Sad Girl Syllabus

The finale of our spooky anniversary season is here! Just in time for Halloween, the Sad Girls are discussing two internet-centered films, Pulse (2006) and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021), and explore how they fit into the Folk Horror canon. How do internet-native urban legends shift our perception of folklore today?

As Halloween creeps closer, Bethany and Mary invoke spirits and monsters while discussing folk horror in the Candyman films (1992 & 2021) and The Skeleton Key (2005). Each film approaches the legacy and stain of slavery in the US, and the terrors that continue to stem from it.

This week the Sad Girls scare themselves. Bethany and Mary watched The Ring (2002) and Poltergeist (1982) so you don’t have to! Tune in for our takes on both films, the way they draw on folklore, and for some bonus ghost stories.Become a patron: https://patreon.com/sadgirlsyllabus

The Sad Bitch Project In October of 2022, two podcasters disappeared into the woods while recording a podcast…

Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year, listeners! We’re celebrating the best way we know how, by talking about horror movies. But not just any kind of horror, we’re delving into folk horror and exploring what makes the genre so disturbing. This week we’re watching both versions of The Wicker Man (1973 and 2006), the first film that comes to mind when we think of folk horror.Become a patron: https://patreon.com/sadgirlsyllabus

In the last leg of Sad Girls Abroad, Bethany and Mary discuss the turn to horror in the movies Hostel and Midsommar. What’s an American to do when they run into an ancient European cult? The girls discuss the depiction of American exceptionalism amid horror, ritual, and more.Warning: There are discussions of gore and vomit throughout this episode, specifically from 6 min to 46 minute mark, as well as references to violence throughout.Sign up for our newsletter: https://sadgirlsyllabus.com Become a Patron: https://patreon.com/sadgirlsyllabus

This week the Sad Girls are watching the genre-defining summer holidaze film The Talented Mr. Ripley. Bethany and Mary discuss all the reasons why this is the best expression of “Americans Abroad,” the pillars of the Sad Girl Pantheon (Jude Law, Matt Damon, Philip Seymour Hoffman), how this movie could be defined as Dark Call Me By Your Name, all while doing what we do best: go on tangents.Sign up for our newsletter: https://sadgirlsyllabus.com Become a Patron: https://patreon.com/sadgirlsyllabus

The Sad Girls stay in the sun as moods get darker in Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash. Bethany and Mary discuss the film’s rising (sexual) tensions, refugees and xenophobia, and confronting the villan you’ve become. Plus, pools and Dakota Johnson.

Something about the hot sun, the endless hours on the beach that makes the European Holiday take a turn… This week Bethany and Mary discuss Elena Ferrante’s “The Lost Daughter,” an iconic beach read and film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. The story uses the summer trip as a backdrop to exploring the darker sides of self and we ponder what it means to be a sad-girl-turned-sad-woman.Book discussed: The Lost Daughter by Elena FerranteSign up for our newsletter: https://sadgirlsyllabus.com/Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/sadgirlsyllabus

Sad Girl Syllabus is spending their sixth season abroad. Following the trope of Americans abroad in Europe for a summer vacation, the season begins with the sweet and sweaty, and quickly turns into something much darker. In this first episode, Bethany and Mary discuss two romance-centric films of Americans exploring Europe: An American in Paris (1951) and Call Me by Your Name (2017).

For the final episode of season 5, Bethany and Mary continue to explore the connection between food and spirituality by talking about… not eating. They discuss fasting and asceticism, the phenomenon of Victorian Fasting Girls, and reflect on the season as a whole. Note to listeners, the content in this episode is at times graphic.

Things get metaphysical as Mary and Bethany discuss ancient food cults, alternative theories about Early Christianity, cannibalism and spirituality, and more. Books discussed: The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross by John M. AllegroWho Cooked the Last Supper? by Rosalind MilesSign up for our newsletter: https://sadgirlsyllabus.com/ Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/sadgirlsyllabus

In this episode, Sad Girl Syllabus explore the dark side of food and spirituality, namely poison and cults. From the Heaven’s Gate poisoned pudding to the Rajneeshee poisoned salad bars to the dark underpinnings of Celestial Seasonings’ Sleepytime tea, Bethany and Mary discuss the use of food in US cult practices, especially as a method of control. Be careful out there and watch what you eat!

The connection between food and spirituality is the topic of the new season of SGS, and the girls kick things off with a conversation about influential lifestyle brand GOOP. Cleanse culture, wellness, cycle syncing, seed oils, it’s all here! Is wellness culture flourishing because most of the food in global circulation is making us sick? Do girls have IBS because they’re hot, or because they have a gut full of plastic? Has religious-flavored authoritarianism seeped into wellness culture? We discuss all this and more. Subscribe to our newsletter! sadgirlsyallbus.com.

Welcome to the finale of Girlboss Interlude! And the finale of Hulu's The Dropout! Watch along with us as we finish our journey with the one girlboss to rule them all, Elizabeth Holmes. And we have some exciting announcements about the pod in this episode! Keep up to date by subscribing at sadgirlsyllabus.com.

The Sad Girls get into it with Hustlers (2019) starring Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu and based on the true story as reported by the one and only Jessica Pressler in 2015. Bethany and Mary discuss myth-making the Sad Girl to Girl Boss arc, Sad Girl origin stories in the Joker, Wuthering Heights, and Phantom of the Opera, and finding purpose in a postmodern world.

The watch-along continues this week with Mary and Bethany commentating on the final episode of Netflix’s and Shondaland’s Inventing Anna. As Anna’s court case wraps up, the girls draw conclusions of their own as to who’s really a scammer and who’s really a #girlboss and where the boundaries lie.

Isn’t everyone a scammer? This week, SGS is watching Inventing Anna, the Netflix series that follows the story and exposé of Anna Delvey, the faux German heiress who conned the New York art scene. Mary and Bethany discuss narrative and myth-making, how everyone loves a con artist, and the subtle ways we fool ourselves and others. Watch along with the show or listen to the commentary on its own.

You either die a sad girl or live long enough to see yourself become the girlboss, or at least we think that’s how the saying goes. Our newest season of Sad Girl Syllabus is all about the girlboss mythology, the girlboss-scammer crossover, and scam girl stories going from headlines to blockbuster biopics. For each episode we’re hosting a little watch party for these movies and miniseries. We invite you to watch along with us! We’re kicking things off with our fave, Elizabeth Holmes, and her story as told by Hulu’s newest series “The Dropout.”

For the finale of season 3, Bethany and Mary discuss the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the rise in women serving in the military, the portrayal of the “girl boss” soldier, a deep dive into Zero Dark Thirty, and social media's impact on our understanding of war.