About | Shit We've Read

Shit We've Read

Shit We’ve Read is a sci-fi & fantasy book podcast hosted by geeky friends Laura Benson, Jason Rico, and Bella Romero. Each month, we get together to discuss a new-to-us...more

Brought to you by

About the Show

Shit We’ve Read is a sci-fi & fantasy book podcast hosted by geeky friends Laura Benson, Jason Rico, and Bella Romero. Each month, we get together to discuss a new-to-us book or graphic novel, sometimes giving it a spicy, adult twist with our After Dark episodes featuring co-host Emma Skies. Along the way, we’re joined by occasional guest hosts and noteworthy authors for insightful interviews, along with other fun surprises.

So, join us on our latest book journey and tell us - what shit have you been reading?

Meet our Hosts

Laura Benson

When it comes to reading, Laura is an avid fan of sci-fi featuring space travel, aliens, robots, artificial intelligence, futuristic technology, and enhanced humans. However, she also has an appreciation for urban fantasies that boast well-developed characters, intricate world-building, and captivating magic systems. Beyond her love of reading, Laura enjoys video games and movies/tv shows, is a professional graphic designer and a stay-at-home dog mom of five. Laura has also dabbled in entrepreneurship, film production, animation, and music.

Jason Rico

Video specialist by day, avid relaxer by night, Jason is a lifelong geek who grew up on equal parts comic books, novels, and cartoons. When reading, he loves traveling among the stars, enrolling in magical schools, solving murder mysteries, and encountering things that go bump in the night. Jason has studied at Battle School, Brakebills College, and Miskatonic University, and his passport includes stamps from lands such as Earthsea, Panem, Fillory, Ravka, and Trantor.

Bella Romero

Bella grew up in public libraries, binging books and escaping reality. They joined the podcast to spread the joy of reading and to justify their book-collecting habits. Bella can always be found with their Kindle, reading anything fiction. Their favorite genres by far are historical fiction and fantasy. Or really anything that includes fairytale reimaginings, romance, dystopian societies, dark academia/secret societies, mythology, mystery, and bildungsroman.

Emma Skies

From long-time guest host to now official SWR After Dark co-host, Emma is a reader of fantasy, sci-fi, and romance. You can find her discussing all the things she loves (and hates) in books and bookish things on TikTok and Instagram. She’s also a co-host on the podcast BYLO Watch where she and a friend dissect book-to-TV show adaptations. Seven seasons are currently available to listen to, including HBO’s His Dark Materials, Netflix’s Shadow & Bone, and the first season of Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians.