As the abstract makes clear, the subject of this article is not romance novels. However, the podcasts discussed are put in the context of the romance genre:
This article examines how the podcast Thirst Aid Kit makes Black women’s desires—often erased or distorted in media—audible. Using Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) and feminist close reading, I make three interrelated arguments: (1) The hosts’ use of regional, Black vernaculars and cultural touchstones disrupts podcasting’s Whiteness and builds intimacy with Black women listeners; (2) The podcast’s aural expressions of thirst articulate Black women’s desires rather than shield them from broader publics; (3) The show’s expression of thirst is connected to the romance genre; however, Thirst Aid Kit, ruptures the genre’s investment in Whiteness and the happy ending. This article builds from and intervenes in podcasting research, studies of Black women and media, and popular romance studies.
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Though the drabbles on Thirst Aid Kit all technically have an ending, the stories mostly start and end in the middle of a broader narrative, only giving the listener a glimpse into the relationship between the host and the thirst object of the week. Further, [...] the stories frequently focus on quotidian moments like making up after a small argument or getting dressed for a nice date. I contend that the host’s emphasis on domestic banality and the everyday across their drabbles highlights the eroticism and intimacy of everyday life over the materialistic courtship phase that marks many other works in the genre (Kamblé, 2014). Their stories embrace tenderness and the pleasure of touch and attention over material signs of affection, another way that intimacy is evoked in the podcast. This is significant because the genre has historically connected Whiteness, sex, romance, and capitalism through the happy unification of a White couple resulting in the heroine’s economic security and upward class mobility (Kamblé, 2014). Further, the traditional manifestation of the happy ending within the genre has been engagements, weddings, and pregnancies. The fanfiction drabbles on Thirst Aid Kit, however, emphasize the happiness and eroticism of everyday occurrences and intimate connections over the traditional life milestones that codify White, heteropatriarchy.
As the abstract makes clear, the subject of this article is not romance novels. However, the podcasts discussed are put in the context of the romance genre:
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