Bad Lit Friends

Bad Lit Friends
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Bad Lit Friends is a writing podcast that barely knows what it's doing. And that’s the point. Hosted by fiction writers Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty, this show is equal parts craft discussion, existential despair, ego massage, and wildly unsolicited hot takes. Each episode blends honest conversations about the creative process, the publishing industry, and the messiness of trying to create highfalutin art, with hot-and-occasionally-right takes, and a dash of internet drama. If you've ever felt like you're writing into the void, you're not alone — grab a seat, bring your worst draft.

  1. 6d ago

    Even more Lies, Damn Lies, and Listicles: On Blacklists and Book Bans Part 3

    We are FINALLY wrapping up our accidental trilogy on author blacklists, book bans, and the dangers of missing context, and we will do this by providing context, so there's that! We talk about what it means to designate a writer as dangerous, problematic, or even culturally "forbidden." From the fatwa against Salman Rushdie to N*zi book burnings, McCarthyism, and today’s organized school and library bans, we explore why “just a list on Threads or Instagram” isn’t as harmless as it might seem. You’re allowed to dislike writers. You’re allowed to hate their books. But maybe don’t participate in cultural purges? Would be cool if you didn't. And in Hot Goss: the Horror Writers Association has stepped in it yet again. We unravel the increasingly ugly dispute between former HWA executive director Max Gold and the organizers of Creepaway Camp, HWA's recent leadership turmoil, and why HWA may need to clean house before it goes the way of the Romance Writers of America. (Remember them?) Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty. Show email: [badlitfriends@gmail.com](mailto:badlitfriends@gmail.com) Bluesky: @badlitfriends.bsky.social Threads: @badlitfriends Instagram: @badlitfriends Website: https://www.badlitfriends.com/ Show notes: Horror Writers Association is the hottest mess out there: https://www.threads.com/@brian_keene/post/DckHjFWDVRT?xmt=AQG0vmkgyXcoM8xsEBN8kSYXx2b3tM6wPh_yv8jCSDhLIhHeBpldb7fEf9_DeI9-o0bAReey&slof=1Angela Yuriko Smith on her resignation as president of HWA: https://www.threads.com/@pedroparo2/post/DcpBXnWjwZk?xmt=AQG0HmZqWBPJuiBpGHx-_PXXCR3GOMgkwYgnS6wKb-As1HuHbytU2BN37IZkKLH5K53kfug https://www.fandompulse.com/p/hwa-dissolves-its-executive-director https://www.prospectpark.org/event/sugar-shock-a-new-play-by-regina-robbins/2026-09-27/PEN America: 6,870 school-book bans in the 2024–25 school year; nearly 23,000 since 2021: https://pen.org/report/the-normalization-of-book-banning American Library Association counted 5,668 books banned from libraries in 2025 and another 920 restricted. 92% of 2025 challenges originated with pressure groups, government officials, or other decision-makers. Fewer than 3% came from individual parents: https://pen.org/report/the-normalization-of-book-banning This is organized list-based censorship: people circulating rosters of titles, often without reading them, and demanding institutional removal. Lists, you say? Huh! Uh oh, it’s that man again! (Meagan deals in current references only, which is why she just made one to a BBC radio programme that started in the late 1930s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flvKCWIfT2w)

  2. Sep 4 ·  Bonus

    It's Too Darn Hot (to Record a Full Episode, Sorry)

    Just one Bad Lit Friend this week, and she's on just long enough to say: we're really sorry, we're super hot (in more ways than one!), and we'll be back next week. We swear! If you want to point fingers, well: SoCal's heat dome took out Meagan's AC on August 23rd, then came for her precious interwebs, because apparently one act of God wasn't enough to delay the BLF. Back next week with the full and final (probably) episode of our miniseries on book bans, book boycotts, and why you should probably look closely at lists of "authors to avoid" -- sometimes it really DOES pay to do your own research.* In the meantime, listen to Parts 1 and 2 of the series again and leave a comment! Or a criticism! Or a cookie recipe! *Does not apply to vaccines or anything with a whiff of QAnon, but if you have Bigfoot stories you've personally investigated, we are all ears. Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.Show email: badlitfriends@gmail.comBluesky: @badlitfriends.bsky.socialThreads: @badlitfriendsInstagram: @badlitfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriendsWebsite: badlitfriends.com

  3. Aug 28

    More Lies, Damn Lies, and Listicles: On Blacklists and Book Bans Part 2

    We're back with more of another accidental miniseries (whoops), and this week we are getting into the alleged receipts behind the Sleepy Readers Club's Authors to Boycott list. Like, who decided who goes on it? What did these writers actually DO? And what happens to the authors who can't weather a pile-on the way Stephen King can? We also talk associational guilt, reading in narrow hallways, and why your private "people I find problematic" list should probably stay in a Google Doc where it belongs. CONTENT WARNING [25:00 - 30:14]: This segment containsdiscussion of pregnancy loss and targeted online harassment of an author during an extremely vulnerable time in her life. If these are sensitive topics for you, please consider jumping forward. In Hot Goss: We consider what would lead an agent in theyear of Our Dark Lord John Stamos to call Redditors "losers" on a TikTok Live, like nobody's watching and Booklandia's gossip mill isn't always working overtime. It might start with an H and end in “ubris” but you make the call. Part 3 is coming next week and remember: anger is not a finite resource. Stay tuned. Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.  Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty. Show email: ⁠⁠badlitfriends@gmail.com⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠badlitfriends.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Show notes: Print Run podcast (Laura Zats & Eric Hane): https://www.printrunpodcast.com/10 hour cat video, good for cats AND humans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-WPISfzRMUReddit: Agent publicly sharing conflict of interest: https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1vtihj0/discussion_agent_publicly_sharing_conflict_of/Reddit: The agent doubled down!: https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/s/VBxmXjEmJbAssociation of Authors' Agents Code of Practice: https://agentsassoc.co.uk/about/code-of-practice/AALA Canon of Ethics 2026: https://aalitagents.org/canon-of-ethics-2026/ Sleepy Readers Club's "Updated Authors to Boycott" list: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VIxzTRNQK5Phjt12N3hVqQN1JSNf8mdw/view?usp=sharing

  4. Aug 21

    Lies, Damn Lies, and Listicles: On Blacklists and Book Bans

    In this episode, we take a look at the internet’s latest REALLY GOOD IDEA™: a writing group that circulated a list of authors you’re supposed to boycott, with zero context explaining what anyone on the list actually did. In Hot Goss: Pangram strikes again! Substack is building the AI detector into its platform, and at least one literary agent has admitted to using it while simultaneously admitting she doesn’t know whether it works. Cool, cool. Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.  Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty. Show email: ⁠⁠badlitfriends@gmail.com⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠badlitfriends.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Show notes: Jen Eckhardt: https://www.threads.com/@msshelved027 Jane Friedman’s Thread: https://www.threads.com/@janefriedman/post/Db-_yC3Dsi3 Sleepy Readers Club's "Updated Authors to Boycott" list: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VIxzTRNQK5Phjt12N3hVqQN1JSNf8mdw/view?usp=sharing

  5. Aug 14

    Guilty Until Proven Human... AGAIN?

    Part two of our ragefest and a content warning: extreme capitalism is afoot. Yes, we're back in the AI detection mines, and things have gotten WORSE since last we blew a gasket about Pangram, the Atlantic, structural racism, and the dumpster fire formerly known as traditional publishing. We have some good news about Daggermouth, a legal update about Jerry Falade, and Meagan reads a law review article that makes us both want to burn the whole system down to a crispy char. Turns out nobody knows what AI-assisted means legally (yet), authors are somehow the villains (especially if they’re not saving every draft and note!), and if you can’t document your writing process in a time-lapse video, congrats, you might be a witch, so get ready for your witch trial, babe! Hope you got your hair did before they put you in the dock. And in Hot Goss: some total reprobate who actually DOES use generative AI is feeding books into a video generator and sticking the results behind a Patreon paywall. Super duper cool! Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.  Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty. Show email: ⁠⁠badlitfriends@gmail.com⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠badlitfriends.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Show notes – we’re including all the ones from last week: Stony Brook preprint: ⁠https://arxiv.org/html/2510.13939v4⁠  First bubbling on Threads: ⁠https://www.threads.com/@thewellreadnurse/post/DbUNQgikTM5⁠ The Atlantic piece: ⁠https://www.threads.com/@theatlantic/post/DbUB1ZClON-⁠ Writers contacted by the preprint authors: ⁠https://www.threads.com/@bykenziejames/post/DbUi6pKFlAW⁠; ⁠https://www.threads.com/@authorleighmiller/post/DbUfWoCDYzP⁠  The supposedly telltale phrases sound awfully familiar: ⁠https://www.threads.com/@dianaurban/post/DbUVaMiAHSU⁠  Reddit enters the chat: ⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasyromance/comments/1v8jy52/comment/p07ke6k/?share_id=jWP7w6W-aaJ82WnwPzDSy⁠  An article promoted by the author of the Atlantic piece which coincidentally was written by the person who wrote the Mia Ballard takedown: ⁠https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/books/ai-bookselling-amazon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1VA.TUP9.b3IGCF6Kum1h&smid=url-share⁠ Falade’s deal falls apart: ⁠https://www.threads.com/@dianawallachauthor/post/Dbb5nvSCEV3⁠  Publisher’s Lunch does cool shit: ⁠https://www.threads.com/@authorpenncole/post/Dbb3M0wjGTA⁠; ⁠https://www.threads.com/@fatedlovesreturns/post/Dbb5pQwjz1t⁠ (screenshots included of article) The Bookseller weighs in: ⁠https://www.threads.com/share/_nf25Ylhd/⁠  Quotes from Falade: ⁠https://www.theinsneider.com/p/ai-scandal-rocks-publishing-world-and-hollywood-black-author-minotaur-macmillan-auction-uta-tv-show⁠  Substack x Pangram: ⁠https://mediacopilot.ai/substack-ai-detection-pangram/⁠  Yale Law article: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6761720  Hot Goss 2: DON’T MAKE SLOP: https://www.threads.com/@twisteddreamland

  6. Aug 7

    Guilty Until Proven Human

    In this episode, we celebrate 50 episodes (!!!!!) of Bad Lit Friends by doing what we do best: yelling at the internet. First, Kirk has actual writing-career news, and Meagan's book remains perpetually one chapter away from being finished, but this time she means it, seriously, no joke, fingers crossed. Then we return to one of our favorite recurring nightmares: AI detection, literary witch hunts, and (what the actual hell?) the massively disturbing idea that writers should have to prove they wrote their own books. Meagan dives deep on a university preprint about AI-generated fiction, Pangram's AI detector, The Atlantic's reporting on H.M. Wolfe's Daggermouth, the implosion of Jerry Falade's seven-figure book deal, and the extremely convenient timing of Pangram's shiny new model and fresh pile of venture capital. We also dig into what AI detectors actually measure, why genre fiction is particularly vulnerable to false positives, what "rare expressions" do—and absolutely do not—prove, (oh no, I used em dashes!) and why asking one probabilistic machine whether another probabilistic machine wrote your book might not be the forensic slam dunk the tech bros are trying to convince you that it is. Meagan also brings receipts from her own deeply semi-scientific Pangram experiment, in which (spoiler) actual AI-generated writing was confidently declared 100% human. Whoops. This is only Part One. There is, unfortunately, so much more. Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.  Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty. Show email: ⁠⁠badlitfriends@gmail.com⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠badlitfriends.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Show notes: Stony Brook preprint: https://arxiv.org/html/2510.13939v4  First bubbling on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@thewellreadnurse/post/DbUNQgikTM5 The Atlantic piece: https://www.threads.com/@theatlantic/post/DbUB1ZClON- Writers contacted by the preprint authors: https://www.threads.com/@bykenziejames/post/DbUi6pKFlAW; https://www.threads.com/@authorleighmiller/post/DbUfWoCDYzP  The supposedly telltale phrases sound awfully familiar: https://www.threads.com/@dianaurban/post/DbUVaMiAHSU  Reddit enters the chat: https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasyromance/comments/1v8jy52/comment/p07ke6k/?share_id=jWP7w6W-aaJ82WnwPzDSy  An article promoted by the author of the Atlantic piece which coincidentally was written by the person who wrote the Mia Ballard takedown: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/books/ai-bookselling-amazon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1VA.TUP9.b3IGCF6Kum1h&smid=url-share Falade’s deal falls apart: https://www.threads.com/@dianawallachauthor/post/Dbb5nvSCEV3  Publisher’s Lunch does cool shit: https://www.threads.com/@authorpenncole/post/Dbb3M0wjGTA; https://www.threads.com/@fatedlovesreturns/post/Dbb5pQwjz1t (screenshots included of article) The Bookseller weighs in: https://www.threads.com/share/_nf25Ylhd/  Quotes from Falade: https://www.theinsneider.com/p/ai-scandal-rocks-publishing-world-and-hollywood-black-author-minotaur-macmillan-auction-uta-tv-show  Substack x Pangram: https://mediacopilot.ai/substack-ai-detection-pangram/  The woman who wants writers to prove it quote-threaded by Kirk: https://www.threads.com/@kirkraff/post/DbY1iCGmQug

  7. Jul 31 ·  Bonus

    Minimum Episode, Maximum Shame

    Hi. We're Bad Lit Friends and we messed up. Again. Because Kirk is on vacation not last week, but THIS week, and because calendars are hard!!! So the special guests we promised you aren't here. We're sorry. Kirk is sorrier. (Or he should be.) But! Next Friday, August 7th, we're back with a real episode: we're diving into the H.M. Wolfe / Daggermouth AI allegations from The Atlantic, why this keeps happening to debut authors of color with big deals while established authors who brag about AI use get a pass, and the uncomfortable parallels to Mia Ballard's Shy Girl situation earlier this year. It's A Lot but come on, it's us. We're a lot too for a couple of middle-aged weirdos. Links to the Atlantic piece and the underlying preprint study are in the show notes below — consider it homework. Yes, we're giving out homework because this is summer school, I guess? See you next week. Blame Kirk. Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing. Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty. Show email: ⁠⁠badlitfriends@gmail.com⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠badlitfriends.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Show notes: Is This What Comes After AI Slop?" The Atlantic, July 27, 2026 (paywall): https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/07/daggermouth-novel-bestseller-ai/688067/Chakrabarty, et al., "Readers Prefer Outputs of AI Trained on Copyrighted Books over Expert Human Writers," arXiv, March 17, 2026: https://arxiv.org/html/2510.13939v4

  8. Jul 24

    Closing Time: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Ending Your Book

    Choo choo! BLF boards the express train this week, destination: Writing Your Damn Ending Already Station. In this ep, we reckon with endings: the part of your book where your promises come due and your readers find out whether you've been paying as close attention to plot and character as they have. (They will let you know if you haven’t!) We cover Chekhov's guns, Chekhov's motifs, random rifles, what the Star Wars medal ceremony has to do with your novel (more than you'd think, and Chewbacca deserved better), and the sad, sorry syndrome in which a writer knows they have an ending for their book, has ALWAYS had an ending, but keeps writing one more chapter anyway. Because when you don’t write an ending, you never have to say goodbye! Very good work, writers, very good work.  We also get into the grief of finishing a book you've been living in for a while, because it is grief, even when it's also relief, and why the words write you just as much as you write them. And in Hot Goss: the people of Threads—our Thriends!—have declared that sprayed edges indicate bad writing, and they have THOUGHTS, and they believe they are right. We also have thoughts, and ours are actually right, encompassing bookbinding history, the female-coding of entire genres (spoiler: laydeez be reading wrong AGAIN), and a gentle suggestion to go outside. Unless it’s a bajillion degrees out there and you’re a bog person, like Meagan. In which case, may we recommend a sunblock of at least SPF 30? Also: we’ve moved podcast platforms because Riverside finally pooped in the proverbial. Please bear with us as we work out the kinks in our new platform. Not that kind of kink, weirdo. (No offense to our weirdo listeners, we love you too!🫶) Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing. Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty. Show email: ⁠⁠badlitfriends@gmail.com⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠badlitfriends.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Show notes: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid final sequence (SPOILER!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geOqbM03Hf0  JUSTICE FOR CHEWBACCA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yixG8pfncOs

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About

Bad Lit Friends is a writing podcast that barely knows what it's doing. And that’s the point. Hosted by fiction writers Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty, this show is equal parts craft discussion, existential despair, ego massage, and wildly unsolicited hot takes. Each episode blends honest conversations about the creative process, the publishing industry, and the messiness of trying to create highfalutin art, with hot-and-occasionally-right takes, and a dash of internet drama. If you've ever felt like you're writing into the void, you're not alone — grab a seat, bring your worst draft.

Information

  • Creator
    Bad Lit Friends
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    56
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Bad Lit Friends
  • Show Website
    Bad Lit Friends