We pop in during our break to talk biopic pronunciation (kidding, but not really) and all things Britney's biopic. We then try to figure out if all the Britney references/cosplay/sampling that's been happening are being driven by the biopic or something else is going on (the name on everybody's lips at the VMAs was definitely Britney!)
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1:07:35
Brit Lit
We start off our concluding episode of the Britney book club season by unfortunately having to spend even more time discussing Justin Timberlake’s continuing lack of couth before we then go Spears by Spears through some of the media exclusives that we’ve seen over the last few months. We also cover rumors of movie rights, the critical reception of the book, and its impressive sales stats, before moving on to our final reflections about the The Woman In Me’s insights, themes, and impact.
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1:18:24
Top Hat Topics: Book Edition
On this episode, we bring back the top hat topics format after a lengthy pause and field some thought-provoking book-related questions from our inquisitive listeners. We discuss theories on why some topics didn’t make the book, what we would’ve loved to hear more about, Britney’s maximalist aesthetics, Matthew Rosengart as Chicago’s Billy Flynn, and ruminate more on the evergreen question: what about Bryan? And in conclusion, we leave you with these emoji thoughts: ✍️💄🧜 😪💨🐛
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1:37:16
Freedom: Chapters 46-49
We have reached the end of our close read of Britney's memoir, The Woman in Me, and to say it has been an honor and a pleasure to do this would be an understatement! We conclude by discussing Britney's final push to free herself from the conservatorship, including her 911 call to report herself as a victim of conservatorship abuse, her court address heard round the world in June 2021, and when she was finally able to choose her attorney, Matthew Rosengart, which ultimately results in the conservatorship being terminated in November 2021. We also discuss Britney's duet with Elton John and her journey to heal and navigate her life as a free woman. We wrap up this episode by discussing the rose emoji-filled acknowledgements section 🌹🌹🌹
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1:00:03
My Very Own Horror Movie: Chapters 40-45
In our penultimate close read episode, we cover chapters 40-45 of The Woman in Me. We discuss Britney's brave act of resistance during the announcement of her second residency, her traumatic involuntary stay in a mental health facility, her attempts to make sense of her family's behavior during and after the stay (including the incident between Jamie and her son), and her determination to end the conservatorship once and for all, including how her social media activity factored into this plan. This is our most emotional episode of this series, as we also reflect on what Britney shares about how the Free Britney movement impacted her.
Britney Spears was under a conservatorship from 2008 to 2021 where all her financial and personal decisions had to be approved by her conservators, including her father, Jamie Spears. Britney earned hundreds of millions of dollars during that time, performing and touring extensively, while being deemed too impaired by the courts to be in control of her life. Britney is one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world, yet very little of the massive media coverage she generated focused on the conservatorship until the #FreeBritney movement grew within the last few years before the restrictive legal arrangement finally ended. Now that the conservatorship has been terminated, there are still an enormous amount of unanswered questions, including whether those responsible for the conservatorship will be held accountable for what Britney experienced during those 13+ years. Eat, Pray, Britney tries to draw attention to the restrictive constraints Britney was under during the conservatorship, as well as her current pursuit of justice, while also examining her life and career through a feminist lens.
Netherlands