Stop me if you've heard this one: a strange man who runs a motel with his mom (maybe) commits several murders before people get wise to him. At least one of them is in a shower. It's very creepy. Were you thinking of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho? Well we're not talking about it! This is a book podcast, silly! Actually we do talk a bit about what the movie lifted from the book, but we also dive into topics such as the murders that inspired Bloch, Norman Bates' murder swamp, and the prolific writer/m...
Oct 28, 2019•59 min
Come on into our spooky kitchen and let us cook you up a big steaming bowlful of creepypasta! This week's book began life as a series of Reddit posts that were later Kickstarted into a book self-published on Amazon, which is maybe the most early-2010s sentence that has ever been written. Join us for a lesson in creepy story etymology, and also a lesson in Skinhorse, the inside-out horse. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do...
Oct 21, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Ever wanted to marry a ghost? Then boy do we have a book for you! Spooktober continues with Yangsze Choo's debut novel about a young woman in late 19th-century Malaya who winds up promised to a spectral groom. It's a fun book that is almost overflowing with hallmarks of different genres. Coming-of-age concerns, supernatural fantasy, historical fiction, romance: it's got a lot going on! But the heart of it all is Li Lan's entertaining exploration of the afterlife, its characters, and its bureaucr...
Oct 14, 2019•57 min
We rip our way into Spooktober 2019 with From Hell, a 90s graphic novel from writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell about Jack the Ripper. The book presents one (possible, but unlikely) solution to the mystery, and our research leads us through a lot more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Oct 07, 2019•58 min
Please, sir, I want some more podcast! Dickens' classic novel about a lovable urchin named Oliver Twist is equal parts social novel, mystery, and bildungsroman -- or so Charlie thought. We dive into what works and doesn't work about its depictions of London in the Industrial Revolution, Oliver's moral compass, and the titular twist. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Sep 30, 2019•59 min
Welcome back to HELLBOYS, a Divine Comedy podcast from the boys here at Overdue! We're continuing our journey through Robert and Jean Hollander's translation of Dante's Divine Comedy a few cantos at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we combine them for general consumption. This episode carries us through the back half of the Inferno, covering Cantos XVII-XXXIV. We travel through the Malebolge, meet a demon biker gang, and climb down the Devil himsel...
Sep 27, 2019•1 hr 32 min
The God of Small Things is about family, and loss, and India, and the caste system, and all of its disparate plot lines and character arcs come together in the end like a Seinfeld episode but with more tragedy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Sep 23, 2019•1 hr 3 min
"What if women ended the Peloponnesian War, am I right?" asks Aristophanes in his classic comedy Lysistrata. Famous for its depiction of a sex strike that brings the warring Greek states to their unsexed knees, the play has been remixed countless times as generations of artists adapt its core conceit to their own times. So we figured we'd go back to the old Prince of Comedy himself to see what all the fuss is about. Talking points include comedies of bad manners, Ancient Greek props, and the "li...
Sep 16, 2019•57 min
It's time to play some games! Craig's sister Jillian read Iain M. Banks' The Player of Games, one of several entries in his Culture series that explores a hegemonic utopia influencing as much of outer space as it can. Banks' ideas gameplay may be primarily analog, but he still manages to represent cultures and worlds with digital creativity. Andrew may be away, but we still find time to joke about names, make some Gatsby references, and chat about Starcraft. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.c...
Sep 09, 2019•1 hr 13 min
Join us as we attempt to bring Pullman's epic god-fightin' trilogy to a close! We start with a brief recap of the first two books, and then we dive into what does and doesn't work for Andrew in the final installment. Train your spyglass on the Fall of Man, cut through bear armor with your subtle knife, and follow your golden compass to the origin of Dust. Additional talking points include Andrew's new partyboy son, motorcycle elephants, and the debut of a new segment: Andrew's Dad Moment. See Pr...
Sep 02, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Friend of the show Christina Tucker (Unfriendly Black Hotties, PCHH, her new newsletter, etc.) joins us to chat about Jeff VanderMeer's novel Annihilation. It's the first of his Southern Reach trilogy, a Weird Science Fiction romp through a mysterious zone called Area X. We've got our own Area X going, replete with chicken sandwiches, Edward James Olmos, and a fun-loving chat of supporters. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy...
Aug 30, 2019•1 hr 1 min
This week we welcome Renata and Kait from The Worst Bestsellers to talk about Becky Chambers' first entry in the Wayfarer series: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. It's a book that's equal parts cozy AND sexy, with plenty of aliens for you to meet and/or have...stirrings about. Our conversation takes the long way from Star Trek to the Secret, exploring what it's like for folks who usually read Bad books to actually read a Good one. Caveat lictor: sometimes you have to swear in space! See Pr...
Aug 26, 2019•1 hr 15 min
The titular Tarzan of the titular Apes is a lot more than "Me Tarzan. You Jane." And Edgar Rice Burroughs is here to tell you all about how and why it's because he's the sire of an English nobleman. Join us for a chat about the lost city of Tarzana, the Ernest filmography, and the invention of stabbing. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Aug 19, 2019•1 hr 9 min
Andrew's Appointment Television co-hosts Kathryn VanArendonk and Margaret H. Willison join us for a chat about siblings, rivalry, and this classic of modern parenting lit from Adele Faber and Elain Mazlish. At the time of recording, Andrew's fatherhood was looming on the horizon, so Kathryn kindly shared with us how relevant the book felt to her own parenting experience. And don't worry, Craig and Margaret had plenty of wisdom to share as well. Caveat lictor: Margaret's here, so there's swearing...
Aug 12, 2019•1 hr 10 min
It's time to make some more choices! Thanks to a benevolent small business owner, we've been transported back to the time of Arthurian legend and must face the biggest choice of all: food service or secretarial work! Actually, we make plenty of fun choices in Ellen Kushner's CYOA riff on the Knights of the Round Table. So join us for a bunch of boons, magic, and mannerpunk! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-i...
Aug 05, 2019•1 hr 12 min
Philip Pullman followed up The Golden Compass with The Subtle Knife, the adventure of Lyra and Will on their quest to uncover the secret of Dust and (maybe, just maybe) save the world from evil forces within the Church. Like a lot of Second Stories in a Trilogy, the book builds on its predecessor's world by introducing new friends and foes and ending with a cliffhanger that ensures you'll come back for Book Three. We just have one question for Mr. Pullman: where are the bears? See Privacy Policy...
Jul 29, 2019•58 min
Welcome to HELLBOYS, a Divine Comedy podcast from the boys here at Overdue! On our newest show-within-a-show, we're reading Robert and Jean Hollander's translation of Dante's Divine Comedy a few cantos at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption. First you'll hear our introduction to the show (and the translation) and our chat about Inferno I-VII. Then our journey alongside Virgil and Dante continues with an episo...
Jul 26, 2019•2 hr 5 min
The horror, the horror! It's time to talk about colonialism, y'all. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness has inspired plenty of stories about a dude diving deep into nature to find another dude, so we figured we'd get to the...heart...of the matter. Listen and learn what exactly the horror, the horror means and why some notable writers want nothing to do with this classic text of 19th-century imperialism. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19...
Jul 22, 2019•55 min
Behind Closed Doors is about a relationship that seems too perfect to be true - except that instead of arguing about the “right” way to load the dishwasher and the way the other person leaves cabinets hanging open all the time, Jack Angel is a full-on sociopath who locks his wife Grace in a windowless basement room and plans to do the same to her younger sister. It’s hampered a bit by dry, straightforward prose, but it’s a page-turner nevertheless. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy...
Jul 15, 2019•1 hr 3 min
"What if the Napoleonic Wars but with magic?" is a great elevator pitch for Susanna Clark's sprawling novel, but it only scratches the surface of what Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has to offer. Footnotes, Farnums, and factoids abound in this fun work of historical/alternate fiction. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jul 08, 2019•1 hr 3 min
CW: This week’s book revolves around sexual assault, which we discuss in the episode. We don’t read the specific passage and we try to be as general as possible, but feel free to skip this one if you’re not up to it. Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak is a pitch-perfect account of what it’s like to be Awkward In High School, in ways that are both funny and sad. That a two-decade-old novel still feels so relevant to our current cultural moment probably speaks poorly of us. See Privacy Policy at ...
Jul 01, 2019•54 min
This episode, instead of a book we read YOUR questions! Topics range from the five characters you'd meet at an Overdue dinner party to what makes a great diaper. We also have a blast chatting with our livestream audience. As always, thanks to our Patreon supporters for making these bonus episodes possible! Visit patreon.com/overduepod to find out how you can support the show. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-se...
Jun 28, 2019•1 hr 11 min
Michel Faber's 2002 novel The Crimson Petal and the White has been hailed as a Dickensian novel with a saucy, modern narrator. How exactly does he pull that off in an epic story steeped in the history of Victorian London? And how does he play with our own expectations of the period? Find out in this week's episode! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jun 24, 2019•1 hr 11 min
In this week's episode, we talk about the very nature of what makes a superhero (or an anti-hero, or a supervillain) a superhero (or anti-hero, or supervillain), in between talking about our ideal Father's Day and how Harry Potter and the D&D alignment chart informs how people of a certain age think about all fictional characters. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jun 17, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Lorraine Hansberry's classic play A Raisin in the Sun endures for its insightful portrait of a black family in Chicago fighting for a better life. Inspired by her own family's experience with racial housing discrimination, it's a complex piece about who gets to get ahead, how, and why. And of course, we had to balance the gravity of this gem from Hansberry's brief but momentous career with a deep dive on where raisins come from. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priv...
Jun 10, 2019•51 min
Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived In The Castle shares some qualities with her best-known short story The Lottery; both feature small New England towns that are the site of some unfortunate mob action. Join us for a conversation about non-supernatural creepiness, unreliable narrators, and early flights. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jun 03, 2019•53 min
Our voyage ends with Book 24, which includes one more amazing Odysseus lie and a heaping serving of deus ex machina. Then it's time to reflect on our journey from high school English students enduring a long reading assignment to olive-oiled men who love a good epic poem. Thanks for joining us on this trek through Emily Wilson's translation of Homer's Odyssey! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
May 31, 2019•40 min
Caveat lictor: this episode contains mild spoilers for Drowning Ruth . Christina Schwarz's debut novel weaves together three main threads: historical fiction, melodramatic mystery, and sisterhood. The result is an interesting portrait of women in Depression-era Wisconsin striving for self-determination. Additional talking points include knock-knock tips, Jonathan Franzen's Oprah complaints, and the Tooth Fairy's pyramid scheme. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priva...
May 27, 2019•1 hr
Madeline Miller's Circe is a great chaser for Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, and it's an excellent exploration of a mythological character who has often been maligned. Miller's Circe is modern but also instantly recognizable and easy to reconcile with her classical depictions. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
May 20, 2019•1 hr 14 min
We're almost at the end of our long journey, but before we wrap up with Book 24 and our closing thoughts, we took some time to sit down with Emily Wilson and chat about her wonderful translation of Homer's Odyssey. Among other topics, we talked with her about her process, Telemachus' entertaining whining, and why all these boys are oiling themselves up all the time. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
May 17, 2019•48 min
