About What You Read

Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material has the usual material used to manufacture a gay romance. Whether it chips out the cliches or builds on them is the question. This episode investigates.  Timestamps/Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:55 The Plot 03:51 The Style  05:18 PR and Lucien  06:32 Oliver Blackwood 07:48 Conversation 08:45 On Repeat 09:28  So? 10:30 P.S. 11:04 Wrap-up Transcript: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3To9uak⁠⁠ Background Score: I had a Feeling: TrackTribe | Lazy Laura: Quincas Moreira | Waltz of The Flowers: Tchaikovsky

A ban on books. An overdose of entertainment and disinformation. A murderous protocol. And a population smack dab in the middle of all of it. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 plays with these elements and sketches a tale that could have been written just the other day. This episode walks through the premise of the novel and tries to get a sense of how vivid and poignant Bradbury’s imagination was as it took on the grim realities of what he thought might be the norm in the distant future.  Transcript: https://rb.gy/jk1d7

Mention Rishi Kapoor to anyone in India and they’ll tell you that that Bollywood superstar of the 70s and romance go hand in hand. Armed with a smile to charm the pants off anyone, Rishi made it big with hits such as the path-breaking Bobby (1973), the musical murder mystery Khel Khel Mein (1975), and the iconic Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). But was he the chocolate hero he portrayed on screen who knew exactly how to make his leading ladies swoon? And was he the picture of perfection and obedience every Indian mother wanted her son to be? Find out in this review of Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored—his definitive autobiography that the superstar co-wrote with Meena Iyer. Transcript: https://rb.gy/pfss1