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Season two starts with a pivot. We’re still here for first-generation college and grad school life, but now we’re applying that lived experience to the stories we all watch, quote, and argue about. As two English PhDs, Sam and LT bring a sharp cultural analysis style without losing the warmth, humor, and honesty that made this show feel like a real conversation in the first place.

In this episode, they talk about the methodology shift from season one, which stayed close to La'Tonya's Smart Girl origin story, into a bigger project focused on cultural representation.

Subscribe, share this kickoff with a friend, and leave us a review. What show or film should we put under the first-gen microscope next?

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https://www.smartgirlbook.com/

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In this episode, LT and Sam go behind the scenes of First Gen & Juice, a practitioner-driven anthology that turns pop culture, such as Barbie, Oppenheimer, K-pop, comics, Tupac, even The Godfather, into ready-to-use lessons for classrooms, advising, and staff development. Born from a standing-room-only conference session, the book responds to a simple but urgent request from educators: don’t just tell us why pop culture works, show us how.

We talk with co-editor Martha Enciso about advising offices lined with action figures, writing classes built on cinematic analysis, and why confidence is often the missing ingredient in first-gen student writing. Martha breaks down how cultural touchstones lower defenses in hard conversations, while LT unpacks the editorial blueprint that makes this book so usable: every chapter includes activities, prompts, or week-by-week plans you can copy, remix, and teach tomorrow.

The only homework: buy the book:

https://adeii.health/first-gen-and-juice-exploring-first-gen-college-student-narratives-in-pop-culture-and-mass-media

Go here for the Smart Girl experience:

https://www.smartgirlbook.com/

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Don't call it a comeback. Sam and LT look back on a year of school visits, book chats, and pop-up events that turned a memoir into a community project, where first-gen stories, fandoms, and everyday art met in classrooms, clinics, and even a 24 Hour Fitness.

We also get tactical about what worked, i.e., adding visuals—childhood photos, book inspirations, family snapshots—pulled people in. Shifting the live reading to the Len Bias chapter created a bridge for sports fans and non-fans alike, blending grief, research, and the campus library into a single thread. Along the way, teen boys connected with Smart Girl through sports and comics, proving that identity and joy can share the same seat. We kept hearing the same worries about majors and careers, especially from first-gen and working-class students, and we broke down how humanities paths can lead to writing, leadership, and meaningful work.

Support came from surprising corners: a Body Pump class that built a book table out of gym gear, oncologists who opened appointments by asking about the tour, and a barbershop wall that turned our book cover into neighborhood iconography. We push back on higher ed taboos—talking openly about money, branding, and writing books people actually read—because visibility matters.

We’re turning the page toward season two with a wider guest list, fresh topics, and the same commitment to saying names right, meeting people where they are, and keeping the conversation brave and warm.

If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Tell us what film, show, or fandom you want us to explore next. Your ideas shape what comes next.

Go here for the Smart Girl experience:

https://www.smartgirlbook.com/