The Grand Thunk

The Grand Thunk
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The podcast in which Rhiannon Kearns and Alex Blanchard discuss what they've been reading, watching and listening to. Listen every Wednesday for your mid week top-up of culture and fun!

  1. 08/27/2025

    62 - Can you separate an artist from their art?

    After reading Water by John Boyne, Rhiannon and Alex get into the meat of this question, talking about Boyne's recent comments about trans people, despite loving his books. How can we find nuance within cancel culture and does cancel culture have a powerful and useful role to play in our society? Alex has been reading the potently poetic Maud Martha by the astonishing writer Gwendolyn Brooks, whilst Rhiannon has been watching and loving Season Four of The Bear. Alex has also been reading the heat-mad story of five eighteenth century sisters plagued by rumours in The Hounding. Show notes Friends Water by John Boyne My Brother's Name is Jessica by John Boyne https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/17/john-boyne-people-were-criticising-my-book-when-they-hadnt-read-it What We Don't Talk About: Sex And the Mess of Life by JoAnn Wypijewski Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks The Bear, Season Four The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis The Lamb by Lucy Rose

    54 min

  2. 08/20/2025

    61 - Streaking, Unsupervised Play and Turberculosis from Keats to Cowboys

    Rhiannon has been fully immersed in the nudity at Wilderness, listening to Dan Wye’s brilliant comedy, whilst Alex has been bobbing on the sea, reading Zadie Smith’s On Beauty. What a book, exploring the mysteries of academic language, affirmative action and destructive middle aged men. Meanwhile, Rhiannon has been reading about the conflict between freedom on the internet and yet limited physical freedoms that modern children experience. Are they more anxious than ever and why? Alex has followed John Green down his turberculosis tunnel, exploring the history - from Keats to Cowboys, why it connects to everything, and why it is a disease that reveals injustice wherever it goes. An exciting, sun-filled episode! Show notes Dan Wye Am I Sam Smith? at Wilderness Festival Late to the Party, Grace Campbell Football, Feminism and Everything In Between On Beauty by Zadie Smith Intimations by Zadie Smith North-West by Zadie Smith The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Everything is Turberculosis by John Green The Happiness Lab podcast Traitors, Destination X, Race Across the World Made in Chelsea Great Company - Jamie Laing’s podcast

    1 hr

  3. 08/13/2025

    60 - Retractions, Operatics and the Dunning-Kruger effect

    Rhiannon and Alex begin this episode by eating their words and swapping a couple of TV recommendations for retractions (such grown ups). Alex has been absorbed in the moving world of Opera, thanks to Dorset’s Opera Festival, with stunning set design from her husband Rufus. Things turn medical as Rhiannon has been hooked and horrified by the second season of hit podcast The Retrievals, which leads to a discussion on the gender gap in healthcare, complimented by recommendations of Unwell Women and Unheard from Alex. Shownotes The White Lotus, Apple TV/Amazon Prime/Sky Clarkson’s Farm, Amazon Prime Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi at Dorset Opera Festival Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni & Suor Angelica by Giacomo Puccini at Dorset Opera Festival Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green The Retrievals by The New York Times and Serial Productions The Food Medic podcast, Dr Hazel Wallace The Female Actor by Dr Hazel Wallace Not Just a Period by Dr Hazel Wallace Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn Unheard by Rageshri Dhairyawan Maternal mortality 2020-2022 statistic - https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/data-brief/maternal-mortality-2020-2022 Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Built for Men by Caroline Criado Perez Frozen on stage, Disney+

    52 min

  4. 08/06/2025

    59 - Carnal Desire, Crime and Forgiveness, and Small Big Cat Knowledge

    On the pod this week, Rhiannon has been dressing as a dragonfly, meeting with Big Cats and going on a space adventure with Bridie Squire’s riveting radio drama. Alex is getting horny for the fleshy and carnal desire displayed in Lucy Rose’s cannibalistic book, The Lamb while Rhiannon is dissatisfied with The White Lotus. Alex and Rhiannon conclude this episode with shiny eyes, agreeing that they both take great pride and satisfaction with their ‘day jobs’, similarly agreeing that justice is too black and white. Self-satisfied handshakes all round. Shownotes Terry Pratchett audiobooks New Creatives Dramas BBC Radio 4 - Self-Checkout by Bridie Squires The Lamb by Lucy Rose Perfume by Patrick Süskind Death In Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh The White Lotus Romesh Ranganathan on Desert Island Discs

    50 min

  5. 07/30/2025

    58 - Astronauts, Cowboys and Marmite Crumpets

    During our break, Rhiannon has been totally immersed in Taylor Jenkins Reid's Atmosphere and Alex has been enjoying summer, and yet quoting Winter and Wintering. Rhiannon has been watching Code of Silence, a TV show about Alison, a deaf civilian whose lip reading skills aid the police with their investigations and Alex has been captivated by the absurdity of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld novels. Plus many more glorious nuggets of enjoyed pop culture, sponsored by Marmite Crumpets. Show notes  Wintering by by Katherine May Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett  A Hat Full of Sky by Terry PratchettAtmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (book and TV adaptation)  When Harry Met Sally  Off Menu - Carey Mulligan The Ballad of Wallis Island  The Bear, Season 4  Code of Silence, ITV Yellowstone, Netflix Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy  1883, Netflix 1923, Netflix His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman La Belle Sauvage, The Book of Dust trilogy by Phillip Pullman The Secret Commonwealth, The Book of Dust trilogy by Phillip Pullman The Golden Compass

    57 min

  6. 07/02/2025

    57 - Self Esteem, Psychedelics and Women in Warfare

    Alex and Rhiannon are very moved in today’s episode, stuffed with Glastonbury, the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Rhiannon explores the hidden role of women in warfare, specifically the Vietnam War in Kristin Hannah’s The Women. Alex dives into folklore and sapphic relationships in Song of the Huntress. Rhiannon is thinking about the abuse and use of psychedelics in treating trauma in Nine Perfect Strangers and Alex is crying about Hunter Gatherers. A great episode! Show Notes Self Esteem at Glastonbury and Truck Fest Self Esteem on Off Menu Podcast The Falmouth Bookseller Rubicund Books Song of the Huntress by Lucy Holland Breaking the Glass Slipper The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro The Women by Kristin Hannah This Is Us The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula Le Guin Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty The Goop Lab Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

    59 min

  7. 06/25/2025

    56 - Interrogating Leaders, Summer Solstice and Terrible Tanlines

    If like us, you've overdone it in the sun, come and hide in the shade and dive into this week's recommendations. Alex has been swept away in several dystopian worlds, and is suitably intrigued and enamoured by Torrey Peters' Stag Dance and Jacqueline Harpman's I Who Have Never Known Men. Rhiannon adds to this week's stack of sexy covers with Sarah Wynn-Williams' Careless People, a memoir detailing her experience of the murky leadership at Facebook. Luckily, Jacinda Ardern's episode on Parenting Hell reinstated Rhiannon's belief in empathetic leaders and she's now super keen to read A Different Kind of Power. Join the conversation in our Thunkers WhatsApp Group, just comment or slide into our DMs to join. Show Notes Stag Dance by Torrey Peters  Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams Parenting Hell with Jacinda Ardern  A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardera I Who Have Never Known Men by  Jacqueline Harpman We Live in Time starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield

    57 min

  8. 06/18/2025

    55 - Breastfeeding on Ultramarathons, Queer and the Care System

    Rhiannon and Alex are setting up a WhatsApp group for listeners who want to share their thoughts and add nuance; we’re creating a community of Thunkers! Rhiannon tells Alex about a brilliant Radio 4 programme, mixing comedy with the brutal world of caring, in Mary Bourke: Who Cares? Alex has been exploring the murky world of postpartum psychosis in Catherine Cho’s Inferno. Rhiannon smooths things back down with two TV recommendations, The Bear and Clarkson’s Farm, while Alex shares her thoughts on the film Queer, starring Daniel Craig. Show notes Mary Bourke: Who Cares? Radio 4 (BBC Sounds) Joy Chose You by Donna Ashworth  Doing It Right with Pandora Sykes Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness by Catherine Cho The Missing, Pandora Sykes  How Do We Know We're Doing It Right: & Other Essays on Modern Life by Pandora Sykes Clarkson’s Farm  The Bear  Queer directed by Luca Guadagnino Call me By Your Name directed by Luca Guadagnino Queer by William S Boroughs  Stephanie Case, ultrarunning whilst breast feeding champion - https://run.outsideonline.com/trail/stephanie-case-wins-ultra-trail-snowdonia-while-breastfeeding/

    51 min
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About

The podcast in which Rhiannon Kearns and Alex Blanchard discuss what they've been reading, watching and listening to. Listen every Wednesday for your mid week top-up of culture and fun!

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  • Creator
    The Grand Thunk
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    62
  • Rating
    Explicit
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    © The Grand Thunk
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    The Grand Thunk