole after finding out that Riley Keough is Elvis's granddaughter. LET'S JUST TALK!, BOOGIE NIGHTS!, SHOCK JOCKS!, CHAD ZUMOCK UPDATE!, CHAD ZUMOCK JUMPED!, HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!, IRISH!, IRELAND!, GREEN BEER!, EARLY!, RIP LANCE REDDICK!, #1 FRINGE PODCAST!, AGENT BROYLES!, THE JAB!, VAXX!, LANCE REDDIT!, REDDICK.COM!, CELEB BUZZ!, JOHN WICK 4!, SHANNEN DOHERTY!, HEALTH INSURANCE!, CHARMED!, 90210!, FRAN DRESCHER!, THE NANNY!, STAGE FOUR CANCER!, UNION!, SAM NEILL!, DRY!, BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN!, BAG!, JOSH BROLIN!, PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE!, SAM NEILL!, STAGE 3 BLOOD CANCER!, POSSIBLY DYING!, EVENT HORIZON!, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS!, JURASSIC PARK!, POSSESSION!, NORM MACDONALD!, CHADWICK BOSEMAN!, ST PADDY'S DAY!, IRISH CULTURE!, MAN STABBED IN THE HEAD!, THICK ACCENTS!, CAN'T UNDERSTAND!, BACHELOR PARTY!, SOMBRERO!, DOSS!, BRIAN!, BONEWOLF!, BURGERWOLF!, ARGUMENT!, JURY!, VOTES!, POEM!, NICK SAITO!, GRIM SCAMPOLI!, GRIM'S GRANDMOTHER!, SAY SOMETHING NICE!, ALPHA MALE!, MEN IN TOUCH WITH THEIR FEELINGS!, PUT YOUR HANDS IN!, 8:00PM!, FLOOR BECOMES LAVA!, ALPHA MALE!, JEFF PROBST!, THE CONTENT COWBOY!, ANT SAUNDERS!, MARCH MADNESS!, BRACKET!, MAN FROM NANTUCKET!, BEER PONG!, FOOTBALL HOOLIGAN!, JAMES GUNN!, BEN AFFLECK!, SUPERMAN: LEGACY!, ZACK SNYDER!, DC UNIVERSE!, SHAZAM!, JENNIFER HOLLAND!, COULSON!, WALLER!, NEPO BABY!, RILEY KEOUGH!, THE LODGE!, ELVIS PRESLEY!, GRACELAND!, LISA MARIE PRESLEY!, PRISCILLA PRESLEY!, TRUST!, INHERITANCE!, BENJAMIN KEOUGH!, GRANDSON!, SUICIDE!, BIG HEAD!, BIG BROW!, EASY TO DRAW!, UNIVERSAL MUSIC!, 5 MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT!, GETTING HEAD!, BURIED IN A BEAVER!, NETFLIX!, AGENT ELVIS!, STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER!, JCVD!, MIKE TYSON!, LIAM NEESON!, ATLANTA!, LAS VEGAS!, IMPERSONATORS!, WAYNE NEWTON!, VEGAS TROPES!, YOUNG LESBIAN!, RICKI LAKE!, WAYNE NEWTON AT 80!, FLAMINGO!, TOM SELLECK!, BURT REYNOLDS!, JAMES BOND!, JOHNNY CARSON!, MAFIA!  You can find the videos from this episode at our Discord RIGHT HERE!

Film critic and broadcaster Hanna Flint joins us to talk about her cinematic memoir, “Strong Female Character." Also, film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz and fellow film critic Walter Chaw share the legacy behind David Milch's groundbreaking HBO series, “Deadwood.” And Vancouver punk rock pioneer John Armstrong on the Modernettes.

#428 Half a Melted KitKat - Richard reveals that he is (according to the press) boycotting the Edinburgh Fringe, but that doesn't mean the end of podcasts from the Festival necessarily. His guest is Taskmaster songstress and sausage painter, Fern Brady. They mainly talk about her remarkable new book Strong Female Character, detailing her life, career and discovery that she is autistic, how the media is weighted against the working class, how TV fails to depict the truth about strip clubs, how comedy was a world where she suddenly fitted in, why Taskmaster was a TV show where she also fitted in, why would anyone get married, unsettling Alex Horn and are your relatives coming back in bird form?Buy Fern's book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audible-Strong-Female-Character/dp/B0BJ2SXTQF/Come and see us live http://richardherring.com/rhlstpSUPPORT THE SHOW!Watch our TWITCH CHANNELSee extra content at our WEBSITE Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nell Mescal is a singer songwriter from Ireland who writes Indie Folk songs. She's a rising star whose featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, has been named as an artist to watch by NME and is preparing for a summer of live gigs. She joins Nuala McGovern to talk about what inspires her songs, being a young woman in the music industry and performs her single ‘Graduating' live in the studio. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been photographed five times over recent months alongside his adolescent daughter. The latest photos show a beaming Kim Ju-Ae, who is aged between 9 and 10, standing with her father at a lavish military parade, where at least 11 intercontinental ballistic missiles were shown. So, why is Kim Jong Un revealing his daughter now? There is speculation that she is to be his successor, but is there any truth to that claim? Nuala talks to Professor Hazel Smith is Professorial Research Associate in Korean Studies at SOAS, University of London and BBC Correspondent Jean MacKenzie who is based in South Korea. Fern Brady is a comedian and writer who has appeared on 8 Out of 10 Cats, Live at the Apollo, and the most recent series of Taskmaster. She has also co-hosted three series of the Wheel of Misfortune podcast for BBC Sounds with fellow comedian Alison Spittle. In 2021, Fern received a diagnosis for autism. In her new book, Strong Female Character, she explores how this has impacted her life, and what it means to be an autistic working-class woman. We talk about plans to regulate the buy now pay later credit industry with Stella Creasy MP and Claer Barratt from the Financial Times. And BBC LGBT & Identity Correspondent Lauren Moss reports on a new book which claims that 97.5 per cent of children seeking help at the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) based at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, had autism, depression or other problems that might have explained their unhappiness. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Gayl Gordon

Who's this week's guest, Fern? ‘It's me Fern Brady, me Fern Brady!' The superb stand-up, Taskmaster star-turn-author orders her dream meal. Fern Brady's book ‘Strong Female Character' is out on 16 February 2023, published by Octopus. Buy it here. Follow Fern on Twitter @FernBrady and Instagram @fernfrombathgateRecorded and edited by Ben Williams for Plosive.Artwork by Paul Gilbey (photography and design) and Amy Browne (illustrations).Follow Off Menu on Twitter and Instagram: @offmenuofficial.And go to our website www.offmenupodcast.co.uk for a list of restaurants recommended on the show.Watch Ed and James's YouTube series 'Just Puddings'. Watch here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Great books, need great characters. And a wide swath of classic literature features some incredibly strong female characters that we believe both young girls and young boys should read and enjoy. Join Shane at the table today with guest Leta Sundet to talk about the role strong female protagonists play in classic literature, why these books feature so strongly in our traditional homeschool curriculum, and how the right kind of female leads create better stories and better examples for young readers. We are excited you're here with us, let's jump in!

Fern Brady is a comedian and writer born and raised in Bathgate in Scotland. Now in her 30s, she lives in London with her partner.  Fern was a guest on the podcast back in the spring of 2021, soon after she was diagnosed autistic. Since then, she taken a deep dive into learning more about autism, toured her standup show Autistic Bikini Queen, been a contestant on Channel 4's TaskMaster… and written a book, Strong Female Character, which comes out in February 2023.  I was lucky enough to get a proof copy to read before the interview. I loved this book! Written in Fern's characteristic down-to-earth and straightforward style, it manages to cover some really quite dark chapters in her life with a lightness of touch and humour that make it effortlessly readable and entertaining, while still exploring important issues around being an autistic woman in our society. It was great to catch up with Fern and find out how things have changed since she was first diagnosed. It feels like we talked about everything in this conversation - but some of the highlights are: ➡ Trying to break the burnout cycle ➡ Her struggle with meltdowns - and how she's worked to manage and reduce them ➡ Being female and autistic: sensory issues, hormones, sex, sexuality and fitting into accepted gender expectations ➡ Alexithymia and how underlying, unprocessed emotions can manifest physically ➡ How it felt to unmask in a very visible way on Taskmaster Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes. I hope that these conversations will be inspiring and thought provoking, open you up to new ways of thinking about being neurodivergent, and help you feel more connected to a worldwide community of people with similar experiences. I'm Amy Richards, and after being diagnosed autistic at the age of 37 I'm now on a mission to learn more about different perspectives and issues around being a neurodivergent adult in a world that feels like it doesn't quite fit.   EPISODE LINKS: Fern's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fernfrombathgate/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/FernBrady  Tour dates and mailing list: https://fernbradycomedian.com/    Preorder Strong Female Character (out 16 Feb 2023):  Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1914240448/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_D5S44JY3RRRVP7N0F7W4  Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/strong-female-character/fern-brady/9781914240447  Blackwell's (delivers to USA): https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Strong-Female-Character-by-Fern-Brady/9781914240447    Fern's previous SquarePeg episode: https://squarepeg.community/32-s3-ep1-fern-brady-autistic-meltdowns-understanding-emotions-and-being-the-black-sheep/    Fern mentioned the excellent book, Unmasking Autism by Dr Devon Price: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unmasking-Autism-Incredible-Hidden-Neurodiversity/dp/1800960549/   Fern mentioned Alexis Quinn's book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41164820-unbroken  Alexis was on SquarePeg earlier in this season: https://squarepeg.community/86-s7-ep6-narrative-therapy-reflections-on-an-autistic-experience-of-mental-health-inpatient-services/    If you'd like to connect or get in touch with Squarepeg, you can find me on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepeg.community/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarepegautism  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegautism/  Or on my website: https://squarepeg.community/    THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS! A HUGE thank you to my amazing patrons, who support my work on the podcast: Abi Hunter, Abigail J Moore, Adam Klager, Amy Adler, Amy-Beth Mellor, Anika Lacerte, Annette, Ben Davies, Caroline, Cat Preston, Catrin Green, Cindy Bailey, Clare Holmes, Corinne Cariad, Danielle Warby, Dawn Trevellion, Elizabeth Vezina, Elizabeth Williams, Galina, Gwyneth, Hannah Breslin, Jackie Allen, JF, Jayne Hutchinson, Jeff Goldman, Jen Bartlett, JE, Katarzyna Tomaszewska, Kate and Kathryn, Kate Faust, Katharine Richards, Katherine Lynch, Kenneth Knowles, Laurencia Saenz Benavides, Lea Li, Leo Ricketts, Lilli Simmons, Lyb, Mandy Allen, Meredith L. Freyre, MN, Pete Burke, Rebecca Biegel, Rebecca Kemp, Sarah Cottrell, Sarah Jeffery, Sarah Ivinson, Sarah Swanton, Sioned Wynn, Stephanie Murray, Suzanna Chen, Suzanne, Tammie Fabien, Tegan Bailey, Tessa Valyou, Tree Hall, Una Walkenhorst, Vic Wiener, Vicki Temple, Victoria Chang, Victoria Routledge, Wendy Walker, Zephyrine Craster and Zoe Lee. If you're enjoying the Squarepeg podcast and would like to help me carry on making new episodes, you can become a member of the Squarepeg community on Patreon from £3 per month: https://www.patreon.com/squarepegpodcast 

We welcome Zaina onto the podcast for us to review The Swimmers! Yusra and Sara Mardini are two real-life Syrian refugee sisters whose riveting and raw story has now been put to the screen in Sally El Hosaini's The Swimmers, streaming now on Netflix. How well does the story do at conveying the visceral experience of refugees? What do we think of the characters as they're translated from real life? What do we hope non-Arab and non-SWANA audiences take from this film? We also discuss Zaina's career as a screenwriter, give our recommendations, and much more.   Swara's interview with Director Sally El Hosaini for Nerds of Color Read Hanna Flint's "The Swimmers" review on Time Out Pre-order Strong Female Character in the U.S. Follow Zaina on Twitter @zainaujayli. Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here. We are a proud member of the Hard NOC podcast family. Follow us on Twitter: @TheMiddleGeeks, @MaeAbdu, @spiderswarz Follow us on Instagram @TheMiddleGeeks Subscribe to The Middle Geeks on Hard NOC Media Please support us on Patreon!