It's our first listener-requested title: An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley! This play was new to our hosts, but required for students in the UK, which makes for a delightfully British-ish episode. Join Lauren and Jess as they explore this "Compulsory Classic," expand their slang-vocabulary and examine all the different ways in which rich old British people can be assholes. Thanks for the request, Beth! Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and get your copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula ready so you can join us in February (maybe?) for some gothic goodness. Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

Required Readcast

#23: An Inspector Calls

It's our traditional bummer of a holiday episode with The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen! Join Lauren and Jess as they sympathize with our frozen little heroine, strategize smarter match-selling methods and try to muster up a little holiday cheer this late in 2020. Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and get your copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula ready so you can join us in January for some gothic goodness. Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#22: The Little Match Girl

Come for the Pride, stay for the Prejudice (and Persuasion!) Join Lauren and Jess for a foray into the ultimate romantic comedy, Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice... with a little bit of Persuasion thrown in there for good measure. Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and get your copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula ready so you can read along for our October episode. Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#21: Pride & Prejudice (and Persuasion!)

Join your hosts Lauren Bahlman and Jessica Austgen for a sneak peek at the titles for Season Three of Required Readcast. Sept: Pride & Prejudice (& Persuasion!) Oct: Dracula Nov: An Inspector Calls December: Les Miserables Volume Two: Cosette

Season Three Sneak Peek!

Is the Baby-Sitters Club great literature? No. Is it a soothing, easy read during COVID times? Hells, yes. Join Lauren and Jess as they (remotely) reminisce about this treasured childhood series, discuss the finer points of living in suburban Connecticut and wonder if Kristy Thomas might be responsible for the current gig economy. Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and stay tuned for our next title! Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#20: The Baby-Sitter's Club #1 (Kristy's Great Idea)

Hey you crumby phonies! Jess and Lauren tackle their most-requested title, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and check out Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar for our next episode! Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#19: The Catcher in the Rye

Get those tiny hearts ready, because they're about to grow THREE WHOLE SIZES with holiday cheer! Join Lauren and Jess and they discuss the holiday classic, Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and send us your suggestions for Season Three! Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#18: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Oh wow, these lil bitches are charming AF! (Except Amy, she sucks) Join Jessica and Lauren for the wholesome feminist goodness that is Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and send us your suggestions for Season Three! Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#17: Little Women

Hold on to your butts (er...asses?) and head into the woods with Jessica and Lauren as they discuss William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and brush up on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women for our next episode! Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#16: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Big Brother definitely does not approve of this episode. Join Lauren, Jess and special guest Sean Scrutchins (Winston Smith in the Benchmark Theater production) as they talk through George Orwell's horrifyingly prescient 1984. Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and keep pushing through Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, because we're talking Volume Two: Cosette on the next episode. Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#15: 1984 (with Sean Scrutchins)

Is this the saddest book ever? Well... yeah. It's kinda in the title. Join Jess and Lauren for the first volume of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, a bummer of an epic novel that will make you super glad that you're not a single mother in old-timey France. Silver lining: there's a marmot! Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and join us next month for George Orwell's 1984 at our very first live show on March 18th.

#14: Les Miserables Vol. One

New year, new magical country. Come through the wardrobe with Jess and Lauren as we explore C.S. Lewis' first story in Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Dont' forget to put on your fur coat, your most British-ish accent and pack an extra helping or two of Turkish Delight (What the effing eff IS Turkish Delight anyway?). Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and join us next month for a (the first chunk of) Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. Required Readcast is brought to you by the good people at Sexpot Comedy.

#13: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

God bless us, everyone! For the year end episode, Lauren and Jess tackle the most essential of all holiday stories: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Have a cup of holiday cheer (meaning: booze) and join us for a spooky holiday ghost story made even spookier by the spectre of unmoved Elves of Shelves, Victorian Era swingers parties and terminally ill urchins. Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and shoot us a message suggesting books for us to cover in 2019 Required Readcast is brought to you by the good people at Sexpot Comedy.

#12: A Christmas Carol

Nothing will ruin your holiday spirit like O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi, a bummer of a short story about Christmas shopping gone horribly awry! In this episode, Jess and Lauren get real sad, discuss terrible gifts of holidays past, and someone dies from the TB... but there is the briefest mention of otters to brighten the mood! Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and pick up Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and read along for our next holiday themed episode! Required Readcast is brought to you by the good people at Sexpot Comedy. Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.

#11: The Gift of the Magi

Lauren and Jess both agree: there's nothing revolting about Roald Dahl's Matilda. Listen in as your hosts talk newts vs. salamanders, discuss truly terrible teachers and marvel over the vocal stylings of one Miss Kate Winslet.  Like us on FB, follow us on Twitter and Insta and get your hands on O. Henry's short (like, REALLY short) story, The Gift of the Magi. Required Readcast is brought to you by the good people at Sexpot Comedy. Theme music and lyrics by Max McEwan and Noah Wilson, vocals by Erin C. Willis.  

#10: Matilda

Why the f*** did we read this book? Join Denver comediennes/book nerds Jessica Austgen and Lauren Bahlman as they dive back into the required reading list to see which books are still awesome... and which scarred us for life. (Spoiler: The Outsiders is great and Tess of the D'Urbervilles can suck it.)

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Required Readcast

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