I Read Something Bad

About I Read Something Bad

I Read Something Bad is where spicy romantasy books meet spiritual formation and discipleship. We're the podcast for everyone who's ever felt like they needed to hide their steamy book covers from their small group or found themselves daydreaming about dragons in the middle of a women’s conference. We think it’s time to take the shame out of your TBR pile, empower you to love what you love unapologetically, and talk about the issues that matter most to you by thoughtfully engaging with the best romantasy series. This is a book club for the folks who wonder what parts of the Bible are morally grey and what the top romantasy books can teach us about our faith. Whether you’re here for the spicy faeries or the spiritual formation (or both — we don’t judge), this is a safe space so grab a seat. irsbpodcast.substack.com (https://irsbpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

I Read Something Bad

Category

fiction · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

18 Dec 2024

Latest episode

4 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

32 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   4 Sept 2026

   031 Katabasis with Dr. Beth Felker Jones

   Today we’ve got Dr. Beth Felker Jones joining us to dig into R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis, a dark academia descent into literal hell that doubles as a devastating portrait of PhD formation, academic abuse, and what it costs to believe you’re only a mind. Topics Covered: * The academic nightmare that’s apparently happened in real life to one of us (and no, we’re not okay) * How to survive an institution that wants to eat you alive—without becoming someone you don’t recognize * Alice is proud she forgets to eat, and we need to talk about what that says about all of us * Why the people who most want to escape their bodies are the ones whose bodies the world refuses to love * Christianity is supposed to be the most body-affirming religion on earth, so what happened? * John Piper will read your book but won’t let you teach him, and we finally figured out why * What happens when shame curdles into revenge and ruins the good thing right in front of you * You can be queen of hell and still be in hell—plus the ways we do this to ourselves every single day * The line about context that made us all scream about preachers who skip the homework * The most romantic thing Peter does isn’t romantic at all, and it wrecked us 📚🔥💀 Timestamps:02:00 Academic Abuse and the Nightmare of Recommendation Letters07:00 Impossible Standards and the Myth That Grinding Equals Worth09:00 Alice’s Gnostic Pride in Transcending Bodily Need12:00 Gnosticism in Evangelical Theology and Fear of Embodiment18:00 Harassment, Shame, and How It Twists Into Revenge25:00 Why Katabasis Lands Differently Than Dante’s Inferno27:00 Context Matters: Close Reading vs Making It Mean Whatever34:00 Peter Witnesses Instead of Fixing36:00 Takeaways: Loving Jesus More After Reading About Hell This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irsbpodcast.substack.com (https://irsbpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   8 May 2026

   030 The Escapism Episode: Why Reading Romance Isn't the Real Issue

   Today your matron saints of spice are tackling the topic of escapism—because apparently reading our silly little books is unhealthy coping, but planning to literally escape all worldly suffering via the Rapture is fine and normal theology. We’re unpacking how escapism is actually a natural human response to systemic oppression (not just a character flaw) and why the most prevalent form of escapism is doomscrolling social media (not romance novels). Topics Covered: * Escapism as a natural survival strategy and self-regulation tool—not just an individual coping mechanism * When escapism is restorative versus harmful * The most prevalent form of escapism in our culture * How we’re encouraged to escape into culturally appropriate things that get a check mark even though they’re equally or more harmful than books * The wild irony of people upset at us escaping for an hour a day into books while they’re theologically planning to escape all horrors forever via dispensationalist Rapture theology * Why 30-second rage-bait and Christian aesthetic scrolling are both escapism * How the “in it not of it” mentality taken to extremes creates homeschool cult bubbles that escape the world by refusing to engage neighbors or integrate with the broader church * Jeremiah 29 as the balance of hopeful future vision paired with embodied presence now * Why institutions don’t want to give up spiritual authority and teach discernment * The goal is creating church spaces safe enough that people don’t need to escape from them instead of creating harmful hierarchies that generate the escape loop then demonize the escaping If escapism doesn’t lead to embodiment, it’s not doing you favors. 📚🌱 Timestamps: 02:00 Escapism as Natural Survival Strategy vs Character Flaw 05:00 Culturally Appropriate Escapism: Work, Family, Church Service 08:00 Social Media Scrolling Is the Most Prevalent Escapism 11:00 Passive Consumption and the Death of Engagement Online 14:00 How Platforms Keep Us Dysregulated and Triggered On Purpose 16:00 Chronically Online: Your Brain Wasn’t Designed for This Much 18:00 Christian Aesthetic Scrolling Is Still Escapism (Just Prettier) 21:00 Rapture Theology as Theological Escapism (The Irony!) 23:00 “In It Not Of It” Taken to Cult-Level Extremes 25:00 Dispensationalism Killed Our Motivation to Care for Neighbors 27:00 Jeremiah 29: Hopeful Vision Paired with Embodied Presence 29:00 Exodus and Exile: Two Sides of the Escapism Coin 31:00 Planting Gardens at Church Without Heavy-Handed Evangelism 33:00 We Got Rid of Third Spaces and Made the Internet the Only One 36:00 The Inconvenience of Community vs 100% Comfort at Home 38:00 Demonizing Escapism Instead of the Thing You’re Escaping From 40:00 Individual Blame vs Systemic Marketing and Exploitation 43:00 Checklists Over Tools: Why We Don’t Teach Discernment 46:00 Institutions Want to Keep Spiritual Authority Over You 49:00 Creating Safe Spaces People Don’t Need to Escape From 53:00 Severe Religious Psychosis from Scrolling (Clinical Reality) 55:00 Your Phone Is a Tool, Not Your Bedfellow This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irsbpodcast.substack.com (https://irsbpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   24 Apr 2026

   029 Quicksilver by Callie Hart

   Today we’re diving into Callie Hart’s Quicksilver. Topics Covered: * Why Zilvaren’s city structure is secretly showing us exactly how power keeps us fighting each other instead of the real problem * That Artemis astronaut said WHAT about Earth right before going dark for 40 minutes—and how it connects to fantasy城 cities * The theological move fantasy authors can pull that nonfiction writers can’t touch (and why it matters for how we see power) * Madra’s quicksilver addiction and why protecting yourself at everyone else’s expense always ends in catastrophic instability * The billionaire problem isn’t what you think—and why your individual experience is lying to you about the actual issue * Our FMC is just trying to get water and that’s exactly why we should be paying attention to her * How to build power structures that don’t turn you into the villain (spoiler: “we’ve always done it this way” is a trap) * Kingfisher’s quicksilver is destroying him from the inside and it’s the perfect metaphor for the hidden cost of power nobody talks about * Why an alchemist FMC hits different than another battle warrior—plus the moment the quicksilver asked for a song and we all cried Timestamps: 02:00 Zilvaren’s Wheel Structure: Separate Wards, Same Suffering 04:00 Astronaut’s Message: We’re All on One Planet 06:00 Fantasy World-Building as Theological Exercise 08:00 Othering and Physical Barriers Highlighting Emotional Ones 10:00 Madra’s Hoarded Quicksilver and Systemic Power Exploitation 12:00 Individualism vs Collectivism: Looking Beyond Our Experience 15:00 Paying Attention to the Margins: Who’s Struggling for Water? 16:00 The Desire to Live Forever and Power That Won’t Let Go 18:00 Building Structures That Pass Down vs Clinging to Control 20:00 Economic Instability When Power Gets Too Consolidated 22:00 What Happens in People’s Brains When They Get That Much Power 25:00 Kingfisher’s Quicksilver: The Physical Cost of Unwanted Power 27:00 Why the Hero Being an Alchemist (Not a Warrior) Matters 29:00 The Quicksilver Has Agency 30:00 When the Quicksilver Asks for a Song (Pastoral Intervention) 32:00 Labyrinth Appreciation Moment: Escaping the Horrors 33:00 Faithful Today: What Does It Look Like in This Moment? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irsbpodcast.substack.com (https://irsbpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Contact I Read Something Bad

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.