Ex Marginalia is a literary social justice podcast released on the second Monday of every month. On each episode, Sarah and guests discuss representation and publishing politics, while holding each other (and listeners) accountable to translating "book learning" into action. The books discussed on each episode are written by authors belonging to underrepresented or marginalized communities.
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Crack open a good book with two wise-cracking besties. Sarah and Cyrus are two queer English majors who use their degrees to commit crimes against literature. Support us on Patreon for bonus episodes and merch! https://www.patreon.com/crackedspinespodcast
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This Is Not An Episode About Dungeon Meshi (lofi)
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It makes a valiant effort to try to be, but ultimately fails. We're rusty! We took the summer off! We're just vibing! We're so rusty that frankly the audio on this episode is maybe our worst ever. We're working on it, guys. We come in fresh off watching an episode of Interview With the Vampire, and we won't shut up about it. Cyrus explains all the …
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Is there anything better than receiving package in the mail? Well, it helps if you actually enjoy the stuff inside of it. Cyrus and Sarah discuss three months worth of Illumicrate subscription boxes with the ultimate conclusion that maybe this one isn't for us. Cyrus remains a freak for body sharing. Sarah cannot resist trinkets. We also talk about…
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He Who Drowned The World by Shelley Parker-Chan
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Oh my GOD we finally read this book. And it was good! But we are not without thoughts. Turns out 400+ pages of characters hating themselves is occasionally a bummer. Cyrus flip flops on the topic of duologies. Sarah is weirdly positive about the constant misogyny. They both don't talk enough about the horny pain play. Support the Show.…
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Ex Marginalia: Essays from the Edges of Speculative Fiction
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This week we read Ex Marginalia, a collection of essays edited by Chinelo Onwualu that focuses on the experiences of marginalized creators writing speculative fiction. In addition to talking about our favorite essays, we discuss everything from Sofia Tolstoy to Sarah's complicated relationship with her own identity, the joys and pitfalls of masculi…
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A Rube Goldberg Machine for Self-Crucifixion
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The episode title actually doesn't refer to the whole concrete and flooring situation Cyrus has got going on in the basement. This week, we're talking about Things Have Gotten Worse Since Last We Spoke and Other Misfortunes, a collection of horror stories by Eric LaRocca. We. Didn't LOVE it. Support the Show.…
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Who's hungry? This week we're sampling the delights of Dungeon Meshi, aka Delicious in Dungeon, a manga by Ryoko Kui. 50 percent of our podcasting duo is scared of eating zucchini, while the other 50 percent would probably give boiled boot leather a try, so reading a food-related manga really brings out our spirit of debate. But mostly about how to…
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I mean, look at the title. What do you want us to say. This is not a traditional episode so much as it is a 50 minute apology-brag about the most exciting thing in our lives right now. We bought a house, and Cyrus is single-handedly tearing it apart, and they are so so happy. I'm happy too, but doing less property damage in general. Support the Sho…
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This week on Cracked Spines, we discuss SO MANY BOOKS by British children's fantasy writer Frances Hardinge. Sarah gushes over the strange little girls and bizarre worlds of the books. Cyrus finds a character who is Tobias from Animorphs but somehow sadder and latches onto her instantly. We talk about what defines writing for children and come up w…
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Animorphs Part 2: High Stakes Moral Crises for Children
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1:10:49
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This week we're discussing books 6-10 of Animorphs. This includes The Capture which is a great piece of sci-fi horror that hit Cyrus' preteen brain like a comet. It also includes the first Megamorphs, which isn't a masterfully crafted work of delicious psychological torture but does contain some absolutely perfect set pieces of animal vs knife hurr…
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Gender, self-determination, and law drama collide in Ann Leckie's Translation State! Your hosts rank their favorite characters; unsurprisingly, Cyrus was head over heels for pro-vivisection Qven, whereas Sarah was charmed by Enae's swagless detective whimsy. Also, this book about terrifying unknowable aliens and sci-fi political drama is a regency …
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2023 End of Year Wrap Up Lamentation and Vows
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, guys. It's time for us to discuss the best of what we read, our disappointments, and what we're planning on next year. Cyrus discovers they're making good progress on their reading list for next year, but only because they forgot that they've already read one of the books. Sarah tries very hard to connect two wor…
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Animorphs Part 1: Baby's First Existential Dread
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Thanks to our generous benefactors on Patreon, we're embarking on our journey to read and discuss the entire 54-book Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate, plus at least a few of the extras! And listen, I know we already had an episode titled "Warcrimes 4 Kids" but these books make Avatar: The Last Airbender look like a splash fight in an inflatable p…
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The Real Horror is Marriage but the Clones Don't Help
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This week Sarah and Katie (wait whomst? guest host filling in as Cyrus is sequestered in Spain!) discuss two books that are basically the same idea, prepared two different ways: Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente and The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. We talk about the horror of marriage, the horror of cyclical violence, the horror of bein…
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First things first, this is Sarah and I say an incorrect fact at the end of the episode, the Catholic Church actually updated their guidelines for exorcisms in 1999. Second off, hello, hi, this week, we're discussing My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, a book I put off reading for so long that it became a running joke in our household. Turn…
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Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Sorry, We're Still Obsessed
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Whoops! Your hosts are still totally under the sway of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. This episode, we recap the series as a whole from our favorite characters to which of the cast would bomb the worst at improv comedy. We probably spend a bit too long on that last part. Also featuring Cyrus's undying love for Jiang Cheng,…
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Sarah got Covid! She's fine now. But if you're looking for the stuffiest, most pathetic audio experience you'll ever have in your life, we recorded this episode just for you. We're taking a hiatus from our intended topic because Sarah's brain isn't working. Instead, we're talking about our experience at Wasteland Weekend: a spectacular all-themed p…
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Y'all, y'all, we're real excited for this one. It's a sloppy lil episode where we discuss the first two books of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Dao Zu Shi. The first book took us months to read. The second? A couple days. Shit picks up and gets pretty evil. Delicious. Sarah talks about the walking source of embarrassment that is Wei Wuxia…
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No spaceships, no magic systems this week, it's time for some straight up Literature. This week, we're reading Less and Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer. The first book is one of our favorites from 2020; the second is a sequel that dared us to ask the question, "wait what the hell could the sequel possibly be about?" We talk about the inherent rom…
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It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an elfin asshole with a knife! It's Peter Pan! Or specifically, in this case, Peter Darling by Austin Chant, a delightful romance novel where Peter leaves his identity as Wendy Darling behind to go to Neverland and have a rivalmance with Captain Hook. Exquisite. We discuss the difficulty in adapting challenging (read…
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This week, we're talking about the first two books of the Aubrey–Maturin series, Master and Commander and Post Captain, but really more specifically we're talking about: 1) how much boat talk is too much boat talk; 2) is Jack a himbo or THE himbo; and 3) do we want to read 18 more of these. We're both pretty positive about the books while affirming…
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Conclusively and Without Question, We Have ADHD.
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This week we read uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh well it depends on who you ask. One of us read Delivered from Distraction. One of us read Driven to Distraction. This was. Not on purpose. See how long it takes us to realize. Other talking points include: why case studies are the best form of literature, the brand new eating disorder Sarah's been reading about, a…
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This week, we're digging into the graphic memoir Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe! We're talking gender, fandom, identity, pronouns, sexuality, and our own experiences with all of the above. Based on our mutual experiences, gender is stored in the gruff old nautical man. Also featuring discussions of all five members of One Direction: Zayne, Harry, Jame…
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This week we're talking enemy time-spies, bee sting letters, and of course, the all-powerful influence of Trigun twitter. That's right, it's This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. We discuss the age-old label battle of speculative fiction vs literary fiction, Cyrus pitches a tragically unironic World of Warcraft AU, …
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You Know What They Say About Big Hands (of the Emperor)?
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This week, we're talking about The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. Sarah is wildly enthusiastic about the prospect of exploring the complex functioning of a massive government for 900 pages. Cyrus was super busy this week but is extremely game to talk about intimate friendships. Like, weirdly intimate friendships. Like let's get to the ce…
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This week on Cracked Spines, it's time to dig into Cyrus' special interests: Ted Lasso and fungus. Mostly fungus. I'd say 90 percent fungus. Cyrus explains their fascination with the organisms that are like if plants had meat and their major gripe with the current state of fungal works out there. Sarah does not wish to join the fungal hivemind but …
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The Family Business (Which Is, In This Case, Creepy Puppets)
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MIME STOPS FOR NO MAN. In this episode we primarily discuss Grady Hendrix's newest horror novel, "How to Sell a Haunted House." Of course, we quickly devolve into discussing the entire Hendrixverse and its delicious all you can eat buffet of sloppy nightmare women. Why is Grady Hendrix so good at writing female characters? And most importantly, why…
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Hey guys, we got a crazy one. Bad sex, problematic dynamics, and weird, epic love(?): that's right, we're reading The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu! Sorry for all the cross talk in this one, we're just really excited about this absolutely bonkers book. Sarah physically cannot articulate the act of reading this book. Cyrus p…
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The Bravest Little Girls in the Forest
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This week, Sarah and Cyrus tackle a subject that is a particular passion of one of them: the character type of Brave Little Girls. Sarah posits a working definition of what this phrase might mean, and gushes over fictions weird little girls who are asked to do too much and who rise to the occasion. Cyrus wonders if anyone had a normal childhood or …
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An Approximate Definition of a Haunted House
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This week on Cracked Spines, we're talking about one of Cyrus' top books of last year, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, a story about one of our favorite things--a real weird location that does weird things to your brain. Neat! Sarah likes the book but isn't really sure it's about a haunted house. Cyrus likes the book and maintains that of course, of co…
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Did you know that Pixar's Cars is actually an installment of the Cosmere? The pieces are all right there. This episode, your hosts talk about epic fantasy to the tune of Brandon Sanderson, from the Stormlight Archives to Mistborn (Sarah's read that, right?) Let's dig into what makes Sanderson's work so hugely popular, and why it doesn't always hit …
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This week on Cracked Spines, it's Sarah's turn to take the wheel with an episode about the television show Avatar: The Last Airbender, which calls its seasons "books" so it counts for this podcast. Cyrus shares their teenage Zuko tribute experience. Sarah shares her adult Zuko tribute experience. We also talk about people who aren't Zuko. Discussio…
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This week, we're talking gender! Culture! More gender! There's a whole lotta gender in this one, lads! It's She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker Chan, much beloved by both hosts, who do their best to have an intelligent discussion about an intelligent book with varying degrees of success. Support the Show.…
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F. Murray Abraham? Don't mind if we do! This week, we're talking body horror, we're talking cosmic horror, and we're talking sad old men — which is to say we're discussing The Autopsy, a short story by Michael Shea and an episode of the Netflix show Cabinet of Curiosities. As with all things involving body horror, Cyrus is a depraved little pervert…
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And we're back! Welcome to our big beefy kickoff for 2023. In this episode your hosts discuss their reading goals for 2022 (including far more stats than anyone could possibly want), their favorite (and least favorite) reads of the year, and a whole slew of goals for the coming solar cycle. Also including multiple bouts of blistering sincerity abou…
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This week, Sarah and Amelia are back after faking their own deaths and disappearing to the desert (didn't work), and it's a bit of a grab bag. Sarah discusses her difficulty with reading lately (yeah, another one of those episodes) and how she's powered through it by taking things from small children. Amelia engages in combat with a 56 hour audio b…
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This week, Sarah and Amelia get deep. About six feet or so. In an episode that totally isn't a disaster of conflicting tones, we discuss the book Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them) , a very good book that both of us recommend but neither of us necessarily enjoyed. Sarah shares too many work anecdotes that all involve how bad she is…
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This week, Sarah and Amelia meet at different ends of the sleepiness spectrum to discuss the fantastic worldbuilding and historical resource that is The Victorian City by Judith Flanders. We talk about sewage seepage, watercress sellers, the infernal din of the city, and a couple of kinky Victorians who left detailed diaries behind. Amelia picks a …
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Ned Stark's Book Five Plotline Really Slapped
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This week, we're talking political marriages! Icy locales! Disco Elysium! Magical political intrigue! Fictional soccer coaches! Mirror travel! And of course, more Disco Elysium! Technically this episode is about A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos, but as usual, we get a bit off topic. We discuss our thoughts on YA vs adult fiction, intellectual…
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We Are Both Doing Equally Well With Our Goals, Thanks
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This week on Cracked Spines, we are revisiting all our big dreams we had in January and inadvertently have the exact same conversations as we did then. Amelia is riding high on her book list. Sarah is forcibly humbled. And I'll be honest, then we talk about Trent Crimm from Ted Lasso for about ten minutes. No, we don't provided context on who that …
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Dense Little Weirdos: Short Story Collections
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This week, Amelia and Sarah are talking about short story collections by a single author that bodied us and kicked us while we were down. In a good way! We discuss three books that are strong contenders for our faves of the year, while every plane in the PNW circles overhead. I know you can't hear the planes that much in this final version. That's …
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Avada Kedavyaknowwhat, we're not doing this
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If you love something, let it go: or at least maybe stop giving it your money and putting it in your tumblr blog description. This episode, Sarah discusses two of her favorite childhood series--Ender's Game and Harry Potter--and the frustration of still liking a piece of media when the creator is an active sewage volcano. Is is possible to separate…
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The Super Duper Ultra Stuffed Lesbian Romance Rant (for Pride!)
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1:25:23
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WHEW WE HAD A LOT TO SAY. This week, we're discussing lesbian romance novels and, unfortunately, why we just don't like a lot of the ones we've read. Amelia discusses gender exploration and lesbian relationships with gay men. Sarah laments the lack of butches and why Regency era women should be allowed to do rampant infidelity. We both spend a long…
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Mary Oliver and Owen Wilson: Gay Poetry For Dummies
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That's right, we're back on poetry again! We finished the Odyssey and, hungry for more punishment, dove into Mary Oliver's work. Amelia humorously mistakes two vastly different modern poets; Sarah humorously botches an 20th century poet's name (wow). We discuss religion, medicine, nature, DOGS, cats, prose, and more religion. Media Discussed Mary O…
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Death to the Living, Rights to the Sperm Whales
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This week, we're discussing In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick, the real life story of the shipwreck that inspired Moby Dick, a book we PROMISE that at SOME POINT we will read. Amelia gushes with frankly alarming intensity about how metal whaling culture and Nantucket Quakers were. Sarah offers some …
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This week on Cracked Spines your hosts read a whole slew of words centering around the Trojan War, from The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller to Homer's Illiad, Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, and The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. From across the millennia, one single sentiment rings true: Agamemnon is the wooooooooooooooorst. In other…
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Odyssey Hot Takes: Ten Years Seems Like A Bit Much
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57:54
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We read The Odyssey! We actually did it!! And we only whined a little for weeks on end. Amelia lets her love of milfs fatally blind her to the will of the gods. Sarah overestimates how much Odysseus is naked and murdering people but maintains that just doing it once is enough to make it His Thing. Discussion points include: is this book good? Do we…
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Our Flag Means Death is a win for gays and dads alike. In this episode we tackle the big questions, like "Why did this delightful little pirate show became so popular so fast," and "Isn't it okay to torture your hostages just a little, as long as it's funny?" Also featuring the joys of good representation, the horrors of the British Navy, the compl…
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This week, we're discussing Circe by Madeleine Miller and Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology by Jess Zimmerman. Sarah gets mad about how she stopped being mad about the treatment of women. Amelia discusses the shackles of gender and commits a minor act of arson against Sarah's most prized possession (again). We got a little depresse…
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Such A Good Anthology, And The Soundtrack To Hell
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54:41
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This week, your hosts read Far Out: An Anthology of Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Paula Guran, aka an absolutely kickass collection of speculative short stories ranging from a cat-loving AI to gut-wrenching horror. Both Amelia and Sarah agree that this is one of the best anthologies they've encountered, with an effective theme…
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Of Mist, and Grass, and Snake, Oh God Wait There's a Snake??
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This week, Amelia and Sarah discuss fantastical healthcare in Vonda McIntyre's Dreamsnake under the pointless time crunch of precious homemade goods cooking in the oven. Amelia finds new reasons to swear off pregnancy. Sarah gets real emotional about the concept of witches. We both lament how often genre fiction neglects the narrative potential of …
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