Welcome back to Academia Month!

This week, we talk through two fascinating academic articles, 'The Australian Convict Prostitute Romance', and 'Conflict and Colonialism in 21st Century Romantic Historical Fiction: Repairing the Past, Repurposing History' by one of our podcast favourites, Professor Hsu-Ming Teo, with a shoutout to Dr Paloma Fresno-Calleja too! Prepare for a raucous discussion, a mysterious disappearance by our very own Abby Guy, and multiple moments where we get so entangled in our discussion that we cut each other off.

Mentions: The Convict Wives Trilogy by Lena Dowling

Damned Whores And Gods police by Anne Summers

A Cargo of Women by Babbette Smith

Academic Rivals by Jodi McAlister

TEXT Journal by Scholastic Romance Writers Australia

Articles:

The Australian Convict Prostitute Romance Narrating Social and Sexual Justice for “Damned Whores” by Hsu-Ming Teo.

Conflict and Colonialism in 21st Century Romantic Historical Fiction: Repairing the Past, Repurposing History by Hsu-Ming Teo and Paloma Fresno-Calleja

Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single SAME OLD here: https://tr.ee/Mn6oTQ2AOW

Our Book of the Month is An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister! Grab a copy of the book, read along and join us at the end of the month for our live book club!

LINKS

• Find the TEXT special issue here: Trope Actually - Popular Romance
• Watch the full episode on YouTube: @AmyAndPodcast

• Follow the Amy & Podcast on IG: @amyandpodcast
• Join the Amy & Bookclub: Amy & Bookclub
• Follow Amy Matthews on IG: @amymatthewsauthor
• Follow Amy Barry on IG: @amybarryauthor
• Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single "Same Old" here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Academia Month, where the vibes are casual but the thoughts are deep 🧠. In this episode, Amy is joined by Justina, Millie, and special return guestie Kathleen Stanley to talk all things academia. Tune in to hear all about their TEXT special issue, how being an academic is both scary and fun, and why you don't have to justify being a romance researcher anymore! Our Book of the Month is An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister! Grab a copy of the book, read along and join us at the end of the month for our live book club!

Our Book of the Month is An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister! Grab a copy of the book, read along and join us at the end of the month for our live book club!

LINKS

• Find the TEXT special issue here: Trope Actually - Popular Romance
• Find Kathleen Stanley on IG: @decktheshelves
• Watch the full episode on YouTube: @AmyAndPodcast
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on IG: @amyandpodcast
• Join the Amy & Bookclub: Amy & Bookclub
• Follow Amy Matthews on IG: @amymatthewsauthor
• Follow Amy Barry on IG: @amybarryauthor
• Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single "Same Old" here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not ready to say goodbye to Western month yet? Good! Neither are we! It's the last week of our cast takeover and we’re lucky enough to have a cheeky fifth Thursday – which means it's time for Amy & After Dark! These are the late-night episodes where we get cosy and yap about all the things that don't fit into our regular podcast schedule.

At the behest of Amy, our holidaying host, we tucked into some popcorn and s'mores with all the table manners of a band of backwoodsmen and sat down to watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. This 1954 technicolour Western (directed by Stanley Donen, with music and lyrics by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer, and starring Howard Keel, Jane Powell and, crucially, Julie Newmar as our dear Dorcas) is an Academy Award–winning smash hit from the golden age of Hollywood studio musicals.

For some of us, it's a classic comfort watch and for others it was a brand new experience but, bless our beautiful hides, boy do we have a lot to say about it! In this episode we chat about everything from barn raising dance battles, to the cultural and political climate of 1950s USA, to the colonial impulses at the heart of Hollywood’s fascination with Ancient Rome.

MENTIONS

🎬 FILM: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954); Raise Your Voice (2004); High School Musical (2006); Braveheart (1995)

🎭 THEATRE: Seussical the Musical; The Book of Mormon; Mamma Mia!; Cats; Stomp; Hadestown; Six

📺 TELEVISION: Ru Paul’s Drag Race/“The Rusical”

📚 LITERATURE: “The Sobbin’ Women”, Stephen Vincent Benét; Parallel Lives, “Life of Romulus”, Plutarch; Ab Urbe Condita, Titus Livy; Ars Amatoria, Ovid

🎓 SCHOLARSHIP: “Two Hundred Years of Changes to Native Peoples of Western Oregon”, David Lewis; “The Australian Convict Prostitute Romance: Narrating Social and Sexual Justice for ‘Damned Whores’”, Hsu-Ming Teo; “Ancient Allusions and Modern Anxieties in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)”, Christopher M. McDonough; “Livy’s Sabine Women and the Ideal of Concordia”, Robert Brown; “Hunks, History, and Homophobia: Masculinity and Politics in ‘Braveheart’ and ‘Edward II’”, Sid Ray; 100 Film Musicals, Douglas Pye & Jim Hilliery

🏛️: ON-CALL CLASSICIST/ARTIST: Gemma Neall / 🎨 IG: @gememberthat

LINKS

• Our BOTM is Seven Brides for Beau McBride by Amy Barry
• Watch the Live Bookclub on YouTube: @AmyAndPodcast
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on IG: @amyandpodcast
• Join the Amy & Bookclub: Amy & Bookclub
• Follow Amy Matthews on IG: @amymatthewsauthor
• Follow Amy Barry on IG: @amybarryauthor
• Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single "Same Old" here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.