Episodios

  • jeff wood interview (author of the glacier)

    jeff wood interview (author of the glacier)
    Aug 1 2024
    jeff wood, author of the glacier (which we covered last week), joins the pod to talk about whether or not this book does, in fact, fit into our eco module. we talk about ohio literature, our love of two dollar radio (and how he hooked up with them), and how much work it took to adapt his writing from a screenplay into this novel. we talk about the meaning behind the title, the job of a land surveyor, and terrence malick’s work. note: jeff’s pick for outro music (“powderfinger” by neil young) was met with such instantaneous copyright claims on both youtube and our podcast hosting platform that we left it out of the episode. instead, once you finish listening to this episode, head here to hear the song. jeff’s mini-module the society of the spectacle by guy debord in the shadow of the silent majorities by jean baudrillard the administration of fear by paul virilio the day after (1983 television film) (dir. nicholas meyer) dead man (1995) (dir. jim jarmusch) the thin red line (1998) (dir. terrence malick) reading list for season nine land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang the overstory by richard powers something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman barn 8 by deb olin unferth fever dream by samanta schweblin square wave by mark de silva the glacier by jeff wood the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi the deluge by stephen markley drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
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    1 h y 6 m
  • the glacier by jeff wood

    the glacier by jeff wood
    Jul 25 2024
    it’s back-to-back books from two dollar radio in the eco module as today’s book is the glacier by jeff wood. after shreds eviscerates joey to begin the podcast proceedings, we talk about two dollar radio and exploring a single press’s work. we try to parse what the glacier is about and whether being in eco module informs how we interpret its narrative. we talk about the story being intentionally unstuck from time, the writing’s cinematic/screenplay-like structure, and the the final third of the book’s drastic shift. we talk about david lowery’s film a ghost story. we open a bigger than normal mailbag to talk about trigger/content warnings and whether the patreon is real. we briefly discuss megan boyle’s liveblog 2023. reading list for season nine land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang the overstory by richard powers something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman barn 8 by deb olin unferth fever dream by samanta schweblin square wave by mark de silva the glacier by jeff wood the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi the deluge by stephen markley drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
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    41 m
  • square wave by mark da silva

    square wave by mark da silva
    Jul 11 2024
    our eco module continues with square wave by mark da silva, a book that we have plenty of thoughts about. after comparing it to giles goat-boy (joey’s least favorite book we’ve covered so far), we talk about how shreds maybe poisoned the well and why we found this book difficult to permeate. we compare da silva’s writing to thomas pynchon, chuck palahniuk, and bret easton ellis. we debate whether the text is racist or misogynist. we talk about da silva’s ability to world-build a dystopian future and the novel’s battle between science and art. we wonder if we’re being we too hard on ourselves. we talk about a “dnf” in reading a novel. reading list for season nine land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang the overstory by richard powers something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman barn 8 by deb olin unferth fever dream by samanta schweblin square wave by mark de silva the glacier by jeff wood the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi the deluge by stephen markley drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
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    50 m
  • fever dream by samanta schweblin

    fever dream by samanta schweblin
    Jun 27 2024
    our eco module continues with another water-related catastrophe as we discuss fever dream by samanta schweblin. after realizing that we missed an anniversary/milestone (or more than one) and wondering how many books people read in their life, we look back to see what the last book we read in translation was. we then discuss how the title of the novel gives a lot away, how fever dream reads like a horror book, and how the narrative slips through your fingers. shreds talks about carnosaur, we make connections to previous books this module, and we recount fever dreams (or the like) that we’ve had. shreds ask questions about major motion picture challengers (dir. 2024, luca guadagnino). we perform a halfway through the module check-in. reading list for season nine land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang the overstory by richard powers something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman barn 8 by deb olin unferth fever dream by samanta schweblin square wave by mark de silva the glacier by jeff wood the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi the deluge by stephen markley drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
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    31 m
  • deb olin unferth interview (author of barn 8)

    deb olin unferth interview (author of barn 8)
    Jun 20 2024
    after talking about her novel barn 8 last week, we spoke with deb olin unferth about heist stories, teaching literature, and chickens. after deb dubs joey the frontman of the podcast (a topic that we never circle back on), we ask deb about how she combines disparate genres and her time spent at farms and with chickens. she and shreds share lessons learned from teaching literature as deb professes her love for the novel as an art form. we find out where the idea for barn 8 come from, how she got access to these farms and farmers (and how she won them over with booze), and where the character names came from. deb shares her picks for books you should read. reading list for season nine land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang the overstory by richard powers something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman barn 8 by deb olin unferth fever dream by samanta schweblin square wave by mark de silva the glacier by jeff wood the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi the deluge by stephen markley drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
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    1 h y 2 m
  • barn 8 by deb olin unferth

    barn 8 by deb olin unferth
    Jun 13 2024
    our eco module continues with barn 8 by deb olin unferth as we shift our focus from trees and water toward animal rights. shreds starts the pod like it’s the end of the pod as he explains why this book found itself in the module in this location. we talk about all we need (as a people) for the earth to be okay. we discuss how barn 8 aligns with (and differs from) more traditional heist narratives, and how the story subverts expectations about what these narratives typically include. we talk about barn 8 as a book about (chicken) language and (chicken) religion. we rank our favorite fast food chains. (next week, we talk deb olin unferth about her book, her research process, and much more.) reading list for season nine land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang the overstory by richard powers something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman barn 8 by deb olin unferth fever dream by samanta schweblin square wave by mark de silva the glacier by jeff wood the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi the deluge by stephen markley drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
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    39 m
  • something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman

    something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman
    May 30 2024
    something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman is the next book up in our eco module, and it continues our run of bleak looks at our near-future. we discuss the book’s structure (and its 3-4 main focuses) and how it kind of bails on a bunch of stuff in an interesting way. we talk about the perspective shifts (and whether or not they work), the unique elements that nora offers as a child, and whether or not celebrities are more interesting than “normal” people. shreds compares this novel to kleeman’s other writing as well as to don delillo. we talk about the real-world insanity of buying bottled water. we talk about ozark and how to adapt this novel — and what might get cut. reading list for season nine land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang the overstory by richard powers something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman barn 8 by deb olin unferth fever dream by samanta schweblin square wave by mark de silva the glacier by jeff wood the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi the deluge by stephen markley drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
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    59 m
  • the overstory by richard powers

    the overstory by richard powers
    May 16 2024
    our eco module continues with the overstory by richard powers, which marks an early high point in the season as it’s one of our favorite books of all-time, and one of the best books we’ve ever read. first, though, we get into some heavy lotto pod lore. then, we dive into the overstory and wonder: is this the ideal version of this module? we talk about the return of literary magic tricks, our favorite characters and storylines, and the villain of the book. shreds shares some recent related (and unrelated) book reviews and then likens filmmakers to comedians. we talk about how to adapt this book (which may already be in the works). reading list for season nine land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang the overstory by richard powers something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman barn 8 by deb olin unferth fever dream by samanta schweblin square wave by mark de silva the glacier by jeff wood the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi the deluge by stephen markley drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
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    59 m