Some stories don’t just stay with you, they change you.

For episode eight, I sit down with LGBTQ writer, educator, and advocate Emily Garside to obsess over Schitt’s Creek. With a PhD in theater and performance and a shelf of books on queer history and TV, Emily is a professional nerd in the best way. But her real superpower? She literally wrote the book on Schitt’s Creek. Twice.

Why is watching a family lose everything so comforting? What does a town without prejudice teach us about acceptance? And is the best ending the one that leaves room for fanfic?

Listen to find out our thoughts on these questions and more.

Created by: Alyssa Much
Music by: Dan D’Addeo (Providence, RI)
Art by: Jorm Sangsorn (Licensed via Adobe Stock)

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OTHER EPISODE NOTES:
Learn more about Emily and her work at EmilyGarside.com and follow The Nerdy Notebook on Substack.

Check out her two books on the show:

1. You Are My Happy Ending: Schitt’s Creek and the Legacy of Queer TV
2. Love That Journey for Me: The Queer Revolution of Schitt’s Creek

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Some stories don't just stay with you, they change you.

For episode seven, I sit down with one of my best friends, Shannon D'Addeo, to obsess over the Broadway phenomenon Hamilton. A corporate girlie with a love of side hustles, Shannon teaches group fitness, sells macrame at local markets, and gives excellent financial advice to her social media followers. But Shannon's real superpower? Knowing every line to Hamilton.

Is there really a villain in this story? How much do our past experiences dictate our coping skills? And are some people doomed to never be satisfied?

Listen to find out our thoughts on these questions and more.

Created by: Alyssa Much

Music by: Dan D'Addeo (Providence, RI)

Art by: Jorm Sangsorn (Licensed via Adobe Stock)

...

OTHER EPSIODE NOTES:

Check out Shannon on instagram @_shannmade

Also wanted to call out an INCREDIBLE video essay I found on Hamilton while researching for this episode: Hamilton & Motifs by Make Stuff

Follow us on Social Media:

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TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@storyobsessedpod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryObsessedPodcast/

Welcome, Crawler. The System has detected a new episode, and it has already begun counting your attention span.

This week, host Alyssa Much is joined by Krissy Hanthorn, HR tech expert, theme park enthusiast, devoted new mother, and a woman who spent date night painting Princess Donut. Her credentials are not in question.

Together, they descend into Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book One by Matt Dinneman: the story of a man in pink crocs, a show cat with dangerously high charisma stats, and an alien corporation that has claimed Earth for its resources and its entertainment.

Current objective: dissect all of it.

Spoilers are contained to Book One. In this episode: what makes Carl so devastatingly lovable, whether Donut is grieving or just performing, the slow-burn tragedy of Mordecai, why every character in this dungeon is performing for a corporation that controls their fate — and what that says about the world outside the dungeon. Also discussed: the chosen one debate, the Truman Show theory, and the fan theory that the System itself wants Carl and Donut to survive.

Your listening experience is ready. Ratings, as always, are everything.

Created by: Alyssa Much

Music by: Dan D'Addeo (Providence, RI)

Art by: Jorm Sangsorn (Licensed via Adobe Stock)

Follow us on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyobsessedpodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@storyobsessedpod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryObsessedPodcast/

Some stories don't just stay with you, they change you. For this episode, I sit down with published writer and editor Viva Whitman (https://vivawittman.com/), whose work has appeared in Bloodletter, Loam, and Carve magazines, to obsess over The Wax Child by Olga Ravn.

Can an object hold a memory the way a person does? What does this story reveal about the hysteria and cruelty behind the witch-hunts? And what do we owe the things we create, knowing they might outlive us?

Listen to find out our thoughts on these questions and more.

Follow us on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyobsessedpodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@storyobsessedpod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryObsessedPodcast/

For episode four, I sit down with corporate recruiter, renowned Dungeon Master, and lifelong movie buff Aedan Van Acker to obsess over The Animatrix.

Are the machines actually sentient, or just better than us at everything intellectual? Is the Matrix closer to real life than we want to admit? And why does a 2003 anime anthology feel more ahead of its time now than it did back then?

Listen to find out our thoughts on these questions and more.

Created by: Alyssa Much

Music by: Dan D'Addeo (Providence, RI)

Art by: Jorm Sangsorn (Licensed via Adobe Stock)

Follow us on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyobsessedpodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@storyobsessedpod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryObsessedPodcast/

For episode three, I bring on the person who taught me that stories are other worlds that you can disappear into: my big brother, Tyler Much. A COO, lifelong fantasy and sci-fi reader, and trading card expert, he's here to obsess over the show that started it all for a lot of us: Season one of Stranger Things.

Why does killing off a main character actually make a show better? Is Steve Harrington secretly the best character in the whole show? And are nostalgic for a childhood of freedom, or just a sense of danger?

Listen to find out our thoughts on these questions and more.

Created by: Alyssa Much

Music by: Dan D'Addeo (Providence, RI)

Art by: Jorm Sangsorn (Licensed via Adobe Stock)

Follow us on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyobsessedpodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@storyobsessedpod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryObsessedPodcast/

Corporate accountant, CPA, and go-to advice-giver Jess Trammel joins me to obsess over a book she rereads every single year: Crazy Rich Asians.

Can you marry into a family that's already decided who you're allowed to be? Does old money actually buy you anything real? And why does a story about billionaires keep coming back to something as small as ten quiet minutes with a cup of tea?

Listen to find out our thoughts on these questions and more.

Created by: Alyssa Much

Music by: Dan D'Addeo (Providence, RI)

Art by: Jorm Sangsorn (Licensed via Adobe Stock)

Follow us on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyobsessedpodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@storyobsessedpod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryObsessedPodcast/

Some stories don't just stay with you, they change you. On the very first episode of Story Obsessed, I sit down with lawyer, business owner, and certified life-of-the-party Steph D'Angelo to obsess over Fleabag.

What finally lets Fleabag grow? Are soulmates real? Is anyone ever really forgiven?

Listen to find out our thoughts on these questions and more.

Created by: Alyssa Much

Music by: Dan D'Addeo (Providence, RI)

Art by: Jorm Sangsorn (Licensed via Adobe Stock)

Follow us on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyobsessedpodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@storyobsessedpod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryObsessedPodcast/