Sex. Love. Literature.

It's time for our annual SLL tradition of rounding up the pop culture of the previous year! We start with what pop-culture is "sparking joy” in February,  our favorites of 2024, and what we’re looking forward to in 2025.

As a treat, Corinne's snark levels were very high this episode (lol).

CW: Brief mention of S*icide from (1:06:51-1:06:54)

Show Notes:

• Take the SLL Audience Survey! Closes March 28th, 2025:...

Joined once again by our younger siblings, Erin and Akinde, we dive right into Sarah J Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury spoilers in part two of our discussion.

To kick things off, we start with our complicated feelings on main character Feyre. We also ask the hard hitting questions, like: are these sex scenes sexy? Why is there so much growling? And what would actually happen if the wings of the Illyr...

You’ve asked, you've waited, and now, we’re finally delivering! Welcome to our two-part deep dive on the international best selling Romantasy novels A Court of Thorns and Roses and a Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas. 

In this first, spoiler free episode, we touch on our initial reactions to the series, and think a bit about what romantasy is and why it’s so appealing to so many readers.

Plus, we’re joined by some very special...

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot going on *gestures everywhere*, so rather than get into anything too tragic, as we’re wont to do, we’ve instead gathered some Comfort Media for Interesting Times (™)–that is, the pop culture we turn to when things are rough and we’re in need of a boost to help us make it through.

This episode, in the style of our Pop-Culture Round Ups, we trade off sharing cozy books, music, and TV shows...

Sorry for the delay on this episode folks - October and November have been a lot. But, without further ado, here's Last Night at the Telegraph Club, episode two!

Joined once again by Dr. Kai Chen, we dive right into Last Night at the Telegraph Club spoilers, starting with our feelings on Kath and Lily’s relationship and the high-key stress of classroom makeouts. From there, we consider the queer space of the Telegraph Club, Lil...

In classic SLL fashion, I welcome you to another accidental two-part discussion. This time, we’re joined by Dr. Kai Chen to discuss Malinda Lo’s award-winning novel, Last Night at the Telegraph Club. This episode, we keep things spoiler free by first giving some context for the book and then our overall impressions. (Plus, we get a bonus visit from Ayanni's 20 year old family cat.)

Show Notes:

• What's Sparking Joy: Kevin can ...

Welcome to our second episode on the Chinese Drama Lost You Forever, part 2! We jump right into Tushan Jing and Xiao Yao’s relationship as the ostensible OTP of the show. From there, we consider just how sad our snake demon man Xiang Liu made us in his determination to push Xiao Yao away, as well as A’Nian’s surprisingly poignant maturation arc.

Lit Discussed this Episode: "Spring Snow" by 10 Centimeters, "Love Heart Cheat Code...

Your girls had a lot of feelings and a lot to say about the most recent installment of the Chinese drama Lost You Forever. So welcome to part one of our deep dive that starts with our overall reactions to the show. Then, we go into Cang Xuan and Xiao Yao’s complicated relationship, and especially how some of the changes in adaptation from the novel affect how it all ties together at the end.

Lit Discussed this Episode: Mayonaka Pu...

Due to circumstances entirely within our control, we interrupt your regularly scheduled SLL programming for a special summer edition of our What’s Sparking Joy: Pop Culture Round Up.  In addition to checking in about what we’ve been watching, reading, and listening to so far this year, we each share three pieces of media that continue to live rent free in our heads.

Lit Discussed this Episode: Lost You Forever Season 2 (no spoiler...

Welcome to our second episode on Bridgerton, season three! Picking up where we left off, we jump right into close reading Polin’s main sex scenes. From there, we think about what made us adore the side plots through discussion of Benedict, Francesca, and Violet’s storylines this season. 

Note: there are Bridgerton book spoilers from (37:36 - 38:14) and again from (39:27 - 39:47).

Make sure to listen to part one of our se...

Members of the ton rejoice! Both halves of Bridgerton, season three have finally dropped. We had so many thoughts about this latest installment of the regency romance series that–just like Netflix–we split our conversation in two.

In this first episode, we consider the season as a whole, break down Pen and Colin’s long awaited transition from friends to lovers, and start to craft "Bridgerton, Season Three: the Corinne and Ayan...

Time for the third installment of our divorce comedy mini-series! While we didn’t initially plan to include this show, we’re talking about the recently concluded Korean drama Queen of Tears. We consider whether or not the show is actually a divorce comedy at all, how it deploys divorce in the development of the main relationship, and what about this second chance romance really resonates. We also touch on some of the other things t...

Welcome to the second installment of our divorce comedy mini-series! This episode, we’re talking about the 2023 Korean Drama Doctor Cha. We get into her messy, maddening marriage, why her husband belongs in the trash, and the rewards of watching our leading lady find herself again.

Content warning: brief mention of s*icidal ideation @ 32:03

Show Notes:

Other Lit Mentioned this episode: Apothecary Diaries, Lost Your Forever, Le...

Welcome to our mini-series on Divorce Comedies! Over the next 4-ish episodes, we’re exploring this genre that caught us off guard with how much its makes us laugh, cry, and yell divorce! In this introductory episode, rather than focus on any one show, we get into the defining features of divorce comedies, why we wanted to talk about them, and whether or not they can be counted as rom coms.

Show Notes:

Other Lit Mentioned th...

"See, on the road to Hell there was a railroad line..."

It's time for a deep dive into the Broadway musical, Hadestown. We get into how the musical adapts the Grek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice & Hades and Persephone for a modern setting; the love stories–and tragedy–of the two core relationships; and the productive ambiguity of seeing it all happen on stage. 

Content Warning: Discussions of S*xual Assault from (...

Corinne wasn’t feeling well this week, so Ayanni called in the cavalry. This episode, she's joined by her spouse (and friend of the show) Andrew Cooper to talk about the new action-dramedy series, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They give their general impressions, think about the series’ adaptation choices, and muse about the show’s depiction of married life. 

Show Notes:

Other Lit Mentioned this episode: Jujutsu Kaisen, Spider-man: ...

Happy New Year, y'all! We continue our annual tradition of checking in about what pop-culture is "sparking joy” in January,  our favorites of 2023, and what we’re looking forward to in 2024.

(CW: discussion of parental and sibling death.)

Oh, and did we mention we have a tumblr now? www.tumblr.com/sexlovelitpodcast

Show Notes:

Check out Charcooll--the awesome artist who did our cover art-- on Instagram (https://www.in...

CW: Discussion of s*xual assault, and brief mentions of drugging and s*icide, from 1:00:27 – 1:04:15

You’ve made it to the third and final installment of our semi-accidental mini-series on the Chinese Drama, Lost You Forever. (You either really like us, or you really like Lost You Forever, and we appreciate you either way.)

We know you’ve been waiting for it, so this episode, we finally get to the last three main players fighting f...

We’re continuing our three-part mini-series on Lost You Forever by diving right into a truck load of spoilers! In honor of the reverse harem-ness at all, we organized our discussion around leading lady, Xiaoyao, and her four suitors.

This episode, we start with Xiaoyao herself–and her many abandonment issues. Then, we get into our complicated feelings about her charming, ambitious cousin, Cang Xuan and his dangerous pursuit of the ...