Sad Girl Syllabus

Isn’t everyone a scammer? This week, SGS is watching Inventing Anna, the Netflix series that follows the story and exposé of Anna Delvey, the faux German heiress who conned the New York art scene. Ma…

You either die a sad girl or live long enough to see yourself become the girlboss, or at least we think that’s how the saying goes. Our newest season of Sad Girl Syllabus is all about the girlboss my…

For the finale of season 3, Bethany and Mary discuss the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the rise in women serving in the military, the portrayal of the “girl boss” soldier, a deep dive into Zero Dark Thi…

In the penultimate episode in the series on women’s roles during wartime, Bethany and Mary cover the Vietnam War and the counterculture of the 1960’s and 70's in America. Topics of conversation inclu…

The media bubble around World War II history and lore is rife with the sad girl archetype, but at this point in history we start to see a change in attitude toward her. The women at home are taking a…

The exploration of the “Sad Wife” theme in history and literature continues with the SGS conversation on the American Revolution and America’s eight Founding Mothers. Bethany and Mary discuss how the…

“Trad Wife Finishing School,” the 3rd season of Sad Girl Syllabus, is all about the sad, waiting wife archetype in literature. For every hero who is off fighting for his country, there is a woman wai…

This week’s Extra Credit episode is a holiday hangover cure-all. Bethany and Mary discuss Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. Their formulaic plot lines, Sad Christian Mom hype, and the fabricated mag…

Can faith make you a monster? For the finale of Season 2, Mary and Bethany explore the motif of monster priests and the performance of faith. From The Exorcist to The Conjuring Universe to the recent…

Feeling bad and feeling sad. Bethany and Mary discuss institutionalized mechanisms of guilt and penance in the Catholic Church. We talk confession and reconciliation, and how they’re used as manipula…

Bethany and Mary kick off a whole new season discussing one of the biggest trends of the last few years: God. What’s behind the recent uptick in Christian motifs and memes? “Hot Priest” attempts to a…

Extra Credit! This season's bonus episode explores Elizabeth Holmes: founder of Theranos, the defunct healthcare company that claimed to have invented an optimized blood test and scammed millions of …

The season one finale is here and it's all about The Twilight Saga. From Wuthering Heights to Twilight, Bethany and Mary ponder: How did we get here? Where do we go from here? What is the fate of Got…

Phantom of the Opera marks a major milestone in the history of Gothic literature, and Mary and Bethany discuss the end of genre. Topics covered are Broadway's longest-running musical, science vs. ill…

This week on Sad Girl Syllabus Bethany and Mary discuss Dracula by Bram Stoker, the iconic gothic novel that put vampires on the map. Topics covered are 19th century medicine and science, monsters, i…

In the pilot episode for the Sad Girl Syllabus podcast, Bethany and Mary begin their exploration of the "Wuthering Heights to Twilight Pipeline" with a deep dive into early Gothic Literature. Topics …