This week on Ladies First, Elizabeth is joined by Lisa, our site’s resident expert on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. We discuss the roles that queer women play in dystopian and apocalypse fiction, the ways in which they tend to be written within these types of universes, and how the tropes of the genre interact with queer characters specifically.

The Handmaid’s Tale is one of the best shows of the year, taking home an impressive eight Emmys this past Sunday, but are there ways that it can be improved? Was the use of the Bury Your Gays trope appropriate for the narrative and satisfying to the viewer? What does it have in common with similar works, such as V for Vendetta? How does it contrast with works that take a different approach to their queer characters, such as The 100?  Find out our answers to these questions and more on today’s episode!

Referenced Links:

The Handmaid’s Tale Buried Its Gays (Alive)

Ofglen’s Subplot and Its Resonance With the Modern Queer Woman

Julia and Kylie celebrate the ending of Game of Thrones Season 7 by…answering a bunch of asks all about it!

Listen below, subscribe/listen on iTunes (the newest episode is updated in the app, even if not on the site yet), subscribe to our RSS feed, search for “Unabashed Book Snobbery” in any podcast app, or download an MP3 of this episode here (go to ‘show all’).

The salterello performance for this episode is “Saltarello, Lamento di Tristano, Dulab, La Rotta”—Medieval meets Irak, Klangwelten II p.2.

Episode Breakdown:

• 0:00 – Introduction & which character is the most screwed over?
• 9:45 – How would you have done R+L=J?
• 15:25 – GoT’s Season 7 reception & fandom dialogue
• 25:15 – Karen Smith sends an ask & Sam/Bran in S7 ft. MissWorm!
• 31:15 – What the hell was Winterhell, Lena Heady, Book!Cersei, and Theon
• 43:00 – The idiotic truce and poor Cheryl!
• 53:50 – Character arcs, Tyrion’s romantic feelings for Deadpan, Bronn’s romantic feelings for Larry
• 59:20 – “Aegon”, most disappointing meme, Robert’s Rebellion’s depiction
• 1:07:05 – Dragonstone, the Cherry bomb
• 1:11:55 – Incest, Brienne fucks loyalty, Randyll’s words of wisdom, and parenthood
• 1:19:10 – Closing & final thoughts

Related Pieces:

• List of all UBS episodes
• Book Snob Glossary
• Sam’s S7 Arc – a video
• The Season 6 Carol Awards
• This Lousy Game of Thrones Episode was Par for the Course
• A Null Plot – analysis of The Citadel by Turtle
• 7×07 Dragon and the Wolf UBS review
• The Ironboors are made of Salt and Snores
• Sam and his Gal Attend Horn Faire
• Game of Thrones Sexism & Season 7
• Cheryl’s Landing Part 2: The Implications

Julia, Kylie, and Gretchen sit down with Leah from TGIFemslash to chat about the upcoming season of Supergirl (is there hope?) and the interesting penchant for subtext over explicit queer ships within some areas of fandom.

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Episode Breakdown:

• 0:00 – Introduction & fandom news 9/10/17
• 17:00 – Supergirl‘s past and future
• 44:35 – Subtext vs. sub-par text with queer ships

Related Pieces:

• Leia’s Journey to Heir of Alderaan and Rebel Leader
• Ladies First Interviews TGIF/F
• Aladdin and the 40 Issues of Casting
• Mon-El is Supergirl’s Kryptonite
• Supergirl’s Sophomore Slump
• Supergirl Introduces Korrasami 2.0, but is it Brave Enough to Also Deliver?
• To Kill a Lesbian
• About that D.E…Oh No