Episodes
Mind Grapes: We get after those early December blockbusters! Doctor Strange, Arrival, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them are all discussed. We also talk some books with The Expanse series, wildly popular television with The Great British Bake Off, and some real culture with the Star Trek Exhibit at the EMP in Seattle. Class Z(ed): Michael returns to the podcast to tell us about the continuation of his career. In his first appearance in Episode 11, Michael told us all about his work...
Published 02/07/17
SPOILER WARNINGS FOR WESTWORLD, THE FLASH, LEGENDS OF TOMORROW AND SUPERGIRL. Mind Grapes: Sam is super up-to-date and tells us about her latest TV obsession, Westworld. Mary has been getting into the DC Television family of products, especially Supergirl and The Flash. And medieval musicals? That's pretty much right up Alli's street with Galavant. Class Z(ed): In another edition of let's ask our friends about their cool jobs, Mary shares here experience working at Equinox Software who...
Published 11/02/16
Mind Grapes: Matthew is on again, so that means comics! Lots of comic and manga suggestions from both Matthew and Melanie. Also a few additional podcasts - one new and one previously mentioned, but it has gotten super super good. Class Z(ed): The Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians was a tagged on event at San Diego Comic Con this year and was lovingly organized in no small part by our own Matthew Murray. He tells us all about the events, their goals, and some of the generally...
Published 10/18/16
BiblioFiles: We got to talking and just couldn't stop! Christing Neigel, amazing librarian, teacher, and now PhD student, talks to us about her research project that examines librarian stereotypes from the last couple of decades. This fascinating discussion weaves its way around trashy detective novels, terrible TV shows, and why the media may view librarians the way it does.
Published 09/21/16
Mind Grapes: An idle question of "Hey, have you heard of this Stranger Things show?" turns into an internet sensation. Of course we saw it. It is fantastic (with reservations from Sam). But perhaps more shockingly - Sam's childhood remains in tact after she did not hate Star Trek: Beyond. Class Z(ed): We return to this year's eBook Summit, where Sam was a presenter! We talk about the latest and greatest in library related ebook technology and initiatives. And so can you! Most things...
Published 08/23/16
Mind Grapes: You get comic recommendations! And YOU get comic recommendations! But first, Alli talks about her latest podcast binge, the wonderful 2 Dope Queens (showing especial appreciation for Hari Kondabolu’s story). Sara shares some of her latest comic loves in Fresh Romance, Girl Over Paris (a comic spun off from the novel Girl on a Wire), and Southern Cross. In a shocking change of pace, Matthew offers more comic suggestions in the form of the feminist works Chainmail Bikini and...
Published 07/26/16
This fortnight... Mind Grapes: Alli has been having less than perfect media experiences and complains bitterly about Ernest Cline's second novel, Armada, and the mostly disappointing latest handheld Mario title, Mario and Luigi Paper Jam. Sam also has complaints, but this time about the U.S. political docuseries, The Circus. We do, however, finish with some good reading - Lawrence Hill's The Illegal. ReRoll: Harkening back to episode 59 of the show ("We don't want to throw any babies out...
Published 07/12/16
Mind Grapes: Sam is inspired by a recent episode of This American Life and Lindy West's new book Shrill to pick up Jes Baker's Things No One Tells Fat Girls. Alli was dragged to the Jane Austen adaptation Love and Friendship, but LOVED IT. But this weekend has been devoted to playing Blizzard's latest Overwatch. Speaking of games, Sam also plugs her latest podcast binge Cool Games Inc. Class Z(ed): It's been about a month, but this year's BC Library Conference was a super cool time. We talk...
Published 06/29/16
Mind Grapes: The Vancouver Public Library has been challenging its staff to read diverse books, and Sam is endeavoring to win the challenge! While she's won a few points with Ms. Marvel, she's hoping to get a few more with Erika Johansen's The Queen of the Tearling. To add to this, Alli recommends The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisen, but doesn't want to spoil anything because it's too good. Instead, Alli offers a review of the second season of Daredevil, the second season of...
Published 04/13/16
Mind Grapes: We get through our post-vacation blues by talking about some new stuff, re-reading some old stuff, and talking about reading very old stuff for the first time. Alli saw Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, the new Tina Fey vehicle about a war correspondent in Afghanistan. It was amazing. Jon has been re-reading an old favourite, Perdido Street Station by China Miéville, and talks about how it screws with the norms of Tolkienian fantasy. Sam decided her next comic project will be X-Men, and so...
Published 03/15/16
We're Alli & Sam. We met in a pub the night before our first day of library school, and since then we've been through a lot together - classes, jobs, weddings, D&D campaigns - always finding ourselves engrossed in wide-ranging conversations about television, film, books, technology, and what it means to be a young, nerdy, lady librarian in the 21st century. This podcast is our invitation to you to join our conversation. We hope you'll join us by sending in a question, comment, or...
Published 02/15/16
* SPOILER WARNING FOR SCREAM QUEENS AND CRIMSON PEAK * On a slightly overdue Halloween episode, we watch one of Fox's new fall lineup from the brains of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. In a collision of their other projects (American Horror Story and Glee), we watch the pilot episode of the super campy horror comedy show Scream Queens. We also launch into a surprisingly deep conversation with our resident horror expert Jon Newell and explore what it is that make horror comedy such a fruitful...
Published 11/23/15
We're Alli & Sam. We met in a pub the night before our first day of library school, and since then we've been through a lot together - classes, jobs, weddings, D&D campaigns - always finding ourselves engrossed in wide-ranging conversations about television, film, books, technology, and what it means to be a young, nerdy, lady librarian in the 21st century. This podcast is our invitation to you to join our conversation. We hope you'll join us by sending in a question, comment, or...
Published 10/27/15
This week... Mind Grapes: Very librarian. Much books. Wow. Literacy. Both Sam and Alli were feeling very bookish, so we share our thoughts on The Family Trade by Charles Stross, Redshirts by John Scalzi, The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber, and The Farm by Tom Rob Smith. We also talk about how we probably will go see The Martian, even though Matt Damon has been talking out of his butt lately. However, we also discuss some frustration with the idea that ALL BOOKS ARE NOW BECOMING...
Published 10/05/15
Mind Grapes: Alli finally saw Spy, so she and Sam are able to have some conversations around how it feels to have a woman of size who looks like us play a real spy movie hero person. Not going to lie, it's pretty cool. We then seque into another spy with Marvel's Agent Carter, which we are thrilled has been renewed for a second season. Yet amid all this good stuff, we are also frustrated by some of Marvel's choices with Ant Man when canonically, Wasp has been a much more important character. ...
Published 09/14/15
This week, with very special guests Matthew Murray, Anna Ferri, and Meghan Whyte... Mind Grapes: Our guests this week are founders of The Book Club for Masochists, which every month is dealt a random genre for the members to try to read. This month, they have psychological thrillers, which is, apparently, a challenge. Meghan, however, has enjoyed the thriller Dare Me by Megan Abbot. She's also been enjoying the different takes on feminism in Roxanne Gay's Bad Feminist and ... Anna's been...
Published 09/01/15
We're Alli & Sam. We met in a pub the night before our first day of library school, and since then we've been through a lot together - classes, jobs, weddings, D&D campaigns - always finding ourselves engrossed in wide-ranging conversations about television, film, books, technology, and what it means to be a young, nerdy, lady librarian in the 21st century. This podcast is our invitation to you to join our conversation. We hope you'll join us by sending in a question, comment, or...
Published 08/17/15
Mind Grapes: It's hot, so thinking deeply is not really a priority right now. Alli has four words for you: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Also a brief foray in to the film The Sapphires in a display of Australian media love. Sam talks about a new podcast that we have both been enjoying with Brent Black and Travis McElroy in Trends Like These - a discussion of issues, events, or various other things that are trending on the internet. Where Do We Put This?: Sam is in the research hot seat...
Published 07/21/15
Mind Grapes: Alli had one of those "buy a book" feelings and so picked up the Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang graphic novel In Real Life. We talk about the impulses we have to use art for messages or have art for art's sake. Sam gave up on The Paradise due to unfortunate love story interference, so instead we talk about Pixar's latest masterpiece Inside Out. The movie is simply beautiful, brilliant, and gives us (children and adults alike) a great new vocabulary around our emotions. BiblioFiles:...
Published 07/08/15
This week with special guest Sarah Felkar... Mind Grapes: Sam is still riding her wave of Philippa Gregory books and found some more historical romance in the form of the television series The Paradise. Sarah, a huge fan of the military sci-fi genre, talks about John Ringo's Looking Glass series. While they can be a nice introduction to the genre, they can sometimes be disappointing in the depiction of women (or lack thereof). Alli gave The 100 another try and was able to talk about some...
Published 06/22/15
Mind Grapes: In a rapid fire Mind Grapes, Sam and Alli cover Philippa Gregory books (like The Constant Princess and The Other Boleyn Girl, the steam indie game Catlateral Damage, and Travis McElroy and Brent Black's (Brentalfloss) new podcast Trends Like These. We then engage in a lengthy discussion of the magnum opus that is Mad Max: Fury Road because it was awesome and beautiful and nothing hurt. Where Do We Put This?: One of the major trends that we learned all about during library school...
Published 06/08/15
We had the great pleasure of moderating a panel on the intersections among different library professionals at this year's British Columbia Library Conference. It was a fascinating, frank and inspiring conversation, and we're glad to be able to bring it to you. Watch for a similar panel at the upcoming CHLA Conference. Voices you'll hear: Christina Neigel is Associate Professor in the Library and Information Technology Department at the University of the Fraser Valley. She is currently...
Published 05/27/15
Mind Grapes: We're all compliments with our TV shows. Sam's been catching up on the surprisingly amazing sixth season of Community. Dan Harmon is back in all of his glory, making the season sweet, funny, and totally weird. Alli has been watching Rob Thomas's wonderful new program iZombie and has another new TV crush. Don't worry Charlie Cox, I still love you. Class Z(ed): For the past several weeks, Alli's mind has been steeped in the newest document from the Association of College and...
Published 05/12/15
MIND GRAPES: OK, so yes, we each talk about a thing - but this week's grapes are about 75% Daredevil, which Alli loved for more than just Charlie Cox's abs, she swears. Also Jon just binge-listened to Serial, and brings us up to date on the case. Plus Sam is really into Backstrom - maybe a little too much. NERD ALERT!: What's the deal with being a Dungeon Master? If you want to run a tabletop roleplaying game for your friends (or to make friends!), where should you start? What can you expect...
Published 04/28/15
This week... Mind Grapes: Sam has been doing some reading inbetween a re-watch of Downton Abbey. In a similar vein, we discuss her reading of Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of the Day and discuss some of our other favourite upstairs/downstairs things. Alli has been playing BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins and is loving it. We talk about BioWare's amazing attention to story and character as well as some awesome adventure games for the non-combat inclined. Class Z(ed): We have had some great...
Published 04/14/15