We go way back in this episode, to the beginning of our friendship – those fraught 6 weeks at the beginning of college where you may or may not make incorrect judgments about who you do or don’t like.
We talk about how our friendship has gotten closer over time, and what has bonded us, even when we don’t physically see each other that much.
And then we rely on Meghan’s deep knowledge of friendship books, and the project she’s doing to think about them as a genre: what counts as a friendship book (or story), and why are we so drawn to them? It’s basically a very excellent book club.
Check out Meghan’s excellent syllabus on Entropymag here.
Send us your favorite friendship books/TV shows/movies, and we’d also love to hear about your favorite literary friendships, if you’re into that.
You can listen right here on this page, or get Marginally on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever get your podcasts (including Spotify).
As always, we’d love for you to take a minute to rate and review us in your podcast app, as this helps other listeners find the show.
Find us on Instagram @marginallypodcast. Meghan’s occasionally on Twitter @meghanembee, and Olivia’s @roamingolivia
Theme music is “It’s Time” by Scaricá Ricascá.
Have a question you’d like us to try to answer, or a topic you’d love to have us cover? Interested in being a guest? Contact us here. Thanks for listening, and get to work!
In this episode:
Happier in Hollywood podcast
Zadie Smith’s Swing Time
Caroline Calloway and her ghostwriter friend Natalie
Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion
The scene in Romy & Michele where they argue about who’s the Mary
Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan quartet (starting with My Brilliant Friend)
Mary McCarthy’s The Group
Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings
Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life
Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends
Rumaan Alam’s Rich & Pretty
Care and Feeding column, which Rumaan Alam co-writes with Nicole Cliffe and two other authors
Big Little Lies (HBO series and book by Liane Moriarty)
Elizabeth Gaskill’s Cranford
Jane Austen’s Emma
Toni Morrison’s Sula
And:
If you like Marginally, you should check out #amwriting, with Jess and KJ, where two much more experienced writers talk through their processes with each other and celebrated guests.