We're back and we have missed you! Is it even a podcast if we haven't talked about Heated Rivalry? In the first episode of Season 4, we are joined by special guest Nisha Sharma: a lawyer, award-wining writer, former corporate culture executive, scholar and author of over ten published books for teens and adults--and, more importantly for us, our dear colleague at Wilkes University! We're delighted to have one of the smartest women we know join us to talk all things Heated Rivalry, including why it's been banned in Russia, what exactly that means in a country where it's illegal to be LGBTQIA+, and what Russian young people are telling the world about what it's like to finally see a joyful depiction of a queer relationship. Also: even in the midst of everything going on right now, we're still finding hope!

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"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

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Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwald designed our logo. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

Episode 1 links:

Rachel Reid's website with the books from Carina Press
NBC News article about HR as a "word-of-mouth hit" in Russia that could lead to prison
Reuters article about the Russian Supreme Court's banning of the "LGBTQ movement" as "extremist"
The ramifications of that law, according to Coming Out
The Moscow Times overview of the HR phenomenon in Russia

Nisha's recs for writers to read if you liked HR:

Meryl Wilsner (they/them)
Cat Sebastian (she/her) [Jessica seconds; I'm obsessed with Cat Sebastian]

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!