Programming note: this week’s episode is dropping on 30 April 2026. Smart Bitches Trashy Books, LLC, is withdrawing our labor on May 1, 2026, alongside other companies, school districts, and activists as part of the May Day Nationwide Day of Collective Action. For more information, visit MayDayStrong.org.
Ilana Masad and Stevie K. Seibert Desjarlais are the editors of a new and excellent anthology called Here for All The Reasons: Why We Watch the Bachelor.
The essays inside are incredible, and provide deep and incisive critique of The Bachelor franchise from people who love, or used to love it deeply. Some of the topics blew my mind. I was so excited to talk to Ilana and Stevie about their work, and we happened to record just as the latest season of The Bachelorette was cancelled, so we talk about that as well.
If you like deep examinations of pop culture and of properties typically dismissed as meaningless fluff – hello, yes, I do! – you’ll have fun with us today.
We’re going to talk about conservative fantasy, polyamory, grad school, changing portrayals of masculinity in reality tv, media literacy and so much more.
As I say during our conversation, I think the best critiques of things come from people who are fans.
TW/CW: At about 50 minutes into the interview, we discuss allegations of domestic violence from Taylor Frankie Paul, and at 1 hour and 20 minutes, we discuss the loss of their friend Dr. Katie McWain, to whom the book is dedicated.
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Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:
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You can find Ilana Masad at her website, IlanaMasad.com. She’s on Bluesky @IlanaSlightly, and on Instagram @Ilanaslightlyignorant.
You can read Ilana’s article, “How ‘The Bachelor’ Franchise Celebrates Polyamory” from the March 2018 issue of Playboy via the Web Archive.
Stevie’s work can be found at The Quarterly Review of Film and Television, The Journal of Pedagogy, The Journal of Popular Film and Television, and The Popular Culture Studies Journal.
We also discussed:
- “Media Literacy and Education in Finland” – Finland Toolbox
- The Finnish National Curriculum on Media Literacy: A Global Model for Education
- “Geriaction”
- The Call Your Coven podcast
- “Under the Mormon Influence: How the women of Utah blogged and posted their way into American hearts and Wallets” by Bridget Read, 9 Feb. 2026 – The Cut (Paywalled)
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Podcast Sponsor
This episode is brought to you by Hatch.
You know how you finish a romantasy and you just need the next thing immediately? Hatch made that thing.
It’s called Ophelia — an original audio drama, inspired by Hamlet, where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character.
Forbidden magic, a crumbling kingdom, a slow-burn love triangle with a prince and his very guarded, very intriguing, best friend. The kind of love triangle where you will absolutely pick a side and you will not be quiet about it.
Book one of the three part series is now available for free wherever you stream, with new chapters dropping every Tuesday. For books 2 and 3, check out hatch.co/Ophelia.
Transcript
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This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks.
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