The Cult of Romance Novels
February 10, 2026
1 hr 10 min
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204 of 222
February 10, 2026
The Cult of Romance Novels
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Amanda Montell Episodes Around February 10, 2026
Episode 204 of 222 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
The Cult of Romance Novels
Summary
Clutch your pearls and cancel your plans, because this week Sounds Like A Cult is getting spicy. We’re welcoming our brand new co-host Iman Hariri-Kia (@imanharirikia), romance author, cultural critic, and certified defender of the genre, to break down The Cult of Romance Novels. We're joined by romance author Alexa Martin (@alexambooks) to talk about romance novels as sex education for women, the intense sense of community among readers, and why the genre is so often dismissed despite being wildly popular. Plus, we get into beloved tropes, Heated Rivalry, and how Alexa might have accidentally predicted the Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift era. Is romance harmless hopecore, or a full-blown belief system? Plus, what that snake tongue do?
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