Bad On Paper
Join Becca Freeman and Olivia Muenter every Wednesday for a dose of books and banter, along with interviews with women who inspire us.
Episodes
Time for another round of three things! And this one’s very bookish: we’re talking about 2025 books that flew under the radar, plot twists, mood writing, what we want to learn about this fall, and more!
Becca’s Things
Underrated Books of 2025 Becca’s - Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine, Loved One by Aisha Muharrar | Olivia’s - Tilt by Emma Pattee, Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild.
September is coming to a close, and you know what that means! Time to talk about this month’s book club pick, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach. We discuss our expectations going into this book based on the cover, how it balanced its dark themes with humor, what we thought of the relationships, and more!
Obsessions
Olivia - One Trick Pony Peanut Butter
We are SO excited to chat with Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter, Shelby Cunningham, about their new book, The Academy! We ask how their collaborative writing process worked, about Shelby’s boarding school experience that inspired the book, and Elin’s feelings on venturing into a new world outside Nantucket. We also have adaptation updates and some exclusive behind the scenes gossip!
What do we want? Things! When do we want them? Now! It’s time to talk about big pop culture moments, focus tools, and what we’re excited about for fall.
Olivia’s Things
Taylor Swift getting engaged
What’s on our Q4 Radar
Our Fall TBR (Olivia’s are The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild, What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang, Bec...
People who judge books by their covers, this ep is for you! This week, we brought on Art Director and Book Cover Designer Molly von Borstel to talk about how book covers come to life. She shares how she got into book design, the surprising parts of the job, how she deals with feedback, cover trends, and more!
Obsessions
Olivia - Sorel Roam’n Clogs
Becca - Travel mahjong set fro...
It’s Book Club day! We’re excited to chat about The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig. We discuss the book’s setting and world-building, the main characters (and their romance), how this fits into the romantacy genre overall, and more!
Obsessions
Olivia - Night Moves by Bob Seger
Becca - J.Crew yellow suede bucket bag
This Month’s Book Club Pick ...
We are SO excited for this week’s conversation with journalist E. Jean Carroll! We chat with her about why she decided to write her book about her experience in court against Donald Trump, her 30-year tenure as an advice columnist, and more!
E. Jean Carroll is the author of five books, including a biography of Hunter S. Thompson, and the New York Times bestselling book NOT MY TYPE: One Woman vs. a Pres...
It’s time for the most August 2025 Three Things to Ever Three Things. From AI to face shapewear to Labubus, and more, there’s so much to discuss! Let’s get into it.
Olivia’s Things
DNF-ing
Labubus
Becca’s Things
The articles “I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students” by Meghan O’Rourke [gift l...
As a bonus to our episode discussing comparison and competition, we invited Chelsea Bieker to continue the conversation, and how comparison and competition manifest for her, specifically within her publishing career and the strategies she’s learned to quiet these emotions.
Read more from Chelsea in her newsletter Make Up Your Life, fountainpractice.com, and her latest book Madwoman is out no...
We’ve been trying to make an episode about comparison and competition (an Olivia Muenter favorite topic!) happen for a while, and it’s finally here! We’re discussing our personal histories with comparison and competition and how it manifests in our personal and professional lives. We’re even diving into whether we ever compare ourselves to each other.
We’re talking about if we define ourselves as competi...
It’s book club day! We’re so excited to talk about our listener-selected book club pick, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. There’s a lot to cover in this story set during the 1980s space race. We discuss our feelings about the main characters, the aspects of the book we gravitated towards, our favorite space songs, and more!
Obsessions:
Becca - Ruby lobster roll off watercolor painting
Oli...
Our last desert island episode was so popular, we hopped a quick trip back to the island for part 2. This time we’re talking all things clothing and travel.
Jeans
Becca - Frame Le Slim Palazzo
Olivia - Gap Ultra Soft Barrel Leg Jeans
Bra
Becca & Olivia - Skims T-Shirt Bra
Underwear
Becca - Skims fits everybody thong
We are so excited to have Navessa Allen on the pod to talk about all things spicy romance!
We hear about how she got started writing romance, how she handles taboo topics, what it’s like having viral success, and her experience as self-published author who began working for a traditional publishing house.
Her books Lights Out and Caught Up are out now.
Obsessions
Read more
This week, we’re going to be sharing our desert island picks for categories from entertainment, to food, clothing, beauty, and more!
Shoutout to Hillary Kerr’s newsletter for the episode inspo!
Some of our picks
Books to read for the rest of time:
Becca - The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Olivia - Demon Copperhea...
It’s time for July Three Things! Tune in for a game, fantasy dinner parties, writing process dives, best books of the year (so far), Materialists thoughts, and more!
Becca’s Things
Materialists
Hallmark Movie Game
Dream Summer Dinner Party
Olivia’s Things
Materialists
Favorite Reads in 2025 so far (Becca’s includes One Gold...
We’re excited to dive into our June Book Club Pick: June Book Club Pick - All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman. We had a great time reading this hilarious and Scaredy Cat approved mystery, and can’t wait to hear what you think!
Watch the full interview with Sarah Harman Olivia mentioned here.
Obsessions
Becca - Milk Duds
Olivia - Vitality Leggings/Shorts...
It’s time for Part 2 of our 2025 reading preview! We invited some friends of the pod to chat about the books they’re most excited to pick up this year!
Lauren Puckett-Pope’s Picks - Katabasis by R. F. Kuang (Out August 26), Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
Kristen L. Berry’s Picks - Greenwich by Kate Broad (Out July 22), It's Different This Time by Joss Richard (Out Sep...
It’s time to check in on our 2025 Goals! Are we on track with our writing goals? Did Becca reduce her screen time? Did Olivia manage to give up Jarlic? Keep listening to find out!
Obsessions
Olivia - Bose Ultra Open Headphones
Becca - Stick Season (Her Version) by Deeps
What we read this week
Becca - Hazel Says No by Jessica Berger Gross...
It’s time for our June Three Things! But first, vote for our July Book Club Pick in our Facebook Group! Stay tuned for discussions about TJR getting the star treatment in Time magazine, the state of indie podcasting, a book battle mini-game, and more!
Becca’s Things
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Time Profile
The efficacy of learning languages via Duolingo
Podcast Longevit...
We had the pleasure of recording a bonus episode with Katie Kitamura, the author of our May Book Club Pick, Audition! We ask her about the book’s inspiration, the writing process of such an experimental novel, what’s ~actually~ going on in the plot, and the origins of the scenes that have stuck with us the most.
This Month’s Book Club Pick - All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman (have thoughts abo...
Popular Podcasts
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.