Christine tells Jessica about Brokeback Mountain, the 2005 film based on a short story by Annie Proulx, with a screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry. Often reduced to being called the "gay cowboy movie," as Christine tells Jessica, this complex film is actually about societal constraints and battering against cultural boundaries. As always, their conversation turns personal as they explore the boundaries they've faced and how their views have changed in the almost two decades since they first saw the movie in theaters.

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jackson Rodriguez is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Tune in next week for our discussion about THE DAVINCI CODE by Dan Brown!

Episode 12 links:

• Annie Proulx's publishing page
• Guardian interview with Proulx, June 5, 2016
• The IMBD page for Brokeback Mountain
• Roger Ebert's review of Brokeback Mountain
• Ang Lee's Academy Awards acceptance speech for Best Director, 2006

In this teaser, you can hear the first 18 minutes of the rich conversation we had with Patty McCormick, author of SOLD, about a banned book that had a big impact on her. Tobias Wolff's THIS BOY'S LIFE is consistently one of the most challenged books in the country, and it prompted a rich discussion about life and art and why we write.

The full episode is exclusively available to paid subscribers--if you want to hear it, head to Patreon and sign up for the Banned Geeks Book Club, for only $3/month! Thank you so much for your support!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jackson Rodriguez is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Tune in next week for our discussion on The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown!

Episode 11 links:

• Patricia McCormick's website, which has pages for each of her books
• This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff

Jessica tells Christine about Sold by Patricia McCormick, a 2006 National Book Award finalist about a young girl who was sex trafficked from Nepal to India. The book, which is told through a series of lyrical vignettes, is beautifully written, and builds empathy in its young readers for children who are forced into difficult situations. And yet, according to the American Library Association, it is currently one of the top ten banned books in the country--and you'll never believe the reason why.

BONUS: Next week, with episode 11, we're excited to launch the Banned Geeks Book Club! Every few episodes, we'll feature the author of a banned book talking about another banned book which has influenced them. Full episodes are available exclusively for Patreon subscribers (but you can hear a teaser first, and then sign up to listen to the rest!). Next week, Patricia McCormick joins us to discussThis Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff, a banned book which has influenced her; the conversation was so meaningful to us and we're excited to share it with you!

If you haven’t yet become a Patreon subscriber, you can join now for just $3 a month. In addition to joining the Banned Geeks Book Club, your $3 helps us stay the course by highlighting banned works and bringing you these conversations each week. Thank you for your support! The success of this podcast depends on you

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jackson Rodriguez is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Tune in next week for our discussion with special guest, Patricia McCormick, about This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff!

Episode 10 links:

• Patricia McCormick's website, which has pages for each of her books
• Her searing article in the New York Times in 2018, "What Father Bradel Did to Me"
• Her op-ed about being banned in the New York Times in 2023, "My Book Is Horrifying. My Book Is a Lifeline. My Book Is Banned."
• "Three Questions for Patricia McCormick about SOLD," Yahoo News, September 2023

Christine chats with special guest, Lucie Tiberghien, about the works of Molière, who was banned 350+ years ago in France, what he did that got the church in France so angry, and why his work still speaks to us today.

You can watch his play, The Miser, at "Molière in the Park" this April and May at Prospect Park in Brooklyn (links below).

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

You can find out how to support us at our Patreon link. If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jackson Rodriguez is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Tune in next week for our discussion about SOLD by Patricia McCormick!

Episode 9 links:

• A Collection of Molière’s Best Plays
• More information on Molière in the Park
• FREE tickets to see The Miser in Prospect Park, Brooklyn April 27 - May 19

Jessica tells Christine about The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, the remarkable graphic memoir written by the son of Holocaust survivors about his family's experiences, and the shocking reason why it's banned--we couldn't believe it. Come for the deep-dive discussion about stunningly beautiful literature about the most awful parts of human nature; stay for the rabbit hole about Garbage Pail Kids.

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

You can find out how to support us at our Patreon link. If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jackson Rodriguez is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Tune in next week for our discussion about the banned works of Moliére with Christine and special guest, Lucie Tiberghien!

Links to episode 8 quotations and further reading:

• The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
• Biography of Art Spiegelman
• Delightful article about Spiegelman's wife, Françoise Mouly
• Spiegelman on the legacy of Maus
• "The Inside Story of the Banning of Maus. It's Dumber than You Think," Mother Jones
• "The Fight Over 'Maus' Is Part of a Bigger Cultural Battle in Tennessee," New York Times
• A Science article about how parents' trauma is passed down to their children

Christine tells Jessica about A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and they geek out about Hansberry's genius and the way she manages to write about so many core issues of her time in one single play, which would later be banned.

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

You can find out how to support us at our Patreon link. If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jackson Rodriguez is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Tune in next week for our discussion about Maus by Art Spiegelman!

Links to episode 7 quotations and further reading:

• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
• The history of redlining in the US
• A graphic showing the detailed sections of Chicago undergoing redlining
• The Supreme Court case of Hansberry v. Lee
• The excellent documentary about redlining and its effects in Texas that Jessica mentioned: "A Legacy Unearthed," produced and directed by Alisha Janette Taylor

Jessica tells Christine about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and why it's been one of the top ten most banned books of the last decade, as well as the controversy around the author himself.

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

You can find out how to support us at our Patreon link. If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jackson Rodriguez is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Tune in next week for our discussion about A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry!

Links to episode 6 quotations and further reading:

• Link to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• Anne Ursu's Medium article about sexual harassment in the children's book industry
• Kelly Jensen's work in Book Riot about sexual harassment in libraries (which inspired Ursu)
• "'It Just Felt Very Wrong': Sherman Alexie's Accusers Go on the Record," NPR, "All Things Considered, March 5, 2018 (which includes links to Alexie's statement on his website among other links)
• The three women quoted in the article whose work we want to feature: Jeanine Walker, Erika Wurth, and Elissa Washuta.

Christine tells Jessica about The Exorcist film (with a screenplay by William Blatty, based on the book by Blatty), including why it was banned, its effects on the audience at the time, and the real life "curses" on the movie set--plus a truly bonkers real-life ghost story!

"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

You can find out how to support us at our Patreon link. If you’d like to advertise with us, visit the "Contact Us" page on our website. If you liked our show, please rate and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. The best way to support a new podcast is to share it with your friends!

Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. Jackson Rodriguez is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Tune in next week for our discussion about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie!

Links to episode 5 quotations and further reading:

• IMDB for The Exorcist film (1973)
• The New York Times Review of The Exorcist on its 50th anniversary
• The Exorcist book
• Blatty's book on his son’s death and the after life: Finding Peter: A True Story of the Hand of Providence and Evidence of Life After Death