We kicked off this Fully-Booked podcast episode like we often do, talking about the weather. June arrived, and with it came all the seasonal chaos we Canadians know too well. One moment we’re soaking in rays, and the next, we’re back to complaining about rain or trying to survive sudden temperature spikes. It’s the kind of weather where someone might wear a parka with flip-flops and somehow not look out of place.
We laughed about how 10 degrees feels completely different in spring versus fall. In spring, we’re peeling off layers like it’s beach season, but in the fall, the same temperature has us reaching for cozy sweaters. It doesn’t make sense, but that’s Canada for you.
Note
The following is an editorialized transcript of our weekly literary podcast. If you would like to listen to the podcast, click the play button above orlisten on your favorite platform with the links below.
Banned Books And Why They Still Matter
The main theme this month? Banned books. We decided it was time to shift from the more playful, game-style episodes and dig into something that matters on a cultural and intellectual level. This decision came after a quick text exchange about a new banned books article. Once we got into the topic, it opened up a floodgate of questions, ideas, and frustrations.
We started by asking a simple but loaded question: What is a banned book?
Technically, it’s any book that’s been restricted or removed from access in certain schools, libraries, or communities. But what is it really? Censorship. And often, it’s censorship rooted in fear of ideas, of diversity, of history.
From classics like 1984 and To Kill a Mockingbird to more recent works like All Boys Aren’t Blue and The Hate U Give, the reasons books get banned often come down to who’s uncomfortable with their message.
It’s honestly baffling. When you look at a list of banned books, you start to notice patterns. So many of these works are centered on themes like rebellion, personal freedom, or confronting injustice, especially from governments or powerful institutions.
Others touch on race, gender, sexuality, or trauma. In other words, they deal with real life. Books like The Handmaid’s Tale, The Diary of Anne Frank, Animal Farm, and Slaughterhouse-Five come up again and again. And that should make all of us pause. Why are these stories, the ones that challenge systems or amplify marginalized voices, the ones most often targeted?
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Subscribe to our weekly newsletterThe Larger Conversation: Why Banning Books Is Futile
We dug deeper into the implications of banning literature. We talked about books being banned for obscenity in the past, like Lady Chatterley’s Lover or Lolita, and more recent bans centered on issues like race, gender identity, or historical events.
What struck us most was how many of these bans seemed designed to suppress not just stories, but the lived experiences of real people. Books like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are being challenged because they don’t fit a specific moral or political agenda.
We also brought up examples from Canadian history, like the banning of Lethal Marriage, a book about the Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka case, which was allegedly pulled for its inaccuracies. That led to a nuanced discussion about the difference between censoring historical artifacts and correcting misinformation. We’re not saying every book should be protected no matter what; it’s more about the intent and impact behind the banning.
One of the more compelling questions we asked was this: If these books are so “dangerous,” why are they still so widely read? Because banning something often makes it more intriguing. You tell a teenager they’re not allowed to read The Catcher in the Rye, and that book jumps to the top of their list. The same goes for Fahrenheit 451, a book literally about burning books. There’s an irony in banning it that’s almost too obvious to be real.
And with digital access being what it is, how do you realistically ban a book anymore? Even if you pull it from a shelf, people can download it in seconds. Instead of trying to restrict access, wouldn’t it make more sense to use these books as tools for education and discussion?
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Why This Matters More Than Ever
We finished the episode by circling back to the bigger picture. If stories help build empathy, and we believe they do, then banning them does the opposite. It fosters ignorance. It promotes exclusion. It tries to erase perspectives that don’t align with the dominant narrative. And that’s dangerous.
We talked about the current political climate and how certain groups, especially in the U.S., are trying to control what young people read. And while we can joke about things like Walter the Farting Dog being banned (seriously, why?), the truth is a lot of these censorship efforts come from a place of fear and control. We were honest about it, some of these bans are not just misguided, they’re harmful.
Ultimately, we don’t think banning books prevents anything. In fact, it probably does the opposite. When we were younger and found out there were books people didn’t want us to read, we hunted them down. We read them with even more interest. That curiosity doesn’t go away, and the more you try to shut it down, the more persistent it becomes.
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So yeah, we’re kicking off the month talking about banned books. And we’re going to keep going. In the next few episodes, we’ll dig into some of these titles more closely and talk about what makes them so important and why people keep trying to silence them. We’re also hoping to bring in a few more voices to the conversation. Maybe even Sirin’s mom (who’s already deep in The Housemaid) because we know she’ll have thoughts.
And yes, we know this episode went off the rails at points, especially when we somehow got from banned books to porn. But hey, this is us. This is how we think, how we process, and how we connect with each other. And if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that stories matter. They always have, and they always will.
What’s On Our Nightstands
We took a much-needed break to catch up on what we’ve been reading, which quickly became a whole vibe. Meaghan’s been on a cozy fantasy kick lately. She talked about Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies and The Spell Shop by Sarah Beth Durst. Both books are whimsical, thoughtful, and full of lovable characters, like a talking spider plant named Kaz (who might just be the plant version of a family member, which made us crack up).
Shirin, on the other hand, fell back into a thriller phase after burning out on epic fantasy. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden was her latest obsession, and now everyone in her circle is reading it, from Meaghan to her husband to her mom. It’s the kind of snappy, page-turning thriller that pulls you out of any reading slump.
Related5 Cozy Fantasy Books To Warm Your Heart Before Spring Arrives
She also joked about watching a ridiculous AI movie starring Megan Fox and how Meaghan’s current look might actually sell the idea that she’s a robot. It was one of those tangents that you can only get when podcast hosts are actually having fun together.
There was also a lot of laughter around the differences in book pricing between Canada and the U.S. We’ve all had that moment of regret where we passed up a book for a few dollars more and then never found it again. And don’t even get us started on TikTok trends about Canadian book-buying woes. We’re living it.
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