American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 137.2: Not a Crappy Novel: Confessions of a Crap Artist (2)

This novel (CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST) is so good. Prove me wrong. Philip K. Dick is at his best when he is writing about marriage and the strangers who sleep next to us.

Episode 301: Equality of Conditions: Democracy in America, Part 1

In this episode, I start an eight-part series on Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. What is the importance of the general equality of conditions in the creation of American democracy? What is the future of American democracy when this equality of conditions has been replaced with oligarchy?

Episode 300: Bye bye Jefferson (Jefferson's Letters 1816-1816)

We come to the end of this series on the writings of Thomas Jefferson with the letters written during the last decade of his life. His lack of growth of race is striking, but his commitment to democracy did not seem to waver. This contradiction will forever shape how we look at him.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 137.1: Philip K. Dick's Mainstream Novel (Confessions of a Crap Artist, Part 1)

In this episode we start to look at Philip K. Dick's CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST, written in the late 1950s. It was a mainstream novel that explores some interesting themes of family and new religious movements.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 136: Abortion and Malthus (The Pre-Persons)

Philip K. Dick has been writing obliquely about Malthus since some of his earliest stories. In the "Pre-Persons" Dick takes on these issues again, and along the way angered the feminists. Is this story just his response to Roe v. Wade or does it have a more significant place in his argument against gerontocracy?

Episode 299: Jefferson and Adams Friends Again (Jefferson Letters 1813-1815)

The highlight of Thomas Jefferson's retirement letters are those he wrote to John Adams. In this episode, we look at some of those and some other important and interesting letters he wrote in 1813, 1814, and 1815.

Episode 298: Jefferson Retired (Jefferson Letters 1807-1812)

In this set of letters, I look at Jefferson's last years in public life and the interests he pursued after retirement. Much of his work in this period involves education, culminating in his work on the University of Virginia.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 135: The Ennui of Space Travel (A Little Something For Us Tempunauts)

In this wonderful little story ("A Little Something for Us Tempunauts") Philip K. Dick explores the tedious repeatability of space exploration, both for us and for the explorers. Maybe we can do better if we had a real frontier?

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 134: Gated Communities and Police States (Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said)

In this lengthy episode, I take a detailed look at FLOW MY TEARS, THE POLICEMAN SAID by Philip K. Dick. It presents a detailed police state, examines class dynamics in authoritarian societies, and has some of Dick's most touching looks at relationships and the futility of liquid relationships.

Episode 297: The Revolution of 1800 (Jefferson's Letters 1800-1806)

In this selection of the letters of Thomas Jefferson we explore the "Revolution of 1800" and Jefferson's first term as president. The achievements of this period are well known, but more interesting may be his internal thoughts about his presidency.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 133.4: We Are All Mentally Ill (We Can Build You, Part 4)

In the conclusion of WE CAN BUILD YOU by Philip K. Dick, we find ourselves in a very different novel. After a mental breakdown Louis Rosen is institutionalized and we see one of Dick's best descriptions of the asylum.

Jefferson Unhinged (Thomas Jefferson Letters 1790-1799)

Thomas Jefferson comes back from Paris to become Secretary of State. Fights with everyone. Decides to do it himself and runs for president. Let's watch the rise of the party system in American politics by looking at Jefferson's letters from the 1790s.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 133.3: An Android Company Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand (We Can Build You, Part 3)

Well, they got an Abe Lincoln bot and all was going well, but they lost their designer and engineer. How can our little startup survive against the big corporations without its greatest minds? Find out in part 3 of my review of WE CAN BUILD YOU.

Episode 295: Jefferson's Letters from Paris, 1785-1789

While Jefferson was in Paris he started having sex with Sally Hemmings, commented on the Constitution, and saw the spread of revolution in Paris. We look at one of the most critical periods of Jefferson's life through his letters.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 133.2: What To Do With Civil War Bots? (We Can Build You, Part 2)

So they built a Edwin Stanton android, but what can they do with it. And what happens when you fall for your crazy underage co-worker? Find out in part 2 of my review of WE CAN BUILD YOU, by Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 133.1: Just Your Small Town Android Dealer (We Can Build You, Part 1)

In this episode I begin my look at WE CAN BUILD YOU. This novel by Philip K. Dick was written in the early 1960s and feels like one of his conventional novels, but it has a sci-fi twist by giving us a small android building business.

Episode 294: Jefferson's Revolutionary Letters

This episode covers Thomas Jefferson's letters written from his youth to the mid-1780s, when he was sent to Paris.

Episode 293: Assorted Jefferson Writings

In this episode I take on some assorted writings by Thomas Jefferson. Maybe the most important are the collected memoirs called the "Anas".

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 132: Yeah. Marriage Still Sucks (Cadbury, The Beaver Who Lacked)

Back to a Philip K. Dick short story with the posthumously published "Cadbury, the Beaver Who Lacked". Is it his final word on marriage? Not quite, but it seems to serve as such.

Episode 292: Jefferson as Empire Builder (Jefferson's Speeches)

In this episode, I look at some of Thomas Jefferson's speeches and examine how he envisioned the place of Indians in the American empire. Of particular importance are his written annual addresses and the speeches he delivered to Indian nations during his presidency.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 131.4: Equality or the End of Human Progress? (Our Friends from Frolix 8, Part 4)

In the final part of my review of OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8 we see the brutal way that equality can be restored in a world where the elite are superior post-humans.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 131.3: Change from Within or From Without (Our Friends from Frolix 8, Part 3)

In part 3 of my review of "Our Friends from Frolix 8" we see the nature of the friendship offered by aliens and need to wonder what is the best path to institutional change: reform from within, movements from the outside, or help from foreign powers.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 131.2: A Movement Culture of Resistance or Drug Dealing (Our Friends from Frolix 8)

In part two of my review of OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8, we get a closer look at the movement culture that emerged to resist the posthumans in power, consider how much it resembles drug dealing, and continue to enjoy watching the back and forth between the New Men and Unusuals, the two varieties of posthumans.

Episode 292: Jefferson and the Party System (Public Papers 1791-1826)

In this episode I look at the public papers Jefferson produced while Secretary of State, when he developed his opposition to Hamilton's policies. I also glance at his plans for the University of Virginia and his opposition to the import duty on books.

Episode 291: Jefferson the Legislator (TJ's Public Papers 1775-1790)

In this episode I look at Thomas Jefferson's public papers from the time before he became Secretary of State, when he was mostly working in Virginia politics. Of special interest is his draft for a Virginia Constitution and his laws on education, crime, and religion.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 131.1: The Posthuman Meritocracy (Our Friends from Frolix 8)

In part one of my review of OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8, I examine how meritocracy and posthumanism leads to a pretty interesting dystopia.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 130.4: A Maze of Death, Part 4

The finale of my look at Philip K. Dick's A MAZE OF DEATH. Tell me, is this book the antithesis of GALACTIC POT-HEALER?

Episode 290: Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" (Part 2)

The conclusion to my brief series on Jefferson's important text "Notes on the State of Virginia". In this episode we take a look at Jefferson's views on race, immigration, land rights, and industry.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 130.3: A Maze of Death, Part 3

During a quest to find out where they are, the unfortunate pioneers on Delmak-O begin to learn that their subjectivities are coming true. The results are murderous. Learn about this and more in part 3 of my review of Philip K. Dick's "A Maze of Death."

Episode 289: Thomas Jefferson: "Summary of the Rights of British America"/"Notes on the State of Virginia" (Part 1)

In this episode, I look at "Summary of the Rights of British America" by Thomas Jefferson. I also jump into the first half of "Notes on the State of Virginia". So let's begin exploring his political ideas as well as what his thoughts on science, nature, the "Columbian Exchange" and Native Americans.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 130.2: A Maze of Death, Part 2

Part two of my thoughts on "A Maze of Death" by Philip K. Dick. Things start to get dark quickly.

Episode 288: Thomas Jefferson, "Autobiography"

The autobiography of Thomas Jefferson was written in 1821 and covers his life from the 1760s to his return from Paris. It has some interesting things to say about his views of slavery, the French Revolution, and the writing of the "Declaration of Independence". We kick off a new series on American political writing with this interesting, if unessential work.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 130.1: A Maze of Death

Now for the antithesis to "Galactic Pot-Healer". "A Maze of Death" by Philip K. Dick asks some of the same questions as GPH but comes to very different and bleaker answers. What to make of this?

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 129: The Electric Ant

In Philip K. Dick's final story from the 1960s, "The Electric Ant" we get a mixture of reality bending metaphysics and android anxt.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 128.4: Galactic Pot-Healer, 4

The conclusion of my thoughts on Philip K. Dick's greatest novel "Galactic Pot-Healer". We are coming to the end of this very long series on Dick's publications of the 1960s. Excited to move into the 1970s with "Maze of Death", the antithesis novel of GPH.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 128.3: Galactic Pot-Healer, 3

This podcast is the third in my series on "Galactic Pot-Healer" by Philip K. Dick. In this part of the novel, we explore the theme of entropy. What does it have to do with meaningful work?

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 128.2: Galactic Pot-Healer, 2

Part 2 of my review of my favorite Philip K. Dick novel "Galactic Pot-healer". Joe Fernwright is guided by the Glimmung to a new life with an actual purpose.

Episode 287: Herman Melville: Billy Budd

We get to the end of Herman Melville's prose writing with our look at "Billy Budd", published in 1924. It is a great little novel on power, the law, and duty.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 128.1: Galactic Pot-Healer

Let's raise Heldscalla! "Galactic Pot-Healer" is my favorite Philip K. Dick novel. Let me tell you why.

Episode 286: Herman Melville: The Confidence Man, Part 2

Part two of my review of "The Confidence Man" by Herman Melville. Maybe we will get the final answer to the age old question: should you trust your neighbor?