Description: This week, we’re back to talk about the new novel Grafting by Rylan Hynes, a heartfelt love story about a man who returns home to inherit his family’s apple orchard–and confronts the memory of his boyhood romance with the son of the local Methodist minister. Topics of discussion include rural queer stories, nonlinear narratives, a lot of apple symbolism, and a lengthy tangent about Brokeback Mountain.
Media Mentioned:
Barbie dir. Greta Gerwig
Billy Elliot dir. Stephen Daldry
Half Man (TV show)
Hamnet dir. Chloe Zhao
Wasp’s Nest by Kat Stoddard
The Philadelphia Story dir. George Cukor
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Margo’s Got Money Troubles (TV show)
Wreck (TV show)
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (TV show)
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Grafting by Rylan Hynes
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
Real Queer America by Samantha Allen
Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
Saltburn dir. Emerald Fennell
The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan
Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The Christophers dir. Stephen Soderberg
The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
The Watermelon Woman by Cheryl Dunye
The Dangerous Kingdom of Love by Neil Blackmore
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Brokeback Mountain dir. Ang Lee
Sort Of (TV show)
When Harry Met Sally dir. Rob Reiner
Dracula by Bram Stoker
National Anthem dir. Luke Gilford
The History of Sound dir. Oliver Hermanus
On Swift Horses dir. Daniel Minahan
God’s Own Country dir. Frances Lee
Cactus Pears dir. Rohan Kanawade
Heated Rivalry (TV show)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone
Content Warnings: Discussions of homophobia and domestic abuse.
25 May 2026
53 — The Jurassic Park of Yearly Literature Reviews
This week, our podcast is back from the dead (much like a resurrected dinosaur) to discuss our favorite books of 2025. Better late than never! Topics include dubious metaphors about pickles, popular books that lived up to the hype, and the dangers of library discard sales.
Content Warnings: Mentions of the Troubles, parental death, plague, transphobia, drug addiction, slavery, and sexual assault.
Media Mentioned:
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
Half Man (TV show)
Widow’s Bay (TV show)
Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clement and Onjuli Datta
Episode 52: You’re Invited to the Bone Temple Rave
Episode 51: We Don’t Know Anything About Hockey
The Fair Folk Trilogy by Lyra Selene
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi
Africa Is Not a Country by Dipo Faloyin
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
The Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood
Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemeverer
Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas
Rope dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Murderbot (TV show)
The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
Working on a Song by Anais Mitchell
A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
Daisy Jones and the Six (TV show)
Mother Mary dir. David Lowery
Woodworking by Emily St. James
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
Lover in Color by Bolu Babalola
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Alligator Tears by Edgar Gomez
High Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez
H is for Hawk by Helen McDonald
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
The Sheep Detectives dir. Kyle Balda
Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Private Rites by Julia Armfield
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow
To Clutch a Razor by Veronica Roth
Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti
Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski
The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu
Anima Rising by Christopher Moore
Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Sundial by Catriona Ward
Red X by David Demchuck
I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum
Personal Attention Roleplay H. Felix Chau Bradley
We Don’t Yet Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole
A Rare Find by Joanna Lowell
Florenzer by Phil Melanson
The Duke by Anna Cowan
The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho
A Dark & Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
24 Mar 2026
52 – You're Invited to the Bone Temple Rave
This week, we’re back to discuss the post-apocalyptic zombie film 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Directed by Nia DaCosta, the newest installment in the 28 Days Later franchise explores a quarantined version of England overrun with a rage virus and the dangerous cult that takes root in the lawless environment. Topics of discussion include the film’s portrayal of violence versus kindness, how the film fits into the existing franchise, and Jack O’Connell’s unhinged performance as the villain.
Content warnings: discussions of fictional violence, death, and cults; brief mention of real-life sexual abuse
Media mentioned:
The 2026 Winter Olympics
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Come Home to My Heart by Riley Redgate
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (TV show)
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin
The Serpent Gates duology by A.K Larkwood
Episode 48: 28 Zombies Later
28 Days Later dir. Danny Boyle
28 Weeks Later dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
28 Years Later dir. Danny Boyle
The Marvels dir. Nia DaCosta
Hedda dir. Nia Dacosta
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
Little Woods dir. Nia DaCosta
Candyman dir. Nia DaCosta
Solo: A Star Wars Story dir. Ron Howard
The Green Knight dir. David Lowery
Sinners dir. Ryan Coogler
Episode 47: Literary Death Match Recap
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Lady Chatterley’s Lover dir. Laure de Clement-Tonnerre
Starred Up dir. David Mackenzie
In the Flesh (TV show)
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
Schindler’s List dir. Steven Spielberg
Who has been a guest on Never the Twins Shall Meet
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Neil Blackmore
Susanna Clarke
RF Kuang
Claire Denis
Mary Harron
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
6 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 22 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
19
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
60
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