Listen Now

Content warning: mention of rape and false rape accusations in a fictional context In this episode: Jenny, Ted, Gray, and Meg discuss Everworld #9: Inside the Illusion. Senna's actually a pretty good narrator But also she’s trying to take over Everworld Buuuuut also every parental figure in her life completely sucked?? Ted thinks Senna's a cartoon, but he's wrong Cool theories about the watcher in the void We are very optimistic about how much will ever be explained in this world What if Everworld is just a game played by the Ellimist? The real four genders Applegrant: still bad at mental health issues Turns out these books don't do a great job of portraying Egypt. Shocking Bonerwatch update Why are there aliens in this?

Jenny, Ted, Gray, and Meg discuss Everworld #8: Brave the Betrayal

In this episode: Jenny, Ted, Gray, and Meg discuss Everworld #7: Gateway to the Gods A wild plot appears! Theological discussions We hope you aren’t still playing the “Animorphology Drinking Game” because Gray says the word “interesting” like 10 times in one minute. Comparisons to Animorphs Thoughts on how Everworld is constructed (poorly) April’s assessment of the other characters - and ours Applegrant’s authorial racism April and the Disney Problem Real world consequences of Everworld problems Cassandra and the Very Stupid Prophecy Hints of bisexuality, quickly ignored Pegasus, Pegasi Aughties and Naughties A TV-tangent (and Jenny’s next podcasting venture?) Predictions

In this episode: Jenny, Ted, Gray, and Meg discuss Everworld #6: Fear the Fantastic The “very special episode” about homophobia Impatiently acknowledging that Christopher has “an arc” Hetwan sexual dimorphism and other cool alien stuff What was Ganymede like as gay representation in 2000? Christopher vs the Nazis vs responsible YA themes Is Christopher on an arc to be a good person or just a “real man”? We catch up on the lack of plot in the series so far and how it contrasts with Animorphs as a series The nature of Ka Anor Previewing the Greeks Clarista Flockhart and Dylan McDermott, among others

Content warning: sexual abuse of a child, attempted sexual assault of an adult In this episode: Jenny, Ted, Gray, and Meg discuss Everworld #5: Discover the Destroyer Gray spills some more tea about leprechauns Fairies are normally cool. What happened here? In a thousand years, these magic people haven't come up with anything better than the telegraph Wow, David is truly terrible. He also has some major trauma. These things are questionably related. The kids are missing their chance to become palantirs This portrayal of nymphs is sexist! We are shocked Gray explores 50 shades of YA The Ka Anor pun run

In this episode: Jenny, Ted, Gray, and Meg discuss Everworld #4: Realm of the Reaper We get TWO quality mythology rants from Gray! Ted learns where 8-legged horse babies come from Jalil proves himself to be our most competent narrator yet

In this episode: Jenny, Ted, Gray, and Meg discuss Everworld #3: Enter the Enchanted The glimmer of a larger plot What should the teens do about Senna? RENT is surprisingly useful April is funny and empathetic Tattoos and the 90s (Bonus: Gray reveals her most embarrassing tattoo to justify her judginess) Gray rants about religion. And then about dragons. Sexism. So much sexism. Humanity is the battery for Everworld Leadership The plot keeps attacking us Applegrant writes things Gray hates Concerns about concussions Cynicism is not inaccurate Merlin SUCKS at poetry 90s Moments, Chicago Mentions, and Predictions for book 4

In this episode: Jenny, Ted, Gray, and Meg discuss Everworld #2: Land of Loss What we think of Christopher and his book Christopher’s “humor” and “difficult personality” i.e. his racism and sexism Exposition we didn’t know from book 1 Opposite girls Aimless plotting We meet the Coo-Hatch The totally unsurprising yet painfully lazy portrayal of the Aztecs Snakes Merlin Christopher watches too much TV Predictions for book 3!

In this episode: *Jenny, Ted, Gray, and new host Meg(!!) discuss Everworld #1: Search for Senna *This is classic Applegrant in so many ways *Where does this book fall on the Swear Scale? *The pants-wetting plothole *The (only) two characters we all liked *All cultures are sexist in the same way *Does this world have an Ellimist, and is it Merlin? *Theories on: -Senna’s whammy powers -Will the kids split up? -The secret history between Christopher and April -Applegrant’s diversity fatigue *We try to pronounce Jörmungandr *Thank goodness we finally have a theater kid *In an apocalypse, we all want Gray's backpack *Chicago references! *A surprising number of descriptions of butts *The truth behind hauling *The inauguration of Boner Patrol

In this episode: *Jenny, Ted, and Gray discuss The Invasion: The Graphic Novel *We got the band back together! *Spoiler-free discussion (no hints about the way Grine adapted it) during the first 12ish minutes *Chris Grine feels the same way about morphing as Gray does, but with more glee *Overall thoughts: We really like it! *Some spoilers on: **Thought speak **Chris Grine does his own Inking and Lettering **Some design and character choices **The animals are really cool *We request additional Chris Grine graphic novels, please

In this episode:Jenny, Ted, and Gray host returning guests Liz, K.C., John, Lauren, Catie, Nicole, Jeremy, Emily, Claire, Rena, Meg, Joysweeper, and Kevin for a wide-ranging series retrospectiveHow did we feel about the end of the series, either now or twenty years ago?What happened in the last chapter, and why did it only happen to the boys?Cassie: the good, the bad, and the ghostwrittenMeg’s pitch for an animated Animorphs TV showEmily’s update from Scholastic on the future of the audiobooksCatie’s excited take on the art style of the graphic novelJake’s guilt and the Pool Ship decisionYeerk robot bodies and other unexplored avenuesTaxxons and other nothlit endlingsJudging the series against its own potentialWhat is the instinct of the human animal?What we would say to ApplegrantOur favorite moments from the series

In this episode: *Jenny, Ted, and Gray discuss the ending of Animorphs and the series as a whole *The ten-second series recap *Did Animorphs cause us lasting trauma when we were kids? *Our desires for book characters can be very cruel *Jake needed to fall apart to teach us that war is bad *Applegrant's letter to readers after the ending *Does the ending sacrifice character to theme? *There really aren't enough Scientologists out there to justify the Yeerks' strategy *The Americentrism of the turn of the 21st century *The series's fundamental optimism about humanity and the future of Earth *Is Jake a bad person? *What happened to Ax's revenge fantasy? *Ted finally tells Ax he loves him *Tobias should become a therapist *Jenny accepts the bad parts of Rachel *What if a thousand anacondas attacked the pool ship? *Gender dynamics in the series's treatment of the Animorphs *The future of the podcast!

In this episode:CW: Major character death, crying noisesWe read together and discuss one section at a time.Chapters 1-4:*Trauma at the hands of a paperback*A warrior’s deathChapters 5-9:*More emotions, especially about Tobias*Living with ambiguityChapters 10-13:*Jake needs therapy. So. Much. Therapy.*Dealing with the aftermathChapters 14-19:*What comes next?*We’re worried about JakeChapters 20-21:*The start of the new adventures of Jake and his crew

Animorphs #53: The AnswerIn this episode:*Jenny, Ted, and Gray discuss Animorphs #53, The Answer for, like, a really long time*The most important answer of all: how tall is Jake?*Actually it’s mostly discussion about the tragedy of Jake, but also:*We celebrate the triumphant return of Applegrant*Jenny explains Jake’s last name*Visser One’s bad management comes home to roost*The sudden appearance of new factions and the retconning of old ones*The proposal scene*Rachel’s missing pieces*Fridging*The politics of being a Taxxon*Seerow’s Kindness*How Jake gets to the point where he does that thing that he does in this one*The trolley problem*Real soldiering and what it could do to you*Aughties moments*Gray predicts the final Animorphs book*Where do trains come from, anyway?

Animorphs #52: The Sacrifice In this episode: Jenny, Ted, and Gray discuss Animorphs #52, The Sacrifice *Gray thinks they might kill off Rachel, and she's real mad about it *Jenny revises her end-of-series feels *The REAL secret plans of the Andalites *Why are we doing this dance with Ax's loyalties again? *This ghostwriter was set up for bad characterization *Cassie, Rachel, and misogyny *Gray brings down some behavioral psychology on Cassie *Gray comes out against sapient pandas *We're a little baffled by Jake and Cassie *This book just fails at logistics, so hard *The mysterious Tuan *Jake continues to be great at standing up to authority *Let's free the Hork-Bajir homeworld *Ax is canonically an Animorph *Visser One hides out in the pool in his spare time *Where do trains come from, anyway?

Mailbag 4! In this episode: *Jenny, Ted, and Gray discuss comments and questions from listeners *Middle grade authors on Twitter *Trans Tobias *Esplin’s Gender *Australia *Stuff Ted Laughed At *The Council rules against war crimes *Taxxonomy *Animal insights, starring antechinus *Science corner, starring a new jingle and helpless stupid giggling *Ted-slowly-driving-Gray-crazy corner *Andalite language *Disability *Reflections, including book recs and character arcs *Ending feels *Speculation/head canons, including the Helmacrons and related puns *Cassie’s choice *Pokemon trainers *Book rankings

The AbsoluteIn this episode:*Jenny, Ted, Gray, and guest host Nicole discuss Animorphs #51: The Absolute*The “twist” of a female governor*Why is the Yeerk invasion so small and slow? *Should the Animorphs have gone public sooner? *Stealing TANKS from a TRAIN*Happy Marco and Happy Tobias are Good Buddies*What Marco should really feel guilty about*No sign of Tom or the Auxiliaries, but instead: Collins!*We check in with the Governor again and she’s still an absolute badass*The fantasy of government heroes*Coffee, musical theater, and being a beautiful duck*Ax finishes his humor arc*Marco crosses an ethical line*The “finesse” team*90s (map) moments*Predictions and fears for the final three books

The Ultimate In this episode: *Jenny, Ted, Gray, and returning guest host Claire discuss Animorphs #50: The Ultimate *There is some ableism here! But some good treatment of disability, too *The new Animorphs are delightful even if Jenny is mad about them *Oops, the Animorphs have probably been making the Yeerks kill lots of people *Everything in this book is actually from Yeats' The Second Coming *The last of the Animorphs missions as we knew them has happened already *Cassie has to face herself at the start of the series *Leadership vs. paternalism *Do we sympathize with Naomi? *Jake definitely thinks he's about to die *How many stores are in this town, anyway? *Someone needs to make us fan art of the costumes from this book *Heart-eyes for Marco *Cassie uses her superpower of emotional manipulation *We just want Jake to be able to cry *Will the narrative vindicate Cassie's decision to give Tom the cube? *Even if it does we are SO MAD about it (except maybe Ted) *The book covers are different now but Gray still hates them *The series is spiraling out

The DiversionIn this episode:*Jenny, Ted, and Gray discuss Animorphs #49: The Diversion*Is this the worst Tobias book?*The first book Jenny has disliked more than either Gray or Ted!*Jake is a badass (who sometimes makes bad decisions)*What it means to be a family*The Yeerks make a good plan*Let's pretends 47 didn’t happen*Telling their parents*Tobias has mommy issues, Jenny has threefold objections.*Various headcanons*Ableism strikes again*Our bodies reflect our interactions with the world*Morphing gives you magical baby skin*Breaking the morph rules AGAIN*“Science” corner*The Geocities website for blood banks*The Toy Boys*Jenny ships Marco with everyone*The moral panic of the 90s*Rachel + Tobias

The ReturnIn this episode:*Jenny, Ted, and Gray discuss Animorphs #48: The Return*The Council weighs in on David’s ultimate fate*Rachel’s need to fight for the good guys*David’s moment-of-grace-ex-machina*Ted tries to defend this book by ignoring the writing and the plot*Jenny rants about how reality- and character-bending dream-logic sabotages the story*The series sells Rachel short in its second half, especially in her own POV*Rachel as a leader and Rachel alone*Rachel’s loyalty amidst a series of betrayals*Rachel of the Poorly Edited Callback*Gray reminds us just how effing awful David is*The internet age has arrived*How the Animorphs see each other*Ted promises the worst is over