Podcasts by The Req Room with Mandy and Mio

The Req Room with Mandy and Mio

A book podcast that asks the question: when does a writer’s work become required reading? Every other week, The Req Room hosts Mio Borromeo and Mandy Cruz take popular authors of the day and review each entry in their bibliographies, to see just how close these writers get to the sweet spot between mainstream breakout success and traditional literary sensibility.

Further podcasts by Mio Borromeo and Mandy Cruz

Podcast on the topic Bücher

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
The Idiot (Elif Batuman) from 2021-05-29T08:43:42

In this episode, Mandy and Mio discuss The Idiot by Elif Batuman, a semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman's freshman year at Harvard College and the summer she spends in rural Hungary....

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Suite from 2021-05-22T03:50:45

The fourth studio album from British folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling, Once I Was an Eagle (2013), opens with a sequence that weaves seamlessly from one track to the next. The four-...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
The History Boys from 2021-05-15T04:17:58

When Mio first saw The History Boys in high school, he might've been too young to unpack what was going on. But fifteen years after the film adaptation's release, he and Mandy are ready to revis...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Lady Bird from 2021-05-08T04:00:15

Our real summer has just begun! Mandy and Mio kick the new semester off with a review of the 2017 film Lady Bird, starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf. Greta Gerwig's solo directorial debut...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
The Falcon, The Winter Soldier, His Wanda, and Her Vision from 2021-04-23T04:25:55

Welcome to the New Adventures of the Old Req Room! In this bonus episode, Mandy and Mio begin to break the format, moving away from prose fiction to discuss the latest offerings from the Marvel ...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Grand Union with Mags Ocampo from 2021-03-21T05:18:42

In the miniseries finale, Mandy and Mio enlist the help of special guest MAGS OCAMPO (Homeroom Co-op) to pick three stories from Grand Union, Zadie Smith's first collection of short stories. Thr...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Swing Time from 2021-03-06T04:06:30

In today's episode, Mandy and Mio (re)visit Swing Time, a book they both read in the past and didn't like all that much, only to find out that they like it now! After all these years! What made ...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
NW from 2021-02-20T05:08:10

TFW you're not sure if you like a book and so you talk about it with your best friend and then after about an hour of faffing around, you both realize that the book is actually pretty good. This...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
On Beauty with Jam Pascual from 2021-02-06T04:24:35

We're b-b-b-b-b-b-ack, baybee!!!! Our first episode of 2021 explores Zadie Smith's third novel, On Beauty, which tells the story of two diametrically-opposed (foes) families at a small liberal a...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
The CHRISTMAS BREAK Episode from 2020-12-26T07:35:39

Christmas break is now in session! On the last episode of the year, Mandy and Mio check in on each other, promising not to ask questions that are "too heady" or "reflective." (Listener, they get...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
The Autograph Man from 2020-12-19T06:37:31

The Autograph Man (2002) is the second novel by Zadie Smith, following a British-Chinese-Jewish man who deals in famous memorabilia to an almost religious degree. Although this novel has had the...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
White Teeth from 2020-12-05T04:13

When White Teeth was published in 2000, Zadie Smith was quickly lauded as the newest sensation of Western letters. However, the book did have its fair share of critics - including James Wood, wh...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Reading Break I from 2020-11-28T04:09:39

Hello, we are the shining contemporary podcast, Req Room with Mandy and Mio! This week, we decided to take a... erm, break from reading, and throw some questions to our listeners on Instagram. D...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Circe from 2020-11-14T04:13:31

Circe (2018) is the second novel by Madeline Miller, shifting the lens to focus on one of The Odyssey's most compelling and overlooked characters. But where did all the other stories surrounding...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
The Song of Achilles from 2020-10-31T04:22:09

It's the start of a new miniseries at The Req Room! Madeline Miller jumped onto the scene with the breakout of her first novel The Song of Achilles (2011), which gained a massive following throu...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Normal People from 2020-10-17T03:57:35

Or as John Legend calls them—ordinary people. In this week's episode, Mandy and Mio explore how Sally Rooney's sophomore novel became the sleeper hit limited series starring Paul Mescal and Dais...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Conversations with Friends from 2020-10-03T03:28:23

Welcome to The Req Room! In our first ever episode, we dive deep into Conversations with Friends (2017), the debut novel from Irish literary wunderkind Sally Rooney. Is Rooney really th...

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The Req Room with Mandy and Mio
Welcome to The Req Room! from 2020-09-25T11:00:39

We announce our first ever miniseries in this short trailer, which is a great sneak peek of how Mandy and Mio actually talk to each other. Really! The Req Room premieres on October 3rd with epis...

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