ICYMI: Should We Quit Romance Novels?

Slate Technology

Slate

Society & Culture, Technology, History

4.6 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Candice Lim is joined by Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion to talk about their love of romance novels. The romance genre grew rapidly this past year, becoming the fastest-growing category of fiction and generating over $1.4 billion in sales revenue. Partly thanks to Goodreads and BookTok, romance novels are getting into the hands of younger, more outspoken and vocal readers. But recent scandals, including last year’s Hockey BookTok disaster, question the limits of literary thirsting and ask whether we can ever quit romance. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Forgot your wallet? No problem.
0:03.0	With Samsung Wallet, everything you need is already on your phone.
0:08.0	Store your loyalty cards, earn rewards when you spend, and keep your travels smooth with boarding passes and train tickets ready to go.
0:15.0	You can even tap in on public transport, no unlocking, no digging around.
0:20.0	And yes, your payment cards can live
0:22.3	here too. Safely stored and ready when you need them. Trouble Light, live smart. Set up Samsung
0:28.0	Wallet today. Hey, I'm Candace Lim, and you're listening to I-C-Y-M-I.
0:46.8	And Casey Miss It, Slate's podcast about internet culture.
0:50.6	And, guys, I am in Spain without the S.
0:53.0	Okay, coming back to work after the holidays is harder than being club Shalomey in 2020. And surprisingly, so much internet has happened in these past two weeks. Paul Meskell has allegedly been running away from girls in the park. Steamboat Willie has entered the public domain so James Cameron get your underwater GoPro ready.
1:14.2	Io Adebri posted a letterbox review of Saltborn and then deleted her profile pick and the review.
1:21.5	Whoever made her do that, I will be seeing you in the Denny's parking lot.
1:25.6	But I'd love to talk about some New Year's resolutions I've been seeing on your timelines.
1:31.1	I've been seeing a lot of people saying they want to read more books in the new year.
1:34.9	Some are saying they want to read less books in the new year.
1:37.9	In fact, before the year ended, I heard a rumor that someone here at slate.com had a revolutionary, controversial, and bold resolution to stop reading romance books in 2024.
1:51.5	And I was shocked, but intrigued, because I am going to embrace who I am on this pod and say that I am a romance reader.
2:00.2	I love them. Jasmine Guillory. Emily Henry. Helen Huang. I am one of
2:04.9	your girls. I also acknowledge that the romance genre has some flaws. You know, first, the ripped
2:10.7	bodice published their diversity in romance report, and in 2022, only 12.3% of romance novels
2:17.2	were written by authors of color. And that's not the
2:20.2	only type of diversity they lack. Gender, sexuality, neurodivergence, class. These still have narrow
	...

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