Podcast
Cracked Spines
Hosted by Cyrus Amelia Fisher and Sarah Palmer · EN
Crack open a good book with two wise-cracking besties. Sarah and Cyrus are two queer English majors who use their degrees to commit crimes against literature.
Support us on Patreon for bonus episodes and merch! https://www.patreon.com/crackedspinespodcast
24episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Endure Domestic Air Travel
2w ago00:43:44Tap to summarizeThis week, two idiots discuss a third. We read Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers, the story of a craven buffoon and the asshole he's pestering. We saw a lot of ourselves in the characters. But first, we take a long walk through the Wichita airport, fast food moral failings, and United's war of attrition on the human psyche. Like we do talk about the book to be clear, but much like us on our recent travel day, it sure does take us a while to get anywhere. Support the show
Transcribe →Cleaning (With The Help of Books)
4w ago01:15:56Tap to summarizeWant to know a secret? Cleaning sucks. Want to know an even bigger secret? There are books that are supposed to help you deal with how much cleaning sucks! This week, Cyrus and Sarah dive into a few different nonfiction books about how to keep your space clean to see if any of it seems helpful. Spoiler alert - a huge chunk of this episode is about vibrators. You've been warned. Support the show
Transcribe →Writers Talking About Writing Books About Writing
Mar 2500:50:47Tap to summarizeThis week we're talking about the ultimate topic writers love to talk about: writing. God, writers love talking about writing. Cyrus takes a break from cranking out their novel to issue death threats and discuss their evolving take on imposter syndrome. Sarah indulges in a little therapy and discloses her top five coping techniques. Suicide Squad and Tremors both feature more than you might expect. All statements about killing Tom Cruise are just quirky lil jokes :3Support the show
Transcribe →Heated Rivalry (ft. A Proprietary Nootropic Mushroom Blend Inspired By Psychodelics)
Mar 400:55:37Tap to summarizeHello, everyone, welcome to this episode posted exactly on time where Sarah and Cyrus discuss the romance series of the moment, The Gay Hockey One That Now Has a TV Show. But first, 13 minutes of bullshit. We really make you wait for it. And we also spend a lot of time on Game Changers, the first book in the series which Sarah read and Cyrus didn't. You know how bad books sometimes demand conversation more than good ones? Also. Sweat. We discuss a lot of sweat. My dudes, this episode is all over the place. Enjoy?Support the show
Transcribe →Taboo Romance and Captive Prince
Feb 1001:07:03Tap to summarizeDark romance should be DARKER!!! But where is the line? This week we approach that age-old question through the lens of Captive Prince, a 2016 novel by C.S. Pacat, especially in comparison to the dark/taboo romance more popular today. We talk about censorship, purity politics, and the way that Amazon's restrictions on self-publishing content shapes the trends and tropes in romance today. Featuring a special guest star who finally SOLVES the issue of censorship vs freedom of expression forever! Yippee, we did it! (This episode contains spoilers for the three books in the Captive Prince trilogy)Content warnings: Discussions involving sexual assault, bestiality, and pedophilia. Support the show
Transcribe →There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
Jan 2600:49:58Tap to summarizeIt's a book! An actual book! Can you believe it? This week, Sarah and Cyrus read 'There Is No Antimemetics Division" by qntm, a novel that was originally a web serial about the SCP foundation, but has since found a home with its serial numbers filed off in tradpublishing. Sarah knows a little bit about SCP, Cyrus knows nothing, and they spend a good chunk of the episode trying and failing to come up with a tagline for this podcast. Support the show
Transcribe →THE PILE: Dissecting Our TBR Lists
Jan 1300:51:56Tap to summarizeThis week Cyrus and Sarah each bring their book stacks to the table to discuss what they are planning to read this year. They get immediately sidetracked into an argument about how many books you should have in your "to read" pile, how many books you should have in general, when you should decide to give a book away, and--most importantly--the most recent ways Cyrus nearly died due to hubris. Sarah is literally stunned speechless. Cyrus has learned nothing. They both have some ambitious reading goals for 2026. Support the show
Transcribe →2025 ROUND UP: The Milk Chronicles
Jan 100:48:50Tap to summarizeAt long last, the moment we've all been waiting for: Cyrus has finally obtained their white whale du jour, two specimens of the world's tallest chicken. Also it's the end of the year! Here is the big breakdown of all the books we read, enjoyed, were let down by, and thought about a lot. Cyrus has detailed stats from their spreadsheets and Sarah will die before giving up her beloved Book of Books. It's not a numbers game, but Sarah won. Support the show
Transcribe →What To Read When You Aren't Reading
Dec 1600:52:31Tap to summarizeHello, gang, time for the annual oopsie episode where we acknowledge the sins of our past (not uploading podcast episodes) and lay out our plans to change in the future (start three more podcast?). We catch up on life then eventually discuss THE question we return to again and again: what do you do when your TBR list gets too daunting. Cyrus discusses the frustration of false starts. Sarah gives up on the young adult genre. No shovels were harmed in the making of this episode, which makes these 50 or so minutes completely unique compared to the rest of Cyrus's enterprises. Support the show
Transcribe →Animorphs Part 8: You Can't Keep Inventing Gods!
Sep 2200:55:23Tap to summarizeHello friends, it's that special time of year - Animorphs time! And also Wasteland Weekend, but you don't care about that, you care about Cyrus and Sarah dunking on these traumatized teens! This week, books 38-42 are up for discussion, and they're kind of a mixed bag: strong performances from Ax and Jake, and a subpar showing from Sarah's fav, Rachel. Also on the docket: the squirrels that live in our ceiling and Cyrus' murderous vendetta against them, mispronouncing words, and the fact Sarah took an edible right before they started to record, and it starts to become very obvious at about the halfway mark. Fun is had by all.Support the show
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