The Mary Sue Squad: A Pop Culture Podcast
Episodes
Bonus: Our Cozy Season Faves
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The end of one year and the beginning of the next can be a cold and dreary time--which is why we got together to discuss the things that are making us...
The Cruel Prince
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A rat tail is always a red flag, ladies. Or is it? This week we discuss The Cruel Prince. We talk the religion of faerie and its influence on fantasy ...
Sunrise on the Reaping
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The games are hungrier than ever before as we jump into the backstory we never knew we needed: Haymitch. We discuss the power of propaganda and the di...
The Sword of Kaigen
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A loveless marriage, a disillusioned child, and a disastrous war story, oh my! The Sword of Kaigen is a highly rated self-published book that begs us ...
Pride and Prejudice - 1995 vs. 2005
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's the 20th anniversary of the 2005 movie adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice! In honor of the occasion, we watched the movie an...
The Song of Achilles
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A classic Homeric poem turned love story, The Song of Achilles will have you sighing, groaning, and maybe even weeping for our two star-crossed lovebi...
Funny Story
01 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Funny Story may not make you laugh but it will have you asking a lot of big questions, like is sex in a shared eating space okay if it's with your...
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
01 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a two besties turned coding geniuses decide to program their next game together, they can't dream of where their efforts would take them . . ...
Are Video Games . . . for Girls?
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Video games are getting more and more mainstream as people find their favorite niches, and in preparation of our read of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomor...
Babel
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I think the only joke we can make about this book is that its full title is Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Trans...
Divine Rivals
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Another romantasy book that has been popular on booktok, Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is a World War 1-esque, enemies-to-lovers story that isn't ...
The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology - Our Review Part Two
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
SURPRISE! Like TSwift herself, we had so much to say about The Tortured Poets Department album (which was really an Anthology), that we split this epi...
The Tortured Poets Department - Our Review Part One
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're millennials so of course we're gonna talk about our lady, Taylor Swift. In this episode we dig into the meaty lyrics and synthy, sorrowf...
Gideon the Ninth
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lesbians in spaaaaace! Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is one of Nikkita's favorite books, but what did Kaitlyn think of the gothic vibes? Did Mac...
Welcome to The Mary Sue Squad: A Pop Culture Podcast
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We've rebranded! Welcome to The Mary Sue Squad, where we play, read, and watch all sorts of media and chat about it. Come have fun with us!
Fourth Wing
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fourth Wing, the 2023 Winner for Best Romantasy, Goodreads Choice Award aaaaaand the worst book we read in 2023. Listen, we respect the hustle, but t...
Crescent City
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Get into the hit Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas by listening to our hot takes about sexy fairy alphaholes and special golden girls in our episo...
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We revisit Suzanne Collins's Panem in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to discover the story of President Snow's descent into tyranny--with ...
Bonus: Taylor Swift's "Midnights"
21 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We did something a little different this episode** and wanted to share our love for Taylor Swift, the modern poet and lyricist herself, by sharing our...
Midnight Sun
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're back to the Twilight story, but this time we are in our main emo man's head: Edward! Is he a better character now that we are in his per...
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This book is why none of us can go for walks in the woods with our earphones in anymore. Thanks Holly.
Twilight
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Twilight reduxe. We go back to where it all began: would we befriend Bella, or leave her to the werewolves? Was Edward’s sleeveless shirt a fashion ...
Austenland
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mr.Darcy: is he worth the hype? In this episode we discuss Shannon Hale’s 2007 classic Austenland. We talk romance as a traditionally feminine genre...
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When you're just trying to get away from that one annoying guy but you can't because you're tethered by the red string of fate. In the spirit world. B...
Six of Crows
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A hardened criminal stalks the streets of Ketterdam with his crew, and he just so happens to shop at Hot Topic. In this episode, we dig into Leigh Bar...
Fangirl
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For many of us, college is a cringey coming of age and a stress-fueled reality check. Fangirl manages to represent this perfectly, albeit more charmin...
The Kingdom of Back
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Oh, Nannerl. History did you dirty, but fortunately Marie Lu's fantasy novel, The Kingdom of Back, is here to put you centerstage where you should've ...
Children of Blood and Bone
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A kick-ass heroine with hair that gets curlier the more magical she becomes, an enemies-to-lovers romance, West African-inspired magic, and giant, rid...
Wilder Girls
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's all fun and games until someone grows a second spine. In this episode, we take a walk on the wild side of YA literature with Rory Power's novel W...
A Court of Thorns and Roses
08 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the sexiest court of the fey! We dissect the journey of the main protagonist, Feyre, as she navigates the magical (and terrifying) world of...
The Hunger Games
09 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Is The Hunger Games a feminist novel? Three twenty-somethings weigh in on dystopian tropes in YA, Katniss's issues with her mother, and how perfectly ...