Episodes
Wednesday Sep 27, 2017
Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 36: Project: Earth
Wednesday Sep 27, 2017
Wednesday Sep 27, 2017
Is creation just a failed experiment? Do children hold the key to preserving individualism in an increasingly conformist world? These are some of the questions explored in Philip K. Dick's short story "Project: Earth".
Wednesday Sep 27, 2017
Episode 57: Jack London: The Iron Heel (1)
Wednesday Sep 27, 2017
Wednesday Sep 27, 2017
The first episode of two on Jack London's dystopian novel, The Iron Heel. In this work, London takes on the role of prophet as he predicts what the future of American capiatalism will be. How much of his prediction has come true?
Monday Sep 25, 2017
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 35: Some Kinds of Life
Monday Sep 25, 2017
Monday Sep 25, 2017
Philip K. Dick takes on endless war and consumerism in his allegorical tale "Some Kinds of Life". Are wars for resources ever justifiable? What happens when we start to fight wars to keep up with the most banal consumer technologies.
Monday Sep 25, 2017
Episode 56: Jack London: The Road
Monday Sep 25, 2017
Monday Sep 25, 2017
In this episode I explore Jack London's memoirs on his year as a hobo, The Road. This short book is a great introduction into hobo life and the economic depression of the 1890s.
Friday Sep 22, 2017
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 34: Planet for Transients
Friday Sep 22, 2017
Friday Sep 22, 2017
Does Earth belong to humans, or to the life that comes after us? Philip K. Dick asks this question in his short story "Planet for Transients."
Friday Sep 22, 2017
Episode 55: Jack London, The People of the Abyss (2)
Friday Sep 22, 2017
Friday Sep 22, 2017
Part two of my comments on Jack London's People of the Abyss, with more on his socialism and what it means for his social Darwinism.
Monday Sep 18, 2017
Episode 54: Jack London, The People of the Abyss
Monday Sep 18, 2017
Monday Sep 18, 2017
Once again, a new series. Join me as I explore the worst in human nature with Jack London in London's East End, in The People of the Abyss.
Monday Sep 18, 2017
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 33: The Impossible Planet
Monday Sep 18, 2017
Monday Sep 18, 2017
In this episode, Philip K. Dick introduces us to some humans who remember Earth only as a myth. In The Impossible Planet, they try to find Earth to make some quick cash , but who knows what might be out there.
Probably contains spoilers for the upcoming television show episode.
Sunday Sep 17, 2017
Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 32: The Trouble with Bubbles
Sunday Sep 17, 2017
Sunday Sep 17, 2017
Before Minecraft, before World of Warcarft, Philip K. Dick imagined Worldcraft bubbles. But is it right to destroy these worlds when we build them? Are we in a simluation? If so, so we have a right to life?
Sunday Sep 17, 2017
Episode 53: John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
Sunday Sep 17, 2017
Sunday Sep 17, 2017
I finish up this phase of John Steinbeck's career with one of his most famous works, Of Mice and Men.
Friday Sep 15, 2017
Friday Sep 15, 2017
My opening thoughts on the episodes we can expect to see on Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams. Spoilers for all the stories these episodes have been adapted from are included.
All in all, it looks like a great television series that is remaining true to the stories and the themes of Philip K. Dick.
Tuesday Sep 12, 2017
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 30: King of the Elves
Tuesday Sep 12, 2017
Tuesday Sep 12, 2017
Another of Dick's early fantasy stories, "The King of the Elves", might just be his first great work on mental illness.
Tuesday Sep 12, 2017
Episode 52: John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle (2)
Tuesday Sep 12, 2017
Tuesday Sep 12, 2017
Part two of my review of In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck.
Friday Sep 08, 2017
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 29: The Great C
Friday Sep 08, 2017
Friday Sep 08, 2017
In "The Great C", Philip K. Dick explores a post-war world where humans sacrifice their young to a super computer. But other than that, it seems like a nice society.
Friday Sep 08, 2017
Episode 51: John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle (1)
Friday Sep 08, 2017
Friday Sep 08, 2017
John Steinbeck takes on class war in his wonderful novel In Dubious Battle.
Wednesday Sep 06, 2017
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 28: Dick's Philosophy of History
Wednesday Sep 06, 2017
Wednesday Sep 06, 2017
Something a little bit different. How did Philip K. Dick see history? Is history eternal return or are we destined for a final frontier?
Wednesday Sep 06, 2017
Episode 50: John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat (2)
Wednesday Sep 06, 2017
Wednesday Sep 06, 2017
Part two of my survey and review of Tortilla Flat. Back in Taiwan!
Sunday Sep 03, 2017
Episode 49: John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat (1)
Sunday Sep 03, 2017
Sunday Sep 03, 2017
In this episode we meet the paisanos of Montery as we look at Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat.
Sunday Sep 03, 2017
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 27: The Commuter
Sunday Sep 03, 2017
Sunday Sep 03, 2017
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we look at urban planning and suburbia in "The Commuter".
(This story will be adapted in Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams)