Circle Time: A Book Club Podcast
Circle Time is a space where we share pieces of what we’re reading to scratch our English-class itch and get some personalized, in-depth recommendations from each other. We hope that by opening our circle to a wider audience we can inspire introspection, curious conversation, and of course, more reading in the world!
Episodes
26 episodes
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Welcome to Season 2 of Circle Time! We're back from summer break and we're kicking off the new season with a rare occasion - all 3 of us read and loved this novel! Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a story about platonic love, the creative ...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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1:03:48
Kinship with All Life by J. Allen Boone
Get on "another level" with us as we talk about human relationships to animals. Can we truly communicate with animals in a deep and meaningful way? Is there a natural hierarchy found in the animal kingdom? Are we all created from the same plane...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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1:01:25
Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
We're truly getting messy about life and covering a lot of ground in this episode as we chat about Sheila Heti's Pure Colour and welcome our very first guest to Circle Time, our beloved Lex! Join us for some existential conver...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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1:23:42
Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés; Ch. 5 When the Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
We return to the "woo woo bible" to explore one of our favorite topics: love and relationships. Estés analyzes the story of the skeleton woman; an Inuit folktale that speaks to the transformational nature of love, the willingness to embrace cha...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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51:21
Big Announcement!
You can now join the Circle Time Bookclub Podcast Group on Goodreads! Check out the page here.
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0:57
Walking to Mercury by Starhawk
Our first novel on the podcast! This is the second book in a series published in the 1990s by ecofeminist leader Starhawk. It tells the story of a young woman named Maya protesting the Vietnam War and trying to stay true to herself amidst all t...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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1:00:22
Negotiating with the Dead by Margaret Atwood
Welcome back to another Circle Time! In this episode, Lauren shares from Negotiating with the Dead: Writers on Writing by Margaret Atwood. We put on our English class hats and talk about our ideas about writers, our experiences with fiction vs ...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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1:03:25
Marry Him by Lori Gottlieb
Olivia begins this conversation by giving an overview of what this book is about and who this book might be written for (probably not for us). We then dive into a discussion about qualities that make up a "life partner" and how those traits may...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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1:04:12
Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks; queerness
We keep unpacking Communion with a deeper discussion of queerness and how it doesn't go away, even when you're in a straight-presenting relationship. Further, we discuss the experience of reading bell hooks' work and how truly impactful it is.&...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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56:02
Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks; loving under patriarchy
Book three in bell hooks' series on the big-L Love. This book spells out the challenges women face in finding and keeping love in a patriarchal society. From identifying "feminist" men who would never actually date a feminist, to challeng...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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1:07:39
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Join us for this discussion about garden(ing), hyperawareness of where our products come from, and The Honorable Harvest. This conversation toes the line between existing in a consumer culture and existing harmoniously in nature. Is this even p...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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50:19
Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés; Chapter 12. Marking Territory: The Boundaries of Rage and Forgiveness
Michelle has deemed it the "woo woo" bible because this book has got ALL the wisdom about spiritual growth; shared through themes of nature, folktale and female archetypes. There will probably be many Circle Times on this book because there's s...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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54:13
Unf*ck Your Anger by Faith G. Harper (part 2)
Welcome back for PART 2 as we continue to UnF*ck our anger! (and our forgiveness).This episode features:-Michelle forgiving Olivia once long ago-Olivia, continually mindblown by forgiveness-and a brief 10-step overview of how yo...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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34:01
Unf*ck Your Anger by Faith G. Harper (part 1)
Welcome to part 1 of our first 2-part episode! Who knew this little book could contain so much? Join us as we talk about some evolutionary science, our own experiences with anger, and begin to unravel our understanding of forgiveness. Is moving...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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42:51
Our Poetry Episode
In this episode we read some poems aloud and digest them together. The poems selected are random - just ones that Lauren and Michelle liked a lot and wanted to share. Some strong themes of connection to nature and mental health recurred. <...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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1:00:01
The Defining Decade by Meg Jay
If you're ready to put a whole lotta pressure on your 20s, here you go! This book was a tough pill to swallow - it has such a strict definition of success. However, the underlying themes of setting goals, doing fulfilling work, envisioning the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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59:06
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Olivia grapples with what "traumatic" really means. We then discuss attunement and attachment as mentioned in the book as well as how life events can influence genetic expression. To close we discuss therapeutic approaches to recover from traum...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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57:47
Getting to Center by marlee grace
It's allllllll about the practice! Join us for this episode as we wrestle with the idea of practice, tease out what it really means to have one, the beauty of returning to things, art, dance, commitment, and of course, relationships.&n...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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58:43
Attached by Amir Levine & Rachel Heller
In this episode we learned that attachment is complicated! There's tons to study and if you want to learn more about your own style please read the book and/or consult with your therapist. We are certainly not experts - we may have actually com...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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56:19
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving/giving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Which one is your love language? To give or receive? How does this show up in your relationship(s)? These are the questions. Listen to us find out ...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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1:00:34
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
A Circle Time favorite book. In this memoir, a therapist shares about her own experience in therapy and some especially impactful patients that challenged her and pulled at her heartstrings. Conversation topics include: -Olivia's great...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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1:02:40
Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
Join us for a deeper dive as we tease apart what radical acceptance of the self really means, from a book that may or may not change your life. Featuring: thoughts and feelings; brains and bodies; how truly radical it is to accept yourself; our...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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53:27
iGen by Jean M. Twenge
Goodbye Millennial and hello iGen! In this episode we discuss Gen Z with all their peaks and valleys. Listen as we take a quiz to learn how iGen we are and what this means moving forward in our greater culture.
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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1:07:10
The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron
Surprise surprise, we're all HSPs. From this book we learned that there's a neurological reason for our sensitivities. Even though it's not fun to hear, it is validating. Special focus on how we HSPs manage our relationships with different "opt...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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52:15