Just A Spoonful is a conversation podcast where everyone you hear is living with chronic illness and/or disability. Each episode I interview a new guest. This is how we live, and what we live for. Hosted by Kaitlyn Blythe.
Taylor Swift's tortured poets with Ruby (Literary.Luddite)
"I never would have posted it under normal circumstances." The first TikTok that Ruby ever uploaded went unexpectedly viral. Swifties were enraged and intrigued by her theory that Taylor Swift's latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, wasn't about any of the pop star's ex-boyfriends - it was actually about the Modernist poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.
But something else was happening in Ruby's life at the time. Her doctors had told her there was nothing else they could do for her, and that she was going to die at 29 years old. Ruby (who survived 2024 and is still here, doing great!) and I talk about the Modernists' sidelining of women, Taylor Swift's literary references, and turning to art when you're going through the very worst times.
You can find Ruby on TikTok as Literary.Luddite (tiktok.com/literary.luddite). And here's the TikTok that started it all: "The Tortured Poets Department is about Ted Hughes". tiktok.com/@literary.luddite/video/7360564340019268882?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7424335431385613830
Ruby's Linktree: linktr.ee/literaryluddite
Heroines by Kate Zambreno (2012). penguin.com.au/books/heroines-new-edition-9781635902082
To support this podcast and access bonus content (including bonus chat with Ruby), you can join my Patreon! Patreon.com/BlytheByName. Just A Spoonful merch on Redbubble! Search "BlytheByName". You can also hear me occasionally on the 3CR Community Radio show 'Breadline' talking about welfare issues: 3cr.org.au/Breadline
This episode was published on 13 August 2025.
Podcast artwork by Erin Michelle.
Just A Spoonful's theme music is 'Sleepless' by Anna O.
This podcast is created on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri People and I extend my respect to elders past and present.
15 Jun 2025
Chronic cinephiles with Izzie Austin and Silvi Vann-Wall
How do you name a chronic illness podcast? Is improv a cult? Remember when Twitter was good? We explore all this and more important topics on this episode of Just A Spoonful. Kaitlyn's guests this episode are chronically ill cinephiles Izzie Austin and Silvi Vann-Wall, cohosts of the Pill Pop podcast (presented by the Wheeler Centre).
Izzie is a PhD candidate in Cinema Studies, and Silvi is the Film Content Lead at Screenhub Australia, and we talk about what we want out of a film-going experience, why you should always watch the Fast franchise in a car, and the very surprising way that one of my guests went viral. Silvi is also an improviser at Melbourne's Improv Conspiracy, and talks about their experience of improv as a neurodivergent and chronically ill performer.
Find Izzie and Silvi's chronic illness podcast Pill Pop by searching "Pill Pop Wheeler Centre" on Spotify, or go to this link: https://open.spotify.com/show/0w2Fe7etUlzTDwP7VXjbSf?si=xZWpXh9wRhGSuJfUztx0UQ
Here's their profile in the Australian Audio Guide: https://australianaudioguide.com/working-with-sound-silvi-vann-wall-and-izzie-austin-pill-pop/
For more Silvi Vann-Wall you can go to their website silvireports.com, and you can check out
ScreenHub.com.au (for film and TV news and reviews).
For more Izzie Austin you can go to their linktree https://linktr.ee/IzzieJellyfish
To support this podcast and access bonus content (including bonus movie chat with Izzie and Silvi), you can join Kaitlyn's Patreon! Patreon.com/BlytheByName
Just A Spoonful merch on Redbubble! Search "BlytheByName".
This episode was published on 16 June 2025.
Podcast artwork by Erin Michelle.
Just A Spoonful's theme music is 'Sleepless' by Anna O.
This podcast is created on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri People and I extend my respect to elders past and present.
11 May 2025
ME/CFS Advocate Kolt
JASP is back! For ME/CFS Awareness Day, Kaitlyn sits down for Just A Spoonful with disability advocate Kolt to chat about life with ME/CFS, the pressures on people with ME/CFS to seek 'cures', and the benefits and pitfalls of online chronic illness 'influencer' culture.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex, disabling disease that affects multiple systems in the body, and is classified by the World Health Organisation as a neurological disorder. There are estimated to be up to 250,000 Australians with ME/CFS, and around 25% of people with the condition have Severe ME, leaving them bedbound or housebound. Emerge Australia has more information and resources.
Kolt is a neurodivergent and chronically ill disability advocate whose advocacy is most focused on Energy Limiting Conditions like ME/CFS (which we both have); they seek to continually push the boundaries of non-disabled and privileged folks' understanding of disability and oppression. Kolt is queer, trans, and a white third-culture immigrant living on the stolen lands of the Yorta Yorta Nation.
We have a great, wide-ranging discussion about finding each other online, trying to do ME/CFS advocacy when it's hard to talk about your illness, and the explosion of chronic illness 'influencers' in the COVID era. We also get into the lure of magical thinking when you're desperate, 'cures', navigating egotistical doctors, and how fascism and ableism are 'hand-in-hand emoji'.
Some ME/CFS resources:
- www.Emerge.org.au
- www.MEAction.net
- www.ME-pedia.org
- ME Advocacy Network Australia (MEANA), www.MEANA.me
- A short audio doco I made about ME/CFS in 2016, 'May the 12th Be With You', in the Just A Spoonful podcast feed
Just A Spoonful merch from RedBubble! Search 'BlytheByName'
To support this podcast and access bonus content (including a bonus chat with Kolt), you can join Kaitlyn's Patreon! Patreon.com/BlytheByName
This episode was published on 12 May 2025.
Podcast artwork by Erin Michelle
Just A Spoonful's theme music is 'Sleepless' by Anna O
This podcast is created on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri People and I extend my respect to elders past and present.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 17 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
22
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
Contact Just A Spoonful
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Just A Spoonful?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
