We’re back for Pride, Part Two! Kris talks about the delightful romance bookshop she discovered in her city (shout out to Smitten Booktique). While comparing the relative merits and discomforts of different medical procedures, Tara and Kris provide their irregularly timed reminder to get your boobs squished, you know, professionally.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Shrill (Hulu/Netflix)
Kris’s official recommendation this week is the TV series Shrill (originally released on Hulu, now available on Netflix). Kris loved this show, especially Aidy Bryant as the lead, and praised the queer representation in the show’s side characters.
From Tara: The Whole Truth by Haley Cass
Tara’s official recommendations this week is The Whole Truth by Haley Cass, an enemies-to-lovers sapphic romance set in the world of country music. Tara adored the chemistry between these two characters as they go from enemies with benefits to their happily ever after, and thinks you will too.
Works/People Discussed
- Smitten Booktique, Kansas City
- Maternal Instinct (2026)
- Outlast: The Jungle (Netflix)
- Siren: Survive the Island (Netflix)
- RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars (Paramount+)
- The Birdcage (1996)
- Madame Hyde by Thea Belmont
- At Your Most Beautiful by Harper Bliss
Support & Follow the Show
Transcript
>> Tara Scott: Hey, everyone. Happy Pride Still. Because it is still Pride. Welcome to Queerly Recommended, the podcast where we recommend queer books, features, films, TV shows, and more. I’m Tara Scott, and I review Sapphic fiction at the Lesbian Review and Smart Bitches. Trashy Books. And this week, I am recommending another recently released Sapphic Romance.
>> Kris Bryant: And I’m Kris Bryant, a contemporary romance writer for Bold Strokes Books. And this week, I’m recommending a show that’s currently on Netflix, but I believe it dropped on Hulu originally.
>> Tara Scott: Nice.
All right, Kris, it’s been two weeks. What’s new with you? How has your Pride Month been in, where you are? Kansas City. That’s the place. Because didn’t your Pride happen between.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes, it happened. So that’s where I took. I can’t really say that, because. Yes. So I went to Pride, and I just love it so much. I really love the love. And there was, like, no incense. It’s just, there. Nothing happened. Like, no cops, nothing. Nobody got arrested. It was just. It was really nice. I stayed there for about five hours, and I actually passed out books.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, so you didn’t have to do a table this year?
>> Kris Bryant: I didn’t do a table. I just grabbed a handful of books.
>> Tara Scott: You just got to be an attendee.
>> Kris Bryant: Ah.
>> Tara Scott: What was that? Like?
>> Kris Bryant: So I walk in, I have my. Like, I have these little. Kris Bryant, What do you call it? Like, little backpacks. So they’re like, I’m sorry, you can’t go in with that backpack. I go, it’s just books. They’re like, you can’t go in with a backpack. It has to be clear. I’m like, fine. So I take out the books and I put them on the table, and I take my bag and I shove it in my pocket, and I just carry my books in, and then I go to the first table, and I take my bag out and I put my books in the bag, and then I keep going on a merry way.
>> Tara Scott: yeah, because we’re taking care of our bags.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. So I passed out probably, like, 10 books up to random people. Hi. Like, do you like reading? Because that’s always a good one. You always have to start with, do you read books? Do you like to read?
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, and I’m sure everybody’s, like, real hesitant to answer me, like, why is she here? Why is she right in front of me? But I don’t know. So hopefully. Hopefully they got to enjoy some books. It was a good time. I had a good time.
>> Tara Scott: That’s Amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: And I even went to Sidekicks, which is a, like the only gay bar in Kansas City. Really? You know, we have like, Hamburger Mary’s, which I think a lot of people.
>> Tara Scott: That’s where the drag queens perform. Yes, yes.
>> Kris Bryant: So there are a few places, but, you know, not that I go to all the time.
>> Kris Bryant: So I got to be like, super queer for a long time. Oh, I did go to Woody’s and talk to some gay men who were dressed, like, superbly. I absolutely loved what they were wearing. So we talked about shoes and clothing. Woody’s. Woody’s is. Is also. Is just a strictly, a. A, a watering hole. Like, just drinks only.
>> Tara Scott: Yep.
>> Kris Bryant: So that was a lot of fun.
>> Tara Scott: Is that what a watering hole means?
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t know. Works for me. I know. Watering hole is like a rundown little bar. Let’s look it up.
>> Tara Scott: I’m m choosing to believe that that’s what it means.
>> Kris Bryant: I think so too. I mean, I’m stalling because I’m typing it in right now. Typing watering hole. Here we go. Oh, see, that’s stupid.
Now it’s bringing me to a business called the Watering Hole.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, no, thank you. Watering hole definition. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So it says in slang, a watering hole refers to a bar, pub, or tavern where people gather to drink, socialize, and unwind. That’s what I did. That’s what I did.
>> Tara Scott: Very good.
>> Kris Bryant: So. So, yeah, so it’s been gay all month long, which is nice. But I still have to work, so I don’t get to do all the fun stuff. But I’ve done a lot of fun stuff and I’m happy. So that’s good.
>> Tara Scott: Good.
>> Kris Bryant: So one of the things I’m doing, because it is pride, is I had.
>> Tara Scott: I, kind of.
>> Kris Bryant: It was an interesting interaction on threads. So there is a local bookstore here. It’s absolutely charming. And it’s called the Smitten Boutique. Okay.
>> Tara Scott: Is it a. Is it like a romance only.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s only romance. Yes.
>> Tara Scott: We have one too, and I haven’t been yet, but I need to go.
>> Kris Bryant: Well, so it just so happens I reached out and I said, hey, do you promote Sapphic? And Kara, who is in charge of it, and I believe that might even be her business, she’s like, absolutely, yes. And so she asked if I wanted to go in and do a signing. And I’m like, yes, yes, I do, very much so.
>> Tara Scott: Is it coming up?
>> Kris Bryant: It’s coming up. It’s a Saturday, so it’s going to be after the podcast. I mean, it’ll be before the podcast drops, so.
>> Tara Scott: All right. But if you live in the Kansas City area, you should go check.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, hit the book.
>> Tara Scott: Because they’re supporting our community. That’s amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s exactly my thought. It’s like it’s really hard to get an in person, anywhere at any bookstore because, yeah, you know, I mean I still live in a red state, sure, Kansas City is blue, but, you know, I don’t want to die. And I have reached out, there have been a few bookstores that I’ve kind of like stumbled into and I was like, oh, this is really cute. Hey, I’m a local writer. And they’re like, yeah, And that’s it. So nothing. So Kara has been absolutely sweet and did a little write up thing so I could post it on all the socials.
>> Tara Scott: Oh my God, I love that.
>> Kris Bryant: And then Tony did one too. And so I’ve been posting on the socials and I’ll have to do a, reminder like on Friday or something that I’m gonna be at this place. So I really hope that people show up. I’m so nervous.
>> Tara Scott: you just reminded me of a thing that I don’t know. This may or may not be a tip for some people, but there are romance only bookstores like popping up in all kinds of communities. And when I checked out the one in Calgary, there are certain books that I think I’ve said before, like, there are certain books that like are on my I will cry if Kindle explodes and no longer exists. And I don’t have access to all my books anymore. So I need physical copies of them. M. And I looked on their website and they don’t. There are, there are some books that are on that list that I haven’t acquired yet. And while they don’t necessarily have them in store, they do have the ability for you to order them through the store. So if you want to get physical books, you don’t want to get them from Amazon or from Barnes and Noble or any of the large chain stores. Maybe look and see if your local romance bookstore is able to order for you and have them come in. It’s going to end up being the same price. And you’re supporting a local business, right? That is supporting Sapphic fiction.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes, yes. So I’m really excited about that. So that happens.
I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to wear.
>> Tara Scott: But that’s gay. It’s pride. Mother, what’s your gayest shirt?
>> Kris Bryant: Oh my gosh. I Have a shirt that’s navy blue, short sleeve, collared, button down, and it, has rainbows on it.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, yeah. Don’t you have dogs?
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah. I mean, I could go at the super gay.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: But also I can go at this as, you know, I don’t know, librarian. Ish. You know, my glasses wear like a. Yeah, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: So, okay, what about. What about super gay librarian?
>> Kris Bryant: Super gay librarian.
>> Tara Scott: I don’t know what that means. I just like the idea of putting the two together.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: I’m trying to think, what do I
>> Kris Bryant: have to wear that would look good and. But yet I also. Be serious, but also gay. You know what I mean? So I don’t know. I’ll have to think about this. Like, you know me, I’ll panic Friday night. Like, what am I going to wear? I need to do all this laundry. And like. So anyway, it’s 11 to 4. I have time. I’ll probably, you know, do what I normally do and wear something black and nice pair of pants or jeans. And then I’ll for sure wear my docs.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Let me show you how queer I am and I’ll have my velvet docs. Come on. Should I wear purple or silver? I think I’m going to go with silver.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. With your blue shirt.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. If I could do a blue shirt. Yeah. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll see how I feel.
>> Tara Scott: We’ll see. This is exciting. I’m so excited for you.
>> Kris Bryant: Thank you. Thank you. And, because of you, I had my mammogram.
>> Tara Scott: Yay. And your boobies get photos taken by professionals when they’re smashed.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s important. So it all turned out fine. Like, it turned out okay.
So that was good. So I’m good for a year. So. Yay. So this is your reminder to go get your mammogram if you haven’t done it yet.
>> Tara Scott: Absolutely. Early detection is so, so, so important. I have an aunt who had breast cancer. I don’t know how long ago, doesn’t matter, maybe a decade. And I was talking to her about it and she said it would not have been detectable via a, self exam. It was only because of a mammogram and she was able to catch it very early. And she’s still going now at 79 and doing amazing. So yay. Get him checked. You’re worth it, right?
>> Kris Bryant: And it’s not. It wasn’t even. It’s not even that bad. It’s like 10 minutes max. And they’re very, you Know, discreet and professional.
>> Tara Scott: Just for clarity. The part where they’re squished is not 10 minutes. The whole process is 10 minutes from beginning to end. Yeah, the squish is super fast.
>> Kris Bryant: Like 30 seconds, twice on each side. Unless you go for the dense one. yeah, it’s. Yeah, it’s.
>> Tara Scott: Wait, what do you mean? If you get the, the dense one, do they squish them more? Because I have. At the risk of tmi, I have dense breast tissue. But what they do is they squish them twice. But then I just have to go for an ultrasound.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, this is the first year that they haven’t done that to me. And I don’t know what they did before. I just remembered that I had the same issue, the dense tissues, and they had to do something. So. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that.
>> Tara Scott: I mean, thankfully the ultrasound isn’t long. The only thing that. Yeah, the, only thing that happened. So the first time I got it, I wasn’t thinking anything of it. The second time I went for it, I forgot that it takes a long time to do the ultrasound. Like, I just purely forgot it had been a year. And I was like, why is she taking so long? Is something wrong? Something.
>> Kris Bryant: No, no, no, that’s terrible.
>> Tara Scott: Nothing was wrong. She was doing her job. She was thorough, she did great. Good for her.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
Just so everybody knows, and most people do, World cup is happening in my city right now.
>> Tara Scott: World cup, what’s that?
>> Kris Bryant: I know. So here’s something. Yeah, Messi played. He played last night. So this is last night. He scored three goals. Good. So, I know, I know. I think, I don’t know. I don’t know.
>> Tara Scott: I don’t know anything about soccer, so I don’t know what team he plays for. Don’t. I’ve recognized the name. I’ve heard the name. I don’t know his first name.
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t even think that I know his first name. It’s one of those. If somebody said I’d be like, oh, yeah, I am. I know it’s messy and everybody on earth loves him. It was kind of exciting to watch it on TV though, because I live less than three miles from the stadium. So, I thought that traffic was going to kick my ass because I am three miles from the stadium. So I actually left and went. I left work at lunchtime and I worked from home in the afternoon because I was afraid I was going to get stuck in World cup traffic. Turns out Kansas City has it under control. It was no big deal. So, anyway, I decide last night that I had to go get some things at cvs, and I am, bagging out in my house pants, my ratty T shirt. I put on my Crocs because I need to get what I needed. Had to. I needed to go get my meds last night.
>> Tara Scott: So I’m like, so the opposite of what you’re wearing to Smitten Books.
>> Kris Bryant: Right? Exactly. So. But I don’t care. It’s like, it’s cvs. I’m in, I’m out. No big deal. So I go and I get my meds, and all of Argentina walks into the cvs.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, my God.
>> Kris Bryant: All of Argentina walks in, and I’m like, I am not representing. Well right now, all these, like, young, beautiful, wearing, like, the messy jerseys, and they, like, cbs, like, has so much World cup stuff, Tops, hats, jerseys. Not even jerseys. I don’t know what they’re called. Is it a jersey? Soccer jersey? Yeah. maybe.
>> Tara Scott: I think so.
>> Kris Bryant: So it was just packed. And I’m just thinking, I really failed my community. I failed my city by showing up. Like, I rolled out of bed because I did, because I forgot my meds, and I needed them. And so, sadly, I met all of Argentina, and I was not looking my greatest.
>> Tara Scott: Listen, we’re all just trying to live right now. It’s their fault for coming to your cvs. They should have known Kris Bryant needs her meds, right?
>> Kris Bryant: And I thought, oh, I’ll just get in and out. Like, I can go unnoticed. In and out, no big deal. No, no. All of them. The whole place. And I was there first. Like, literally, there was nobody in the store. And I’m like, yeah, it’s your store. In and out. And then probably, like, 30 kids come in. I say, kids, young adults come in. And I’m just like, great. Fantastic. This is amazing. So, yeah, anyway, and then I have another story for everybody, and everybody’s gonna be excited for me, so.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: We all know I’m not a morning person. Maybe we don’t know that, but I’m not a morning person.
>> Tara Scott: I did not know that. But I feel closer to you now because I’m also not a morning person.
>> Kris Bryant: I’m not at all. Like, Deb can just jump up and have at it. And I’m like, absolutely not. I need at least 15 more minutes to sit here and wake up. That’s what I do. I try to convince myself that I’m gonna fall asleep, and I’m gonna get 15 minutes of solid sleep. And it’s gonna be great. It’s just. I’m prolonging the inevitable. Yes.
>> Tara Scott: Everything. It will change the course of your day.
>> Kris Bryant: So I am sitting there. No, I’m laying there and I’m just like, I don’t want to get up. And all of a sudden I hear this. Oh my God. Like real loud. I’m like, what? You gotta come here real quick. There’s a kitten out here, right?
>> Tara Scott: There’s a new cat in the mix.
>> Kris Bryant: So I am like running, running. I’m in my boxers, my T shirt, just running. And I open up the door and I’m looking and there is this tiny kitten. Kitten could not be more than four weeks old. Like something definitely happened. And spicy, very spicy. So I’m like, come here, baby. Come here, baby. And it takes off running. That goes out of the deck. So for the last three days, I have been trying to get this kitten to love me. And sometimes I find it in the flowers, curled up. It’s so cute. it does have an injury right on the forehead.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, buddy.
>> Kris Bryant: I know.
>> Tara Scott: Important question given it’s so teeny weeny tiny.
>> Tara Scott: Are you gonna adopt this cat? Is it going to become your cat?
>> Kris Bryant: If, if I can get it, if I can catch it and it wants to come to me, I’m trying to befriend it right now.
>> Kris Bryant: The answer is yes. Yes for sure.
>> Tara Scott: Because orange kitty, black kitty. I understand. It’s like they’re kind of your cats and they’re also kind of their own cats.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, exactly.
>> Tara Scott: It’s like it’s. I suppose it’s more. Is it more like they’re your cat friends? Like your cat best friends. Like they come in regularly?
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, they, they, they come in in the mornings, they eat and then they sleep for like 16 hours. And then,
>> Tara Scott: And then they go out and hunt at night.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, that’s exactly what happens. And like women in the mornings. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Isn’t that kind of ideal? Because then you don’t have to deal with their bullshit in the middle of the night.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. It wasn’t an option. It was not an option. It was like they have to sleep outside. And I was like, really? And I was told that they have to stay outside because orange kitty likes to get up on the headboard. That’s a cloth.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, absolutely not. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So absolutely.
>> Tara Scott: As the, as the lightest sleeper in North America. Just the idea of that gives me stress. No, thank you.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. But Deb was out for like four days because she was, when she was watching her son’s dogs, so she was gone. And so I’m like, come on. That kitty. So black kitty sleeps with me when Debbie’s not here. I know.
>> Tara Scott: Black kitty is such a, suck for you. Oh my God. M. Your gigantic baby. How big is it? Is he again, like, do you know roughly how much he weighs?
>> Kris Bryant: I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know.
>> Tara Scott: I just love the idea that you have a cat that is probably much larger than my furry son. No, I’m thinking about my dogs. Like, Ember is,
I think she was recently weighed at, 21 pounds. so she’s lost some weight. Getting a brother has slimmed her down a little.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh yeah.
>> Tara Scott: But he’s maybe we m. Got to get him weighed. But he’s like maybe 10 pounds and he’s close to full size.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow. Wow.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. I, highly recommend small dog and smaller dog. It’s amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: So my thing is like I. After. After I go on vacation this fall. Yeah. There has been talks of getting a dog. What kind of dog?
>> Tara Scott: A rescue dog? Any. Any. Any rescue dog that.
>> Kris Bryant: Any rescue dog, yes. So I made the mistake of actually going on pet Finder and seeing what was local and the local.
>> Tara Scott: But like, are you thinking small dog, big dog?
>> Kris Bryant: Medium? Medium.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: I want to do bigger than Molly.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: But not too big to where I can’t pick them up. Yeah. If they’re hurt. That’s always been my go to. It’s like, like Debbie was always like, how come we don’t have a big dog? And then Molly got hurt and I’m like, this is why we don’t have a big dog. Because we have to be able to carry.
>> Tara Scott: And Molly, can you do squats all day, every day?
>> Kris Bryant: £15. You know, Molly’s actually, she was. We kept her weight at exactly 14 pounds. So. Yeah. So we had to keep it for her own. For her health and you know, for our health too, because she couldn’t walk. So m. It was a strain on her back really. So. So that’s. That there’s toxin to that. But I mean, this kitten kind of throws everything for a loop. Like, you know, if this kitten actually like Starts to love me. So I go all out and I’m like, I take one of the little cat houses that we have on the patio and I put it in the shed. We put a safe space in the shed.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: We opened it a little bit so they can. The cat can go in there and I have water and food. I have to pick the food up, because we have possums and raccoons. And I had a raccoon that tried to fight me the other night.
>> Tara Scott: I’m like, wait, sir, tell me more about. Because, like, yep, tell me more about this.
>> Kris Bryant: So this. This raccoon was a. Ah, probably a good solid £30. This. Oh, no, no, he was. He was a chunky dude. And, he. It was funny. He was looking at me and eating, like, beating himself eating. And I’m like, hey, that’s not yours. And I open up the door, he does not move. He eats some more. And then I sue him away. He finally gets. He goes down the stairs and goes underneath the deck. So I pick up the food and I bring it inside. And then he comes up the stairs and he’s looking at me and he’s like.
>> Tara Scott: He knocks on the door and he’s washing.
>> Kris Bryant: He’s washing his hands in the water out there.
>> Tara Scott: What?
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, so whenever the water’s dirty, I’m like, God damn, the raccoon’s here. So. Oh, yeah, I was gonna send you a picture of it, but I will say this. So, Mumford, he’s the vanilla orangey cat. I call him Mumford. He’s very wild.
>> Tara Scott: Wait, there’s another orange cat?
>> Kris Bryant: yeah, he’s like, orange vanilla. He’s more vanilla than orange. Okay, but he has orange. Okay. And he actually came straight up to the door because I had to bring the food in, because raccoons there. So I had to bring the food in, and Mumford’s at the door. Like, I’m sorry, could I please have some more pudding? You know, just like, he comes up, so then I. I give him food.
But let me tell you, these raccoons are massive. So I’m going to send you a picture of this raccoon if I can find it, because you’re going to be like, oh, my goodness, what a big beast. And the answer is yes. Yes, it was. So, but I’ll have to send it to you later because we’re still doing this podcast.
>> Tara Scott: Yes, we are.
>> Kris Bryant: So, anyway, so we’re starting to call it Scamp, because Debbie’s, always like, oh, he scampered off there. They scampered off here and curled up in the flowers. And he’s actually so tiny. And I just. I don’t know, like, I tried to feed it milk with an eyedropper. You know, try to get close enough, like, can you smell it? You know, I drop a few drops and, you know, he’s running Off. So he scampers off. So it’s real hard. I don’t know what to do. Like, I don’t want to like traumatize it by trying to capture it, you know. But at the same time, it took me, it took Black Kitty, you know, about a year and a half before he learned to love me. And now he like, would. Yeah, he beats me to the couch just so he can like get on top of my chest and like purr, purr, purr and like knead on me.
>> Tara Scott: But Black Kitty was also able to defend a.
>> Kris Bryant: Right, right.
>> Tara Scott: Do you think if you called either a vet or animal control that they might have tips for you?
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, I’m sure they do. I’m sure everybody wants me to capture him, her and bring it in and have it. But it’s spicy mostly because I wonder,
>> Tara Scott: like, are they able to take. Are they able to feed themselves? Like if they’re that tiny, are they eating well?
>> Kris Bryant: So I of course go and get the tiny kitten food. So I have kitten food. Then I have the stuff called churro. Churro. It’s a paste for cats.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: So. And then I have the Fancy feast pate things and then I have the gravy. I mean, trust me, I have tried everything with this kitten. I mean it. This kitten is probably, I would say from tail to nose, maybe eight inches, nine. Oh my God. It is very tiny. You know, it was, it was weaned too soon. Yeah. So something happened to this mama.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And all of a sudden we had this gray kitten in the yard. So.
>> Tara Scott: And it’s gray.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, it’s gray. It is so young that the eyes are still the greeny blue color.
>> Tara Scott: Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: So. And that changes.
>> Tara Scott: Later.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, I hope it makes it. I hope so. I’m doing everything I can to. I put. I have beds everywhere. I have threatened the cats.
>> Tara Scott: I’m.
>> Kris Bryant: Like do not with this kitten, like at all.
>> Kris Bryant: But it’s been here now for four days and.
>> Tara Scott: Wow.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. And is eating. But it’s such a small, little tiny little portion, you know. And I’m like a big person and I’m like here have this whole entire like whatever. And so I did have little bits of chicken. I had chicken breast to cut up.
>> Kris Bryant: And so I soaked it and just to make it softer and then I cut it up to little tiny pieces. And he did eat some of that. You know, I. The good nutrition. Yeah. So that’s. I’m trying to. So the churro stuff is just Like a liquid.
>> Kris Bryant: Crack for cats. Because orange kitty and black kitty are like, yes. And I’m like, it’s not for you. And they’re like, come on. Like, nope, you’re all a little chunky. We’re gonna, we’re gonna take a step back from the candy. So I put it out on a plate for, for the little kitten. But the kitten hasn’t learned that when I come out to put food or water, it runs away. It doesn’t come back. It doesn’t know to come back once I leave. So, we’re working that out.
Yeah, we’re working it out. So. Oh, my goodness. That is enough about me.
>> Tara Scott: You have had a big two weeks. all right, so for me, it’s not a mammogram, but I’m going on Friday for my. Twice a year getting my eyeballs blasted to check on that freckle. Remember how I have a. Oh, yeah. It’s time. It is time to check on the freckle on my eyeball, even though it’s at the opposite end of the city. Bless Neil. He always drives me in case, that much light directly into my eyeball provokes a migraine, which I approve. Appreciate. And I also appreciate that, they don’t do the ultrasound anymore as long as it’s. Oh, yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: You were saying that. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Thank God. I was talking to my boss today and I said, I’ve given birth twice and it’s the single most horrifying medical procedure I’ve had in my life. Because there’s just something about, you know, the gel on the wand on your open eyeball. And like, if somebody said, choose, you need to get a mammogram or an eyeball ultrasound today, I would say mammogram.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah. Part.
>> Tara Scott: I didn’t tell her if they. If, if I was told, you need to get. I didn’t say this to my boss. I was like, if you need to get a Pap smear or an ultrasound on your eyeball, I would choose the pap smear.
>> Kris Bryant: Really?
>> Tara Scott: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t know about that one. I don’t know.
>> Tara Scott: There’s just. It’s a. I think it’s a body horror thing in the sense that, like, nothing is supposed to touch my eyeball.
>> Kris Bryant: There’s. Well, I wear contacts, so everything goes into my eyeball.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, no. I did wear contacts for a while, but I didn’t love them. They never. I don’t know. I have an astigmatism and so it’s not like there’s a lot of options, so. No, that. But, yeah, I’m getting my eyeballs blasted checking in on my little freckle. I should name it because it’s so inconvenient. I’ve also. I can’t remember if I was. I think I talked about gardening a little bit last time, but I am about halfway through the grand unfuckening of the flower beds. It was way too stressful last year to do any kind of gardening. I just didn’t care about it because, like, everything was on fire at work. It’s so much better. Oh, my God. Also. It’s so much better at work. Work is amazing. I got a new boss a couple months ago who I absolutely. I just adore her.
>> Kris Bryant: She’s so good.
>> Tara Scott: I worked with her at another company, like, pretty regularly. Like, I work directly with her, and she’s just so good. It’s so nice to work with people who are masters of their own craft. They respect that, you know, your craft. And today she was like, do you need. I feel like I’m not giving you much. Do you need much from me? And I’m like, no, I’m good. I just need you to tell me if you ever feel like I’m off track and, like, remove blockers from me. But, like, it’s so. It’s so good. And I think because things have calmed down and it’s so good at work. It’s like my interest in other things has sort of come back. And so I got one of the front flower beds fully. We did the whole. The one. There’s one that runs all along the side of our house. That one is fully done. And last week I maybe got a little bit high and I went on a website for a local business. So it’s a local online business for plants, so you can’t actually go in person to pick them out. But I was like, I’m gonna, I’m gonna try it out. And I did not at all do it from the perspective of, like, it needs to be perfect, it needs to be balanced. Who cares? This is for fun. So I was just choosing, like, I wanna try one of those ones, and I wanna try three of those ones, and I want to try two of this one. And it didn’t matter if I was like, it’s pretty. I like the color. So it’s all getting delivered on Friday. So I’m excited to. That was why I had to do the one along the house, because that’s where there’s the most, like, I Prefer to buy perennials. And those are the flowers that are supposed to come back every year.
>> Tara Scott: Because I want to see what comes back year over year. And it turns out there’s a lot that, you know, I planted four or five years ago that like, it’s run its course. It’s not coming back. And so really plant some new stuff. And my day lilies, though, are going strong.
>> Kris Bryant: Lilies are like, they are fighters. They are perennial fighters every year. They’re beautiful lilies. I, have surprise lilies. I have a lot of lilies.
>> Tara Scott: I only have day lilies at this point. There was a lily that I wanted to get, so I almost got black lilies because they’re so cool. But they also were like twice as expensive as everything else. And I was trying to stay within a budget, so. So we’re not gonna. We’re not doing more lilies this year. But I do love that some of the ones that come back. I forget what the, the name of the one was that I got these, like, beautiful bright orange ones. But there’s these other ones that they’re kind of almost black with like a light, like a chartreuse kind of in the middle. And they’re called Nosferatu. So I bought those purely for the name. And they’ve been so fun to see year over year.
>> Kris Bryant: I love it.
>> Tara Scott: So that’s been really, really good. And then the other piece of news, if you can believe it, my oldest has finished middle school and is starting high school.
>> Kris Bryant: Stop it. Absolutely. Stop it. No, no.
>> Tara Scott: They did their final concerts. This is the kid you remember, they taught themselves how to play the French horn last summer.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: Enjoying the band and had an incredible experience with that. And yeah, there was, There’s still like a week left. Everything is sort of kind of finishing up and doing provincial test exams and whatever. But, yeah, it’s a big milestone, high school. I kind of can’t believe I’m gonna
>> Kris Bryant: have a high schooler.
>> Tara Scott: Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: And.
>> Tara Scott: Well, technically they could go get their learner’s permit now. Thankfully, they’re not. They’re not interested. I think they’re waiting until they’re 16. Like in Alberta you can get it at 14, but I think most people get it at 16. I think it’s mostly for the farmers kids out.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, same. Hello, Farmland, Midland. Midland Middle of the year.
>> Tara Scott: We are not country. We are not in the country. We are in a suburb. So you don’t need to. You don’t need to do that. So that’s some, like that’s some pretty big news. That’s very big news.
>> Kris Bryant: Like, I’m still floored. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: This kid is now, like, five inches taller than me.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s amazing. Well, I mean, come on.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, well, I. I know, I know. Not hard to do. And I married somebody much taller than me, but. And just a really good kid. Like, a really, really good, sweet, smart, curious kid. So I’m a very proud.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, I bet.
>> Tara Scott: Very, very proud mama. Right. Right now, so. I know.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s so great.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
All right. So what have you been reading or watching lately? What’s going on?
>> Kris Bryant: So I want to talk about a show on Netflix that’s a documentary, and it’s called Maternal Instinct. And. Holy shit. Oh, my gosh. Don’t watch it ever. It’s terrifying.
>> Tara Scott: Why do I have a feeling that Chelsea Cameron was talking about this on Blue sky earlier this week?
>> Kris Bryant: Because she probably was. So o. So plug your ears if you want to watch it, because I’m about to unload.
>> Tara Scott: All right. Go.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay. Okay. So this unhinged woman. And I’m gonna say that because it is fitting, you know, I know we don’t like to put labels, sure. But very unhinged. She pretends she’s pregnant.
>> Tara Scott: That is the one. That is what Chelsea Cameron was talking about. Yes. So.
>> Kris Bryant: So she lies. She hooks up with this guy and this poor kid. Like, I. There’s a lot going on. I have feelings about that. But that’s not what this is about. So she ends up like, she pretends that she’s pregnant. Then her boyfriend is just like, you know, oh, she never lets me touch her. And she stays in the bathroom for hours every night when I get home. And she’s like. It’s. The whole thing is just absolutely unhinged. So she’s. They have, like, her Google searches, what she’s looking for. There are websites where you can have fake sonograms. You can.
>> Tara Scott: What?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. So, you can type in, like, I want to show that I’m nine weeks pregnant. I want to show a sonogram of 10.
>> Tara Scott: AI, makes anything possible these days.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. And so you can put, like, hospital name. You can put your name, date time, all that stuff. It’s. Everything’s fake. Like, the world’s gone to. So anyway, so she is trying to figure out, like, how to adopt a baby right away, you know? And of course you can’t. That’s not how it works. You just can’t go to Craigslist and buy a baby. True story. That’s part of It. So then she decides, hey. So. So then she goes past her due date, and everybody’s like, she’s not pregnant. Like, this is such a lie. Everything’s like a lie. And so then one of her friends is pregnant, and she goes over there, and again, plug your ears. Do not listen to this portion. She kills her, takes the baby. Should I have told you that?
>> Tara Scott: Yes, because I was never gonna watch it.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, good.
>> Tara Scott: That was shocking. Oh, my God. Spoil everything. I don’t care.
>> Kris Bryant: So she goes over there, and she cuts the baby out of her friend’s stomach that is up and takes the baby and gets pulled over a little bit later. And she’s like, I just gave birth to this child. I need to get to the hospital. Like, she’s not breathing. She’s not breathing. We need to go to the hospital. So they go to the hospital. Sadly, very sadly, the baby doesn’t make it.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And so she’s trying to convince everybody she had this baby, and they’re like, yeah, no, she hasn’t. The doctor’s like, she hasn’t. Ultrasound shows that she’s never pregnant. Blah, blah, blah. And so anyway, like, the whole story was just, wow. Yes. There was a lot going on. Yes. And now, so it’s the state of Texas, So she, of course, gets death row, because why wouldn’t she? And, like, listening to the father and the father’s best friend have to talk about this was absolutely heartbreaking.
>> Tara Scott: Oh. Like the father of the real baby.
>> Kris Bryant: The father of the real father of the daughter who was pregnant. Like, the best friend that there was a. A toddler in the back bedroom that they had to get to, but in order to get to her, they had to step over her body. And the dad’s like, I can’t do it. So the friend went in to go get the baby. The other. The toddler, it was absolutely terrible. So she, She’s now one of seven women on death row. This person, understandably. Oh, my God. So anyway, so that was terrible. And, Debbie just looked at me like, what the are you making me watch? I’m like, I didn’t. I just turned it on because it was, like, number one in documentaries.
And of course, once you hit a certain age, you watch all the documentaries. True story.
>> Tara Scott: Or none of them, because, you know, it’s too much.
>> Kris Bryant: Or none of them, exactly. But I have hit that age where, you know, the 2020s Dateline. Like, I used to always have a standing date on Friday nights with my friend Paula, and we would just be like, which one are we watching? Dateliner 2020. And it’d be like, oh, let’s watch 2020 this week. So.
>> Tara Scott: I had a co worker once who told me, she’s like, I’m weird. I like to listen to the Dateline podcast to fall asleep.
>> Kris Bryant: And I was like, oh, what nightmares?
>> Tara Scott: Which like, honestly, again, I don’t judge. I just don’t understand either.
>> Kris Bryant: Right, right. So, and I also started watching the show on Netflix. It’s called Outlast and it’s called the Jungle. And it’s kind of like network Netflix version of Survivor. Ish. Sort of. So what they do is they drop off 16 people and they have to break apart into three teams of five. So there’s gonna be one person who doesn’t get on a team. So then, so there’s. Oh, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: So what does that one person do? Are they a lone wolf?
>> Kris Bryant: No. So the rule is you have to like, you pick your team. So you can either be, Alpha, which is the hunting team, or you can be Beta, which is the fire team, or you can be Charlie, which is the, like tense. Not tense, but like tarp. The. I don’t know. What am I saying? It’s called something. Okay, Shelter. It’s called Shelter. Right. So then you start playing the game. And so the person who does, the person who gets kicked out, they have to like, hey, I want to be on this. I’m really good at this. And like, sorry, you’re out.
>> Kris Bryant: So then they have to go to the other two teams to see if they can go on their team or not. And so if not, they have to shoot a flare. They get 24 hours to plead their case, which. It sounds more complicated than it is. It really, it’s just basically it’s. Yeah, at first I was like, this is so boring. Like, why am I watching this is because I’m desperate for like a Survivor type thing. But then it got good.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, okay.
>> Kris Bryant: Because it got controversial and I’m. I’m all in it for like, all right, let’s go. Because Team Charlie was three men and two women, and Team Charlie is the, the, shelter. And everybody needs something. So like, people try to trade and they’re like, no, you know, we’re not gonna. We’ll give you some bows if he gives them fire. And they’re like, no, because fire is the most important thing out here.
>> Kris Bryant: Anyway, so there’s Charlie, Team Charlie, and these three guys. One happens to be an ex NFL player. And then two kids, like maybe 20. I can’t even tell you. Okay. There’s so much to unpack and I don’t need. And I don’t want to really go down this rabbit hole because it’s such an interesting rabbit hole to go down. But basically they treated the women like, like absolute trash. They wouldn’t let them talk, Would talk, Bullied them. I mean I was so, like I went to threats and I’m like, am I the only one watching this show? And are they feeling the same way I’m feeling? And they just got absolutely like just decimated. On threats like this. This whole team is like terrible. It’s misogynistic. It’s like they’re terrible to the women.
>> Kris Bryant: One woman got kicked out and she actually got on with another try because so somebody, somebody falls into a fire and birds like 25 of their bodies.
>> Tara Scott: Oh my God.
>> Kris Bryant: Get out. They get medically taken out. So there’s a space. And so she’s like, hey, I promise I’ll work really hard, blah, blah, blah. I mean she has a lot, she talks a lot. She has A.D.D. but I mean, again, I sympathize. These things happen. So she was just a lot. And everybody’s like, just stop. You talk too much. Stop talk. Get out of here. It was terrible. These guys were absolutely.
I hope, I hope their families, like, I just hope that they get so much backlash from this. Like this was like how they talked and like, I would have been super embarrassed if they were my sons. Seriously. They were awful. Awful. So anyway, they are, they. You have to have a team has to have two members, at least two members to be still in existence. And if you lose it, then you’re out. So the final team gets to share 20 $250,000.
>> Tara Scott: Whoa.
>> Kris Bryant: So you don’t want more people on your team. Like five is the max. And you, and you’re trying to get rid of. You want to, you want to and you want to. You want to be the only two left. So that’s kind of the thing. So the other girl on this team, like she was very quiet and very like to herself. Like she never, they were just giving her so much. Like, seriously, I wanted to crawl through the tv. That’s how bad they were. And so she ends up again, this is spoiler, spoiler. Because I think this is kind of fun to talk about. So she works with another team who has two team members, two women. She has secretly worked with them and she’s going to take all their supplies and a Kayak, they’re the only team that has a boat. And so she’s going to take all the supplies and leave and take the kayak over to where that team is and this is going to be part of their team now.
>> Tara Scott: That’s incredible.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So the, the one girl, the first girl that get kicked off, she ran back and stole all their machetes. So then, yeah, so they’re like we always have to have somebody in the camp so that this doesn’t happen. So that’s what they. So all the teams had somebody left
>> Tara Scott: at camp so they can actively sabotage each other. Oh yeah. That’s interesting.
>> Kris Bryant: So that’s, that’s why it’s so different than Survivor, you know, because I think there’s only one instance where, you know, they have so many rules.
>> Tara Scott: So it reminds me more of the. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was the competitive Korean.
>> Kris Bryant: Was that the 100? No.
>> Tara Scott: So it wasn’t physical one.
>> Kris Bryant: Physical 100.
>> Tara Scott: It was one that we found after that though where it was like there were firefighters and there were I M. Cameras. Current or ex military. And there were. It was like based on profession. And I can’t remember if each team was women. Oh, or not maybe. But they were absolutely able to sabotage each other.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s to me is like I couldn’t switch teams.
>> Tara Scott: You had to stay with the team. I think there was like a team of athletes. But you could like you were basically. Well, because it was more like it was like a game of capture the flag basically. I think if I recall correctly and my memory is famously not the
>> Kris Bryant: best, so nothing I’ve said so. I believe you.
I guess there’s like maybe one or two episodes left. It was one of those really drop several per week. And then Yeah, so I like binged it. And then all of a sudden it’s like, okay, now I’m caught up. And I think there’s an episode that drops tonight. So I don’t know if it’s the final or not. I think it might, I think I still might have two episodes left because there are a lot of people still there. And so it has to be final team, like whoever, finally. And like you have to, like I said, you have to have two people on a team. If somebody gets hurt and it’s just you, you have to beg to go on another team or you’re out type thing.
>> Tara Scott: That’s a. Wow. Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: So I think there’s like three. Three people. Three people and two people Three. Three. Three too.
>> Tara Scott: So we want the women to win.
>> Kris Bryant: We want the women to win so much. Because I’m serious, like, I couldn’t believe that these guys were saying that this. Well, in today’s times, of course, anything,
>> Tara Scott: it just sound like real douchebags.
>> Kris Bryant: Big time douchebags.
>> Kris Bryant: I mean, it’s. Yeah, it was a whole thing. So it’s, it’s interesting because it is different. and then there’s just the whole element of like, you can get away with like, taking and you know, but then like, the, like, this guy was like this, the NFL player. He’s super big. He’s like 6, 7, and he’s like, he’s getting, he’s like chest bumping these women. I’m like, you cannot be physical, sir. He like, gets right in there. It’s like, what are you scared of me? You scared of me? And I’m like, how. How is this game going on? Like, how are you?
>> Tara Scott: That’s what I would.
>> Kris Bryant: Filming it. Right.
>> Tara Scott: That’d be the right height to do it.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, so it was just, Yeah, so it was just. It’s, it’s entertaining. And if women do not win, I’m going to be super mad that I wasted my time on the show. For sure. Without a doubt.
>> Tara Scott: Yep.
>> Kris Bryant: At least I’m getting my survival fix. Survivor fix, you know. Yes. In the meantime. So that’s, that’s what I have been watching. What about you? What have you been reading? Watching, Playing.
>> Tara Scott: All right, watching. Still watching. Drag Race all stars season 11. They’ve introduced the third bracket.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s.
>> Tara Scott: I don’t know, it’s fun. I kind of like that they’ve done this whole bracket system now. I think it’s.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, you always say that you like it. Yeah, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: It’s a fun variation. I think one of the things that I appreciate about RuPaul’s Drag Race is they find new ways to add interesting m. Twists. And it’s not necessarily every single season, but like, to add new elements that we haven’t seen before and that are fresh. Like, considering they’ve done 18 seasons of the main show, they’re on the 11th season of the All Stars show. So we’re talking about like 29 seasons. So it’s pretty cool that they’re able to continue to find ways.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: Things a little bit different, introduce surprises, keep people hooked. So it’s good. Like, I don’t know. I like it. I’m not going to get into sort of the different brackets, but they’ve introduced Canada is going to be doing its first All Stars ever. So that’s exciting. Canada’s Drag Race. And then I just saw a thing. They haven’t announced the queens yet. They’re not going to until June 24th, I think. 22nd or 24th. But they’re going to do Drag Race down under versus the world. Wow. Which is like whenever they do versus the world is the International All Stars. And that’s when you get to see queens from, kind of like anywhere. Yeah. Like the other franchises across Asia, South America and, ah, well, Mexico as well, from North America and Europe, which is pretty cool. So they’re kind of from anywhere. So I’m looking forward to that. Also interesting, we had friends over on the weekend because I had said recently when they were visiting, I think I want to watch the Bird Cage again. They were like, yeah, let’s do it. So we watched the bird cage and I haven’t seen it in probably 20 years or more.
>> Kris Bryant: How’d it hit you?
>> Tara Scott: It was very interesting. Watching it today, specifically. Yes, I laughed a lot. Like there were still a lot of parts where I was like laughing out loud. And of course I was. Because Nathan Lane is incredibly hilarious and so is Robin Williams. like an absolute comedic genius, but also like so good in those poignant moments. He’s an incredible actor. But realizing so at the time they’re doing a send up of the Right and the Moral Majority and they’re making Gene Hackman so awful. But watching it today and realizing that the Right has pushed further. Right. And so it doesn’t feel like a caricature. It actually, I mean, it sort of does in, in some ways. There are still some things that are like a little bit kind of over the top.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: But like later on in the movie when Nathan Lane is in drag pretending to be Val’s mom and is trying to say these, like in these things that we would see as incendiary. Like, how could he possibly say that? And it’s like, well, because he’s trying to convince Gene Hackman’s character that like, yes, I am far enough.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: We have, you know, common beliefs and all that. And the one example that stood out for me was they were talking about, oh, Gene Hackman’s character says something about, well, it’s not right to kill abortion doctors. Like, abortion is wrong, but killing the doctors. And Nathan Lane As Mrs. Coleman pops up, well, I think you should kill the mothers. I mean, if they’re going to kill the fetuses anyway, they might as well go down with the Ship. And I was like, that doesn’t even feel like a joke right now. like legislators who want to introduce the death penalty for women who get abortions. So it was kind of. We had a really interesting conversation afterwards. It was almost like a real, like a debrief. Like we talked for probably half an hour about what it’s like watching now. And one of my friends basically said like, it felt like a real bummer to see that this movie that was made in the 90s and we had
>> Kris Bryant: come so far after that and then
>> Tara Scott: dropped back and dropped back and I mean I still think it’s, it’s a, it’s a backlash. It’s a backlash because progress was winning and it’s not like public support has actually gone down for abortion.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: It was a, I’m very glad I saw it. Whoever put Gene Hackman in drag at the end did a fabulous job. He looks amazing. I don’t feel like I need to watch it again, especially anytime soon.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: But I’m very glad that I watched it again. It’s a very well constructed movie. It was also interesting to see because it’s the sun who says, can you tone down the whole gay thing? Because you know, my bigoted future parents in law are coming to visit. And I can see how in the 90s his requests would have actually felt pretty reasonable.
>> Tara Scott: Like be less visibly gay. And it was interesting to see my friend Ed get angry at that character. What an asshole. What a bad son. And it’s like that was a nice kind of reminder that like, yeah, we have come far enough that that actually is a lot of what he was asking for was offensive. Like sure, maybe have fewer statues with penises on them out in the room. But the whole don’t say change yourself. Yeah, change yourself, change who you are. And so those moments, like there’s the moment where Robin Williams basically says, sure, I’m like that and I wear foundation
>> Kris Bryant: and I do this.
>> Tara Scott: But I like kind of that whole, like I’ve worked for 20 years to be who I am and I like who I am. And I just thought that was.
His performance is really beautifully done.
>> Kris Bryant: God, there’s a part of me now that wants to go back and watch it. But I’ll probably be very angry, will I? It’s been 20 years too for me, or however long.
>> Tara Scott: I don’t know. The funny thing is, as far as I know, my friends who were over are straight. I haven’t heard anything to the contrary. And they got angry.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, I wasn’t angry.
>> Tara Scott: But I wonder. I wonder if it is a little different too when you’re in the community. Because, you know, we’ve been through enough. Like I didn’t even come out to myself until my early 30s. And I recognize now it was because I knew it wasn’t safe given the community that, that I was in. Like being in this like deeply religious community. And so I watched and I was able to watch it from this, like, oh, isn’t it interesting that they were doing this and like I was paying more attention to like what the narrative was trying to do. And so I think if you’re used to breaking down stories all the time, it might be a bit of a different experience too than just like watching and experiencing it.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, that’s true.
>> Tara Scott: I do not know if I recommend it to you or not. I think it’s up to you. But if you do, I’d be very curious to know if you agree or.
>> Kris Bryant: Because I know Deb hasn’t seen it ever. Never? No. Wow. Yeah. No. So, yeah, so there’s so. So I’m kind of torn. Like, do I want to show her? Because she’s very political like she is.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, it might. I feel like it might piss her off. Yeah, I don’t know if it would for you or not. It might.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. I don’t know.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, well, I’ll think about that one.
>> Tara Scott: And then. Do you remember last time we talked? I had been reading a book called Madame Hyde by Thea Belmont M. And this was that one night to forever. Ah, Rock star romance. Quite spicy. I loved it. Really loved it. M Definitely recommend. It would probably be an official recommendation except I kind of explained the plot of it last time and I guess if anybody didn’t catch the last episode, the idea is that there’s this rock star, Persephone Hider, who also goes by Seth. She’s like the front woman for a band. She also has this other of a rock band. And then she has this other band that does kind of more. Less rock. Kind of more. Yeah, I think more folky.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: And she’s like in a. In like the laundry room or something like that of this woman Lucy who, you know, she goes into. Or is it a laundromat? Anyway, but like she goes in there and she sees this woman who like needed to clean her shirt and she takes her back up to her apartment upstairs. They have a great night, they stay in touch. Seth doesn’t happen to mention the fact that she’s incredibly famous and just Ho happens to be the front woman of Lucy’s best friend’s favorite band. But Lucy also isn’t that aware because she hates that band because her friend always plays it when she’s having sex. Which I think is a really funny detail. But Lucy’s in Australia, Seth is American, goes back to the U.S. they, they are able to kind of hook up again, but they stay in touch. They video call. They whatever. It’s so good.
>> Kris Bryant: I love that.
>> Tara Scott: So good. I was really surprised because I read the first book by this author and it was good, but it was kind of, you know, like you, you read a book and you’re like, okay, yeah, I read that book. That was good. But you’re probably not gonna, you might not go back to it, but this book, I enjoyed it so, so much. The chemistry was great, the vibes were right. I just. Yeah. And I love, I love a celebrity romance.
>> Tara Scott: I think the thing that works so well is like Seth is really drawn to her because this isn’t a groupie. This isn’t somebody who’s like a fan who’s trying to hook up with her. It’s somebody who falls in love with her for her. And there’s like never any doubt in that. And they really do make each other better. So yeah, I loved it. I recommend it.
And then I read another Harper Bliss book. Harper Bliss. I’ve been reading on and off back in her like when she only had short stories on Amazon. Somehow I missed this one. It’s called At Ah yout Most Beautiful. It’s another age gap romance because she tends to write like she goes with taboo situations before. Right. this one felt like a mashup of two of her previous books that I’ve read before because the idea is there’s two. This takes place in two time periods. And in the first time period, Quinn is 24 years old. Recently broke up with her girlfriend who had been much older than her. Like I think this woman had been 51 or something like that and she had been living with her. And so she like needed somewhere to stay until she could get back on her feet. Moves back to stay with her parents for the summer. Her parents are out on vacation. Their next door neighbor, Maya Mercer, is like 20 years older than her. So like 44. Yeah, I think she’s exactly 44. And she seduces Maya. they have one night. It’s awesome. She’s like again. And Maya’s like, absolutely not. You gotta go home. I had a great time, but you gotta go home.
>> Kris Bryant: Bye.
>> Tara Scott: Right. And like, Maya had never been with a woman before. This is kind of so 10 years into the future in New York City. Quinn is a full time photographer. Really, really good at it. Goes to this school. It’s like a. I think it’s like a private school for the arts or something like that. To photograph one of the new teachers, the new dance teacher, who happens to be Maya Mercer. So they kind of like reconnect, get together, and then there’s just questions of like, how is the family going to take it? Because, you know, Quinn’s parents were friends with Maya. They were her next door neighbor for decades. And Maya has a son that doesn’t know she’s attracted to women. So how’s that gonna go?
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, how old’s the son?
>> Tara Scott: oh, he’s an adult.
>> Kris Bryant: he’s fine.
>> Tara Scott: 30 at that point. So, yeah, he’s. Yeah, he can get over it.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: So I think, you know, it was a quick read. It was good. I think if you haven’t read her before and if you haven’t, if you haven’t read the book where a younger woman sleeps with the neighbor.
>> Tara Scott: Or the one, I think it’s called Summer something or other, where. That one was great actually, but it was one where, it was like somebody and their mom’s best friend.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: Like, if you haven’t read those ones, read that one. If you have read the those ones, you probably don’t need to read this one. Or you’re gonna do what I did and say, this is. Okay, well, this is like this. And this is like this. And then it’s just. It wasn’t a normal reading experience. which is like, it’s a fine book. It’s just my pattern recognition was going off too much. Yeah, yeah.
All right, it’s that time. Kris, what is your official recommendation today?
>> Kris Bryant: Okay. This was a sleeper show that I just started watching and I was like, hello, this is pretty decent. And there’s a lot of Queer Rep. It’s a, show that’s on Netflix right now, but originally started on Hulu and it’s called Shrill.
>> Tara Scott: I saw it and I loved it. But also I saw it a long time ago, so I don’t remember a ton.
>> Kris Bryant: Well, let’s talk about it. So first of all, the first. The first few episodes are first frustrating and I’ll get into that. So this cast is heavy. Saturday Night Live.
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: A. Bryant, who’s Annie? The star of the show. Julia Sweeney’s in it. That’s Beck Bennett. Yeah. H Fred Armisen and Lauren Michaels produced it. So this. Is this three seasons of this show? Yeah. So there’s, there’s a lot of three, I think.
>> Tara Scott: I. I can’t remember if I saw one or two seasons. I didn’t see a third.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, no, there’s three. There’s three. And they’re only like, they’re short episodes are like 24 minutes. And I think there’s only like six to eight episodes per season. So like, I banged it out in a weekend.
>> Tara Scott: I gotta go to Netflix.
>> Kris Bryant: You do, because you probably missed a lot of that. You probably needed m. Closure with. So.
So here’s the blurb. Shrill follows Annie. Described as a fat young woman who wants to change her life, but not her body. Annie is trying to make it as a journalist while juggling bad boyfriends, sick parents and a perfectionist boss. While the world around her deems her not good enough because of her weight, she starts to realize that she’s as good as anyone else and acts on it. Her life at the very beginning is pure dog. I mean, she’s so quick to please everybody else and sacrificing herself like.
>> Tara Scott: Hm.
>> Kris Bryant: Like she’s very meek and you just want to reach through the television set and shake her a little bit and said, what are you doing? You making these decisions? Like they’re bad decisions for you?
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: For example, like, I think in the first episode even like she is hooking up with this guy and his roommates come home and she gets excited. She’s like, hey, so maybe now I can meet your roommates? Like, I’m here, they’re here. And he’s like, no, it’s not a good time. I want you to sneak out the back. And she’s like, okay. So she sneaks out the back. There’s no gate, so she has to hop the fence and she falls. It’s like a hot mess. But like she, she’s just so excited to have somebody in her life, but he treats her like ass, like it is bad. So not only is her quasi boyfriend, his name is Ryan. I think he’s just terrible.
>> Kris Bryant: But our parents are kind of like on her weight. Like her mom, especially like her dad. Not so much. Her dad seems m. He’s more sympathetic to her with her. And he’s like, oh, your mom’s just trying to help you. But she’s doing that thing where, oh, I’m just doing it for your health, honey. She tries to get her to go on walks to get her on Diets, you know, her whole life. And it’s just. And. And she’s just had enough. So she finally decides to write this article. And it’s called hello, I’m fat. And she writes this article for this, for this online. I think it might even be in print too. This takes place in Portland. It’s called the Thorn. And it takes off. So there’s like, she gets like 19,000 hits on this article. Everybody’s praising her. Of course, she has a couple trolls.
>> Kris Bryant: But the owner’s like, hey, you know, maybe he doesn’t really like what she writes because he doesn’t really like her. You know, he’s just. Because she wrote one article that had a bunch of clicks, you know, he’s still kind of mean to her. So she, Once that article hits, you can see her, like, confidence grow and people like giving her validation. Like, you’re fantastic. You know, just embrace it. You’re that. Enjoy it. Love it. we love you. Thank you for showing representation and just like saying all these really nice things. So her confidence grows and she starts blossoming and it’s just beautiful to see.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: There’s so much queerness in this show. And it was funny because I literally just started watching it to watch it, because I like her. Aidy Bryant. I like her.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And it was kind of.
>> Tara Scott: Is she wonderful?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. And it’s like a good vibe. And I’m like, I would totally be friends with her. Like, she is so low key in this. And I was like, for sure we would be friends.
>> Kris Bryant: So her roommate and best friend is Fran, a big black lesbian who struggles with almost the exact opposite. She’s always had body confidence. She’s always, you know, she, she goes through lovers. Like, she goes through lovers and she can just like, forget about somebody right away. Whereas, you know, Annie can’t let go, of this one guy that she had sex with. You know, she is, like, determined to change him and she doesn’t want to give up on the relationship. So she actually puts a lot of effort into keeping this guy around. And you’re like, he’s terrible. But then he, like, changes and so she sticks with him. She’s like, I really want this to work. I really want you to, you know, you’re doing this wrong. You’re not asking me for this. And so she’s telling him how to be a better partner for her. Any. He, for the most part, he steps up, but then he does some stupid. And you’re just like, God damn it. Did you not Learn anything.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So, yeah. So, so we have. Her best friend is queer who is dating a non binary person. Annie’s boss is a gay man. And his assistant, his assistant is Ruthie. And she is one of the best characters. she is played by Patty Harrison and she’s a trans woman. And she has some of the best lines in the whole movie or the whole series. Like she is mean, funny and you’re just like, that was terrible to say. But you kind of giggle because you know, she’s like over the top and she’s trying to do this and this is what she wants. Like I said, it’s, it’s a real short, series, but there’s a lot of growth for Annie. You sympathize with her, you really start liking her. You, you understand where she’s coming from, why she has the problems she has, why she deals with everything that she deals with and why she’s such a good sport about everything. Oh my gosh. Like there’s some things that people say to her that they’re comfortable saying to her. And I’m like, I would never ever think that that would be okay to say.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: But anyway, it ends up, it’s, it’s a good series overall. You know, it does, like I said, it, it tackles a lot of serious issues too. I mean, it’s fun, light hearted, but then there’s a lot of, serious issues that, that I think they handled well. So yeah, if you like all this and you like Queer Rep and all different types of Queer Rep, it’s, it’s a good series to blow through. I mean, just like a easy, breezy go through it. It’s funny, it makes you laugh, it makes you cry. and again, I would be best friends with Annie and Fran both for sure.
>> Kris Bryant: So anyway, that was my official recommendation and you watched it. So you missed a whole season, which will take you like, you know, two
>> Tara Scott: hours, I think where I ended it. And you can tell me maybe I’m wrong. And that was the end of the whole thing. But it was the fat camp episode. but like happy, but like happy joyous fat camp. Not like go to lose weight, but like go hang out with other amazing fat people and find community and nope,
>> Kris Bryant: that was not the last season, so you need to catch up. but I love like, like she, she really embraces, she finds her community. She finds a lot of fat women who are comfortable with themselves and they’re like, they’re wearing the bikinis and they’re owning It. Whereas she’s always been hiding behind her clothes and then she just feels the vibe and she gets into it, you know, and she, you know, gets into her swimsuit and she has a good time with everybody and she’s just learning to love herself and I absolutely adore that. So, Very good. Very good show. Highly recommend.
>> Tara Scott: Good choice.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So that’s my official recommendation. You need to finish it. So finish it. And, what is your official recommendation?
>> Tara Scott: Okay, so my official recommendation is the new release from Haley Cass called the Whole Truth. Yay. And if you can believe it, this is the first book I’ve ever read by Haley Cass. I have never read her before.
>> Kris Bryant: Look at my face.
>> Tara Scott: What? I know, I know. I get that a lot from people. But here’s the thing. Her books are, are long, which means they are a commitment.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s true.
>> Tara Scott: And like, I trust all my friends that are like, you need to read those who wait or you need to read this one or that one is like, yes, I do. And my brain went check and moved on and didn’t do that. But this time I just. The premise of it absolutely got me and I had to check it out.
>> Kris Bryant: Tell us the premise.
>> Tara Scott: Okay, so it’s about two country music stars. One of them has been at it for almost a decade. Juliet Jacobs, she’s like the sweetheart. She has this very kind of like perfect image. Her fourth album has just come out, but she like, she did her debut at 17, so everybody kind of watched her grow up. Darcy M. Kincaid is kind of like the new star on the scene. The blurb says, bold, magnetic and impossible to ignore. Absolutely. now she’s not a solo artist like Juliet is. She’s a part of a band with her sister and her best friend called we the Romantics. And they’ve just had their. So they self produced their first album and it ended up being this like massive, massive, massive hit that took everybody kind of by storm.
>> Kris Bryant: And
>> Tara Scott: Juliet doesn’t like her. And I’ll get into that kind of in a bit. But so this is very much like a, an enemies to lovers situation. and their rivalry catches the attention of a lot of people. But then they have to work together on a project in person and realize that like, okay, I hate you, but I’m extremely attracted to you. And so neither of them are out also. And so it’s like, listen.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, that makes sense.
>> Tara Scott: Listen, I might hate you, but I do like sex. What do you think?
>> Kris Bryant: Okay.
>> Tara Scott: Right. And so they kind of come up with an Arrangement, extremely casual and extremely secret because, you know, country music is not the most forgiving of industries. I love kind of the. This, like, final tagline on it. The only thing more dangerous than sneaking around with your nemesis, developing real feelings for it, for her.
>> Kris Bryant: Ah. good one.
>> Tara Scott: Isn’t that fun?
>> Kris Bryant: That’s a good one.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. So the blurb, like, hints at this rivalry, but I’m kind of. I’m gonna explain it because it’s like the very, very beginning of the book, and it’s so fun, and I think it’s so interesting, and it shows kind of something different than I’ve seen in very many books. It starts out, and it’s the night of this particular awards show. Julia’s new album is out, and she’s so proud of it, and her album is up for an award, and she feels like she should get it, but we, the Romantics, gets the award. And so she’s hurt, she’s frustrated because she put all her heart and soul into it. She leaves. She. She’s like, I just. I need to get some space. She goes kind of out the back entrance, and there’s somebody there with a microphone, and she ends up saying something shitty about Darcy. Not about we the Romantics, but very specifically about Darcy. And that leads to a feud because, like I said, Darcy is bold. She’s whatever. Like, she doesn’t take things lying down. And so this leads to, like, I really loved the back and forth that happens because we see, like, it shows social media posts, snippets from articles, snippets from podcast transcripts. So we get this, the overall buzz around their rivalry. And some of that carries throughout the book. So we’ll see, like, album reviews, social media posts, m. Text to each other, but, like, bringing in other forms of media to show kind of the outward perception of what’s happening between them at any point in time. And then we see two other things happen. Throughout it, we see Darcy, who is acting very much in character because she can’t help herself but react. That’s just how she is. So even though, you know, her sister, her best friend, their publicist, they’re whoever, like, stop reacting with the fuck are you doing? She can’t help react because it’s like, you’re going to punch me, I’m going to punch you back. Right? But we also see. And this is where it’s. It’s kind of an interesting way of seeing into who they are. Juliet is acting very much out of character because she has such a good girl brand, but she’s so pissed off and hurt that she can’t help but lash out. And so I love seeing this. Like, one of them is acting like themselves, the other one is very much not. And they even end up writing diss tracks about each other. Dang. like country music diss tracks. How fun is that? And then somebody online mashes them together so it sounds like. And everybody’s like, oh, my God, this is like the best duet ever. Even though it was never meant to be a duet. And so then that’s what leads to them being asked to work on a project together. Like to work on a song for a movie. and that’s how they have to start actually spending time in person. You know, Juliet is a lesbian. She’s. Neither of them are out, but, like, she’s very much not out to anybody in the world, except her long term fake boyfriend and the occasional people she’s slept with along the way. But when she finds out Darcy is queer, she’s like, how convenient is this? I hate her. And I think I deserve to win that album. Oh, but is nice.
>> Kris Bryant: okay.
>> Tara Scott: And she is attracted to her. Like, very much so. And so it’s this, like, how about it? And you know, that chemistry is. It’s just so good because they go from so they start off just as full on enemies or nemesis nemeses, whatever, to. I would say they’re actually enemies with benefits before becoming friends with benefits. Like, they still don’t like each other when they sleep together the first time? Not really.
>> Kris Bryant: How. How does that happen? It’s. Well, there’s that work.
>> Tara Scott: They don’t. They don’t know each other well enough to like each other. And there was a lot of animosity with that public feud. But they also know that they’re very much attracted to each other because they’re also both hot. Like, let’s just be honest, they’re both really hot. And it just works. And then over time and they, they find opportunities to meet up. Like, it’s often at Juliet’s house, but it’s sometimes when one of them on tour, the other one will fly out.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, wow.
>> Tara Scott: For a hookup kind of thing. Right? Because like, Juliet’s like, she’s rich. She’s been at this. She’s been very successful for a decade. And then that first album for we the Romantics has sold very, very well. So it’s not like Darcy is, you know, she’s not hurting for money anymore. But they do, they genuinely. They start to like, genuinely care about each Other Juliet has migraines, and I thought that was seeing migraine as a fellow migraine person. but what I really loved was seeing, you know, Darcy show care for her through that even, and, like, helping her with it here and there. There are also some other really fun details. Like, they’re the same age. They’re the exact same age. They were born on the same day. I think that’s kind of like a cute sort of little coincidence thing. They’ve been working on music for roughly similar times, but Juliet was. Has been famous for so much longer because she had help and like, big time kind of like financial help. Somebody with the resources to help her build a career made that happen. Although it’s one of those, like, blessings in disguise because it’s her stepdad, who’s a gigantic, That I wanted to punch in the throat a lot. But Darcy’s also been working on music for a decade. So even though it’s like, well, where did you come from? You didn’t put in your dues. And it’s like, yeah, she did put in her dues in, like, dive bars and stuff.
Yeah. And so she’s been at it for about a decade. But also, there’s something so interesting there because Darcy had been such a big fan of Juliet’s from the very beginning. Like, a really big fan. Only for the first time she finds out Juliet is even aware of her is for her to make, like, a really big dig.
>> Kris Bryant: That sucks. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Right. And so I think that sucks also. Like, there’s an element of that that kind of drives how hard she hits back. But it’s, There’s some, like, really beautiful moments as they get to know different things about each other, including the fact that Darcy had been a fan. So I just. I really loved it. I will also say this is the first time I’ve read a book about musicians where I genuinely wanted to go and listen to the music. I was like, I should go find that song on Spotify. Oh, these aren’t real people Exist. Yeah, it doesn’t exist. These are not real people at all. I can’t go find it.
>> Kris Bryant: And I also.
>> Tara Scott: Part of me wonder if it’s. If it’s. Because I just. I also love the band name, we the Romantics. It just worked. It made so much sense for them and for what they do and why they do it. Unsurprisingly, this is a story that kind of gets into why do some celebrities stay closeted. Whether it’s somebody who’s building an audience or somebody who’s been famous for a long time that there’s real consequences. I had a really hard time putting this one down. And actually, the way I went about reading it, I didn’t skip ahead at all, by the way. Also, update. I am almost never skipping ahead anymore. Hey, I was talking to Neil about it. The only reason I skip ahead at this point, is just don’t ruin it.
>> Kris Bryant: Just say I don’t skip ahead. Boom. Done.
>> Tara Scott: No, no, no. My reason is if I’m reading a book and it feels extremely mid. If I’m. It’s like, it’s just so flat. And I’m like, is this even worth reading? And I’m basically skipping ahead to see if there’s anything that’s worth slogging it through.
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t want to shock you.
>> Tara Scott: Most of the time, the answer is no. I. I get there, I’m like, oh, no. And then I bail from the book. So I did not skip ahead. But what I did do is I noticed I’ve been trying to be much better with my sleep hygiene, and I’m, like, really respecting my sleep. And I realized it was quite hard to put down. And I had three hours left, and I managed to stop. And I was like, and we’re not reading anymore until the weekend. Oh, when I can read first. Read it all in one shot. And that is what I did.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice control.
>> Tara Scott: Knew I had it in me. I didn’t know I had it in me. It was. It was this idea that, like, it is so good I must wait to read it so that I don’t completely get bored.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. Oh, that’s good.
>> Tara Scott: Which I think because I’ve been doing the sleep thing to help with the migraines. So I also like that it’s a book about. That includes a migraine sufferer. And so it’s me as a migraine suffering reader, saying, I cannot provoke a migraine with this book. Right.
>> Kris Bryant: It works.
>> Tara Scott: Honestly, I was so. I, loved it. I got to the end. I loved how it ended, and I read it on Kindle Unlimited. And then I immediately purchased my own.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: Nice M. It’s called the Whole Truth by Haley Cass. Highly recommend. I’m sure I will be going back and reading more from her catalog.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: But maybe in a little bit when I have space for another book that’s like 600 pages. Right.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: I’m gonna be going on a vacation at some point this summer. I’m not saying when, because people don’t need to know when my house will be empty. It’s not their business, but maybe that will. I think that would actually be a really good time. So maybe that’s when I’ll read those who wait. I will report back if I do.