Episodes
7 days ago
7 days ago
In this episode I explore the first four chapters of Richard Wright's BLACK BOY, his gut wrenching and deep memoir of growing up black in the Jim Crow South.
7 days ago
7 days ago
Robert A. Heinlein's TUNNEL IN THE SKY has a strong and fascinating second half in which we explore questions of building democracy and civilization. The good: The optimism about cooperation in harsh conditions. The bad: strong hints of settler colonialism.
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 76: Tunnel in the Sky (Part 1)
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Friday Mar 08, 2024
In this episode I look at the first half of Robert A. Heinlein's TUNNEL IN THE SKY. In this juvenile, Heinlein does some interesting thing with the old Malthusian over-population narrative. The first half reads a bit like a standard adventure story, though. This novel really shines in the second half.
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Episode 640: Richard Wright: Native Son (Part 4/4, Conclusion)
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Friday Mar 08, 2024
The finale of my look at Richard Wright's NATIVE SON.
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Episode 639: Richard Wright: Native Son (Flight-Fate, Part 3/4)
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
In this third part of four exploring the powerful novel NATIVE SON by Richard Wright, we witness the capture of Bigger Thomas and the way the media presented a black defendant, ignored black victims, and jumped to racist assumptions, all the while trying to expose the Communist Party for its anti-racist work.
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein: Episode 75: The Star Beast (Part 2)
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
The conclusion to my review of the excellent novel, THE STAR BEAST, by Robert A. Heinlein. One of his best novels and high on the ranking of the juveniles. It explores issues such as gender, service, family heritage, and diplomacy.
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Episode 638: Richard Wright: Native Son (Part 2, Flight)
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Friday Mar 01, 2024
In this episode I look at most of part two of Richard Wright's NATIVE SON, called "Flight". Here the narrative focuses on Bigger Thomas' efforts at survival after his murder of Mary Dalton, but also look more into the perspectives of mainstream white society on communists and African-Americans.
Sunday Feb 25, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 74: The Star Beast (Part 1)
Sunday Feb 25, 2024
Sunday Feb 25, 2024
THE STAR BEAST is one of the best books by Robert A. Heinlein that I explored in this podcast, and this suprised me from the look of the silly cover. Gender, diplomacy, politics, law, and bureaucracy are just some of the themes Heinlein crams into this little novel.
Sunday Feb 25, 2024
Episode 637: Richard Wright: Native Son (Part 1, Fear)
Sunday Feb 25, 2024
Sunday Feb 25, 2024
In this episode I take on the first 100 pages of NATIVE SON by Richard Wright. It is a brilliant novel and I can only scratch the surface, but it is required reading for understanding America. I focus on the major characters and their motivations, knowing we can only begin to understand Bigger Thomas in the early stages of the novel.
Monday Feb 19, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 73: Project: Nightmare
Monday Feb 19, 2024
Monday Feb 19, 2024
While "Project: Nightmare" (1953) is not one of Heinlein's strongest short stories it is worth reading for his use of the Cold War setting. The question of morality, sacrifice, and the use of misuse of the talented for the achievement of national goals is still worth reflecting on.
Monday Feb 19, 2024
Episode 626: Richard Wright: Uncle Tom's Children (Part 2)
Monday Feb 19, 2024
Monday Feb 19, 2024
The conclusion to my thoughts on the wonderful short story collection, UNCLE TOM'S CHILDREN by Richard Wright. In the second half of this collection we move to a proposed (if maybe futile) response. The last two stories have moments of resistance culminating in sacrifice but not victory or a promise of change.
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 72: Sky-Lift
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
A very brief look at the short story "Sky-Lift" by Robert A. Heinlein. It is mostly a technical piece on the dangers of space flight and works as a sequel to the GREEN HILLS OF EARTH stories.
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Episode 625: Richard Wright: Uncle Tom's Children (Part 1)
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Richard Wright's first published book was a series of short stories called UNCLE TOM'S CHILDREN. They are wonderful stories looking at the brutality of race relations in Great Depression-era America and good preparation for NATIVE SON.
Saturday Jan 27, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 71: Starman Jones (Part 2)
Saturday Jan 27, 2024
Saturday Jan 27, 2024
The conclusion to my look at STARMAN JONES by Robert A. Heinlein. This one clearly stands out among the Heinlein juveniles by branching out into new themes and new geographies.
Saturday Jan 27, 2024
Episode 624: Richard Wright: Lawd Today (Part 2)
Saturday Jan 27, 2024
Saturday Jan 27, 2024
The conclusion to my review of Richard Wright's first novel, LAWD TODAY. It is a great way to start digging into Richard Wright, and I think a good contrast with NATIVE SON, which we will look at in a few weeks.
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 70: Starman Jones (Part 1)
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
In 1953, Heinlein wrote his 7th juvenile in STARMAN JONES. He always seems to have something new to say in each of these novels, even if the main characters are always a little bit cookie cutter. He does try to give this young man a bit more differentiation. Nevertheless, this is another good example of world building. I enjoy how each of these novels feels lived in.
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Episode 623: Richard Wright: Lawd Today!
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Today I start a new series looking at the major works of Richard Wright. We begin with LAWD TODAY!, which was published in the 1960s, but was actually the first book written. It is an amazing modernist text looking at the working class black life in Chicago during the Great Depression. It is also one of the bleakest books we have looked at in a while.
Tuesday Jan 16, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 69: The Year of the Jackpot
Tuesday Jan 16, 2024
Tuesday Jan 16, 2024
"The Year of the Jackpot" is a fascinating story by Heinlein published in GALAXY in 1952. It deals with sexual morality, normalcy, survival, historical cycles, and the end of the world. A must read.
Tuesday Jan 16, 2024
Episode 622: W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction in America (Part 7)
Tuesday Jan 16, 2024
Tuesday Jan 16, 2024
The final episode in my review of BLACK RECONSTRUCTION by W. E. B. Du Bois. These final three chapters summarize the major themes of the book quite well. One of the best books on the topic, even a hundred years after publication.
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 68: The Rolling Stones (Part 2)
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
The conclusion to my review of THE ROLLING STONES by Robert A. Heinlein. An overall great book in this juvenile series.
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Episode 621: W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction in America (Part 6)
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Part 6 of my review of W. E. B. Du Bois' BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA.
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Episode 620: W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction in America (Part 5)
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
We are in the meat of the book BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA by W. E. B. Du Bois. In these chapters, he looks into the revolution and counter revolution of property in Mississippi and Louisiana and then Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. We see how different demographic structures led to different reactions by the ruling planter class.
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 67: The Rolling Stones (Part 1)
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
In this episode we get introduced to the Stone family and watch them becoming THE ROLLING STONES. This 1952 novel has some of the most well drawn of Heinlein's characters, but it is not the major young man protagonist who are pretty much interchangeable in this one. Some meta commentary on his juvenile novel heroes, I reckon.
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 66: The Puppet Masters (Part 2)
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
The second part of my review of THE PUPPET MASTERS by Robert A. Heinlein. While I love a lot about this book, it ultimately falls far short of what it could have been.
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Episode 619: W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction in America (Part 4)
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
In this episode look at the middle chapters of BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA, exploring the broader questions at the heart of the 15th Amendment and the impact of black voting rights on the Reconstruction politics of South Carolina.
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 65: The Puppet Masters (Part 1)
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
It is kind of nice to have old Heinlein back. After writing those juveniles and mainstream science fiction stories, THE PUPPET MASTERS allows Heinlein to bring back hot women, nudity, and individualist philosophy. I am not sure this novel is a success yet, but it is lots of fun.
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
Episode 619: W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction in America (Part 3)
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
One of the most fascinating looks at Andrew Johnson is made by Du Bois in this section of BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA. I also discuss his sources and unique bibliography in this episode.
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 64: Between Planets (Part 2)
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
The conclusion to my coverage of BETWEEN PLANETS by Robert A. Heinlein.
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Episode 617: W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction in America (Part 2)
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
The Civil War ends and the reaction to emancipation starts. In the second part of my coverage of W. E. B. Du Bois' BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA, I look at chapters 5-6 and the beginning of the conservative reaction to the second American Revolution.
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 63: Between Planets (Part 1)
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
Once again, we begin a look at what turns out to be my favorite of the juveniles by Robert A. Heinlein. BETWEEN PLANETS is the best yet. Can they keep getting better? The lesson in this book is courage and honor in the face of fate.
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
Episode 616: W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction in America (Part 1)
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
In this episode I look at the first four chapters of the amazing book BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA by W. E. B. Du Bois. It is a brilliant celebration of the potential of interracial democracy, written at a time when those potentials were forgotten by historians.
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 62: Cliff and the Calories
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
A bit of an aside in this series, "Cliff and the Calories" by Heinlein is a short story about a young woman struggling with a perhaps unnecessary diet. It slightly aligns with some of what he was doing with his juveniles, but I think we need to wait until we read Podkayne to know for sure.
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Episode 615: Harriet Beecher Stowe: Oldtown Folks (Part 5)
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
The finale of my review of OLDTOWN FOLKS by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and the conclusion to this series on Stowe's novels. Next up, we will return to W. E. B. Du Bois with a deep dive into Reconstruction-era America.
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Episode 614: Harriet Beecher Stowe: Oldtown Folks (Part 4)
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Part 4 of my review of OLDTOWN FOLKS by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This is an amazing novel that deserves more attention.
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 61: The Man Who Sold the Moon
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Monday Dec 11, 2023
A story of capitalism run amok and maybe doing some good, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON, by Robert A. Heinlein is a great novella exploring how money can do almost anything.
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
Episode 613: Harriet Beecher Stowe: Oldtown Folks (Part 3)
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
The middle sections of Harriet Beecher Stowe's OLDTOWN FOLKS (1869) explored education with intense focus and through multiple conversations. While repetitive, this section of the novel allowed Stowe to engage with the debates of her own time about education, making a case as persuasive as the one she made in UNCLE TOM'S CABIN about slavery.
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 60: Farmer in the Sky (Part 2)
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
In this episode, I finish up my review of the excellent novel FARMER IN THE SKY by Robert A. Heinlein. This novel has some excellent reflections on population, empires, war, ecology, and the frontier. Are the juveniles (and the Future History series at large) metaphors for the Atlantic world? Sometimes I think so.
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 59: Farmer in the Sky (Part 1)
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Heinlein's fourth juvenile novel, FARMER IN THE SKY (1950) is one of the best books he wrote to that point and the most "mature" of his "boy's novels". We seen Heinlein's approach and concerns grow up with his characters. The first part of this book is an excellent window into the ecological, scientific, and political vision Heinlein develops.
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Episode 612: Harriet Beecher Stowe: Oldtown Folks (Part 2)
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Harriet Beecher Stowe's OLDTOWN FOLKS (1869) is doing a lot, and that is made clear in the second section of this book, which explores the fate of two orphans in this small New England Town, and their ultimate liberation.
Tuesday Nov 28, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 58: Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon
Tuesday Nov 28, 2023
Tuesday Nov 28, 2023
"Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon" is another delightful Future History story by Robert A. Heinlein, but this one includes Boy Scouts. Can an Earth Scout ever find a place with the Moon Scouts with the Moon's inhospitable environment? Maybe if he saves the day? This story has some very harrowing life and death moments as two boys get lost a "morning glory" (a sinkhole).