Episode 235 - Celebrity Memoirs
It’s episode 235 and time for us to talk about Celebrity Memoirs! We discuss who counts as a celebrity, non-celebrity memoirs, creative non-fiction, memory, success, survivorship bias, and more!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇
Things We Read (or tried to…)
- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
- You with the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate
- Elsa Lanchester, Herself by Elsa Lanchester
- Lulu in Hollywood by Louise Brooks
- My Wonderful World Of Slapstick by Buster Keaton and Charles Samuels
- Finding Me by Viola Davis
Other Media We Mentioned
Links, Articles, and Things
33 Celebrity Memoirs by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
- Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve by Drew Afualo
- Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance by Simone Biles
- She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson
- A Thousand Threads by Nehneh Cherry
- Unfinished by Priyanka Chopra Jonas
- Viewfinder: A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen by Jon M. Chu
- Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung
- Let Love Have the Last Word by Common
- Transcendent by Laverne Cox
- Simply More by Cynthia Erivo
- Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg
- In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero
- Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday
- Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish
- We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu
- Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome by Aparna Nancherla
- Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
- Unprotected by Billy Porter
- Some New Kind of Kick by Kid Congo Powers
- Truly by Lionel Richie
- The Universal Tone: My Life by Carlos Santana
- The Race to Be Myself by Caster Semenya
- A Tale of Two Omars: A Memoir of Family, Revolution, and Coming Out During the Arab Spring by Omar Sharif Jr.
- The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley
- All the Way: My Life on Ice by Jordin Tootoo
- Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo
- I, Tina by Tina Turner
- Just as I Am by Cicely Tyson
- Sidesplitter: How to Be From Two Worlds at Once by Phil Wang
- Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again by Reggie Watts
- Scenes from My Life by Michael K. Williams
- Cack-Handed by Gina Yashere
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Give us feedback!
- Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, August 18th when we’ll be giving our summer media update!
Then on September 1st we’ll be discussing Post Apocalyptic fiction!
33 Celebrity Memoirs by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
- Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve by Drew Afualo
- Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance by Simone Biles
- She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson
- A Thousand Threads by Nehneh Cherry
- Unfinished by Priyanka Chopra Jonas
- Viewfinder: A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen by Jon M. Chu
- Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung
- Let Love Have the Last Word by Common
- Transcendent by Laverne Cox
- Simply More by Cynthia Erivo
- Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg
- In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero
- Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday
- Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish
- We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu
- Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome by Aparna Nancherla
- Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
- Unprotected by Billy Porter
- Some New Kind of Kick by Kid Congo Powers
- Truly by Lionel Richie
- The Universal Tone: My Life by Carlos Santana
- The Race to Be Myself by Caster Semenya
- A Tale of Two Omars: A Memoir of Family, Revolution, and Coming Out During the Arab Spring by Omar Sharif Jr.
- The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley
- All the Way: My Life on Ice by Jordin Tootoo
- Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo
- I, Tina by Tina Turner
- Just as I Am by Cicely Tyson
- Sidesplitter: How to Be From Two Worlds at Once by Phil Wang
- Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again by Reggie Watts
- Scenes from My Life by Michael K. Williams
- Cack-Handed by Gina Yashere
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
It’s episode 234 and time for us to talk about Novels in Verse! We discuss rhyme, meter, interiority, whether any of us understand poetry and more!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
What Book Should We Read? (Click to vote by July 31st!)
Things We Read (or tried to…)
Other Media We Mentioned
Links, Articles, and Things
17 Novels in Verse by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Give us feedback!
- Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, August 4th when we’ll be talking about the genre of Celebrity Memoirs as suggested by Kjs4658
Then on August 18th, we’ll be giving our summer media update.
17 Novels in Verse by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
It’s episode 233 and time for Battle of the Books 2026! Which book will we all read and discuss? You decide!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
What Book Should We Read? (Click to vote by July 31st!)
Runners Up
- Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women by Victoria Smith (2024)
- How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom by Johanna Hedva (2024)
- The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (2018)
- Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas (2024)
- How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva (2026)
- Cannon by Lee Lai (2025)
- Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky (2023)
- I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz (1995/1998)
- Stoner by John Williams (1965)
Other Media We Mentioned
Links, Articles, and Things
15 Adventure Fiction Books by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Give us feedback!
- Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, July 7th when we’ll be talking about Novels in Verse!
Then on Tuesday, August 4th we’re discussing Celebrity Memoirs! (As suggested by Kjs4658.)
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
It’s episode 232 and time for us to talk about coming of (old) age!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
Things We Read (or tried to…)
Other Media We Mentioned
Links, Articles, and Things
10 Coming of (Old) Age by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Give us feedback!
- Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, June 16th, when we’ll each be pitching a book we think we should all read and you get to vote on which!
Then on Tuesday, July 7th we’ll be talking about Novels in Verse!
10 Coming of (Old) Age by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
It’s episode 231 and time for us to talk about Sapphic Horror! We discuss which monster is the most sapphic, unrealistic reality TV shows, and how queer a book has to be to count as sapphic.
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
Things We Read (or tried to…)
- Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
- The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey
- Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen
- Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin, read by Chase Sui Wonders
- Extasia by Claire Legrand
- The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
- Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin
- Moonflow by Bitter Karella
- This World is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
- The Scourge Between the Stars by Ness Brown
- The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran, translated by Gene Png
Other Media We Mentioned
18 Sapphic Horror by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Give us feedback!
- Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, June 2nd we’ll be talking about “Coming of (old) age,” suggested to us by Meghan’s mom.
Then on Tuesday, June 16th, we’ll each be pitching a book we think we should all read and you get to vote on which!
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
It’s episode 230 and time for us to talk about media we’ve been enjoying! We discuss music, video essays, movies, comics, books, crafts, and more!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
Things We’re Enjoying:
Other Media We Mentioned
Links, Articles, and Things
15 Non-Fiction Books about Psychology by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Give us feedback!
- Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, May 5th when we’ll be talking about Sapphic Horror!
Join us again on Tuesday, June 2nd we’ll be talking about “coming of (old) age” books.
15 Non-Fiction Books about Psychology by BIPOC Authors
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
It’s episode 229 and time for us to talk about Media Criticism. We talk about what counts as media, the challenges of writing about emerging forms of media, how we interact with criticism, and more!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
Things We Read (or tried to…)
- The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men by Manuel Betancourt
- Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean by Douglas Wolk
- Marvel Age of Comics: Doctor Strange: A Decade of Dark Magic by Stuart Moore, narrated by Jason Lasky
- Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games edited by J. Robert Lennon and Carmen Maria Machado
- Culture Creep: Notes on a Pop Apocalypse by Alice Bolin
- Pop Classics #15: Ugh, as if!: Clueless by Veronica Litt
- Selected Amazon Reviews by Kevin Killian
- We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film by Tre'vell Anderson
- The Devil Finds Work by James Baldwin
- Why I love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature edited by Becky Siegel Spratford
- Bad Indian Bookclub: Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds by Patty Krawec
Other Media We Mentioned
Our Favourite Video Essayists/Reviewers/Reviews
Links, Articles, and Things
20 Media Criticism Books by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Give us feedback!
- Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, April 21st it’s time for our Spring Media update!
Then on Tuesday, May 5th, we’ll be talking about Sapphic horror (as suggested by tmauch)
20 Media Criticism Books by BIPOC Authors
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
It’s episode 228 and time for us to talk about Computers and Computer Science books! We discuss technology, digital humanities, coding, and more!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
Things We Read (or tried to…)
- Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing by Matthew G. Kirschenbaum (2016)
- Floppy Disk Fever: The Curious Afterlives of a Flexible Medium (2022)
- I could not find a free version of this online
- Your Computer Is on Fire edited by Thomas S. Mullaney, Benjamin Peters, Mar Hicks, and Kavita Philip (2021)
- The Computer Always Wins: A Playful Introduction to Algorithms through Puzzles and Strategy Games Paperback by Elliot Lichtman (2025)
- Must Know High School Computer Programming by Julie Sway (2020)
- In the Beginning… Was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson (1999)
- A Prehistory of the Cloud by Tung-Hui Hu (2016)
- Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe by George Dyson (2012)
Other Media We Mentioned
Links, Articles, and Things
15 Computer Science Books by BIPOC Authors:
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Give us feedback!
- Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, April 7th we’ll be talking about Media Criticism (as suggested by daftkifty)
Then on Tuesday, April 21st it’s time for our Spring Media Update!
