DTR: Down To Read

Jackie Jennings

This is the podcast for dragon riding witches and the people who love to read about them. Your hosts Ali Plante (librarian + medievalist) and Jackie Jennings (SYFY host + writer) are two friends who love all things fantasy, sci-fi, romantasy and historical fiction.

You know that text thread you're on where everyone is freaking out over Azriel + Elain memes, screaming about HotD, and sharing deep cut faerie smut recs? This is that...in podcast form

Join them as they dive into their current reads, analyze the latest news and trends in speculative fiction.

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Episode 4: Spooky Season + Eco-Horror
4d ago
Episode 4: Spooky Season + Eco-Horror
The air is cold, the days are shorter, and the aisles of Target are filled with Christmas decorations. That means it's MID-OCTOBER aka the heart of Spooky Season! Join Ali and Jackie as they delver into the increasingly popular sub-genre of eco-horror (think: The Birds, The Thing, Annihilation). They define the genre, analyze what makes it work and explore why we humans find a creepy deer or a weird pond so damn haunting. Plus: Sexy Manon Blackbeak fan artI A naked plea for ice cream! All this and more on Down To Read!!

Episodes

Episode 4: Spooky Season + Eco-Horror
4d ago
Episode 4: Spooky Season + Eco-Horror
The air is cold, the days are shorter, and the aisles of Target are filled with Christmas decorations. That means it's MID-OCTOBER aka the heart of Spooky Season! Join Ali and Jackie as they delver into the increasingly popular sub-genre of eco-horror (think: The Birds, The Thing, Annihilation). They define the genre, analyze what makes it work and explore why we humans find a creepy deer or a weird pond so damn haunting. Plus: Sexy Manon Blackbeak fan artI A naked plea for ice cream! All this and more on Down To Read!!
Episode 3: Ali + Jackie's Fall Picks
Sep 22 2024
Episode 3: Ali + Jackie's Fall Picks
There's a whole lot coming up in the world of SFF books. From new releases to next installments, Ali + Jackie are offering up their top picks for what's most exciting in the coming months. A boy band member's gothic Broadway comeback? Hot stand alone novels about mortals who want to kiss non-mortals? You better believe they all make the list (and then some).
Episode 2: GoT, Gateways, and Entry Points
Sep 20 2024
Episode 2: GoT, Gateways, and Entry Points
This week is all about beginnings and restarts...and Game of Thrones, duh. Jackie and Ali take a peek back at that weird space between childhood and adolescence when reading speculative fiction (or anything) takes a back seat to being cool/hot/grown-up.  Did you speculative fiction as a kid? Did someone tell you to stop? How did you get back in and why was it via Game of Thrones?All of these questions and more, answered forever on this week's DTR.-------SHOW NOTES!The Lord of the Rings vs Game of Thrones: https://www.salon.com/2013/06/10/realpolitik_in_a_fictional_world_game_of_thrones_murky_morality_tale_partner/Follow DTRPod on Instagram: @/dtrpodEmail us, but don’t be mean dtreadpod@gmail.comWe humbly beseech you to follow, rate, and review us on your podcast app of choice!
Episode 1: WTF Is a Showrunner w/Alicia Lutes
Sep 13 2024
Episode 1: WTF Is a Showrunner w/Alicia Lutes
Ali and Jackie are joined by writer + journalist Alicia Lutes (Variety, THR) to try and answer the all important question: WTF even is a showrunner. And why do they matter so much for fantasy and sci-fi TV shows? Jump on board for our PREMIERE episode, we promise good conversation, great vibes, and two women who are *always* DTR.****Thank you for letting us yell at you Alicia Lutes!Follow Alicia @/alicialutes on Instagram and sign up for her newsletter substack.com/@alicialutes Follow DTRPod on Instagram: @/dtrpodEmail us, but don’t be mean dtreadpod@gmail.comWe humbly beseech you to follow, rate, and review us on your podcast app of choice!