Whoa!mance: Romance, Feminism, and Ourselves
331 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 146 ratingsPodcast by Whoa!mance: Romance, Feminism, and Ourselves
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Episodes
Public Access Read-A-Long "Pride and Prejudice" Chapter 25
May 18, 2023 09:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBCan you ever experience a thing for the first time when it's so permeated the culture? What would that analog be? Could it be Hugh Grant from the early aughts?? As per usual Ms Austen remains an astute observer of the human condition. Critical question: When is Hugh Grant at his hottest?
Ep. 154: Space Cadet - "The Darkness Outside Us" by Eliot Schrefer
May 11, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 65.2 MBBlast-off baby! This eppy yr grls are moon walking across some big topics in YA romance with THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE US by ELIOT SCHREFER. Ambrose is fulfilling his lifelong training of space travel, and he is fulfilling it to rescue his beloved sister. And so is soviet-adjacent Kodiak (without the sister part). Will the two be able to put aside their ideological differences, and the creeping feeling the mommy-voiced Operating System is not on their team, to fall in LOVE?! What are the ethics of...
Public Access Read-A-Long "Pride and Prejudice" Chapter 24
May 04, 2023 09:00 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBWe're 'doing the business' here in chapter 24. Jane and Lizzy almost fight, Mr. Bennet has some ideas about how to establish home harmony and we are dissecting world views and, as ever, interrogating the self.
Whoa!nus: BUTT OUT, BABY! - 4 - Peeping Johnny
April 27, 2023 09:00 - 50 minutes - 69 MBWe interrupt our regular programming to share a discussion on the BUTT OUT, BABY podcast with yr grls of Whoa!mance--on the introductory scene of no less a Prince of the City than JOHNNY CASTLE from Dirty Dancing. We had SO MUCH FUN. Just in time for summer. Per Ellie of BOB: Baby gets her first glimpse into the class structure at Kellerman's ft. Morgan & Isabeau of Whoa!mance + Johnny being attractive and gracefully insolent + The female gaze + The strange all-inclusive guest experience o...
Public Access Read-A-Long: "Pride and Prejudice" By Jane Austen Chapter 23
April 20, 2023 09:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBThe Fall out of Mr. Collins' second proposal continues. Mrs Bennet cannot even and we don't blame her. It sucks having your best friend excitedly contemplating your husband's death and impeding poverty. SoMeONe should think of poor Mrs. Bennet's nerves...LIZZY
Episode 153: Marry Italian - "Lord Of Scoundrels" By Loretta Chase
April 13, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 75.9 MBThis ep yr grls visit the cultural rupture known as 1995 to (finally) discuss LORD OF SCOUNDRELS by Loretta Chase. Scoundrel, rake, blight of his family name, Lord Dain has a lot of baggage, the least of which is some dumb guy named Bertie. But gorgeous, brilliant Jessica has accepted her lot as a spinster and developed an actual personality, so her dumb brother, Bertie, happens to be her biggest baggage. Little do Dain and Jessica know they are about the become each other's sexy, sexy bagga...
Public Access Read-A-Long: “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen - Chapter 22
April 06, 2023 09:00 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBIn which Collins has a “surprise” for Charlotte, and Charlotte has a surprise for Lizzie. Yr grls reflect on the historic and constant privilege of youth and beauty, and the historic and constant problem of being alone.
Episode 152: Ren Faire Enough - "That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon" by Kimberly Lemming
March 30, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 75.6 MBDon ye flower crowns - yr grls are going full ren fest with "The Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon" by Kimberly Lemming. Cinnamon does the title with Fallon during a very auspicious time - a festivus when The Goddess's protection spells weaken and chosen heroes must pick up the slack. Cinnmaon is grateful she missed that particular calling, but Fallon is insistent she join him on an opposite quest - because The Goddess isn't really a goddess... Why does the context of fictional violence chan...
Public Access Read-a-long: "Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen - Chapter 21
March 23, 2023 09:00 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MBIn this chapter Jane receives a letter, Lizzy talks shit, and Mrs. Bennet continues to fret about the future.
Episode 151: Human Development in the Mafia Universe - "Twisted Pride" by Cora Reilly
March 16, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 87.6 MBThis week we're leaving the gun, taking the cannoli (per usual) with "TWISTED PRIDE" by CORA REILLY. Serafina is about to fulfill the promise of her midwest-Mob upbringing by marrying an underboss (like her dad, her uncle, her twin brother...) but she feels weird about it, Thankfully, certifiable Very Bad Person and capo of a rival mafia family, Remo, kidnaps her moments before her vows and takes her hostage in Las Vegas. After blood, sweat, tears, more blood, additional blood, then blood, th...
Public Access Read-a-Long: "Pride and Prejudice Chapter 20"
March 09, 2023 10:00 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBStill recovering from the horrific proposal by Mr. Collins? Us too but that doesn't prevent us from wondering if Mr. Bennet is the real villain of this fair novel, and whether or not Mrs. Bennet's nervous condition stems from her being a sex idiot earlier in her life
Episode 150: Hot Jocks and Bad Boys "Here's the Pencil, Make it Work" by ignatiustrout
March 02, 2023 10:00 - 59 minutes - 54.1 MBAs we wrap up FanFicuary Morgan and Isabeau we couldn't leave Harry Potter behind. While JKRowling and her world view continue to be a dangerous dumpster fire, we ask where does the author end and the fanfic author begin? We also tackle the Everest of our times: The most fraught subject in all the world--PDA. Where's the pleasure in wrapping yourself in the coat of another adult human while they are wearing it--in public? How public is too public for deep throating your crush? Grab a butter...
Episode 149: Title IXs All The Way Down - "The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood pt. 2
February 23, 2023 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBWe're back and we're ready to get down to the business of weirdest, sexiest, and whoa/no of THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS by ALI HAZELWOOD. This fic turned barn burner of a romance novel (you can buy it Target!) uses characters from the Star Wars universe to tell the story of a third year PhD candidate catching real feelings in a fake relationship with a tenured faculty in her department. What is the line between real person fic and character fic? What about fic demands delicious cringe? Are there brea...
Episode 149: Space Divorce - "The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood pt. 1
February 16, 2023 10:00 - 58 minutes - 53.3 MBThis ep, we're staying space together (continuing FanFicUary) for the space kids (you, faithful listeners) by discussing THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS by Ali Hazelwood. Olive (Stanford University Biology PhD Candidate AU Rey from Star Wars) and Adam (AU Kylo Ren) should not be together - he is tenured faculty in the department she's working on a PhD in. Thank goodness they are not together for real. But as often happens, fake relationships can lead to real consequences. Especially when that consequence...
Ep. 148: The Beautiful Unfolding Flower of the Internet - "Rough Magic" By gondalsqueen via AO3
February 09, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 70.8 MBWe're officially kicking off FANFIC-UARY here at Whoa!mance--We're dissecting an Isabeau fav fic in the Castlevania canon. Want to have sex on your period AND fight demons? Fanfic can get you there baby! Want to wander Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages killing Dracula's nigh creatures while watching two characters fall in love? Join us as we follow the winding questions of who's fanfiction written for? What is the earnest/sexy equation that creates the fanfic magic? Why do we love interactin...
Whoa!nus: FanFic-uary Dawns
February 02, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBAs we pass into the ultimate HURT / COMFORT month, we feel called to speak on a subject near and dear. The kissin' cousin of our beloved Romance Genre - FAN FICTION. How does cultural context inform fic and romance? Do you need to be a fan to enjoy fic? Why has this taken us so long? We will interrogate the boundaries of fic and romance via a beloved object- one of Isabeau's fave fics - "Rough Magic" by gondalsqueen on Archive of Our Own. We will compare the (slightly) alternate universes of...
Public Access Read-a-long: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen - Ch. 19
January 26, 2023 13:37 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBIn which Mr. Collins shows his whole a$$ and Morgan and Isabeau discuss what makes a whole a$$.
Ep. 147: Hand Stuff - "A Rose In Winter" by Kathleen Woodiwiss
January 19, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 96.6 MBSometimes it gets cold enough in winter that you want to wear a hat on a hat. Times like that call for cozy romps like A ROSE IN WINTER by KATHLEEN WOODIWISS. Erienne is the prettiest gal in town, so her father - The Self-Same Mayor of Mawbry - has no problem auctioning her off to the mysterious and masked Lord Saxton. Problem is, she's still got butterflies over her family's sworn nemesis and noted American Christopher Seton. Also Seton and Saxton are cousins. Also the town is full of highwa...
Public Access Read-a-Long: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Chapter 18
January 12, 2023 10:00 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MBIn which Lizzie has a really good time at a ball until she has a really, really bad time and yr grls Morgan and Isabeau ponder why Austen doesn't have more "Economy of Language" cred that Hemingway.
Whoa!nus: From Us (202)2 You - Year in Review
January 05, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBDon't know about you, but we're feeling '2̶2̶ '23. It is that time of year, when we reflect on the past and don shades to look into our bright, bright future. Is a year-in-review cliche? YES! But it isn't like we're doing a clip show or anything. These are FRESH and HOT takes, not just on the books, but romance culture and our own backlog. Join us as we get heated, remorseful, baffled, joyful while dishing on... Hardest and softest Whoa! / No of 2022 Sexiest part and weirdest parts we read ...
Public Access Read-A-Long: Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen - Chapter 17
December 29, 2022 10:00 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBIn which Lizzie becomes aware of Mr. Collins's plans for her cousin hands, but doesn't mind because there's a cool ball coming up, and Jane plants herself firmly on the fence about Darcy.
Episode 146: Humbug - "A Gift of Joy" by Virginia Henley, Brenda Joyce, et. al.
December 22, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 64.2 MBThis week Morgan and Isabeau agree that in the War on Christmas, Xmas is the agitator and has already won. This decades old conflict can be viewed from the year 1995, with the romance compendium "A Gift of Joy" when the culture wars teamed up with Xmas to burn the yule logs of feminism in the great cookie backlash. Take a stroll down the byways of 'when men were men' in Virginia Henley's "Christmas Eve" and dawn your 40 shades of green for the loosely Christmas related "Miracle" by Brenda Joy...
Ep.145 - Fantasy Denver: “One Winter’s Night” by Brenda Jackson
December 15, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBHappy Howdy-days, this eppy yr grls are staring hard at the tight jeans of Westmoreland Number 24 - ONE WINTER’S NIGHT by BRENDA JACKSON. Alpha ditches Florida (plus an ex-fiancée, and parents who can’t accept her sister’s adult media past) to plan parties in Denver. But not just any parties in Denver! Riley Westmoreland drew the short straw managing the company Christmas party, but he ends up getting more than addendums pinned to the timeline—he starts at 6 week affair with Alpha. But guess ...
Public Access Read-a-Long: PRIDE and PREJUDICE by JANE AUSTEN - Chpt. 16
December 08, 2022 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBIn which Wickham is dishy and dishing, leading Morgan and Isabeau to ponder - what is the appeal here? Do hotties get lost in the translation of time? Whatever the answer, it makes Mr. Collins seem marginally less ick.
Public Access Read-a-Long: PRIDE and PREJUDICE by JANE AUSTEN - Chpt. 15
December 01, 2022 10:00 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBIn which the gals bring their weird cousing, Mr. Collins, along on a walk to Meryton and we the readers end up feeling bad for Mr. Collins. And Isabeau and Morgan ponder - What did Denny know? What is Denny's culpability?
Ep. 144 - Cold Pricklies: Goddess Abducted by Scarlett Peckham
November 24, 2022 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBNovella November wraps (in a very diaphanous, sheer sort of way) with GODDESS ABDUCTED by SCARLETT PECKHAM. Lydia Houghton is the titular Goddess Abducted when a highwayman picks her up in her Diana getup from a costume ball. But Lydia isn’t totally unwilling, and ends up on a very cozy hostage situation. What did Bodice Rippers leave us? What do trigger warnings give us? Did we disclaim enough? Keep your wits, this eppy sneaks up on you. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Chapter 14 - Public Access Read-a-Long
November 17, 2022 10:00 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBIn which Mr. Bennet gets tickled and Mr. Collins gets ticked and then Morgan and Isabeau get sad because why do these losers get to have such an okay time? #JusticeForMrsBennet.
Episode 143: Warm Fuzzies - The Craft of Love by E.E. Ottoman
November 10, 2022 10:00 - 52 minutes - 48.4 MBLight a fire, wrap a quilt around your shoulders, and hold that mug with two hands - this episode yr grls get in their comfies with THE CRAFT OF LOVE BY E.E. OTTOMAN. Benjamin is a silversmith in need of a quilt. Remembrance is a quilter in need of a tea service. Can I make it any more obvious (in the style of Avril Lavigne). Also, Benjamin is trans and Remembrance's ex is a woman and it is 1830. What makes a work of fiction cozy? How can authors talk about marginalized identities and the wor...
Public Access Read-A-Long: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen - Chapter 13
November 03, 2022 09:00 - 19 minutes - 18 MBIn which Mr. Bennet reads a letter from the relative who may turn out all the Bennet ladies on their ear and Isabeau gives Morgan a rather disappointing update on British politics.
Episode 142: Good As Dead - The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
October 27, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 67.5 MBGhosts exist yearround, but they are most welcome at Halloween Time. Thus Mo and Isa are discussing THE DEAD ROMANTICS by ASHLEY POSTON. Professional ghost writer and hobby ghost talker-to'er Florence accidentally gets the tingles for her new editor, Kylo--EXCUSE ME--Benji, just as she loses tingles for her genre, romance. These problems get thrown into perspective when her father dies, followed shortly by the aforementioned editor. Don't worry though! Because Benji is a ghost now, so.... A...
Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen: Chapter 12 - Public Access Read - A-Long
October 20, 2022 09:00 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBIn which Darcy does a lot more thinking than finger flexing, causing Morgan to re-think that he's such a projector screen after all. Maybe we've made him that way ourselves?
Episode 141: Night Court - A Court of Mist And Fury by Sarah J. Maas
October 13, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 74.2 MBThis week yr grls ask you to consider the toilet in their discussion of A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by SARAH J. MAAS. Friend of the pod and noted Fae convert Feyre is feeling...weird about Tamlin (see that guy's deal in episode 140). Rhysand gets it and thus sweeps her away to high-fantasy Santa Fe one week at a time. Feyre slowly discovers not only a whole new world, but a whole new Feyre and maybe even a whole new man, in the process. Do romance readers rationalize Bad People for the sake of t...
Public Access Read-A-Long: Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen - Chapter 11
October 06, 2022 09:00 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBIn which Jane feels a lot better, Caroline feels a lot worse, and Darcy and Elizabeth raise eyebrows at each other. What can we make of a repetitive chapter by a talented author? What are the key changes in Bingley between text and film and why might that be? We don't know yet, but we're excited to talk about it with you.
Epsidoe 140: - Do I Make You Thorny, Baby? - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
September 29, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 84.2 MBYr grls return to discuss everybody's favorite pandemic baby - A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES BY SARAH J. MAAS! Feyre thought things couldn't get much worse while she was desperately hunting a mysterious wolf to feed her starving family. She was right! Because things actually get pretty groovy once she's kidnapped by Tamlin the Beast/Fae King of the Spring Court (whatever that means!). But then they do actually get worse when she chases her new love under the mountain and has to face a buncha ma...
Public Access Read-A-Long: Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen - Chapter 10
September 22, 2022 09:00 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBIn which Caroline Bingley acts more like CRINGE-o-line Bing-leave-me-outta-it! and Darcy and Lizzie have...moment.
Hummingbird by LaVyrle Spencer (Triage a Trois Re!mance)
September 15, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBDo we talk about this book enough? The red shoes? The mother's wedding veil? The pew? Probably not. So we're just going to release the whole damn thing again. Originally aired Summer 2020. Abigail McKenzie felt like an outcast in her one train stop town. Yet when two men are wounded in the same train robbery, she agrees to take them in: David, the model of a gentleman, and Jesse, hot-tempered and alluring, vie for Abigail’s affections. But as she nurses them both back to health, intimacy an...
Public Access Read-a-Long: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Chapter 9
September 08, 2022 09:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBIn which Isabeau and Morgan maybe overidentifiy with the ridiculous Mrs. Bennet and the villainous Caroline Bingley.
Public Access Read-A-Long: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - Chapter 8
August 25, 2022 09:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MBIn which Lizzie rethinks the whole "The Bingley Sisters aren't so bad" thing while Fitzwilliam continues to rethink the whole "My opinions about women are vaild" thing.
Public Access Read-A-Long: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Chapter 7
August 18, 2022 09:00 - 22 minutes - 21 MBIn which Mrs. Bennet schemes (but is it smart...maybe?), Lydea and Kitty dox some soldiers, and Jane's life is in everybody else's hands. And we come up with a good band name - Boy Sphinxes.
Public Access Read-a-long: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen - Chapter 6
August 11, 2022 09:00 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBIn which Darcy keeps blowing it.
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen: Public Access Read-A-Long - Chapter 5
August 04, 2022 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBThere is even more to talk about regarding the ball but this time featuring the Lucases.
Episode 139: SQUID IN THE BUCKET - The Windflower by Laura London w/ @chels_ebooks pt. 2
July 28, 2022 09:00 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBYo ho, ye Swee'peas! Welcome back on board The Black Joke for the thrilling conclusions of our discussion on the more thrillingier THE WINDFLOWER by LAURA LONDON with the yet even more thrilling @chels_ebooks. We pick up where we left off with the love story between Merry and Devon (but also Cat, Raven, a dream Unicorn, and the rest of the crew) and finally settle on our sexiest parts and weirdest parts. Is a book being written in the eighties a valid excuse? Are romance authors written into...
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen - Chapter 4: Public Access Read-A-Long
July 21, 2022 09:00 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBElizabeth and her best sister, Jane, reflect on that ball we just talked about. And it got Isabeau and Morgan thinking - is Bingley even that cool?
Episode 138: WEIRD SOUP - The Windflower by Laura London w/ @chels_ebooks pt. 1
July 14, 2022 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBAvast me hearties! This week the gals are the gang when @chels_ebooks of TikTok fame shares one of their favorite romances - THE WINDFLOWER by LAURA LONDON a.k.a. Sharon and Tom Curtis. Merry is a sheltered lil’ patriot who gets in over her head when she’s kidnapped by pirates. The least pirate-y pirate, Devon, takes a shine to her….and so do all the other dreamy, fatherly, omnipotent, mysterious types that populate the ship. Is a bodice ripper a bodice ripper if the bodice remains unripped? ...
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Chapter 3 - Public Access Read-A-Long
July 07, 2022 09:00 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBIn which Darcy is tall first, handsome second, a real asshole third. Or is he? Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network
Episode 137: Scry Baby - “Verity” by Colleen Hoover
June 30, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 71.2 MBPuttin’ the ghost back in ghost writer and the cock back in Hitchcock, this week yr grls go down into the creepy basement of VERITY by COLLEEN HOOVER Lowen gets the opportunity of a lifetime - to assume the ready-made career (and romance) of an iconic suspense novelist. Too bad the best/worst thing Verity Crawford ever wrote is her own autobiography… Can a person be a liminal space? Is this meta commentary on romance the genre? Or is it a meta commentary on you as a romance reader? Is it JUST...
Public Access Read-A-Long: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Chapter 2
June 23, 2022 09:00 - 9 minutes - 8.96 MBIntroducing - The Bennet Bunch!
Episode 136: French Pharmacy - "The Duke Makes Me Feel" by Adriana Herrera
June 16, 2022 09:00 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MBBon-joooor, mess aymees! Yr grls are dusting off their berets to make a novella-sized meal of "The Duke Makes Me Feel" by Adriana Herrera, originally pubbed in "Duke I'd Like to F" but now its very own thing! Victorian business woman Marena works hard to keep clientele and kiss'n'tell separate. Enter Duke of Linley and a trip to The City of L'amour and some very fancy lace to shake prod her boundaries. Can making the political explicit be exploitative? Is there a new shape of historical roman...
Public Access Read-a-long: PRIDE & PREJDUICE - Chapter 1
June 09, 2022 09:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBNetherfield Hall is let at last. Do with that information what you will.
RE!Mance Not All Cavemen: Transcendence by Shay Savage
June 02, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 61.9 MBIt's like all the fun parts of Encino Man with Brendan Fraser but somehow backwards and more tender? With a weirder age gap? Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.