My best friend and I have known each other since I was 19 and she was 18. We met when she was entering the same university as I was. We had actually never met, but were from rival high schools. I mentioned this to her and she looked me up and down and said “Oh.” I found her utterly hilarious at that moment. We spent three years in the same sorority after this, and were known to be almost inseparable for most of that time. After that, I went to law school and we didn’t talk as much for a year or two. I was so busy with reading about federalism and she was busy with her schooling and work. After I graduated, we started talking again.

The best thing about our friendship is the fact that we can talk constantly. I honestly never get sick of her. We text constantly about what we are doing, ranting and raving about books we love. I started an Instagram to show off the books I was reading after she turned me onto Bookstagram, a community she knew a lot about by following people and I knew nothing about. I began Brews.and.Books in March 2019 and built a great community.

But we are also two people who are deeply obsessed with podcasts. We discuss them constantly. So we decided to make a podcast this year. Well, we joked about it last year and kept talking about it. Then I sent her an article on recording equipment we could both use. I also came up the name (because there was never an acrostic I didn’t like), I suggested On Wednesdays We Read or OWWR Pod. We decided we wanted a podcast where we talked about our current reads and the TV shows we watch. We wanted it to be fun and light and then a more in-depth conversation on one book for a month long discussion. We also decided on the book: our first Buddy Read we ever did, the Wheel of Time suggested by another friend.

We did not realize that this is the fantasy novel outside J.R.R. Tolkien. We didn’t realize that this book included a slog and a weird description of women. We had just read the first book and we liked it. That is actually a lot of my personality. I’ve always been told I dive headfirst into things without thinking about what comes next. And honestly, that’s very true. I often just ask a question, say I should do something, and then do it. It’s how I got a friend to travel to Singapore with me. It’s how I got Laura to agree to a podcast. It’s even how I got my career started out of law school. I have a horror story about a bridesmaids trip where I was able to get people to leave somewhere because I just started walking towards the exit and I expected them to follow. My sister said “we aren’t going to mention we’re leaving?” I looked her in the eyes and said with no amount of sarcasm “lead with confidence. People will follow.” That’s how I see this podcast. We just walked into making it without knowing where it was going to go or who we would meet along the way. This has leant itself to a wonderful chat with a woman I love talking to, and new friends along the way. This has been a wild ride, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

We may not cover only fantasy, we may switch things up. But if you haven’t listened yet, we have a podcast where we have loose structured conversation for about 30 minutes, and then a deep analysis on one book. We discuss the plot and characters, so you will never miss what we are talking about. Follow along!