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PODCAST

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

Each week on Smart Podcast, Trashy Books, Sarah Wendell interviews authors, readers, reviewers, bloggers, publishing professionals, editors, and librarians about romance novels, which are among the most popular genres in fiction worldwide. Popular guests include: Ilona Andrews, Robin Bradford, NPR"s Barrie Hardymon, Chuck Tingle, Sarah J. Maas, and Rachel Aaron. Amanda Diehl, co-pilot of the SS Smart Bitches, makes regular appearances with maximum silliness, especially during our Romantic Times

arts books

All Episodes

1:00:07

697. Holiday Wishes V with Shana, Sue, and Rhonda

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/12/19

This week we are talking with Shana, Sue, and Rhonda about book recs and wishes, plus fantasy and magical bureaucracy, grief in romance, schtupping by volume, and inventions for readers to find even MORE books.We also mentioned:The Library Extension –This is an extension for Chrome browsers that will load a list of your preferred libraries with availability for a specific book you’re looking at online. You can add as many libraries as you wish, along with Hoopla, and it’ll search the catalogs for

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58:20

696. Holiday Wishes IV with Rae A, Josephine, and Sneezy

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/12/12

We’re back with more Holiday Wishes! This week we’re talking with Rae A., Josephine, and Sneezy!This week we are talking romance bookstores and road trips, luxurious bidets, webtoons, and, of course, books. And some ranting about women artists in history. We are traveling as far as Taiwan in this episode – and this should be the last of my laryngitis – hooray for all of us!We also discussed:Webtoon:Only HopePodcast:Worlds Beyond NumbersThe Duchamp FountainFanfic: “Backhoe” by Zenoida

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59:07

695. Holiday Wishes III with Garlic Knitter, Claudia,...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/12/05

We’re back with more Holiday Wishes! This week we’re talking with Garlic Knitter, Claudia, Christine, and Jo.A few notes:First, my voice is not great. Some of these were recorded when I had a dreadful cold, so I apologize in advance.Second, if you’re a sympathetic crier like I am, please know that when Christine and I are talking, we both get a little choked up while talking about grief and the infuriating unfairness of American healthcare. It’s an emotional conversation and a beautiful one – thank

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1:30:39

692. Soap Opera Nostalgia with Amye Archer from...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/11/14

Amye Archer, host of Little Miss Recap, was a guest on a recent paywalled episode of Fixing Famous People talking about soap operas. I was entranced. Amye is a fan of soaps, going way back, and I was very eager to have her as a guest to talk about soaps, the romances within soaps, and some of the overlap between soap fans and romance readers.After we talk about the matrilineal cultural inheritance of soaps and romance, we have a challenge. Amye brought some of her most memorably unhinged story lines

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1:10:12

691. Romantic Times Memories with Heather Graham

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/11/07

After mentioning Heather Graham, one of the Grande Dames of RT, so many times while recapping issues of Romantic Times, I got to sit down with her to talk about her career, the way the industry has changed, and of course, her memories of Romantic Times, both the magazine and the convention.We talk about…Her memories of meeting Kathryn FalkThe earliest Romantic Times ConventionsHer incredible RT partiesThe work of hosting conferences.Heather has had one of the most interesting career paths, and this

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1:04:30

690. Disability in Romance with Lux Raven

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/10/31

My guest today is Lux Raven, author of the Siren’s duology that starts withSiren’s Mark, which came out – together – in early October. Lux wanted to join me on the podcast to talk about disability portrayals in romance, and about her own journey to diagnosis and how it influenced her writing – and vice versa.We talk a lot about the pernicious ableism in the writing of disabled characters, and about writing your catnip when you desperately want to see your experience in a romance.Last week was

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58:05

686. Ladies in Hating and Yearning with Alexandra Vasti

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/09/26

Alexandra Vasti is back, because her new historical romanceLadies in Hatingis out this week!We are going to talk about:Good angsty yearningWhen a character is their love interest’s bitch eating crackersLesbians in history!Erotic Victorian fictionSide trips include historical publishing houses, how nothing in romance is new, and how a lot of our current erotica, including that book where someone schtupps a door, is connected to books with the same sexual pairings in the Victorian era.You can find

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58:42

684. Thief of Night with Holly Black

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/09/12

The second book in Holly Black’s Night duology,Thief of Night, is out now, and I was so excited to talk with her about it.We start right off by talking about creepy places – like, what kind of magic comes out of Jersey?Then we talk about world building, starting with atmosphere instead of plot, and the intricacies of shadow magic in her duology. Plus, we squee about books we’ve loved, magic powers we wish we had, and Kelly Clarkson.Truly, if you’re writing romance, this episode contains many pieces

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48:32

680. Aro and Ace YA Romance with Molly Horan

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/08/15

Molly Horan is a YA author, playwright, and professor who is writing a dissertation on aromantic and asexual characters in YA literature. Molly also teaches classes about YA literature, so we have a LOT to talk about.Examining relationships between people within the context of aro/ace characters requires a re-examination of how we portray human bonds in media, and how they work in real life. There are many book recs, so don’t forget to check the shownotes to embiggen your TBR.Find all the books

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53:45

678. The Osmanification of Fiction Covers with...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/08/01

Recently,I posted a collection of cozy, mostly British mysteries that all mimic the Richard OsmanThursday Murder Clubcoversin just about every way.Then,Kayleigh Donaldsonsaid she had many thoughts about them.One of the worst things you can do is be one of my favorite people to listen to and then tell me you have thoughts about something I posted on SBTB. I WANT TO HEAR THE THOUGHTS. Good thing I have a podcast, right? So here we are.We’re going to talk about the Osman Aesthetic in cozy mystery,

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52:57

675. Celebrating Confident Fat Black Women with...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/07/11

Danielle Allen is the author of 55 books, including the new releasePlus Size Player,part of the Curve series alongsideCurvy Girl Summer, andBig Girl Blitz. And the player, as you’ll find out, is the heroine.The trilogy focuses on three best friends, and so we talk about friendship, loyalty, and about centering fat Black women as romance heroines. Danielle has also written contemporaries inspired by Poe stories, so of course we talk about interpreting Poe as well.You can find Danielle Allen at her

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50:15

671. RT Rewind: May 1995 Reviews

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/06/13

Amanda and I are traveling back to May 1995 – yes, thirty years ago.I know, me too.We’ve got weird reviews, outstanding side character names, a debut of a much-loved historical romance author, and a few side trips into pet names and fanfic ships in traditional publishing.We’re talking about the past and the present at the same time, which is one of my favorite things to do when discussing romance fiction!We also mentioned:Reba McEntire’sFancyvideoKelly Clarkson performingFancyat the Kennedy Center

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54:14

669. RT Rewind - February 2015 Ads & Features Part II

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/05/30

At the suggestion of some listeners, I split the Ads & Features into two parts, in part because it was very long, and also because there are 5 Fridays in May. Woot!You can find Part I here(or in your favorite podcast app).Part II of the Ads & Features from February 2015 features HelenKay Dimon just dropping all sorts of information left and right.We talk about:How many romantic suspense covers look the sameWays to approach reviews when you’re an authorWhat happens when romantic suspense

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46:52

668. Hot Takes with Sarah & Amanda

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/05/23

Inspired by a recent episode ofThe Sam Sanders Show,Amanda and I are sharing our own hot takes and possibly controversial opinions about romance.We’re talking:Third act bleak moments!Transcending the genre!Rom coms!Cozy things!Conferences and gatherings!Accessories for Readers!TW/CW: We take a brief side trip into parental estrangement and emotional abuse....Our midroll ad was forThe Historical Romance Samplerpodcast – check them out!We also mentioned:The Sam Sanders Show (podcast)A Million Lives

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54:02

664. Haunted Abbeys and Hidden History with Alexandra...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/04/25

Alexandra Vasti is the author of Earl Crush, Ne’er Duke Well, and the Halifax sisters series, and she joins me to talk about activism in history and about haunted houses, historical lesbians, and historical erotica.A Housekeeping Note: I recorded this several months ago, and due to a bunch of file corruption and restoring backups, this episode fell out of my workflow. My apologies to Alexandra, and to you, for that mishap.You can find Alexandra Vashti ather website, AlexandraVashti.com, and

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42:49

660. Murder By Memory with Olivia Waite

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/03/28

Olivia Waite is my guest this week to talk aboutMurder by Memory,her new cozy space mystery. We talk about characters, inspiration, tactile memories, and what sport is not on the ship. Then: cozy sci fi mystery recs, especially queer ones.Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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1:11:16

657. RT Rewind: May 2015 Reviews!

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/03/07

Amanda and I have loaded the time travel machine with snacks and bubbly beverages. We’re headed back toMay 2015.Some major books were released this month along with some we’re very happy to revisit.We’ve got answers to the following questions:Are there Amish Inspirational romances that have too much sex in them?How many garage freezers would a crime family need?How many stars did A Court of Thorns and Roses get?Don’t miss the erotica section – we’ve got some bangers, no pun intended.There isn’t a

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1:12:14

653. RT Rewind: February 2000 Reviews!

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2025/02/07

RT is celebrating their 200th issue, and we’re celebrating, too!We’ve got the OG Monster Schtupping book, a guy whose arm appears to end in a ham, and some incredible covers. You know I’m going to tell you not to miss the visual aids, but I mean it.There’s a series where the focus of every cover illustration is someone's backside? It's wild.You can find all the visual aids here.We also mentioned:Tazo Glazed Lemon Loaf TeaConstant Comment Decaf (Bigelow)Orange and Spice Tea (Bigelow)Marilyn Hagerty,

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51:20

647. Finding Home: Recs and Wishes from Megan,...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2024/12/27

We’re traveling all over the world again, from the west coast of the US to Germany to discuss the price of PopTarts, book recommendations, and wishes for 2025 with Megan, Alanna, Sue, and Rhonda.Thank you for being part of these episodes!You can find all the books at SBTB! We also mentioned:Lost in Austen(tv show)Jae’s Sapphic Book BingoI Heart SapphficGimme the Brain! Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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39:47

643. Safety, D&D, and Smut Logic: Holiday Wishes from...

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast ·

2024/11/29

It’s the first of our holiday episodes, and my guests are…all of you! Members of the podcast Patreon have signed up in record numbers to do interviews, so in the coming weeks, we’ll have recommendations, wishes, and bad jokes galore from folks all over the world.There is still time to sign up – head over toPatreonand you’ll find the link.This week, we’re headed to South Africa, Washington DC, Taiwan, and Connecticut to talk to Dani, Katie, Sneezy, and Lisa.We also mentioned the following:Theme to

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