Episodes
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 25: Sixth Column (Part 2)
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
The second part of my review of SIXTH COLUMN by Robert A. Heinlein. It is a fascinating a troublesome book about race, religion, resistance, and technology.
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Episode 577: Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad (Part 2)
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
I continue to work my way through the works of Mark Twain with A TRAMP ABROAD. Mark Twain seems to be coming to terms with European nationalism and folklore as he makes his deep dive into the German land, culture, and people.
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Episode 576: Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad (Part 1)
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
We go back to the travel writings with Mark Twain's 1880 A TRAMP ABROAD. These are some of the funnest to read and some of the hardest to talk about books I have ever one on this podcast. In any case, let's see what Mark Twain thinks of Europe now that he is not innocent anymore.
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 24: Sixth Column (Part 1)
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
This one (Robert A. Heinlein's SIXTH COLUMN) certainly leaves us with lots to talk about, including Pan-Asianism, technology, religion, and race. This is episode 1 of 2 exploring this short novel, originally published in 1941.
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 23: Lost Legacy
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Let's explore some Super science and posthumanism with Robert A. Heinlein's LOST LEGACY, a novella about the untapped potential of humanity and infiltrating The Boy Scouts.
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Episode 575: Mark Twain: The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Part 4)
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
In this episode I finish another book (Mark Twain's PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC) and another volume of the Library of America. At this rate, I will finish in about the time it took for France to win the 100 Years War!
Friday Apr 14, 2023
Episode 574: Mark Twain: The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Part 3)
Friday Apr 14, 2023
Friday Apr 14, 2023
Like in the previous episodes on THE PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC by Mark Twain, I focus on what Joan of Arc can mean to us today. The book stans way to hard for Joan, so we need move a bit beyond the text.
Friday Apr 14, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 22: Methuselah’s Children (part 3)
Friday Apr 14, 2023
Friday Apr 14, 2023
I finish up my thoughts on METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN in this episode. Mostly, I talk about the tension between individualism and the community. If it were not so cliche I would have mentioned Tocqueville.
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Episode 573: Mark Twain: The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Part 2)
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
This part of the THE PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC is about lifting the siege of Orleans, but I do not says much about that and instead continue to explore the question of what in Mark Twain's mind made Joan of Arc great and what she transformation she causes.
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Methuselah’s Children (Part 2)
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Here I take a look at part 2 of "Methuselah's Children" by Robert A. Heinlein. I spend most of the time trying to figure out what might be the key to understanding this story and Heinlein himself. I fail. I guess I will need to read more Heinlein.
Friday Mar 31, 2023
Episode 572: Mark Twain: The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Part 1)
Friday Mar 31, 2023
Friday Mar 31, 2023
What do we owe our youth? Maybe we just owe it to get out of their way. In this episode I use JOAN OF ARC by Mark Twain to reflect on this question and the type of world we leave to our children.
Friday Mar 31, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Methuselah’s Children (Part 1)
Friday Mar 31, 2023
Friday Mar 31, 2023
The first part of METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN by Robert A. Heinlein does a great deal of work in putting together the "future history" world and introduces one of his cornerstone characters. It is also a great ideas novel.
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Episode 571: Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Part 3)
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
In the finale of my review of A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT, I explore technology, power and the chilling climax of the novel. This is one of Twain's best books and worth a close look.
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 19: ”We Also Walk Dogs”
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Pay attention Hollywood, this episode on Heinlein's 1941 short story "We Also Walk Dogs" includes a pitch for the next hit TV series.
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 18: The Logic of Empire
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Heinlein may always have been annoying, but it sort of triggers me in this one. In this episode I discuss "The Logic of Empire" (1941) and Heinlein's allegory for American slavery and indentured servitude.
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Episode 570: Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Part 2)
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Part two of my review of Mark Twain's A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. I discuss mostly the points where reform hits the cultural wall, and the nature of authority and power in Twain's imagination.
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Episode 569: Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Part 1)
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Part one of my review of Mark Twain's novel CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING'S ARTHUR COURT. The first third of this book mostly sets up the hero and the setting. Over the next few episodes I will explore the themes of technology, power, and religion as they are explored and lambasted in the novel.
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 17: Common Sense (1941)
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
"Common Sense" is Robert A. Heinlein's action-packed sequel to "Universe". While I do not find it quite as elegant a story as "Universe", I did enjoy how it wrapped up the story with a bittersweet success for our heroes, but maybe a loss for humanity.
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Episode 568: Mark Twain: The Prince and the Pauper (2)
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Friday Mar 17, 2023
This episode includes part two of my review of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER by Mark Twain (1882). I discuss my concerns that Twain is making safe arguments from a safe place and cannot quite see the necessity for radical alternatives.
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Episode 567: Mark Twain: The Prince and the Pauper (1)
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Part one of my review of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, an 1882 children's novel by Mark Twain. This classic role-swapping story is a window into American attitudes about aristocracy and class.
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 16: Universe
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
My review of Heinlein's 1941 story "Universe". While the first part of the story later published as ORPHANS OF THE SKY stands on its own, only with the sequel "Common Sense," do we find a darker more pessimistic truth about the necessity of stability.
Friday Mar 10, 2023
Episode 566: Mark Twain: Roughing It (Part 4)
Friday Mar 10, 2023
Friday Mar 10, 2023
The finale of my review of ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain. In the final chapters of this book Mark Twain moves on from Nevada to California and spends half a year in Hawaii. Is this a break from the earlier narrative or just part of a larger story of American empire?
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 15: Magic, Inc.
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
"Magic, Inc." is a fascinating novella by Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1940. It explores issues such as union power, technology, law, corruption, and industrial production, while also trying to take magic seriously by placing it in our world. It is worth checking out for the richness of the themes.
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Episode 565:Mark Twain: Roughing It (Part 3)
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
After failing as a silver prospector, Mark Twain took up journalism. He discusses his early days on the beat in ROUGHING IT (1872). I discuss this and other issues as I dig deeper in my review of this autobiographical book.
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Episode 564: Mark Twain: Roughing It (Part 2)
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Friday Mar 03, 2023
In part 2 of my review of ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain, I find some of the most important commentary and observations on the betrayals at the heart of the ideology of democratic capitalism, and clues as to why the West was so quickly tamed by capital, big business, and government (later the military-industrial complex). Is there any future to an economy built on speculation?
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 14: They
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Friday Mar 03, 2023
In "They", published in 1941, Robert A. Heinlein takes on issues I am more used to talking about in my series on Philip K. Dick: conspiracy, shifting realities, and paranoia. Mostly, I take on the question of the utility of conspiracy theories and express my distaste for the solipsism of the extremely based. But I cannot not recommend this story to Heinlein readers. It has its value.
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Episode 563: Mark Twain: Roughing It (Part 1)
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
In this episode, I begin my look at one of my favorite Mark Twain books, ROUGHING IT (1872), an autobiographical exploration of life in the West in the the decades before it was tamed. The early pages deal with the stagecoach ride to Nevada and the myths that develop on the road.
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 13: Successful Operation
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
In this episode, I take a short look at a very short Heinlein story, "Successful Operation". It can be read a couple of ways and I am happy with both.
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
Episode 562: Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad (Part 4)
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
In this episode, I finish up my study of INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain. There are so many layers to this book, the best I can so is lay them out and reflect on what I find most powerful: the relationship between a young nation and the deep past.
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 12: Solution Unsatisfactory
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
"Solution Unsatisfactory", published in 1940, is my favorite of the early Heinlein stories I have been exploring. It explores the consequences of the introduction of weapons of mass destruction to the world, the result being an reluctant American hegemony.
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 11: Blowups Happen
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Listen as I realize the obvious radical politics at the heart of this story by Robert A. Heinlein "Blowups Happen". This tale is at its heart about externalities and capitalism.
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Episode 561: Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad (Part 3)
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Friday Feb 17, 2023
In this part of my look at INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain, we spend most or time looking at Twain's comments on Italy and our odd relationship to history and its horrors. Tourism remains banal to me, and I find Twain sharing my views.
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 10: Coventry
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
In this sequel to "If This Goes On" Robert A. Heinlein explores the limits of individualism and the dangers of assuming the most conspicuous alternatives are best. It pairs nicely with FOR US, THE LIVING.
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Episode 560: Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad (Part 2)
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
In part two of my review of INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain we follow our author through Italy and his engagement with the reality and idealization of the Renaissance.
Friday Jan 20, 2023
Episode: 559: Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad (Part 1)
Friday Jan 20, 2023
Friday Jan 20, 2023
We move onto Mark Twain's first published book INNOCENTS ABROAD. This book recounts his adventures in Europe and Asia during a steamship tour. Through it he reflects a lot on tourism and authenticity.
Friday Jan 20, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 9: If This Goes On (Part 2)
Friday Jan 20, 2023
Friday Jan 20, 2023
In this short episode, I finish up my thoughts on IF THIS GOES ON by Robert A. Heinlein, focusing on the strategy for insurgencies and how movement cultures transform ideology.
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 8: If This Goes On (Part 1)
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
In this episode of the Robert A. Heinlein Book Club, I examine the first half of "If This Goes On," which images a rebellion against a theocratic American autocracy. It forces us to consider what goes into making movement cultures.
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Episode 558: Mark Twain: Pudd’nhead Wilson
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
In this episode, I take a quick look at Mark Twain's PUDD'NHEAD WILSON, a great exploration of the absurdity of the color line and slavery in America.
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Robert A. Heinlein BookClub: Episode 7: Requiem
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
There is not a whole lot to say about Robert A. Heinlein's story "Requiem" but I try anyway to give my thoughts. Maybe we will have more to say when we get to "The Man Who Sold the Moon", his prequel to this story.
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Episode 557: Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Part 3)
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
This episode is the conclusion to my thoughts on THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, one of my nation's greatest novels. It ends (in my opinion) with a criticism of liberalism as a path to change and progress.