Episode 5: Boy-Boy Vulnerability Moment

In this episode:

• Gray is grouchy about plot twists

• What happens if your tragic backstory is an important part of your personality?

• Ax struggles with human impulses

• Marco expresses vulnerability

• Class in The Animorphs

Other references:

• Earthrise: the image that changed our view of the planet

Episode 4: In a Dream and a Whale

In this episode:

• We learn more about Andalites

• Teen friendships and teen romances

• Race in The Animorphs

• Are whales Andalites??

Other references:

• Ax is Captain Planet

• The Bechdel Test

• Gray suggests sharks don’t attack humpback whales. She is incorrect.

Episode 3: Imagine All Girls Can Turn Into Elephants

Please note, this episode briefly discusses suicide.

In this episode:

• Gray ships Rachel and Tobias

• Tobias has to fight his hawk instincts and decide what it means to be human

• What will spur Tobias to fight the Yeerks?

• A trans reading of Tobias’s character and coded characters in general

• If you could morph only one animal, what would you choose?

Other references:

• In this episode, we discuss suicide. Please take care when listening. If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, please call the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit them online.

Episode 2: Definitely a Cat Person

In this episode:

A few things we discuss in this episode:

• The font! (Gray didn’t like it.)

• The Animorphs vs. classic novel structure

• The humanity of the Yeerks

• Magic vs. science

• How much we love Rachel and Tobias

Outside references:

• Disability and KidLit: disabilityinkidlit.com

Episode 1: Take My MacGuffin

In this episode:

Gray experiences The Invasion for the first time. It turns out it wasn’t an invasion of lizards.

We discuss the crazy aliens, the grossness of morphing, slash goggles, the concept of default identity in literature, the trope of the five-man band, and the way this book does not pull its punches.

Outside references:

• Salad shooter commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvL-I3Dfeqc

• New Jim Crow - http://newjimcrow.com/

• Dogs and Smurfs - https://maxbarry.com/2011/07/08/news.html (which Jenny conflated with another article around the same time about someone changing the gender of characters when reading to their kids, which may or may not have been this one: https://boingboing.net/2013/12/30/genderswitched-bilbo-makes-the.html)

Episode 0: Lizards Can't Catch

Welcome to Animorphology!

In this episode, Jenny and Ted introduce Gray to the wonder of the Animorphs, and Gray tries to guess the premise.

Bonus: Jenny recites all of the titles of all of the books, in order. What an amazing nerd.

Outside references:

• SPOILERS: Tor.com article