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Ep 159 - The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas and The Forbidden Words of Margaret A (Bonus Episode) Feb 05, 2016

Show notes

For January's bonus episode, we put together a sci-fi double feature: The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin and The Forbidden Words of Margaret A. by L. Timmel Duchamp. Both are short stories of speculative fiction, and both are incredibly clever bummers.

When not despairing at the states of humanity and journalism, we lighten the mood with some horrifying mouth noises, David Brooks articles, and Andrew's campaign for Sexiest Man Alive.

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Ep 158 - Beloved, by Toni Morrison Feb 01, 2016

Show notes

Widely regarded as one of the best, and most important books, of the last half-century, Toni Morrison's Beloved is an unflinching examination of how the past can enslave just as painfully as a yoke or a whip can - and how our inability to wrestle with the past begets wrongdoing for generations to come.

Listen in as we discuss full-contact sports, the myth of the well-meaning slave-owner, hauntings, and Craig's quest to find #achairformyandrew.

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Ep 157 - The Bees, by Laline Paull Jan 25, 2016

Show notes

This week's book manages to combine eerily accurate biology with a Margaret Atwood-esque dystopia, a potent mixture that you need to read to believe.

We also dive deep into our mailbag, discuss the recent blizzard, and put some basketball jokes in the place you would LEAST expect.

This week's episode is brought to you in part by Squarespace.

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Ep 156 - A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Jan 18, 2016

Show notes

In A Canticle for Leibowitz, the 1959 post-apocalyptic classic by Walter M. Miller, Jr., a secluded order of monks have dedicated themselves to preserving knowledge that predates an apocalyptic event several centuries prior. But what to do when people come asking for it? Is mankind doomed to repeat its mistakes forever?

This week we're doomed to chat about cyclical history, the first rule of improv, space monks and desert priests, and Casey Kasem's Roaring 20s.

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Ep 155 - Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett Jan 11, 2016

Show notes

Good Omens was written by a sort of science fiction supergroup, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It's one of those books where it's as fun to chew on the turns of phrase as it is to find out what happens, which is pretty amazing since it's literally about the end of the world.

Join us for a chat about humanity's innate goodness and evilness, a moratorium on Serial jokes, and some sleepy giggles.

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Ep 154 - The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Emma Orczy Jan 04, 2016

Show notes

Odd's fish! It's time to reveal the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, the hero of Baroness Emma Orczy's 1908 novel. (No seriously, we're going to tell you who he or she is.)

Other spoilers during our Reign of Terror include what finally tipped the public against Robespierre, some truly terrible accents, and secret identities stretching from Batman to Zorro.

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Ep 153 - The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton (Bonus Episode) Dec 31, 2015

Show notes

This month, first-ever patron guest host Asma walks us through Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, a story about upper-class people of marriageable age in 19th century New York City.

It's not the harshest criticism that Wharton ever wrote about the upper crust (that would be The House of Mirth, published earlier), but the book still isn't overly kind to these people and their rigid hierarchies.

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Ep 152 - The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith (w/ Margaret H. Willison) Dec 28, 2015

Show notes

What exactly IS a Cormoran Strike? Did J.K. Rowling's publisher leak her pen name to make big big bucks? To answer these questions and more, we invited on friend of the show Margaret H. Willison to talk The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling.)

Other mysteries solved include the origins of Godbucks, the power of Reddit detectives, and how much Andrew likes Bones.

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Ep 151 - Home Alone, by Todd Strasser Dec 21, 2015

Show notes

Welcome to the wild world of movie novelizations! This week, we read Todd Strasser's (mostly) faithful novelization of the hit 1990 family comedy Home Alone.

Join us for an occasionally musical discussion of Krampus, taking ideas from the page to the screen and back again, the realities of being hit in the head with an iron, and the Wet Bandits' branding issues.

This week's home defense tutorial is brought to you by the fine folks at Squarespace.

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Ep 150 - Fifty Shades Freed, by E.L. James Dec 14, 2015

Show notes

We're back to finish the fight - this week we take on the third and final book in EL James' Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. It's not that a book about a BDSM relationship (complete with graphic sex scenes) can't be good, it's just that THESE books are intensely frustrating. The repetitive prose and awkward sex end up back in our crosshairs, but this time around we pay especial attention to Ana and Christian and just how frustrating they are as characters. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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