What does it take to keep becoming?

We dive into Michelle Obama’s memoir with a candid, hopeful conversation about where identity starts, how it stretches, and why purpose, not pageantry, changes lives. Becoming is more than a political memoir; it’s a field guide for growth when the ground shifts under your feet.

From a tight-knit South Side home to Princeton lecture halls and the relentless spotlight of the White House, we follow the real work behind “Becoming”: respecting kids as full people, naming systemic barriers without losing heart, and finding tools for reflection that actually fit your life.

We talk about confidence as a practice, not a trait, and the power of saying yes to yourself when the room says no. You’ll hear how Michelle reframed the First Lady role around substance and how those choices challenged corporate norms while building common ground. We also get real about the invisible labor of women, the racialized scrutiny that followed her every outfit and sentence, and the line that still echoes: grief and resilience live together.

If news fatigue has dimmed your hope, this episode offers practical ways to protect it: curate your inputs, seek help when you need it, and anchor to community. We share simple habits: quiet walks, gratitude notes, honest check-ins that keep optimism alive without ignoring pain. It’s a warm, grounded tour through the memoir’s biggest lessons on leadership, partnership, and civic action, designed for anyone asking how to stay human and useful when progress stalls.

Come for the stories; leave with a sturdier stance. If this conversation resonates, tap follow, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

Support the show:
On Patreon
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If you have any comments or questions, please connect with me on Instagram or email babesinbooklandpodcast@gmail.com. I’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback!

Link to this episode’s book:
Michelle Obama’s “Becoming”

Transcripts are available through apple’s podcast app—they may not be perfect, but relying on them allows me to dedicate more time to the show! If you’re interested in being a transcript angel, let me know.

This episode is produced, recorded, and its content edited by me.
Theme song by Devin Kennedy

Special thanks to my dear friend, Jaime!

Xx, Alex

Connect with us and suggest a great memoir!

Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

If belonging feels like love, purpose, and family… how do you tell when it’s actually something darker?

In this episode, we sit with the hard truths behind Bethany Joy Lenz’s memoir Dinner for Vampires. Through the quiet metaphor of a “meal” that slowly turns devouring, Joy reveals how a search for purpose and belonging can be manipulated by those who feed on vulnerability. We explore the slow erosion of identity, the psychological grip of coercive groups, and the courage it takes to push back from a table that was never nourishing you. This conversation looks beyond the headlines and asks what it really means to reclaim your voice after years spent in the shadows.

We talk cult dynamics 101: us-versus-them thinking, leaders without oversight, and the chilling rule Joy names so clearly: “in a cult, safety means agreement." Still, this isn’t a story about losing faith; it’s about reclaiming it.

If you want a gripping, clear-eyed look at coercive control, Hollywood pressure, and the courage it takes to walk away, press play. Then join the conversation: subscribe, share this with a friend who loves memoirs and media. If you like what you hear, please leave a review!

If you leave a kind review, I might read it at top of show!

For the extended discussion of this episode (an additional 15 min), subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Patreon.

Support the show:
Buy us a book
Buy cute merch

Buy Dinner For Vampires

Other Links:
Watch A Biltmore Christmas
Which Disney Princess Are You?
Psalty’s Salvation Celebration
Variety- One Tree Hill Cast, Crew Detail Assault, Harassment Claims Against Mark Schwahn

Transcripts are available through Apple’s podcast app—they may not be perfect, but relying on them allows me to dedicate more time to the show! If you’re interested in being a transcript angel, let me know.

This episode is produced, recorded, and its content edited by me.
Technical editing done by Brianna Picone.
Theme song by Devin Kennedy

Special thanks to my dear friend, Priscilla!
Xx, Alex

Connect with us and suggest a great memoir!

Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

How can you reclaim your truth and your power?

We’re diving into Horse Barbie, Geena Rocero’s radiant and illuminating memoir that shows her journey from a one-room home in Manila, Philippians, to trans pageants, from the perfume counter at Macy’s to New York fashion sets, and from private, suffocating, fear to a TED Talk that reframed transness as power. Along the way, we discuss her father’s complicated love, her mother’s unwavering belief and reflect on what can spark when the people who matter most tell you there’s nothing wrong with you.

Geena’s story and memoir widens from personal to political: pre-colonial history without gendered pronouns, the costs of documentation that doesn’t match your face, and the power of her viral TED Talk to turn shame into strength. We sit with the big questions: Why is femininity seen as a threat? How do entertainment and policy diverge? What changes when a community moves from visibility to rights? By the end, Horse Barbie reads like a manual for courage. It shows how story becomes strategy and how one woman’s voice can help many step out of the shadows.

If you care about trans rights, immigration, pageant culture, modeling, or the way love can change a life, this conversation brings nuance, warmth, and a clear takeaway: policy matters, family matters, and stories move hearts faster than arguments ever will.

If the conversation resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs a hopeful, human lens on trans life and advocacy.

If you leave a kind review, I might read it at top of show!

For the extended discussion of this episode (an additional 24 min), subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Patreon.

Support the show:
Buy us a book
Buy cute merch

Buy Horse Barbie

Other Links:
Evan Hurst substack

Transcripts are available through Apple’s podcast app—they may not be perfect, but relying on them allows me to dedicate more time to the show! If you’re interested in being a transcript angel, let me know.

This episode is produced, recorded, and its content edited by me.
Theme song by Devin Kennedy

Special thanks to my dear friend, Jaime!
Xx, Alex

Connect with us and suggest a great memoir!

Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod