We are SO excited to chat with Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter, Shelby Cunningham, about their new book, The Academy! We ask how their collaborative writing process worked, about Shelby’s boarding school experience that inspired the book, and Elin’s feelings on venturing into a new world outside Nantucket. We also have adaptation updates and some exclusive behind the scenes gossip!

These days, Shelby is reading A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, and Elin is reading Dominion by Addie E. Citchens.

Obsessions

Olivia - Bedroom candles

Becca - Sezane miniskirt

What we read this week

Becca - The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

Olivia - Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

This Month’s Book Club Pick - Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)

Sponsors

Quince - Go to Quince.com/bop for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Ritual - Get 25% off your first month, only at Ritual.com/BADONPAPER.

Better Help - get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com/BADONPAPER.

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Buy our Merch!

Join our Geneva!

Preorder Olivia’s Book, Little One, and order Such a Bad Influence!

Subscribe to Olivia’s Newsletter!

Order Becca’s Book, The Christmas Orphans Club!

Subscribe to Becca’s Newsletter!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

What do we want? Things! When do we want them? Now! It’s time to talk about big pop culture moments, focus tools, and what we’re excited about for fall.

Olivia’s Things

Taylor Swift getting engaged

What’s on our Q4 Radar

Our Fall TBR (Olivia’s are The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild, What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang, Becca’s are The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy, Boom Town by Nic Stone, Bread of Angels by Patti Smith, Brimstone by Callie Hart)

Becca’s Things

Focus Friend

The coverage of Elizabeth Gilbert’s new memoir All the Way to the River

Obsessions:

Olivia - The Shooting The Shit episode of The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Podcast

Becca - Day Use

What we read this week

Becca - Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand, The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

Olivia - Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

This Month’s Book Club Pick - Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)

Sponsors

Wayfair - Find decor for less at Wayfair.com.

Cozy Earth - head to Cozyearth.com and use code BOP for 40% off!

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Buy our Merch!

Join our Geneva!

Preorder Olivia’s Book, Little One, and order Such a Bad Influence!

Subscribe to Olivia’s Newsletter!

Order Becca’s Book, The Christmas Orphans Club!

Subscribe to Becca’s Newsletter!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

People who judge books by their covers, this ep is for you! This week, we brought on Art Director and Book Cover Designer Molly von Borstel to talk about how book covers come to life. She shares how she got into book design, the surprising parts of the job, how she deals with feedback, cover trends, and more!

Obsessions

Olivia - Sorel Roam’n Clogs

Becca - Travel mahjong set from Oh My Mahjong

What we read this week

Becca - Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand

Olivia - The Break-In By Katherine Faulkner, The Safekeep by Yael Van der Wouden, Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler

This Month’s Book Club Pick - Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)

Sponsors

Quince - Go to Quince.com/bop for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Cozy Earth - Go to cozyearth.com and use code BOP for 40% off.

Caraway - Visit Carawayhome.com/BOP for an additional 10% off your next purchase.

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Buy our Merch!

Join our Geneva!

Preorder Olivia’s Book, Little One, and order Such a Bad Influence!

Subscribe to Olivia’s Newsletter!

Order Becca’s Book, The Christmas Orphans Club!

Subscribe to Becca’s Newsletter!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

It’s Book Club day! We’re excited to chat about The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig. We discuss the book’s setting and world-building, the main characters (and their romance), how this fits into the romantacy genre overall, and more!

Obsessions

Olivia - Night Moves by Bob Seger

Becca - J.Crew yellow suede bucket bag

This Month’s Book Club Pick - STAY TUNED! (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)

Sponsors

Cozy Earth - go to cozyearth.com and use code BOP for 40% off

Quince - Go to Quince.com/bop for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Buy our Merch!

Join our Geneva!

Preorder Olivia’s Book, Little One, and order Such a Bad Influence!

Subscribe to Olivia’s Newsletter!

Order Becca’s Book, The Christmas Orphans Club!

Subscribe to Becca’s Newsletter!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

We are SO excited for this week’s conversation with journalist E. Jean Carroll! We chat with her about why she decided to write her book about her experience in court against Donald Trump, her 30-year tenure as an advice columnist, and more!

E. Jean Carroll is the author of five books, including a biography of Hunter S. Thompson, and the New York Times bestselling book NOT MY TYPE: One Woman vs. a President.

Obsessions

Becca - U Beauty Proem perfume

What we read this week

Becca - The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Olivia - Writers & Lovers by Lily King, NOT MY TYPE: One Woman vs. a President

This Month’s Book Club Pick - The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)

Sponsors

Better Help - Get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com/BADONPAPER

Ritual - Get 25% off your first month, only at ritual.com/BADONPAPER

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Buy our Merch!

Join our Geneva!

Preorder Olivia’s Book, Little One, and order Such a Bad Influence!

Subscribe to Olivia’s Newsletter!

Order Becca’s Book, The Christmas Orphans Club!

Subscribe to Becca’s Newsletter!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

It’s time for the most August 2025 Three Things to Ever Three Things. From AI to face shapewear to Labubus, and more, there’s so much to discuss! Let’s get into it.

Olivia’s Things

DNF-ing

Skims Face Shapewear

Labubus

Becca’s Things

The articles “I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students” by Meghan O’Rourke [gift link] and ”The Force-Feeding of AI on an Unwilling Public” by Ted Gioia

Mind Meld Game

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3

Obsessions

Becca - Freakier Friday

Olivia - Sorry, Baby

What we read this week

Becca - The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

This Month’s Book Club Pick - The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)

Sponsors

Quince - Go to Quince.com/bop for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Wayfair - Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home.
Caraway Home - Visit Carawayhome.com/BOP for an additional 10% off your next purchase.

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Buy our Merch!

Join our Geneva!

Preorder Olivia’s Book, Little One, and order Such a Bad Influence!

Subscribe to Olivia’s Newsletter!

Order Becca’s Book, The Christmas Orphans Club!

Subscribe to Becca’s Newsletter!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

As a bonus to our episode discussing comparison and competition, we invited Chelsea Bieker to continue the conversation, and how comparison and competition manifest for her, specifically within her publishing career and the strategies she’s learned to quiet these emotions.

Read more from Chelsea in her newsletter Make Up Your Life, fountainpractice.com, and her latest book Madwoman is out now!

This Month’s Book Club Pick - The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Buy our Merch!

Join our Geneva!

Order Olivia’s Book, Such a Bad Influence!

Subscribe to Olivia’s Newsletter!

Order Becca’s Book, The Christmas Orphans Club!

Subscribe to Becca’s Newsletter!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

We’ve been trying to make an episode about comparison and competition (an Olivia Muenter favorite topic!) happen for a while, and it’s finally here! We’re discussing our personal histories with comparison and competition and how it manifests in our personal and professional lives. We’re even diving into whether we ever compare ourselves to each other.

We’re talking about if we define ourselves as competitive people, topics that bring up jealousy, how comparison and competition manifests in our author lives, and even within the podcast.

Obsessions

B: Hues and Cues

O: eBay (vintage hats, weird jewelry, old books)

What we read this week

O: Greenwich by Kate Broad

B:

This Month’s Book Club Pick - The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)

Sponsors

Cozy Earth - Go to cozyearth.com and use my code BOP for 40% off!

Quince - Go to Quince.com/bop for free shipping and three 365-day returns.

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Buy our Merch!

Join our Geneva!

Order Olivia’s Book, Such a Bad Influence!

Subscribe to Olivia’s Newsletter!

Order Becca’s Book, The Christmas Orphans Club!

Subscribe to Becca’s Newsletter!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.