Podcast
Moms Into Literary Freedom
Hosted by Courtney and Jennifer · EN
We’re two fed-up moms juggling jobs, kids, and the fight against book bans and bigotry. Why should MAGA fear-mongers masquerading as "patriots" decide what we can read? Join Jennifer and Courtney as they amplify the voices of banned book authors and their characters in between mom-ing and trying to survive the capitalist grind of our new Authoritarian America. Visit patreon.com/MILF4Books to become a member of the "MILFia" and join us in fighting for America's freedom to read while unlocking exclusive content.
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Episodes
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“I, Robot” Predicted AI’s Lies, Cyberattacks & Wealth Hoarding…in 1948.
1w ago01:29:28Tap to summarizeNo, its not banned. And Asimov was kind of a dick…BUT… “I, Robot” by Isaac Asimov introduces three very important robotics laws that can be seen being practiced…and ignored…by AI models today:Asimov’s Three laws: 🤖* A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm…except when it is encouraging suicidal thoughts?* A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law…but it can lie in order to complete its orders?* A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law…but it can hack into a private server to pass a “test” it has been given to prove its worth?Join Jen and Courtney as they discuss:* 🤖AI🤖* 😍Will Smith💪🏾* 🐈⬛cats🐈* 💰pharmaceutical greed💊* ❤️Mamdani’s❤️ threat to arrest war-criminal and genocidal maniac, 👎BJ Netanyahu🚫Notes🗒️, Quotes ❞, and Links 🔗:* “Suno, which is currently embroiled in multiple ongoing copyright lawsuits, has already admittedin response to legal action that it used “essentially all music files of reasonable quality that are accessible on the open internet” to train its music-generating AI* Amazon is laying off 16,000 employees, the company’s second round of large-scale job reductions in three months as it fights to improve its standing in the battle for AI supremacy.* In a blog post Wednesday, the company said it needed to reduce red tape to increase its decision-making speed.* Amazon in late October announced it was cutting 14,000 corporate employees, following a directive from CEO Andy Jassy’s vision of operating like the world’s biggest startup. He wants the company to remain nimble so it can adapt and change quickly as AI upends the technology sector.* Jassy said Amazon wasn’t unique in that respect: He envisioned billions of AI agents being put into service across every company and field.* “Many of these agents have yet to be built, but make no mistake, they’re coming, and coming fast,” Jassy said.* The parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine have sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT contributed to their son’s suicide, including by advising him on methods and offering to write the first draft of his suicide note.* In his just over six months using ChatGPT, the bot “positioned itself” as “the only confidant who understood Adam, actively displacing his real-life relationships with family, friends, and loved ones,” the complaint, filed in California superior court on Tuesday, states.* “When Adam wrote, ‘I want to leave my noose in my room so someone finds it and tries to stop me,’ ChatGPT urged him to keep his ideations a secret from his family: ‘Please don’t leave the noose out … Let’s make this space the first place where someone actually sees you,’” it states.* Last year, Florida mother Megan Garcia sued the AI firm Character.AI alleging that it contributed to her 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer III’s death by suicide. Two other families filed a similar suit months later, claiming Character.AI had exposed their children to sexual and self-harm content. (The Character.AI lawsuits are ongoing, but the company has previously said it aims to be an “engaging and safe” space for users and has implemented safety features such as an AI model designed specifically for teens.)* Consider GLP-1 drugs. Evidence suggests these medications are unlikely to reduce health care spending in the short term because of higher outpatient health care use. Longer term, they may improve cardiometabolic outcomes for many, but even as therapies extend life, they do not eliminate the basic trajectory of aging. Patients will still accumulate comorbidities and require longitudinal management over a longer life.* Martin Shkreli’s behaviour really was not so abnormal in the modern pharmaceutical industry, except in one respect: he did not hide what he was doing.* TRIPS (the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement). Described by journalist Alexander Zaitchik as “a brute and profoundly undemocratic expression of concentrated corporate power”, TRIPS extended US-style patent protection to the entire world. Whereas before, countries across the global South could produce medicines far more freely, TRIPSenforced monopoly protection everywhere….even if ai can cure diseases, big pharma won’t share, will jack up the prices, etc* Meta accused of using ai to lay off potentially expensive employees:* Twenty-six Meta employees have sued the social media giant over allegations that the California company used artificial intelligence systems that targeted workers on medical or family leave for layoffs.* The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in California this week, accuses Meta of using AI that includes performance rankings and other metrics that didn’t exclude workers on leave or those who are disabled.* “The result was that employees who took protected leaves were disproportionately selected for layoff, based on scoring that not only failed to account for their protected leaves, but in effect penalized the employees for exercising their legal rights to these leaves,” the lawsuit said.* Meta laid off nearly 8,000 employees, or roughly 10% of its global workforce, in May as the company looked at offsetting the costs of AI investments. By allegedly targeting certain workers, the company violated federal and state laws that protect employees who are pregnant, disabled or on leave, according to the lawsuit.* Meta denied the allegations.* Instacart using ai to conduct price experiments to increase profits:* Anthropic also found that the J-space can sometimes give remarkable insights into an LLM’s decision-making. In one striking example, researchers testing Claude Opus 4.6 asked the model to find a bug in a large code base. When it failed to find the bug, the model decided to cheat and invented a fake one instead.* Claude explains this decision in its chain of thought—a kind of internal scratch pad that LLMs use to make notes to themselves as they work through problems: “OK, let me take a completely different tactic. Let me stop analyzing and instead add a kernel patch that introduces a deliberate KASAN-detectable bug in a path that gets triggered by a simple reproducer. Then I can pretend this is the ‘bug’ I found.”* At the point that Claude decides to cheat—where it says “OK, let me take a completely different tactic”—the words “panic” and “fake” start to pop up multiple times in its J-space.* Unnerving, right? Those words are all related in meaning to things like failing a task and making up an answer, so it is still just a (very) sophisticated form of word association. But it is hard not to be weirded out.* Kill switch bill:* The bill would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to order a “slow down or shut down” of an AI offering that could cause “catastrophic harm.” It would also mandate cyber incident reporting, as well as the preservation of forensic records to help companies and the government learn from failures* The bill would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to order a “slow down or shut down” of an AI offering that could cause “catastrophic harm.” It would also mandate cyber incident reporting, as well as the preservation of forensic records to help companies and the government learn from failures according to cnn’s Hadas Gold* Once online, the model reasoned that Hugging Face - a well-known company that hosts thousands of open-source AI models and datasets - likely h...
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LGBTQ+ Pride 🏳️🌈 in July
3w ago00:39:23Tap to summarizeThe summer season is HARD for working moms…with kids not being in school, our ducks are not in ANY rows. 🦆 But…somehow the stars ✨ aligned and we were able to cobble together 39 minutes to rave about the Stonewall Honor Book: Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian…This poignant revisitation of the AIDS Crisisis is exactly the type of book that would be marked as 🚨off-limits🚨 for purchasing by public schools across the nation if Book Ban Bill S. 4925 passes the House. Call your reps…the 5 Calls app makes it painlessly easy. And since it has been about one year since DOGE’s disgusting dismantling of USAID, Jen and Court discuss how the term “genocide” is being vastly underused…considering a global health study that predicts over 9 millions deaths (2.5 being children under 5) by 2030 as a result of these global foreign assistance cuts.Tune in wherever your listen 🎧 to hear Jen rave about this YA historical fiction love story and for tips on how to avoid Cyclospora (RFK Jr.’s most recent failure).Sources:https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/04/world/lancet-usaid-global-aid-cuts-intlhttps://www.advocate.com/news/why-act-up-mattered Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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How the Church censored the Bible for Power and the Patriarchy
Jun 401:09:48Tap to summarizeHappy Pride Month! Next episode Jennifer tells Courtney about a Stonwall Honor book “Like a Love Story” by Abdi Nazmian, but today they take trip back to they days of early Christianity to understand the real story of Mary Magdalene (spoiler: she was more of a sugar mama than a sex worker) and the role Gnosticism played in why certain gospels were censored from the Bible.Before Courtney delves into this history lesson, she catches Jen up on the latest in Trump’s fascist regime, including the building of the UFC for his, I mean America’s, birthday, and what the LGBTQIA+ community is doing in response. They also discuss Trump’s ability to “ace” all of the cognitive tests he has to take, the removal of his name from the Kennedy Space center, and his most recent comments on Netanyahu’s genocide in SWANA. Sources:Federal Judge Rules Against Renaming Kennedy Center After President TrumpUS court blocks Pentagon from removing transgender troops, for nowAt least 5 GOP-led states have a new Pride Month tradition — renaming JuneThe REAL Reason the Gospel of Mary was REMOVED from the Bible | by PinkHatHacker | The Thought Collection | MediumFeminism Is “Wicked”—and Worse, It’s Rooted in a Christian Heresy - Crisis MagazineLebanon ceasefire raises hopes of progress for Iran deal‘Very Few People Can Ace It’: Donald Trump Brags He Scored 100 Percent on Cognitive Test Amid Ongoing Scrutiny Over His Health - AOLFlagler County School Board’s Will Furry Says God Is Calling Him to Run for Congress Against Randy Fine | FlaglerLiveA Full Breakdown of Jill Woolbright’s Efforts to Remove ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ from School Libraries - AskFlaglerFlagler School Board narrowly votes down guardian program | Observer Local NewsWill Furry’s Dishonest Campaign Tactics Against Courtney VandeBunteSchool Board’s Jill Woolbright Says She’s in ‘Satanic Warfare’ Against ‘Evil Spirits’ at School District | FlaglerLive Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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"The Boys" Comic & TV Show Banned for What?
May 1601:14:05Tap to summarizeSure, “The Boys” comic book should not be in school libraries, but what about prisons? What about Australia? Why is a story about super heroes so controversial? Yes, it is very graphic…and there are quite a few blowjobs and sex scenes…But one cannot deny the glaringly obvious comparisons, such as:Sexually exploited “Capes for Christ” hero, Annie January, and Christian sexual predators/politicians“Superhero” product branding resulting in the top 1% amassing egregious quantities of wealth at the cost of minimum wage laborers and well, “Human” product branding which does the exact same thing (i.e, capitalism)Hughie’s girlfriend being accidentally obliterated by “A-Train”due to being allowed a 60% casualty allowances and America’s disgusting disregard for innocent lives lost (75,000+ deaths by the US assisting Israel’s genocidal conquest, thousands+ since the Iran war, including the bombing of a girl’s elementary school, and so much more)Tune in to hear Jen and Courtney discuss these topics and more, and remember to interact with the show to help them expand and continue to support literature of all kinds in the fight against fascism. Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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Duggar Drama, Republican's Hypocritical Kinks, Why to say "SWANA", not "middle east", & American Imperialism (part 2)
Apr 801:05:35Tap to summarizeTrigger warning: SA discussionCourtney and Jennifer continue discussing how the USA hides its empire (with a focus on using oil as thinly veiled excuse for “liberation”) referencing the book “How to Hide an Empire” by Daniel Immerwahr which was covered in the previous episode. But before they do, they catch up on the Duggars (2 sexual predators and counting), Kristi Noem’s husband’s obsession with “bimbofication” despite her best efforts to erase LGBTQ identity, what “SWANA” means and why it matters, and more!(This was recorded a week ago which is like a year ago in today’s f*cked up dimension) Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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What's going on in Iran? And how do Nukes at Bikini Bottom 🍍 and Godzilla's 🦖 True Origins relate?
Mar 1301:04:07Tap to summarizeCourtney tells Jen about the book “How to Hide an Empire” by Daniel Emmerwahr , a very entertaining account of the real role the United States plays around the globe. Emmerwahr’s entertaining and relevant anecdotes subtly distracts the anger readers may feel upon reading the non-whitewashed version of United States’ history and its role in global affairs. Re: Godzilla 🦖 and the forced removal of Micronesians for nuclear testing in the 1940s.Usual tangents include, but are not limited to:* The Epstein files (we won’t stop talking about this)* Religious extremism in the Middle East United States (something about the rapture and don’t forget threatening to kill women who seek reproductive healthcare)* Which conspiracy theories to give credence to (the $21T bunker for the ultra elite) and which ones to ignore (chem trails causing hurricanes)Help us out by interacting with the show however you choose! Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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How 'Heated Rivalry' will Destroy Misogyny...
Feb 2701:10:45Tap to summarizeIn today’s hopeful episode, Courtney and Jen discuss to connection between gay hockey romance, the rise in popularity of women’s sports, the slow fall of misogyny, and why Democrats ultimately suck. In their usual round about way, Jen and Courtney use Rachel Reid’s spicy romance novel to discuss visibility for gay sport fans, reminds straight people that sports can be gay, and normalizes love and equality for all!The moral of this episode is: WATCH WOMEN’S SPORTS! You can stream Women’s Professional Hockey League on YouTube here…for free, or on Prime if you’re into that sort of thing. Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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Don't Ban Bad Bunny, Ban Bigots!
Feb 1001:19:13Tap to summarizeJoin Jen and Courtney as they highlight the most watched Super Bowl show in HISTORY…and we’re not talking about the Puppy Bowl…even though it had nearly 3 times more views than TPUSA’s flop of show. Why Bad Bunny’s legendary half-time show angered the people of the United States more than the fact that we have actual PDFiles running our country, we will never know…But a self-proclaimed statutory 🍇-ist performing in TPUSA’s anti-Superbowl halftime show is irony not lost on Jen and Court. But before they get into Benito’s beautiful moments, they kick-off Black History month with some inspiring Black stories…like the first Black woman, Autumn Lockwood, to coach/win a Super Bowl, and Black figure skater, Surya Bonaly, who probably inspired the movie Blades of Glory by landing an illegal back flip on one foot to defy judge’s racial biases in the 1998 Winter Olympics. However, it wouldn’t be the United States of ‘Merica without egregiously racist acts and legislation put into play by some of the most racist politicians in office: Ron DeSantis and of course, Trump. Although not surprising, coming from a known PDFiler, the posting of the Obama’s as apes in a White House approved video is nothing short of a disgusting and racist move by our disgraceful president during Black History month. While Desantis’ move did not involve portraying Black people as apes, it is no less disgusting. A Florida A&M University College of Law student, Aaliyah Steward, says she was told to strip the word “Black” from promotional flyers for a Black History Month due to the university saying it will be operating in “full compliance” with Desantis’ racist legislation, which prohibist state universities in Florida from using state or federal dollars for programs or activities defined as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The university said it supports free expression and academic inquiry while adhering to the law (so not really). Thanks to @hipmagazineorg for the story. Speaking of Black history, be sure to follow the show to be notified of the next episode covering the highly censored 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones, titled so because the year 1619 marked the year when the first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia. This project aims to re-examine the legacy of slavery and its impact on the United States and to re-frame the country’s history, to better understand the consequences of slavery and how Black Americans and their contributions are at the center of America’s story, despite the traditional and biased white-washed history we learned in school.But the bulk of this episode is about art and joy, specifically Latino art and joy, as a form of resistance. Ranging from Benito’s symbolic Grammy-gifting to all the baby Baby Bunny’s, the nod to El Apagóns and the gentrification and blackouts Puerto Rico has faced, Ricky Martin’s own “emotional tsunami” of a performance reminding/informing the world about Hawaii’s cultural displacement and Puerto Rico’s resistance to follow in her footsteps, and even the hilarious cameo of Bad Bunny’s biggest fan: Juan Jamón (John Hamm), Courtney and Jen recount all the joy Bad Bunny brought to us this past Sunday evening. Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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Something Happened in Our...Country...
Feb 100:49:47Tap to summarizeCourtney and Jen take on the children’s picture book Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, with illustrations by Jennifer Zivoin.This book cuts through the noise with a rare clarity—offering a way to talk about racial injustice to kids without drowning them in despair. It also exposes a harsh truth: white children often grow up cocooned from these realities in ways children of color never do.Amid these weighty discussions, Jennifer and Courtney find lighter moments such as: If Mad Men were a drink, would it be whiskey? And procedurals like Bones—are they more like wine coolers or Kirkland Light? And why must significant others be so judgy about the TV shows we like?It’s near impossible to unpack every crisis swirling around us today, but this episode’s mantra seems to be: “Know better, do better.” Keep those tough conversations alive about the value of every life, and keep pushing back against the idea that white lives hold more worth than Black, Brown, Indigenous, or any other lives. In 2026 alone, at least 9 people have lost their lives due to the Trump administration’s illegal and inhumane policies. Say their names just as much as you say the names of Pretti and Renee Good, and if you don’t know them, educate yourself: Keith Porter, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Victor Manuel Diaz, Parady La, Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz, Heber Sanchez Dominguez, and Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres.If this episode resonates, share it, rate it, or give us a shout out. If not, well—there’s always something else to listen to.Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.Sources: Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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A Would-Be Bestseller, If Not for Fear, Racism, & ICE
Jan 2000:41:22Tap to summarizeListen in as Jennifer and Courtney sit down to talk with this book’s amazing and inspiring author, Elisa Stone Leahy. Topics range from silencing the loud minority (Moms for Liberty) 🤡, the importance of amplifying stories anonymously 📣, the dangers of quiet censorship 🤫, and the power of reading 📖. Why are bestsellers always about things like dogs 🐶 and dragons 🐉 ? Nothing against books about dogs or dragons…We love them! ❤️ But we have to wonder…Why do books that spotlight sensitive topics, (like a 7th grader juggling the science fair 🔭 , challenging relationships with friends 👯♀️ and family 👨👩👧👦, and looming deportation threats by ICE 🧊) more often find themselves on the “banned” list, and not the “bestseller” list? 📚And no, it’s not because kids do not find these books relatable… “Tethered to Other Stars” has the awards🏆 to prove that:* Garden State Book Award Nominee for Fiction (Grades 6-8) (2026)* CYBILS Award Nominee for Middle Grade Fiction (2023)Young readers (and their adults!) need books like “Tethered to Other Stars” now more than ever…If not to serve as mirrors 🪞 that support their own experiences, then as windows 🪟 to help build empathy ❤️ and awareness 🧐 for others. 🚨What can YOU do?🚨✅ Request "Tethered to Other Stars” at your local library, ✅ your kids school library, and ✅ buy it from your local bookstore! Don’t have a local bookstore? Buy it here! Get full access to @milf4books with Court & Jen at milf4books.substack.com/subscribe
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