Episode 15 – Fifty Shades of Grey
The Worst Bestsellers
Worst Bestsellers
4.5 • 609 Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2015
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kait, Renata, and their guest Anna of Bellwether Friends read Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James! Their inner goddesses are all annoyed at how much they felt compelled to defend this book. Sure, it’s unconventional to have a modern college-aged protagonist who doesn’t own a computer, but once you get over the initial shock, it’s really not as bad as we thought it would be. Plus: our inaugural game of The Rock, Paper, SNIKT! and a dramatic reading of the infamous tampon scene.
Readers advisory: Here.
Footnotes: Anna’s Fifty Shades Readalikes Project
In Defense of Fifty Shades of Grey (Sort Of)
Oh Joy, Sex Toy’s Fifty Shades Review by Erika Moen (NSFW)
“Does Kinkphobia Color Criticism of Fifty Shades of Grey?” by Catherine Scott
“The Real Fantasy of Fifty Shades of Grey” by Alyssa Rosenberg
“The Trouble With Prince Charming or He Who Trespassed Against Us” by Roxane Gay
“Sex, Lies, and Fifty Shades” by Leslie Bennetts
Candy pairing: Anna says Sugar Daddys, Kait says generic Valentine’s chocolates, Renata says bachelorette party chocolate.
Coming up next: Middle School, The Worst Years of my Life by James Patterson.
* Worst Bestsellers is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
(But no pressure, we’re also happy if you get these items from your local library or independent bookstore.)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the worst bestsellers, where we read about legally non-binding sex paperwork so you don't have to. |
| 0:16.9 | I'm Renata. |
| 0:18.1 | And I'm Kate. |
| 0:19.1 | And for this episode we have read |
| 0:21.1 | 50 Shades of Gray by E.L. James |
| 0:23.5 | Joining us to discuss this work of erotic fiction |
| 0:26.9 | is librarian slash bellwether friend Anna. |
| 0:30.0 | Hey. |
| 0:30.9 | Yay! |
| 0:32.5 | I'm so glad you could join us, Anna. |
| 0:34.3 | I'm really looking forward to hearing all of your expertise |
| 0:36.7 | in this field. |
| 0:38.5 | Yeah, this is a fun thing to be an expert in. Let me tell you. |
| 0:44.2 | And I feel like, I feel like our listeners are going to be super disappointed, listening and angry, listening to this episode, because I'm sure everyone tuned in expecting us to be like, |
| 0:55.4 | this is the worst abusive garbage I've ever read and it deserves to be burned. |
| 0:59.4 | And instead, I'm pretty sure we're going to spend the next 45 minutes to an hour being angry |
| 1:05.0 | at people who talk like that. |
| 1:06.6 | I feel like it's going to be a rehash of our Twilight episode, which was definitely an hour |
| 1:10.5 | of like, it's really not that bad. I mean, it's not good, but it's going to be a rehash of our Twilight episode, which was definitely an hour of like, |
| 1:11.0 | it's really not that bad. |
| 1:12.2 | I mean, it's not good, but it's not bad. |
| 1:15.5 | It really is not that bad, especially compared to some other books in this genre. |
... |
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