

Pod and Prejudice
Molly Burdick
Becca has read all of Jane Austen's work. Molly literally does not know who Mrs. Bennet is. Together, they venture into Austen's world of romance, biting satire, and class struggles. Like Austen? Interested in a modern take? This is the podcast for you!Produced by Molly BurdickAudio production by Graham CookShow art by Torrence BrowneTranscriptions provided by SpeechDocswww.podandprejudice.comcontact: podandprejudice@gmail.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 30, 2025 • 56min
Mansfield Park Chapters 13-14
Theatre kids, rise up! Today we meet John Yates and the young people decide to put on a play. Edmund is NOT a fan of this idea. Julia finally gets her answers about Henry's feelings.Topics discussed include the pettiness of theatre kids, Edmund and Tom's power struggles, Jane Austen's involvement with theatre, Edmund's overall wussiness, the plot of Lovers' Vows, and Julia's comeback.The young people of Mansfield Park are making theatre, and so is our very own audio producer, Graham! Come see him in a brand-new work called The Marble in My Mouth on January 9th and 10th at 7:00 and 8:30 PM! Performances are at Stella Adler Center for the Arts in New York City. Get your tickets HERE! Patron Study Questions this week come from Judith, Diana L., Kaitlyn, and Avi.Topics discussed include the modern equivalence of Lovers' Vows, theatre kids flirting with each other, the characters' feelings about the play, and Fanny's reaction to the play at the end of the chapters.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include how theatre is moving the story along and the scandal of Maria's participation in the play.Funniest Quote(s): “As he said this, each looked towards their mother. Lady Bertram, sunk back in one corner of the sofa, the picture of health, wealth, ease, and tranquility, was just falling into a gentle doze, while Fanny was getting through the few difficulties of her work for her.”“If I must give my opinion, I have always thought it the most insipid play in the English language - I do not wish to make objections, I shall be happy to be of any use, but I think we could not choose worse.”Questions moving forward: Who's watching this play? Will Julia participate? Will Fanny try to stop the play? Will Fanny try to stop it?Who wins the chapters? Julia!!!Glossary of Terms and Phrases: baize (n): a coarse, typically green woolen material resembling felt, used especially for covering pool, snooker, and billiard tables.by the ears: to cause to dispute or quarrelGlossary of People, Places, and Things: Austenland, Only Murders in the Building, Spring Awakening, Spring Awakening, Hair, Rent, Prince Faggot, The Vagina Monologues, ZanessaNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 15-16Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Dec 16, 2025 • 1h 9min
Mansfield Park Chapters 11-12
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE AUSTEN!!!! Sir Thomas's return looms on the horizon, Mary Crawford tells us how she really feels about Dr. Grant, Fanny gives us some real main character energy, Big T comes home from Weymouth, Henry Crawford continues to be a naughty boy, Fanny has her first ball, and a mysterious new person arrives.Topics discussed include job security, how much we love our dental hygienists, a continued reminder of where Mansfield Park's wealth comes from, Mary's compliment for Fanny, Cassiopeia, the Jane Austen Cinematic Universe, Becca's mom's love life, and Edmund's lack of rizz.The Office spoilers at 13:52 - 14:40!!!Patron Study Questions this week come from Avi, Linnea, Angelika, Emily, Liz, and Ghenet. Topics discussed include Mary's opinions, Edmund shutting down Fanny's feelings, nature's purpose in the book, the lack of romance at the ball, Maria and Julia's relationship, why Sir Thomas is in danger, and Mary's booty.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include Sir Thomas's return, Big T in relation to the rest of his family, and Maria and Henry's affair.Funniest Quote: “Which is, perhaps, more in favour of his liking Julia best, than you, Fanny, may be aware; for I believe it often happens that a man, before he has quite made up his own mind, will distinguish the sister or intimate friend of the woman he is really thinking of more than the woman herself."Questions moving forward: Who is the mystery man? Is Sir Thomas coming back?Who wins the chapters? Fanny!Glossary of Terms and Phrases:Glossary of People, Places, and Things: The Office, Truth or Beard, A Cinderella Story, Gilmore GirlsNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 13-14Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Dec 2, 2025 • 1h 23min
Mansfield Park Chapters 8-10
The gang is headed to Sotherton! We tour the chapel, Mary learns that Edmund is planning to be a clergyman (much to her dismay), and Fanny gets left alone in the woods for an hour. Topics discussed include Maria's men-juggling act, the stick up Fanny's butt, whether 5'9" is short, our nightmare blunt rotation, the debauchery of big cities, fences we've climbed in our youths, and how Mr. Rushworth runs.Patron Study Questions this week come from Avi, Ghenet, Linnea, and Judith. Topics discussed include Jane Austen's commentary on the clergy and how Edmund's profession will play out in the book, who is the better option between Henry Crawford and Mr. Rushworth, whether Edmund will be a good example for his parishioners, and whether we'd feel differently about Mary Crawford if she were our main character.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include Fanny as the consummate observer, Maria's role in the story, and morality in Austen.Funniest Quote: “Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.”Questions moving forward: Will Maria and Julia talk about their boy troubles? Will Fanny ever get her own love story?Who wins the chapters? Fanny, with an honorable mention for Mrs. Rushworth.Glossary of Terms and Phrases:ague (n): malaria or some other illness involving fever and shivering.bon mot (n): a witty remark.ha-ha (n): a ditch with a wall on its inner side below ground level, forming a boundary to a park or garden without interrupting the view.heath (n):a dwarf shrub with small leathery leaves and small pink or purple bell-shaped flowers, characteristic of heathland and moorland.prosing (v): talking tediously.volubility (n): the quality of talking fluently, readily, or incessantly; talkativeness.Glossary of People, Places, and Things: You Belong With Me, Misery BusinessNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 11-12Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Nov 25, 2025 • 1h 3min
Are The Bennet Girls Okay? with Emily and Masha Breeze
In this special bonus episode, we're talking with Emily and Masha Breeze about Are The Bennet Girls Okay? by Emily Breeze, an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that centers on the experience of the Bennet sisters. Are The Bennet Girls Okay? is playing at Bedlam Theatre Company in New York through December 21st.Topics discussed include: was Jane Austen 6 men in a trenchcoat? What are Bluesky posts called? Is Mrs. Bennet right? What is the myth of Pride and Prejudice? Lizzie Bennet is a queer, fat woman!For more from Masha, follow her on Instagram at @mashacometh and @fakethemheadlines, and if you're on the website formerly known as Twitter, follow her at @mashaparty.To see more from Bedlam, check out their website at https://bedlam.org, and follow them on Instagram at @bedlambedlambedlam.For tickets to Are The Bennet Girls Okay? head over to https://bedlam.org/w-o/are-the-bennet-girls-ok.Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Bridget Jones's Diary, Nevada by Imogen Binnie, Clueless, Fire Island, them, Cursed Child (boo), the BacchaeNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 8-10Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Nov 18, 2025 • 1h 25min
Mansfield Park Chapters 6-7
Today, things begin to grow in the rice pudding. Mr. Rushworth has the hots for landscaping, Molly gets bitchcrackers for Miss Crawford, and the tides turn on our affections for Edmund when he lends out Fanny's mare. Topics discussed include hear me out cakes, apricots, Mary Crawford's poor breeding, what values we take from our families, Jane Austen's beautiful descriptions of love and how we're getting it in a different way in this book, regifting, Fanny as a chronically ill and/or anxious girlie, and pug the basset hound.Patron Study Questions this week come from Ghenet, Avi, Spring, Diana L., Angelika, Katie, Linnea, Marija, and Melissa. Topics discussed include POV shifting, landscaping and architecture, chronic illness in Austen, Edmund's manipulation of Fanny, Fanny's relationship to the servants, the number of monologues in this book, Edmund being more like his family than we thought, and all things Mary Crawford.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include Edmund and Fanny's conversation about Mary and the romance brewing between Edmund and Mary.Funniest Quote: “The tree thrives well beyond a doubt, madam. The soil is good, and I never pass it without regretting that the fruit should be so little worth the trouble of gathering.”Questions moving forward: If not her cousin, then whomst?Who wins the chapters? The horse <3 Glossary of Terms and Phrases:badness (n): poor quality or low standardcalico (n): printed cotton fabricMoorpark (n): a type of apricotGlossary of People, Places, and Things: Gilmore Girls, Property Brothers, HGTV, A Lively Mind, Clueless, Les Miserables, Dear Evan HansenNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 8-10Please consider donating to Audrey Bellezza's nonprofit, Love 4 Lungs. Audrey (co-author of Anne of Avenue A, Elizabeth of Easthampton, and Emma of 83rd Street) was diagnosed with stage 4 ALK+ lung cancer last year, and has since started this nonprofit to raise awareness, fund research, and accelerate the development of a life-saving vaccine. You can follow them on Instagram at @ourlove4lungs. Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Nov 4, 2025 • 1h 26min
Mansfield Park Chapters 3-5
In today's episode, we're talking about chapters 3-5 of Mansfield Park. Mr. Norris is dead! Will Fanny move in with Mrs. Norris? Sir Thomas goes to Antigua! Will he come back? Fanny's horse dies! Will she ever ride again? We meet SEVERAL new characters. Will our girls marry them?Topics discussed include the way incomes from livings work (correct us if we're wrong!), rice pudding lasagna, Molly's continued cousing-shipping, Sir Thomas's West Indies estate and the slavery funding the wealth in England during this era, abolitionist judge Lord Mansfield, our first proposal, whether the Crawfords are people of color, people getting duped into the bad marriage, and the ins and outs of outs.Patron Study Questions this week come from Ghenet, Avi, and Linnea. Topics discussed include Anne's autonomy in the family, the specter of slavery hanging over Mansfield Park, and why Mrs. Norris wanted to adopt Fanny in the first place.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include Edmund and Fanny's dynamic, the Crawfords' role in the story this far, getting Mary Crawford's POV, the similarities between Fanny and Mary, and what Henry teaches us about Maria and Julia.Funniest Quote:“The earliest intelligence of the travellers safe arrival in Antigua after a favorable voyage, was received; though now before Mrs. Norris had been indulging in very dreadful fears, and trying to make Edmund participate in them whenever she could get him alone; and as she depended on being the first person made acquainted with any fatal catastrophe, she had already arranged the manner of breaking it to all the others, when Sir Thomas’s assurances of their both being alive and well, made it necessary to lay by her agitation and affectionate preparatory speeches for a while.”Questions moving forward: Will Henry be an interest for Fanny? Is Sir Thomas shipwrecked? Will Big T and Mary Crawford fall in love?Who wins the chapters? Henry CrawfordGlossary of Terms and Phrases:apoplectic (adj): overcome with anger; extremely indignant.esprit de corps (n): a feeling of pride, fellowship, and common loyalty shared by the members of a particular group.evincing (v): reveal the presence ofinvective (n): insulting, abusive, or highly critical language.pecuniary (adj): relating to or consisting of money.plied (v): provide someone with (food or drink) in a continuous or insistent way.preferment (n): promotion or appointment to a position or office.Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Kahlil Greene, Lord Mansfield, Anxiety (Doechii), Miss Austen, Alfie Enoch, Regé-Jean Page, LaKeith Stanfield, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Hunger GamesNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 6-7Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Oct 21, 2025 • 1h 32min
Mansfield Park Chapters 1-2
We're diving into Mansfield Park in this first episode of season five of Pod and Prejudice. In today's chapters, we're taking it back to the generation before our heroine. We meet the Ward sisters who all marry into different social strata and learn how Fanny Price came to Mansfield Park. Topics discussed include the something borrowed, something blue tradition, Mrs. Norris as a charity case, cousins marrying, Sir Wobbles the Pug, the bashing down of Fanny Price, naming girls after their mothers, and wealth as access.Patron Study Questions this week come from Kaitlyn, Linnea, Avi, Ghenet, Melissa, Katie, and Liz. Topics discussed include our first poor MC, the three Ward sisters and their marriages, our impressions of the Bertrams, our predictions for the futures of the kids, Mrs. Norris's influence over Sir Thomas, and why the writing of MP may be so different from the other books we've read.Becca's Study Questions:Topics discussed include Austen's Dickensian turn, why the Bertrams keep Fanny separate, whether Fanny is better off at Mansfield, and why Edmund is so special.Funniest Quote(s):“But there are certainly not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them.”“Lady Bertram, who was a woman of very tranquil feelings and a temper remarkably easy and indolent, would have contented herself with merely giving up her sister, and thinking no more of the matter: but Mrs. Norris had a spirit of activity, which could not be satisfied till she had written a long and angry letter to Fanny”“I should wish to see them very good friends, and would on no account authorize in my girls the smallest degree of arrogance towards their relation; but still they cannot be equals.”“It is not very wonderful that with all their promising talents and early information, they should be entirely deficient in the less common acquirements of self-knowledge, generosity, and humility.”Questions Moving Forward: Will the cousins marry?Who wins the chapters? Edmund BertramGlossary of Terms and Phrases:Disoblige (v): offend (someone) by not acting in accordance with their wishes.Deportment (n): a person's behavior or manners.Emulation (n): effort to match or surpass a person or achievement, typically by imitation.Frank (v): to mark (a piece of mail) with an official signature or sign indicating the right of the sender to free mailing.Indolence (n): avoidance of activity or exertion; laziness.Injudicious (adj): showing very poor judgment; unwise.Prognostication (n): the action of foretelling or prophesying future events.Solicitude (n): care or concern for someone or something.Tractable (adj): easy to control or influence.Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Yours, Mine, and Ours, Jane Eyre, A Cinderella Story, Gilmore Girls, The Last of Us, Mean GirlsToday's episode is brought to you by You Pod It, Dude! Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and watch the video on Spotify and Youtube! Follow them on Instagram and TikTok at @youpodit!Molly's edition of Mansfield Park can be found here.Next Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 3-5Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Oct 15, 2025 • 1h 2min
Becoming Jane with Hot and Bothered
In honor of Jane Austen's 250th birthday, we teamed up with Hot and Bothered and blended our formats for a special crossover episode covering the 2007 fanfic Becoming Jane! Topics discussed include why it's so hard to write dialogue for writers, the 2007 of it all, Anne Hathaway's terrible British accent, what this movie believes about love, the movie's lack of Austen's genius, digging your own potatoes, and Austen in popular culture. Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Penelope, Atonement, The Last King of Scotland, Joe Wright, Shakespeare in Love, Les MisIf you loved hearing us chat with Vanessa, check out Hot and Bothered at hotandbotheredrompod.com and follow them on Instagram at @therompod.Next Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 1 - 2Teepublic is now Dashery! Check out our new merch store at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon!Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Oct 7, 2025 • 55min
Anne of Avenue A with Audrey and Emily
What a delight to talk with Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding about their newest twist on an Austen novel, Anne of Avenue A, which will hit the shelves on October 28th!Topics discussed include flashbacks, Jane Austen's fanfic of her own life, romanticizing New York in the fall, miscommunication, dead moms in Austen, living in a 16-unit walk-up in NYC, which characters were easiest/hardest to adapt, and what part of the book Audrey and Emily are most excited to share.Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Persuasion (1971), The Jane Austen Centre, The Morgan Library, Nikki Payne, Ladies in Waiting, Thelma and Louise, Superbad, Heat, The Bounty Hunter, When Harry Met Sally, BalthazarFollow Audrey and Emily on Instagram at @audrey.and.emily. Preorder Anne of Avenue A here!Next Episode: Becoming JaneTeepublic is now Dashery! Check out our new merch store at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon!Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Sep 23, 2025 • 1h 10min
Season 4 Finale Q+A
We're joined by Graham today to answer YOUR questions for our season finale!Topics discussed include our Persuasion dream adaptation, the theme of persuasion in other Austen novels, the way Taylor Swift defined our lives, Persuasion's message to modern audiences, chronic illness in Austen, our Persuasion murder mystery, our Mansfield Park predictions (and some spoilers), the Wuthering Heights remake, our Austen superlatives, and marzipan.Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Anne of Avenue A, Sarah Snook, Succession, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Pedro Pascal, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, The Last of Us, David Corenswet, Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs, Mad Men, Agatha Christie, Wuthering Heights, Emerald FennellNext episode: Becoming JaneTeepublic is now Dashery! Check out our new merch store at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon!Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/


