Pretty Stupid

Honest words, raw essays, and unbothered storytelling. It’s pretty stupid.
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Hosted by the creator of The Bird and the Baby Substack, this show leans away from the polished, industry song-and-dance to explore the grit, the strange beauty, and the absolute absurdity of living. Shot through a 1990s alternative lens and dripping with Southern Gothic atmosphere, each episode serves as a companion to the upcoming third-person memoir, The Sovereign Seed. Expect raw essays, honest words, and brushstroke mercy. New tracks and new reads drop when they drop. Subscribe to the show, or don't—either way, it's cool. Find the writing, the music, and the community at substack.com. www.stephanieharrisonauthor.com

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    Reading: Tangled Up In True(isms)

    In the second episode of Pretty Stupid, host Stephanie Harrison reads her recently published article, “Tangled Up In True(isms)”. Stepping away from the crumbling rural kingdoms of Little Dixie, this episode dives straight into the pitch-black waters of survival, generational traps, and the terrifying nature of real grace. We dismantle the tidy, commercially viable “addiction memoir” to look at the raw, jagged reality of what it takes to actually survive the monster. From the beautiful, tragic altars of 90s grunge rockstars whose threads snapped too soon to a metal chair in a smoke-cleared room, we explore what happens when you finally stop waiting for the “good” in a violent man and look at the wreckage left behind. It is a fierce, uncomfortable, and deeply honest look at survivor’s guilt, the generational patterns we carve into the earth, and the realization that gratitude and trauma can live in the exact same room. Stick around until the very end of the episode for the world premiere of this week’s companion track, “Tangled Up in True”—built to sound like a restless, late-night party in Austin, Texas, with heavy nods to Bob Dylan. Every single music purchase directly funds the writing of Stephanie’s upcoming book, The Sovereign Seed. In this episode, we talk about: * The Tame Lion: Why real grace is dangerous, terrifying, and completely out of your control. * The Snapped Threads: Reckoning with survivor’s guilt and the grunge icons who crushed under their own weight. * The Ghost Behind the Door: The brutal reality of living amends and loving a child from behind a locked front door. * The Father’s Footsteps: Unpacking the ancient traps and patterns we inherit before we even know we are walking them. * The Sub-Creator: Channeling Tolkien and Lewis to hand our fragmented, pitch-black threads over to a Master Weaver. Subscribe to the show, or don’t—either way, it’s cool. Connect & Support * The Writing & Community: Read the original piece and subscribe to the Substack, The Bird and the Baby, at stephanieharrisonauthor.com * The Music: Buy the Dylan-inspired companion track “Tangled Up in True” on Bandcamp to directly fund The Sovereign Seed at https://thebirdandthebaby.bandcamp.com/ * The Merch: Grab official Pretty Stupid supporting apparel on Printify at the-bird-and-the-baby.printify.me * Become a Founder: If you love the art and want to back it early, consider joining as a Founding Member on Substack. Get full access to The Bird and the Baby at www.stephanieharrisonauthor.com/subscribe

    Reading: Tangled Up In True(isms)

  2. Aug 6

    Reading: Mother White's Store is Closed

    In the premiere episode of Pretty Stupid, we dig into the dirt of Monroe County, Missouri, to watch the small agrarian kingdoms of “Little Dixie” crumble. Reading straight from Dispatch No. 3 of The Bird and the Baby, this essay unpeels the skin of a hyper-utilitarian rural culture where local creeks were treated as dead-livestock drainage ditches and family lines were enforced like corporate feudal empires. From a broken concrete bridge guarded by a dead badger to a sweltering farmhouse bedroom where a teenager sneaks a cassette tape of Toto’s Africa, we explore what happens when the transactional machine tries to grind down the human soul. It is a story about generational scars, the literal drowning of local history to build a sanitized tourist lake, and the quiet, defiant act of striking a single match inside a pitch-black cave. Stick around until the very end of the episode for the world premiere of the companion track, “Over the Backtop”—a hollow, scraping, grunge-acoustic song written in the raw spirit of Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged performance. In this episode, we talk about: * The Leeches of Granville: Playing in sacred spaces ruined by adult utility. * The Mind of Metal and Wheels: Tolkien’s warning tracking straight through small-town bankruptcies. * The Tuesday Girls: Turpentine, oil paint, and volatile farm country matriarchs. * Disposable Appliances: When human beings stop having financial utility to narcissists. * The Exit Code: Refusing to let the world’s rigged gears turn inside your soul. Subscribe to the show, or don’t—either way, it’s cool. Find the original writing, the community, and the music archive at: stephanieharrisonauthor.com 🎸Listen to "Over the Backtop" on Bandcamp: https://thebirdandthebaby.bandcamp.com/ 👕 Grab the Official 'Pretty Stupid' Merch on Printify: https://the-bird-and-the-baby.printify.me/ Get full access to The Bird and the Baby at www.stephanieharrisonauthor.com/subscribe

    Reading: Mother White's Store is Closed

  3. Jul 31

    Introducing: Pretty Stupid

    Welcome to the trailer for Pretty Stupid. This podcast is the audio companion to my Substack, The Bird and the Baby, and the deep soil behind my upcoming Southern Gothic memoir, The Sovereign Seed. I’m not doing the standard song-and-dance here. No Begging for five-star reviews or algorithmic favors. If you vibe with honest words and a little brushstoke mercy, click play above. Subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app, or follow along directly right here on Substack. Either way… it’s cool. See you around! Get full access to The Bird and the Baby at www.stephanieharrisonauthor.com/subscribe

    Introducing: Pretty Stupid
  • 3 Episodes

About

Hosted by the creator of The Bird and the Baby Substack, this show leans away from the polished, industry song-and-dance to explore the grit, the strange beauty, and the absolute absurdity of living. Shot through a 1990s alternative lens and dripping with Southern Gothic atmosphere, each episode serves as a companion to the upcoming third-person memoir, The Sovereign Seed. Expect raw essays, honest words, and brushstroke mercy. New tracks and new reads drop when they drop. Subscribe to the show, or don't—either way, it's cool. Find the writing, the music, and the community at substack.com. www.stephanieharrisonauthor.com

Information

  • Creator
    Honest words, raw essays, and unbothered storytelling. It’s pretty stupid.
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    3
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Stephanie Harrison
  • Show Website
    Pretty Stupid