First Impressions: Why All the Austen Haters Are Wrong

Bonus: The Oopsie Spoopy Episode

Gentle listeners, Maggie and I recently found ourselves ready to chat, but completely unprepared to discuss any Austen-related topic! We instead had a delightful cozy catch up about Halloween fun, horror movies and their cultural relevance, workplace oopsies, and our favorite toxic trait. (I promised Maggie I would intro this with Toto, but I overruled her post-podcast and added the Monster Mash instead, because it just seemed appropriate.) If you want to catch up with us, enjoy - if not, our next episode, Pride and Prejudice Movie Commentary Part 6, is coming out soon! -K

Ep 68: Netflix Persuasion 2022 Movie Review

Gentle listeners, join us as we review the storm-tossed 2022 Netflix adaptation of Persuasion starring Dakota Johnson and Cosmo Jarvis and directed by Carrie Cracknell. Described as "Bridget Jones meets Bridgerton," this unconventional take on Austen's contemplative, autumnal source material certainly made some waves in the Austenverse. But if you can manage to forget about the source material for a few hours, this is a beautiful and highly entertaining movie to enjoy with a glass of wine or four. Join us as we process both our agony and our hope: despite some reservations, we genuinely enjoyed this movie (but I wish they hadn't messed with the letter-K). 

Minipod: Rational Creatures Season 2

Join us to learn more about the web series Rational Creatures to prepare for the release of Season 2! Rational Creatures is a modern interpretation of Persuasion, available in a web series format on YouTube. The show follows Ana Elías as she unexpectedly ends up living in the same apartment building as her ex (and perhaps one true love) Fred Wentworth. This modern remix of the classic features a bi Latina lead with a cast of queer characters, bringing Jane Austen into the 21st century. 

Series co-creator Ayelen Barrios Ruiz Pagano and actor Peter Giessl (who plays Fred Wentworth) join us to chat about the series, "the letter," and why we think Persuasion is having a moment!

You can view the first season of Rational Creatures now on YouTube!

Minipod: ”Open to Persuasion” Virtual Conference this Aug 13-14 with Sarah Rose Kearns

Alert! There is an excellent virtual conference on Persuasion happening August 13th-14th 2022 (this coming weekend!) Our guest Sarah Rose Kearns joins us to tell us about the event's fantastic programme, and we briefly discuss our thoughts on the new Netflix Persuasion movie as well. Join us to hear more, and to catch up with Rose!

For more about the conference, see https://theholytheatre.betterworld.org/donate where you can make a donation in any amount you wish in order to register for the conference!

This event is a benefit for The Holy Theatre and features special guests Lakshmi Gandhi, David Fernandez, Jocelyn Harris, Tabrizia Jones, Wendy Jones, Sarah Rose Kearns, Noreen Mughees, Janet Saidi, Damianne Scott, David Shapard, and Lena Yasutake.

The event program, with speaker bios, can be accessed here — https://bit.ly/3SukIrk

You can also find Rose on Twitter at @Persuasion_JA

Ep 67: Bridgerton Season 2 with Priya

[New file because Podbean sucks!] We're thrilled to welcome our friend and Bridgerton expert Priya back to the podcast to discuss season 2 of this smash Netflix show. Join us as we swoon over Kate and Anthony, grouse about Benedict and Eloise, and talk about the show in both its current cultural and historical context. Grab your Pall Mall mallet, make some disgustingly weak tea, and settle in for our convo!

Ep 66: Being Mr. Wickham - Streaming Theater Performance Review

Check out our review of Being Mr. Wickham, a one man show co-written by Adrian Lukis (who played Mr. Wickham in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries) and Catherine Curzon for the Original Theater company. It's available to stream online through April 30th, so don't miss out! We loved this charming show and the way it brought the Pride and Prejudice characters' future to life with hilarious anecdotes and historical details. You'll especially love the future of Mr. Bennet.

You can stream Being Mr. Wickham online through April 30th, 2022 at https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/28/being-mr-wickham

Note: the original epsiode description omitted that the show was co-written by Catherine Curzon. You can find her work at madamegilflurt.com.

Ep 65: North and South with Special Guest Adrienne

This time we welcome our friend and special guest Adrienne, known as @barelytolerabIe on Twitter and ElizaG1 on AO3, to talk about eternal period drama fan favorite North and South! We discuss the book by Elizabeth Gaskell, as well as the miniseries of the same name starring Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe. Words like "brooding" and "smoldering" abound as we discuss the incredible chemistry between John and Margaret (and Nicholas Higgins), and delve into the social commentary element of the story. Please join us as we rave about how much we love this "Pride and Prejudice for socialists."

And in honor of this episode's release date, be sure to check out Adrienne's North and South fanfic story Together at Christmas!

Ep 64: Part 5 of the Movie Commentary for Pride and Prejudice 1995

THREE AND A HALF YEARS AFTER PART 4, we present installment 5 of our commentary on the Pride and Prejudice 1995 miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. You don't have to watch the movie along with us as we riff on what's happening - in fact, due to some buffering errors, that might be hard. But lots of listeners find these fun to listen to as standalone episodes! For our first commentary track, go back in our episode list to 2018.  Yes, we never finished this series. We're a mess. 

Ep 63: Bridgerton

[Episode recorded July 2021]. In this episode, we welcome our friend and special guest Priya (who you may recognize as Constantia from our Regency Daze series!) to discuss the Netflix TV sensation Bridgerton, adapted from the novels by Julia Quinn. We discuss how the show handles race, class, and sex in a fantasy Regency setting. As you probably already suspect, this episode is NOT suitable for little ears!

This episode's intro music is "Bad Guy" by Bilie Eilish, performed by the Vitamin String Quartet for the Bridgerton soundtrack.

Ep 62: Modern Persuasion with Manners and Madness

We're delighted to welcome our guests Maya and Christian of Manners and Madness, a Jane Austen and David Lynch podcast, to join us for this movie review episode! This time we're tackling the recently released movie Modern Persuasion, starring Alicia Witt and Shane McRae as our stand-ins for Anne and Wentworth. Despite some hiccups with the pacing and chemistry, overall we enjoyed this adaptation as some fluffy summer fun. Check out our thoughts, and be sure to give Manners and Madness some love by checking out their Persuasion episodes!

You can also find Christian and Maya at @MannersandMadnesspod on Instagram and @MannersMadness on Twitter!