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Babes in Bookland: Your Women's Memoir Podcast

Alex Frnka - Women Memoirs Host
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Women have always written extraordinary memoirs. We just haven't always talked about them loudly enough — until now. Babes in Bookland is a podcast dedicated entirely to memoirs by women, for women who are hungry for honest storytelling, big feelings, and real lives on the page. Each episode is part book discussion, part cultural conversation, and entirely unapologetic about centering women's experiences. Think of us as your most well-read friend who always knows exactly which book you need next.

  1. AUTHOR CHAT: Linda Rhodes' "Breaking The Barnyard Barrier"

    -5 J

    AUTHOR CHAT: Linda Rhodes' "Breaking The Barnyard Barrier"

    She graduates near the top of her veterinary class and still couldn't get hired... because she’s a woman! That’s where our conversation with memoirist Linda Rhodes begins and it only gets more vivid, entertaining, and frustrating from there. Linda and I talk about her book Breaking the Barnyard Barrier: A Woman Veterinarian Paves the Way and the reality of becoming a large animal veterinarian in rural Utah when sexism isn’t subtle, it’s stated out loud in job interviews. Linda takes us through the early spark that pulled her into farm work, to the gatekeeping she faced getting into vet school, to the pressure of being “the test case” for whether women can do the job. Along the way, we sit with the unglamorous truth of dairy cow medicine: freezing nights, no hospital nearby, no backup, and decisions that carry real consequences for animals and farmers. We also go deep on the memoir writing process. Linda shares why her mother’s death pushed her to write, how she learned to stop writing like a scientist and start writing like a storyteller, and how she chose what grief to put on the page and what to keep private. From there, the story widens into career reinvention, women in leadership, animal health pharmaceuticals, entrepreneurship, and what it looks like to build a family-friendly workplace that actually works. If you care about women in STEM, gender bias at work, memoir, veterinary medicine, or the kind of resilience that’s earned day after day, this conversation will stay with you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the moment that hit you hardest. Purchase Linda Rhode's "Breaking the Barnyard Barrier" Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack Other links: Feather in Her Cap Award Thank you for listening! Xx, Alex Connect with us and suggest a great memoir! Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

    1 h 8 min
  2. AUTHOR CHAT: Katya Dunko's "I Drank From the Nile"

    31 MARS

    AUTHOR CHAT: Katya Dunko's "I Drank From the Nile"

    Is life destiny or choice? "Drink from the Nile" is a phrase in Egypt that promises if you drink from the Nile river, you’re destined to return. Katya Dunko's memoir, named for this phrase, is her  refusal to let destiny be controlled by generational trauma. She broke the chain. We talk about the real story behind her jaw-dropping book: growing up in post-Soviet Ukraine, being stowed away on a train as a child, surviving a decade of opioid addiction, and later fleeing an abusive marriage in Egypt with her daughter. Katya doesn’t frame herself as flawless or “inspiring” in a neat way. She names the shame, the people-pleasing, the desperate search for love, and the terrifying moments where her safety is on the line. If you care about women’s memoir, addiction recovery stories, trauma healing, and what it takes to rebuild after emotional abuse, this conversation goes there with honesty and heart. We also get practical about the craft and the aftermath: what it’s like to spend seven years writing a trauma memoir, why she chose a pen name, how self-publishing forced her to learn everything from editing to marketing, and why narrative therapy helped her reframe her past into resilience instead of ruin. The biggest takeaway is simple and hard: pain spreads unless someone breaks the chain. Listen, then share this with a friend who needs a reminder that a clean slate is possible. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what “real strength” means to you now. Purchase Katya Dunko's "I Drank From the Nile" Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack Thank you for listening! Xx, Alex Connect with us and suggest a great memoir! Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

    58 min

  3. 26 MARS ·  CONTENU BONI • ABONNÉS UNIQUEMENT

    BONUS: Scheana Shay's "My Good Side"

    Scheana Shay has been on our screens for 11 seasons, so why does her memoir still feel like we barely know her? I sit down with Brett and get specific about My Good Side: what’s genuinely moving, what’s frustratingly polished, and what it reveals about the Bravo machine that made Vanderpump Rules a cultural obsession. We talk through the parts that actually land, especially her fertility journey, pregnancy loss, a traumatic birth story, and postpartum OCD with intrusive thoughts. Those chapters feel human in a way reality TV rarely allows, and we dig into why that kind of honesty matters for postpartum mental health, stigma, and getting the right help when you’re scared of being judged. Then we get into the hard stuff: the lack of self-awareness, the “good side” framing, the name-dropping without insight, and why the Brock Davies affair reveal doesn’t hit like the book seems to think it will. From Scandoval context to “bad edit” defenses, we ask what accountability looks like when your income depends on staying likable. The conversation expands into reality television ethics and power dynamics: when should production step in, what happens when viewers reward bad behavior, and why growth can be a liability in an ecosystem built for conflict. If you love Vanderpump Rules, celebrity memoirs, or media criticism, this episode is for you! Subscribe for more bonus episodes, share this with your Bravo group chat, and leave a review if you want more book breakdowns like this. What’s your verdict on Scheana: misunderstood, unchanged, or both?

    1 h 15 min
  4. BSB: Liza Minnelli's "Kids, Wait Till You Hear This"

    24 MARS

    BSB: Liza Minnelli's "Kids, Wait Till You Hear This"

    How do you break free of one legacy to cement your own?  We’re back with a bite-sized Babes in Bookland mini review of Liza Minnelli’s memoir “Kid, Wait Till You Hear This,” and it’s equal parts warm, jaw-dropping, and quietly devastating. I went in expecting old Hollywood stories and iconic name-drops. I got those... but I didn’t expect a brutally honest look at what fame can cost a family behind closed doors. I talk about Liza Minnelli the performer and cultural force: an EGOT-winning star of stage and screen, a voice people instantly recognize, and a public figure who showed up as an advocate during the AIDS crisis when many stayed silent. But the heart of her memoir is the private Liza, the daughter trying to survive a mother’s addiction and mental health storms while other adults fail to step in. Her pages on caretaking as a child, living with dread, and trying to “protect” a parent will hit especially hard if you’re an adult child of an addict or you’ve carried responsibilities that were never yours. Liza’s account of her own substance use disorder and recovery, including rehab at the Betty Ford Center and the long road to real sobriety, is the most powerful part of the story and one of the most human celebrity memoir moments I’ve read. If you’re looking for a memoir podcast that blends pop culture with real conversations about addiction recovery, denial, resilience, and choosing life, this one’s for you. Subscribe for more women’s memoir reviews, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review so more readers can find the show. What’s one “yes” you need to tell yourself today? SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you. Purchase Liza Minnelli's "Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!" Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack Xx, Alex Connect with us and suggest a great memoir! Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

    19 min
  5. AUTHOR CHAT: Ayana Lage's "Missing Me"

    17 MARS

    AUTHOR CHAT: Ayana Lage's "Missing Me"

    Author Ayana Lage joins the show to talk about Missing Me, her memoir of postpartum psychosis and the long road back.  We talk about perfectionism as a coping strategy, anxiety as a lifelong undercurrent, and the exhausting need to be seen as “good” while feeling like you’re failing inside. Ayana shares how she turned hospital journals and medical records into a tightly crafted, nonlinear memoir, how she handled the fear of reviews, and what it means to tell the truth when your story includes your partner and your parents. We also get honest about how faith can comfort you and still leave you carrying guilt when mental health doesn’t improve, and why therapy and medication are not character flaws. Then we widen the lens to the realities that raise the stakes: Black maternal health disparities, being dismissed in medical settings, and why support like a doula can matter. We clarify what postpartum psychosis can look like, why it’s different from postpartum depression or postpartum OCD, and how stigma harms mothers, babies, and families when people don’t know the signs. Ayana closes with the aftermath: releasing shame, planning a second pregnancy with care, making feeding choices without guilt, and finding joy in the mundane. Subscribe, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review if it helps you see postpartum mental health with more clarity and compassion. Purchase Missing Me by Ayana Lage Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack Thank you for listening! Xx, Alex Connect with us and suggest a great memoir! Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

    54 min
  6. True Colors // Christina Applegate's "You with the Sad Eyes"

    10 MARS

    True Colors // Christina Applegate's "You with the Sad Eyes"

    A memoir can feel like a mirror you didn’t ask for.  We opened Christina Applegate’s and found an unvarnished account of survival: a child actor who worked to live, a dancer who prayed with her body, an artist who hid behind “Christina Applegate” until truth demanded center stage.   We dig into the fault lines: body image and shame running alongside career highs; Sweet Charity on Broadway as a masterclass in grit after a brutal injury; pay inequity countered by quiet solidarity; and more. Her reflections on breast cancer and MS aren’t wrapped in “warrior” clichés.  If you’ve ever performed strength because the world is allergic to pain, her confession will help you feel seen. We also sit with research tying childhood trauma to MS risk, not as final verdict but as a challenge to take our histories seriously. By the end, she rejects the persona and claims the name her people use—Kiki—then asks a question that lingers: Who are you? Hit play for a thoughtful, unsentimental conversation about truth, trauma, dance, illness, craft, and the fragile alchemy of happiness-with-sadness. If this moved you, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review telling us the line you can’t stop thinking about. Purchase Christina Applegate's "You with the Sad Eyes" Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack Thank you for listening! Xx, Alex Connect with us and suggest a great memoir! Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

    1 h 5 min

  7. 9 MARS ·  CONTENU BONI • ABONNÉS UNIQUEMENT

    SUBSCRIBER: Christina Applegate's "You with the Sad Eyes"

    A memoir can feel like a mirror you didn’t ask for. We opened Christina Applegate’s and found an unvarnished account of survival: a child actor who worked to live, a dancer who prayed with her body, an artist who hid behind “Christina Applegate” until truth demanded center stage. We dig into the fault lines: body image and shame running alongside career highs; Sweet Charity on Broadway as a masterclass in grit after a brutal injury; pay inequity countered by quiet solidarity; and more. Her reflections on breast cancer and MS aren’t wrapped in “warrior” clichés. If you’ve ever performed strength because the world is allergic to pain, her confession will help you feel seen. We also sit with research tying childhood trauma to MS risk, not as final verdict but as a challenge to take our histories seriously. By the end, she rejects the persona and claims the name her people use—Kiki—then asks a question that lingers: Who are you? Hit play for a thoughtful, unsentimental conversation about truth, trauma, dance, illness, craft, and the fragile alchemy of happiness-with-sadness. If this moved you, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review telling us the line you can’t stop thinking about. Thank you for supporting the show! Xx, Alex

    1 h 16 min
  8. Pain into Power // Demi Moore's "Inside Out"

    4 MARS

    Pain into Power // Demi Moore's "Inside Out"

    Think you know Demi Moore? Think again.  My friend, Mackenzie, and I peel back the tabloid myths to trace a far more gripping arc: a child who found safety in hospital routines because home was chaos, a teenager forced to protect herself when the adults failed, and an artist who spent years equating value with a number on the scale while breaking box‑office ceilings and cultural taboos. Guided by Demi’s memoir Inside Out, we connect the dots between early trauma, addiction, codependence, and the relentless body scrutiny of Hollywood—and how those patterns transform when you finally choose yourself. If this moved you, tap follow, share with a friend who loves smart memoir deep dives, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find the show. Your support helps us bring you more conversations that go beyond the headlines. Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack Link to this episode’s book: Demi Moore's "Inside Out" Other links: What is Kabbalah? Demi Moore's Vanity Fair cover & article Xx, Alex Connect with us and suggest a great memoir! Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

    1 h 24 min
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À propos

Women have always written extraordinary memoirs. We just haven't always talked about them loudly enough — until now. Babes in Bookland is a podcast dedicated entirely to memoirs by women, for women who are hungry for honest storytelling, big feelings, and real lives on the page. Each episode is part book discussion, part cultural conversation, and entirely unapologetic about centering women's experiences. Think of us as your most well-read friend who always knows exactly which book you need next.

Informations

  • Créateur
    Alex Frnka - Women Memoirs Host
  • Années d’activité
    2024 - 2026
  • Épisodes
    117
  • Classement
    Contenu explicite
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Babes in Bookland: Your Women's Memoir Podcast
  • Site Web de l’émission
    Babes in Bookland: Your Women's Memoir Podcast
  • Fournisseur
    Alex Conway

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