Overdue is a podcast about the books you've been meaning to read. Join Andrew and Craig each week as they tackle a new title from their backlog. Classic literature, obscure plays, goofy childen’s books: they'll read it all, one overdue book at a time.
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In the not-so-distant future, Andy Weir will write a novel about a Competent Man getting into trouble and then getting himself out. Then it will be made into a major motion picture starring a relatively bankable movie star. Then Overdue will (probably) read the book. That's what happened with The Martian , and that is what's happening this week with Project Hail Mary -- a novel about a science teacher on a mission to save Earth (and maybe some other planets) from an otherworldly threat. This epi...
To celebrate this year's Children's Book Week, we're discussing the work of children's author and illustrator Eric Carle, whose colorful art and innovative prints have delighted our children (and us!) for years. Since they're each pretty short we decided to talk about a bunch of them, including: 1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar 2. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (with Bill Martin, Jr.) 3. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (with Bill Martin, Jr.) 4. My Very First Book of Numbers 5....
Around 25 minutes into this episode, Andrew and Craig take a mysterious elixir that turns them into younger versions of themselves with worse microphones and less research under their belts. Oh no! I hope they can find the ingredients to turn themselves back! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ...
For this show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew learned about the world of Middle-Earth by reading J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumously published legendarium THE SILMARILLION. This episode posted first for our Patreon supporters in June 2025. If you want to hear our current longread project TOKYO DRIFTERS (and a bunch of other stuff besides), visit Patreon.com/overduepod. In the beginning, Eru Ilúvatar created the heaven and the earth, primarily by watching his child-angels have an epic sing-off. And Mel...
Our stroll down memory lane continues this week, but we come provisioned with Present-Day Overdue research and context. This week, 2026 Andrew and Craig talk about Mary Shelley and the legacy of her most famous work while 2013 Andrew and Craig deal primarily with the story, including the titular Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. (Even past us knew that Frankenstein is the doctor, okay??). Also please bear with 2013 us as we discuss artificial intelligence with no knowledge of where we'd be in 20...
We're revisiting our past this month, adding Present-Day Overdue research and context to a few old episodes that didn't have them. This week, 2026 Andrew and Craig talk about Frank Herbert and the extended Dune -iverse while 2013 Andrew and Craig do their best to talk about the book. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/overdue. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privac...
This isn't a belated April Fool's joke. We really did watch the movie Twilight, and we're really here to talk about it. Why are Edward and Bella SO strange? How is it that all of the side characters come off as more human than they do in the books? Why is the vampire running like that?? Sometimes over on the Patreon ( patreon.com/overduepod ) we discuss movies and TV under the Special Collections banner. Join us to find out what we thought about the first appearance of the Minions, for instance....
MASH is the book that inspired the movie that inspired the show M*A*S*H, which is set in an active war zone but doesn't have a ton to say about war. If you wanted to read about the exploits of a bunch of meatball surgeon wiseacres, though, it is not completely without its charms. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy...
Ho-na-na-na Hey-ey! It's time to talk about the 1995 film adaptation of the series, directed by Melanie Mayron and written by Dalene Young. We mostly enjoyed it, though we have to acknowledge how hard it is to squeeze full plots for each BSC member into one 94-minute movie. Also, what is the deal with Kristy's dad? Why is he so stinky? Enjoying this longread series? Keep an eye out for THE SILLY-MARILLION next and join us over at patreon.com/overduepod to stay current with TOKYO DRIFTERS. Our th...
Craig reads "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1," revealing the comic's dark, parody-driven origins by creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, heavily influenced by Daredevil. The hosts discuss the franchise's surprising evolution from a self-published joke to a global toy and cartoon empire, noting the stark differences in tone and plot, including the original comics' sudden shift to space aliens and different Shredder iterations. They also delve into the publication history and the creators' personal journeys with the franchise.
This week we've commissioned all thirteen of our clones to record thirteen other versions of this podcast, because we're just such busy guys that we can't do them all ourselves. So are you listening to us, or the clones? And if you're listening to clones, which ones?? Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell...
I don't care if Monday's blue, Tuesday's grey and - wait, Morrie's here. Tuesday's not so bad after all! Mitch Albom's breakthrough account of his meetings with the late Morrie Schwartz includes some moving lessons about how facing death head-on can help you lead life to the fullest. It also includes some observations by Albom that really threw Craig for a loop. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/overdue. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerang...
This week's book examines the Asian-American experience through the age-old phenomenon of Hollywood typecasting. And there's an intentionally porous line that separates this book's "reality" from the rest of it, which kind-of-sort-of takes place inside of a formulaic police procedural. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Head to MarleySpoon.com/offer/OVERDUE for up to 25 FREE meals! Our theme music was com...
We jump way ahead in the sequence of the series (but not in the lives of our sitters, who remain stubbornly trapped in the Eighth Grade Time Loop), well into the books' ghostwritten era. This week we meet Abby, an acerbic new member of the Club, and we also meet ghostwriter Nola Thacker, who wrote over a dozen main-series BSC books during the original run. Here's the full Sit Me Baby One More Time reading list: Kristy's Great Idea Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls The Truth about Stacey Mary A...
Paul Beatty took the Booker Prize in 2015 with this satirical novel about a grieving man’s attempts to put his small town back on the map. The book lampoons the notion of a post-racial America, touching the fourth rail of "political correctness" with outlandish scenes of segregation and slavery. It's a real high-wire act of a premise that he mostly pulls off?? Head to MarleySpoon.com/offer/OVERDUE for up to 25 FREE meals! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Inst...
Ilya Rozanov. Shane Hollander. Two of hockey's greatest young goal scorers are also trying to score...with each other?? Reid's breakthrough hockey romance has become a true pop culture phenomenon, so we figured it was time to lace up the skates and see what the puck is going on with this most heated of rivalries. Happy belated Valentine's Day! This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Head to MarleySpoon.com/off...
Usually when robots gain sentience in fiction, they rise up and slay or otherwise subjugate their human creators, but this week's book dares to imagine what might happen if they stood up, looked around, said "thanks but no thanks," and left. It also ponders the meaning of existence, just for good measure. Monk & Robot collects two previously published novels: A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. Head to MarleySpoon.com/offer/OVERDUE for up to 25 FREE meals! Our theme mu...
Three lives, all alike in indignity. Stein's debut book is a collection of stories about three working-class woman at the turn of the 20th century. In it, we see the beginnings of her unique literary voice - full of repetition, repetition, poetic vernacular, and repetition. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Head to MarleySpoon.com/offer/overdue for 45% off your first order and free delivery! Our theme mu...
For this new show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew will travel to Neo-Tokyo to meet Akira , created by Katsuhiro Otomo. We're going to read this classic manga across six episodes, then close out with an extra episode on the groundbreaking 1988 film adaptation. This is a preview of a series we’ll be running exclusively for our Patreon supporters over the next few months; we won’t release them on the main feed until the entire series has run. If you want to listen to them as they’re released, see p...
See Andrew and Craig. See Andrew and Craig read. Read, Andrew and Craig, read! The Dick and Jane characters are still widely known, even though their heyday as The Main Way American Kids Learn How To Read has long since passed. Join us for a discussion of how these (now public domain!) characters came to be, the method of reading instruction they embody, how they came to dominate American classrooms, and how their reign of terror was finally ended. Obviously, we all hope that Father gets the hel...
Another month, another new member of the BSC! This time it's Jessi, ballerina extraordinaire, who also happens to be adept at learning languages. And her first big job involves learning sign language so she can babysit Matt Braddock, whose family just moved to town. Soon everybody in Stonybrook is learning to sign! Plus there's a whole parallel story about Jessi's ballet school. And really it's just a charming story about inclusivity and helping people feel like they belong! This episodes posted...
Sometimes you just want to get together with your friend and enlist prisoners of war into putting on a production of Euripides in the quarry, am I right? This is a broadly relatable thing that lots of people have thought about doing. Right? Right?? This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Head to MarleySpoon.com/offer/overdue for 45% off your first order and free delivery! Our theme music was composed by Nick L...
The public domain comes for us all and today it's come for Miss Marple, the elderly busybody and amateur sleuth that Agatha Christie created in the 1920s. In her first proper novel, Marple assists a vicar in uncovering the truth behind a murder that occurred in his own home (also known as a vicarage). How does Marple do it? With a keen understanding of Human Nature. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/overdue. Head to MarleySpoon.com/offer/overdue f...
We’ve been known to choose an adventure for ourselves every now and again, but rarely have we delved into the history of the “gamebook” genre. Until now! Join us for an abbreviated run through Consider the Consequences , in which players can quickly ruin the lives of three young adults who All Have Their Own Stuff Going On. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Head to MarleySpoon.com/offer/overdue for 45% o...
It's time to meet Samantha and Addy, two American Girls from the toy brand of the same name. Their time periods and journeys are rather different, but they are united by one thing: American Girl founder Pleasant Rowland's quest to inspire girls to learn AND to accessorize. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not...
We jump forward in the series a bit this month, not too deep into the series (and not into the era where the series was primarily ghostwritten), but past the “we’re still setting up each of the core club-members” phase. This book is all about Mallory, a younger aspiring BSC member whose membership is jeopardized by a run of bad luck and some mildly unreasonable expectations from the other Club members. We also meet Jessi, one of the only Black residents in the extremely white town of Stoneybrook...
Happy Hornydays everyone! This extremely explicit dark holiday romantasy is sure to land someone on the naughty list. Please note that this story about Twyla and her adventure into the world of Krampus is very much Not For Kids. But does it give adults everything they want for Christmas? Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com...
Knowing absolutely nothing else about it, you might guess that a story called "The Bookshop" would a light and cozy novella about how books are magical and that the places where they are sold are sacred spaces. There are lots of books that are like that! But this most certainly is not one of them. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Inst...
Darkness, imprisoning me / All that I see, absolute horror / I cannot live, I cannot die / Trapped in myself, body my holding cell These lyrics from Metallica's " One" were inspired by this classic anti-war novel (this is relevant, we promise). It's unique perspective and focus on the irreparable harm that war inflicts on the individual set it apart from the other anti-war text's we've read for the show. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky ...
There has been a murder! A murder in a small Quebecois village where everyone knows each other and most people seem to be either artists or café proprietors! Luckily Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and the Sûreté du Québec are on the case, there to be avuncular and reassuring and blur the line between friend and law enforcement professional. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Our theme music was composed b...
