Media That Makes Us: Judy Blume, The Bachelor, and Reality TV

Get your TBRs ready because we’re discussing three books you won’t want to miss! Jordy reviews Made For You by Jenna Satterthwaite, Renee reviews All This and More by Peng Shepherd, and Mariquita sits down with Rachelle Bergstein to chat about her book The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us. This episode will have you thinking about the kinds of entertainment media that makes us all who we are.

Made For You – AI Women and The Bachelor (0:21)

Jordy sits down to discuss Made for You by Jenna Satterthwaite. This book is The Bachelor meets artificial intelligence meets murder mystery. This story will have you ponder the ethics and morality of creating humanlike robots all while feeling empowered by reclaiming individual autonomy.

Renee’s Reading Corner: All This and More (5:40)

If you’re feeling a little nostalgic for the Choose Your Own Adventure books we had growing up, you’ll want to check out Peng Shepherd’s latest novel All This and More. Renee reviews the book and shares why you might love it too.

What a Friend We Have in Judy (9:11)

Mariquita interviews author Rachelle Bergstein about her book The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us. Over the course of the discussion they cover the importance of Blume’s ability to destigmatize menstruation and masturbation, the evergreen relevance of censorship and book bans, and where accountability ends and censorship begins.

Books and Resources Mentioned:

Made for You by Jenna Satterthwaite

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

The Villain Edit by Laurie Devore

All This and More by Peng Shepherd

The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us by Rachelle Bergstein

Women from the Ankle Down by Rachelle Bergstein

Brilliance and Fire by Rachelle Bergstein

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume

Deenie by Judy Blume

Forever by Judy Blume

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe