Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham on Their New Mother/Daughter Book Collab

Bad On Paper

Becca Freeman

Skincare, Beauty, Society & Culture, Comedy, Advice, Books, Arts, Careers

4.9 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We are SO excited to chat with Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter, Shelby Cunningham, about their new book, The Academy! We ask how their collaborative writing process worked, about Shelby's boarding school experience that inspired the book, and Elin's feelings on venturing into a new world outside Nantucket. We also have adaptation updates and some exclusive behind the scenes gossip!

These days, Shelby is reading A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, and Elin is reading Dominion by Addie E. Citchens.

Obsessions

Olivia - Bedroom candles

Becca - Sezane miniskirt

What we read this week

Becca - The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

Olivia - Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

This Month's Book Club Pick - Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at [email protected])

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone and welcome to Bad on Paper podcast. I'm Olivia Mentor. And I'm Becca Freeman.
0:23.1	And today we have an interview with Ellen Hildebrand and her daughter, Shelby Cunningham,
0:28.7	who recently wrote a book together that just came out yesterday. If you listen to last week's episode,
0:34.6	it was what I was reading. I am very excited as an Ellen head to share this with all of you.
0:40.7	I think we got some inside scoop never before heard.
0:43.6	All right.
0:43.9	But before we get to them, I feel like everyone's just now like plus 15 plus 15 scrolling ahead.
0:49.6	Olivia, tell me about your high.
0:51.2	My high has been this weather, which has been unbelievably beautiful.
0:58.7	Just in the mornings, it's in the high 50s, low 60s, in the afternoons, it's 70, 75, it's sunny.
1:07.1	I've been trying to make the absolute most of it, reading in the hammock.
1:11.6	I have been going to different cafes around town and working outside, which I haven't done in a long time, ordering hot coffees, iced coffees.
1:19.8	You can go either way in this weather, which, you know, that's one of its many perks.
1:25.3	But I also went to an outdoor silent reading club at my local bookstore last night, which is essentially they just open up the garden.
1:34.4	They put out these comfy seats and you can order drinks and bring your book or buy a book.
1:39.4	And then starting at 6 p.m. for an hour, you're just not allowed to talk, and everyone just sits around
1:46.0	and reads, which is so nice. Oh, wow. And you were reading your own separate books. You weren't
1:52.0	reading the same book. Yes, everyone brought their own book. Although weirdly, there was a lot of
1:56.4	overlap. I brought culpability, and there was someone else reading culpability. But it was really
2:03.2	relaxing because sometimes you want to be a little bit social, but like not all the way, you know? And so it was
2:08.8	like a little bit of chit chatter at the beginning and then then we couldn't talk. And it was just
2:14.2	nice to be with other people reading in a group like that. So I've just been enjoying this weather so, so, so much.
	...

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