This podcast is for craft and textile enthusiasts all around the world. We're constantly adding great interviews with textile artists, tutors and retailers plus a little advice on our own distance study courses in craft and much more. The School of Stitched Textiles is the largest UK provider of City & Guilds Accredited Textile based distance learning courses. You can find out site at https://www.sofst.org/. We also host the Stitch Directory, which showcases independent craft retailers and s ...
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Mean Book Club the Podcast: Four ladies (UCB-NY, BuzzFeed, College Humor, Impractical Jokers) read, discuss & make fun of NYT bestselling books with little literary merit. It's fun. It's cathartic. It's perfect for your commute? New podcast every Tuesday! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mean-book-club--3199521/support.
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Dr. Jack Roberts, aka JPR Stitch is a fine artist whose primary medium is freehand machine embroidery. His art is formed from simple organic flowing abstract shapes, but is constructed from a dense and complex web of stitch. His stitchings are a reflection of the calmness, tranquillity and contentedness that he feels when sitting at the sewing mach…
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Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
1:23:26
1:23:26
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It's our season 17 finale!!!! Huge thank you to our listener Hayden for recommending this lil hellscape to us! Hayden said: "My manager just told me that in order to start my “roadmap” to a promotion we are going to start by reading a book on leadership." INTERESTING... Will Hayden get the big promotion? Will Jocko and Leif INDEED dive even deeper …
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Helen moved from Art to Art Quilting in 2004 and has enjoyed many international awards for her unique approach to machine quilting and creating art quilts. In 16 years of quilting, Helen has won 16 awards at Houston including the inaugural A World of Beauty and Master of Innovative Artistry. Helen’s work is predominately pictorial, with strong desi…
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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely FIne by Gail Honeyman
1:17:55
1:17:55
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Our OG recommender Allesandra told us about Eleanor Oliphant so we knew we had to give it a read! The thing is.... Johnna, a host of this cast, ALSO told the other ladies about Eleanor Oliphant. Like 8 times. Actually she's been begging them to read it for years because it's one of her favorite reads! The MBC ladies are a HOUSE DIVIDED between love…
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Sarah de Rousset-Hall is a hand embroidery artist and teacher, she works as a tutor for the Royal School of Needlework and runs her own embroidery business, Sarah Stitches. Sarah came to embroidery as a second career, but has been embroidering as long as she can remember. Following on from a cancer diagnosis at 30, she returned to being a student a…
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Listener Lauren S. told us about The Bodyguard, and as soon as we saw the cover and learned that it was HOT on booktok... we knew what we had to do. Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, College Humor, Impractical Jokers) who read, discuss and whine about NYT bestselling books that have questionable literary merit. It's fun. It's cathartic.…
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A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
1:07:12
1:07:12
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Fan JB told us this NYT bestseller is a “children’s book for adults," and they "cannot fathom what people are getting out of this." Uh, yes please! Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, College Humor, Impractical Jokers) who read, discuss and whine about NYT bestselling books that have questionable literary merit. It's fun. It's cathartic. …
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The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
1:41:10
1:41:10
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Thank you Emily C for recommending NYT's best seller (and Reese's Book Club pick... and you know how we feel about Reese's Book Club...) THE PAPER PALACE! It's set in a house on a lake in the woods in Massachusettes so get ready to enjoy some TRAUMAAAAA DRAMA. Trigger warning, this one is heavy! Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, College…
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Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica
1:48:50
1:48:50
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Listener Emma C. told us to take on this NYT bestseller because “Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica is about the dumbest people alive.” Perfect, let’s go girls. Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, College Humor, Impractical Jokers) who read, discuss and whine about NYT bestselling books that have questionable literary merit. It's fun. …
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Scottish artist Jo Hamilton moved to Portland, Oregon in the early 1990s, after earning her BFA from the Glasgow School of Art. Her technique combines years of fine art practice with the craft of crochet which she learned as a child from her Gran, rendering traditional categories, which include portraiture, landscape and nudes in a contemporary lig…
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Hello Hello!!! This week we read another 2023 bestseller: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross! It's about two young "rival journalists" ahhh yes, a classic duo, who are also magical and living through a world war amongst gods! They say things like: Oh My Gods. And oh my gods is this book... something. You'll see! Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzF…
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Artist Interview - Mr X Stitch aka Jamie Chalmers
1:13:02
1:13:02
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Jamie Chalmers, aka Mr X Stitch, aka the Kingpin of Contemporary Embroidery, took up cross stitching fifteen years ago and he’s never looked back. Since establishing the Mr X Stitch website in 2008, he has been showcasing new talent in the world of needlework and textile art and has curated a number of stitch-based exhibitions in the UK and Ireland…
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We're BAAAACCCCCKKK! And this week we read NYT 2023 bestseller Happy Place by Emily Henry. A bunch of words so generic we kept forgetting what we were supposed to be reading. Thanks to Emily Fidago (listener, friend of the pod) for suggesting it, saying "this is the perfect Mean Book Club book because it is absolutely intolerable... my fury propell…
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Retailer Interview - Kate Makin of Northern Yarn
56:27
56:27
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Northern Yarn is an independent wool shop, situated in the historic city of Lancaster, with a stong focus on locally sourced British wool, including their own line produced from the fleeces of local flocks of sheep. Owner Kate Makin works together with local farmers, paying a higher price for good quality fleeces - then follows the process from she…
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Season 16 Official Book and Guest List - Promo!
9:07
9:07
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BOOOOOKSSSSS!!! Announcing our Season 17 book list and promo. Season premiere March 5! Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, College Humor, Impractical Jokers) who read, discuss and whine about NYT bestselling books that have questionable literary merit. It's fun. It's cathartic. It's perfect for your commute. New podcast (almost) every Tue…
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Zoë is a freelance artist, designer & illustrator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She has an honours degree in industrial design for textiles (print) and enjoyed a career in graphic design & the creative arts spanning over twenty years. Zoë now focuses on illustration commissions and personal work. Zoë loves travelling, trying new foods and enjoys li…
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BONUS: Malice by Danielle Steel - The Lost First Episode
1:07:58
1:07:58
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Special Bonus Episode! We uncovered the lost, original recording of our first episode: Malice by Danielle Steel. The quality isn't what you've come to expect, after 17 seasons, but the meanness is still there. There's a raw edge and anger to our younger selves. There's also more alcohol. As you await our Season 17 Book List, please enjoy the specia…
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Fan Alessandra Rosso needed us to confirm whether this NYT bestseller was actually trash because the main character “could have been replaced by a potted plant and I am not sure it would have changed the story.” And it’s a short book? About BROOKLYN (where we all live/have lived)?? Consider it read. Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, Col…
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Gail chats with Debbie and Di from Appletons Wools. Appletons brand of crewel and tapestry wool has been used for nearly 200 years across the globe in some of the most prestigious tapestries and embroideries in cathedrals, stately homes, and government buildings. Founded in 1835 by Thomas Appleton, Appletons is just as evangelical about British woo…
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Supermarket by Logic with Joey Price
1:22:33
1:22:33
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Thank you to our Icelandic listener Jessic Lyn Webb who told us that this NYT bestseller was “truly the most heinous misjustice to storytelling I have every had the pain of reading,” and included lots of borderline harmful takes on mental illness. And for some reason, that sold us. Heaven knows why. This one was painful. We also have special guest …
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Cas Holmes is a British artist, author and tutor of Romani heritage specialising in textile work with found materials. She trained in fine art and is interested in interdisciplinary projects in community and gallery settings to demonstrate the accessibility of mixed media textile processes. Her practice centres on the use of sustainable materials a…
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The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
1:15:24
1:15:24
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TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea. An "enchanting story, masterfully told" or "a book that tries so hard to be quirky and twee it makes me want to throw it into the Atlantic Ocean." YOU DECIDE! We decide, also, on: Mean Book Club! We are four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, CollegeHumor, Impractical Jokers) who read, discuss and whine about NYT bests…
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BONUS: Murder on Sex Island by Jo Firestone with Jo Firestone
2:20:05
2:20:05
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A VERY SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: We read Murder on Sex Island by Jo Firestone, suggested to us by friend of the pod and talented comedian Jo Firestone! It’s not YET a bestseller, but we jumped at the chance to cross-examine the author and dig down deep on why they made the weird choices they made. Fake teeth? A blonde wig? Is Sex Island just Love Isla…
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Guest Dan Savage on: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask by David Reuben
1:17:44
1:17:44
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THE sex manual of 1969 (yeah baby) is also one of the all time best selling books EVER in America. Yeah, if you were breathing in 1969, odds are: YOU READ THIS BOOK. But is it a radical, liberal education on "fun sex" or a truly disturbing attack on women, aging, and homosexuality that you cannot even FIND in libraries today? We have award-winning …
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The Nettle Dress is a modern fairy tale about the healing power of nature and craft directed by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Dylan Howitt, released by Dartmouth Films in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from September 15. Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress from scratch, using 14,400 feet of thread made from the fibre of loca…
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Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson with Guest Leo Allen
1:43:44
1:43:44
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Again listener Ashleigh C convinced us to read a Patterson book because Dolly Parton co-wrote it as “it’s very loosely autobiographical.” So we took on 17-week NYT bestseller by Dolly Parton and James Patterson. There’s a companion country album? Yes please. We also have special guest - comedian, showrunner and fellow Pennsylvanian Leo Allen, the m…
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Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld with Caroline Cotter
1:33:17
1:33:17
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Thanks to Ashleigh C who rudely predicted that Clara and Sarah would really like Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, a NYT bestseller for April 2023. But yes Ashleigh, Sarah was mad it wasn’t horny the whole time. We also have special guest - comedian and actress Caroline Cotter, who has appeared on late night shows from Conan to Late Night with …
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Meredith Woolnough is a professional artist working out of her studio in Newcastle Australia. She is best known for her sculptural embroideries which are an exploration of art, science and nature. The embroideries are created using a unique freehand embroidery technique that utilises a domestic sewing machine and a fabric that dissolves in water. T…
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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
1:23:31
1:23:31
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A blue-skinned woman? A rural Appalachian library? A murderous mule? All this and more when the MBC ladies tackle the NYTs bestseller "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek." Hee-haw, we reckon! Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, College Humor, Impractical Jokers) who read, discuss and whine about NYT bestselling books that have questionab…
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Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
1:57:05
1:57:05
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With Red, White & Royal Blue coming out on Amazon Prime, you know we had to read the NYT bestseller that started it all! A gay prince and son of a president? Yes please…. But wait… oh god… oh no… Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, College Humor, Impractical Jokers) who read, discuss and whine about NYT bestselling books that have questio…
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Season 16 Official Book and Guest List - Promo!
6:06
6:06
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BOOOOOKSSSSS!!! Announcing our Season 16 book list and promo. Season premiere August 8! Mean Book Club is four ladies (UCB, BuzzFeed, College Humor, Impractical Jokers) who read, discuss and whine about NYT bestselling books that have questionable literary merit. It's fun. It's cathartic. It's perfect for your commute. New podcast (almost) every Tu…
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