Show Notes
Hello The Lavender Menace listeners! Finally, here is the long awaited episode where we discuss the Sally Rooney literary universe, after Renaissance finished reading Beautiful World, Where Are You while in St. Louis. This was a major agenda point in this year’s Sunnissance in St. Louis era, of which many of you– especially our Patrons!!!– have been very supportive of (emotionally and financially), which is incredibly appreciated. For some context as to why this episode took so long to go up, while in St. Louis Renaissance’s laptop display started to break and began getting worse at an exponential rate (everyone booed). This slowed down the editing and publishing aspect of producing the episode quite a bit (sad-face-emoji), but the laptop is now fixed and this episode is ready for you to watch (for our Patrons <3)/listen and enjoy! In episode 6 of season 4, we talk about Carolina, the new Taylor Swift song released for the soundtrack of the film Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) directed by Olivia Newman. Although this song is released for the movie, the lyricism, sound, and light lore around the song's conception place it firmly in the mystical TS10 musical lineage. As per our 3 format structure, in the first act we delve into sex politics and the impact of porn in the digital age. How are teenagers supposed to explore their sexuality, while developing their own politics, parsing out desire, and growing up, in a pedophilic society that universally grooms young girls and boys (with the additional possible journey of navigating queerness)??? It’s not easy! For our shared media, we discuss Sally Rooney’s (she’s mother), third novel Beautiful World, Where Are You, both as an independent novel and within the context of Rooney’s body of work as an author. We still love women writers who confess all and tell nothing. For the third and final act, Recommendations, Sunny recommends Lauren McBrayer’s debut novel featuring lesbian adultery Like a House on Fire and Renaissance recommends Tig Notaro’s third stand up special Tig Notaro: Happy to Be Here (2018) on Netflix. We hope you all enjoy this episode and continue to enjoy the content from the special time we were able to spend together in person! Thanks for joining us for this episode. Find us on Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, and Letterboxd if you want to connect! Submit your hot takes, rantings, thoughts, anything else to [email protected].
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A very belated part 2 of our 2025 wrap up episode (LOL) recorded the same day as our most recent episode prior to this one. TLDL: art under capitalism is destroying art, anorexia is the devil and so is technology
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Are white queers entitled about their history and culture? Can femmes be nonbinary? And other pressing questions that our listeners, patrons, and substack subscribers have submitted to us... (Email us your hot takes at [email protected]!!!) Queer history is so so so important and most gay people do not know enough of it! The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader edited by Joan Nestle is one of the most important lesbian history books ever BTW, especially for femmes and butches. Silvia Federici's 2004 book Caliban & the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation is a book all feminists, Marxists, and Marxist feminists need to read. The politics of magic, the witch hunts, and the relationship between European colonialism and the dispossession of women and workers are some of the topics this book thoroughly explores. We cannot recommend it enough. Check out Sunny's recommendation of Sophie Lewis's books (Abolish the Family, Full Surrogacy Now, & Enemy Feminism) and Sunny's interview with Sophie, and Renaissance's Letterboxd and their recommendation of the documentary Feminism Inshallah: A History of Arab Feminism. Disclaimer: we recorded this episode back in the spring.
This episode includes discussion of: “butch-femme” aesthetic photos, our problem with Pinterest, internet personas and the importance of being earnest (and also genuine!) Also: the importance of female singer-songwriters and how CINEMA IS BACK which might be a recession/fascism indicator... In discussing the the racial and historical background of Sinners (2025), we examine the portrayal of truth and legacy in this surprisingly good blockbuster movie. From lynching to sharecropping, the frankness with which Ryan Coogler portrays 1932 Mississippi was incredibly moving. Our recommendations: https://www.solidaritycinema.com/ and The Wedding by Dorothy West. 01:04:04 — when we start talking about Sinners Thanks for joining us for this episode! Send your hot takes to [email protected] and support us on Patreon for bonus content and early access: https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheLavenderMenacePod Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/thelavenderpod/ Substack: https://thelavendermenace.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLavenderPod
This podcast episode brought to you today by lukewarm politics of hair takes re: Bush discourse (not the president) and Kanye/Bianca, a hot take from Sunny about the Doechii album, & Black lesbian film love from Renaissance Send your HOTTEST TAKES to [email protected] ! & Support your favorite indie dykes & get early episode access/exclusive bonus content on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheLavenderMenace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheLavenderMenacePod Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/thelavenderpod/ Substack: https://thelavendermenace.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLavenderPod