Burnt Toast Podcast Bonus Content

We’re using this page to add some little odds and ends that don’t make it into BT episodes but will still be very pertinent to your interests. Think of this as a nice jelly to go with your butter, or the honey you drizzle on your peanut butter toast. These extras are paywalled, because we rely on paid subscribers to make Burnt Toast possible. But if that’s out of reach, feel free to contact us for a comp.

ICYMI, here’s what else is behind the paywall:

• From Episode 111: Advice from Amanda Rae Melody, a size-inclusive theater director with Raleigh ACT, a children’s theater company in Raleigh, North Carolina, about navigating anti-fat bias in children’s theater productions.

• From Episode 113: Author Mecca Jamilah Sullivan’s favorite Black and/or queer coming-of-age stories and memoirs.

New This week! Episode 115 (This Is Not A Book About Ballet):

“The people that worked on this book with me—my agent, my editor, my art director—to be fair about the publishing industry, they’re all predominantly white women. And I just think there was a misconception that this was a book about body positivity. They were expecting it to have a much more triumphant positive end, and while I do appreciate the body positivity, this wasn’t about that. It wasn’t just about changing her own mindset about herself. It was about dismantling a systemic oppression against big bodies.” 

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how author and illustrator Vashti Harrison incorporated themes of anti-fat bias, Black girl adultification bias, and more into her beautiful picture book Big: