To celebrate Bloomsday (however inadvertently), we decided to make our first foray in the work of James Joyce. His debut novel riffs on themes and characters that feature prominently in the rest of his canon, so join us for a discussion of modernist novel structure, semi-autobiographical lyricism, and what you should run off to smell if you find yourself crying in front of your family. This episode is sponsored by Microdose. Get 30% off your first order, plus free shipping at Microdose.com , pro...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Sometimes you read a book from 1940 and you get a little upset about how relevant its characters and themes remain more than 80 years later. Sometimes! McCullers' debut novel explores capitalism, alienation, and poverty in the American South at the tail end of the Great Depression. 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/priva...
Jun 10, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Often grouped with the other plays in García Lorca's unfinished "rural trilogy," The House of Bernarda Alba is a claustrophobic drama about control, conformity, and one mother's intimidating cane. Which daughter will get Pepe? Will that horse stop kicking the wall? Will grandma ever be free?? These questions and more on this week's episode. 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...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr
Percy Jackson and friends are back for the penultimate entry in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This installment in Rick Riordan's mythological mash-up benefits from additional emotional complexity and deepened character relationships. 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 ....
May 27, 2024•1 hr 37 min
For our latest show-within-a-show, we'll revisit Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. These two episodes cover Books 10-14. Episode 5: It's time for a three-fer! This little triptych of books explores the combat of the Iliad from a few different perspectives: Stealth (Book 10): Diomedes and Odysseus engaging in feats of derring-do. Non-lethal Dama...
May 25, 2024•1 hr 34 min
This week we travel back to Bois Sauvage to revisit the work of acclaimed author Jesmyn Ward. Sing, Unburied, Sing introduces us to a family on hard times, preparing to welcome back a member from prison while also grappling with the ghosts that demand their attention. For more discussion of Jesmyn Ward, head to Ep 283 - Salvage the Bones. 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 ...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 9 min
We're learning how to THINK AND GROW RICH with our good frenemy Napoleon Hill! To join us for future bonus recordings, head to patreon.com/overduepod . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . 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 ....
May 18, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Isaac Asimov's short story collection-turned-novel has very little to do with the mid-2000s Will Smith movie adaptation, which is a good thing. It's a lot less about robots rising up and killing their creators, and more about the law of unintended consequences. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertis...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 10 min
"We just found this bear at the train station and he seems cool? Like he's good at shopping and staring at people. Let's bring him home! Don't mind all the mess he makes." That's probably what the Browns said to themselves upon first spying a charming little bear at Paddington Station. Celebrate Children's Book Week with us by diving into the first appearance of this marmalade-loving lil scamp. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase...
May 06, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Did you know that before Gillian Flynn brought us the book Gone Girl, the movie Gone Girl, and the concept of "Gone Girl-ing" someone, she wrote a murder mystery about a different kind of unhealthy family dynamic! This episode briefly discusses self-harm. This episode is sponsored by Aura Frames. Visit AuraFrames.com and use code OVERDUE at checkout to get $30-off plus free shipping on their best-selling frame. Terms and conditions apply. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @o...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 1 min
This graphic memoir (ahem) This collection of comics chronicles the life of an Iranian girl named Marji, whose experiences are heavily based on those of author Marjane Satrapi. Satrapi lived through the Islamic Revolution in Iran and its authoritarian aftermath, and her story is one of resistance, education, and the difficulty of finding yourself amidst societal upheaval. Note: our discussion is based on reading the Complete Persepolis, which combines Volume 1: The Story of a Childhood with Volu...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Holes! We all need 'em, we all love 'em. This is a book where a boy is sentenced to dig a bunch of holes out in the desert because he was accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit. That's bad! But he also discovers a little something about himself and his family, and makes a new friend. That's good! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Lo's award-winning novel seeks to shine a light on marginalized experiences from mid-century San Francisco. What's most impressive is how she's synthesized all of her research into a couple of fresh, compelling characters - allowing the story to honor the historical record without feeling overly bound by it. 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...
Apr 08, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Every week, one of our hosts reads a book and tells the other person (and you, the audience) about it. This week's book is about the topic of war and also the topic of peace. It has characters and themes. Find out more about all of this and more on this week's Overdue! 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 Instagram and Bluesky Advertise o...
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr 12 min
For our latest show-within-a-show, we'll revisit Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. These two episodes cover Books 5-9. Episode 3: These three books include: gods intervening directly on the battlefield, a new Greek hero emerging, the Trojan hero getting a boost from Ares, Hector's wife and son, and a duel with no resolution. It's action packed ...
Mar 30, 2024•1 hr 46 min
The first rule of podcasting is DON'T TALK ABOUT PODCASTING. The second rule of podcasting is please tell everyone about podcasting and specifically about this episode in which we cover Chuck P's notorious novel about masculinity, terrorism, and getting punched in the face. 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 Instagram and Bluesky Advert...
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 18 min
There There sets itself apart by being a book by and about indigenous Americans in an explicitly contemporary, urban setting. It's also got a neat perspective-shifting structure and interconnected characters. 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 Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...
Mar 18, 2024•1 hr 2 min
This bonus episode was recorded on LEAP DAY! So we leapt into The Mystery at Lilac Inn with our good friend young sleuth Nancy Drew! Let's play some Hot or Not, I guess?? Also we're talking Odies 2023! To join us for future bonus recordings, head to patreon.com/overduepod . Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . 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 ....
Mar 16, 2024•1 hr 15 min
The third and final of White's whimsical children's books about animals, The Trumpet of the Swan asks important questions like: How do swans learn English? How can we better provide accommodations for those who need them? And how much money could a swan earn at a jazz club in the 1960s? This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Inst...
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Modern readers often experience C.S. Lewis as "the Narnia guy," but he's also one of the 20th century's foremost Christian apologetics. The Screwtape Letters, written from the point of view of a demon whose object is to send souls to Hell, is a deeply Christian work but its appeal comes just as much from Lewis' insight into what makes humanity tick. 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 c...
Mar 04, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Toni Morrison’s second novel in her beloved Beloved trilogy, Jazz introduces the reader to a trio of characters united by an incident of tragic romance. Will the freewheeling optimism of the Jazz Age set them on the path of redemption or will they be bound to their painful pasts? This episode is sponsored by Factor. Head to factormeals.com/overdue50 and use code overdue50 to get 50% off delicious, ready-to-eat meals. This episode is also brought to you in part by Eavesdrop: Conversations Across ...
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 13 min
Percy Jackson returns for another road trip across a mythological United States. Plenty of new characters are introduced -- and some of them survive! 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 Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Our month of sequels continues with the first full-length novel in Martha Wells' Murderbot series. The book's extra length leaves it room to dig into themes that the novellas had only nodded at, and also has a whole bunch of extra murderbots in it. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue ...
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 10 min
To kick off a month of sequel coverage, we get bone deep in the Locked Tomb follow up Harrow the Ninth. This obtuse but compelling sci-fi/fantasy tome plays with perspective, doubles down on the space wizards, and challenges the reader NOT to notice oddly specific meme references. 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 Instagram and Bluesky...
Feb 05, 2024•1 hr 9 min
An early-90s Bengali novel that was translated into English relatively recently, The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die has a lot going for it, but as with many books the thing we'll remember the most is the murderous horny ghost aunt. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . 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 ....
Jan 29, 2024•56 min
For our latest show-within-a-show, we'll revisit Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. These two episodes cover Books 1-4. Episode 1: The Iliad drops us right into the middle of the action, where "the middle" is 9 years into a 10 year conflict and "the action" is a couple of easily-affronted guys who instantly get mad at each other. Then we're trea...
Jan 26, 2024•1 hr 33 min
Move along, everyone. Nothing to see here. No women navigating adult friendships and their identities as parents. No jabs at men in power who work overtime to cover up their shame. And definitely no kids that catch on fire. Move along! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . 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 ....
Jan 22, 2024•56 min
Time to celebrate winter with a chilly fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Also we're talking Disney's FROZEN! To join us for future bonus recordings, head to patreon.com/overduepod . Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . 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 ....
Jan 19, 2024•1 hr 12 min
The Witch Elm has Dublin, and it has murder, and it has a squad of detectives, but despite all that it is not a book in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series. This riff on her classic crime novel formula focuses instead on some of the suspects, namely Toby Hennessey, who doesn’t know if he can’t remember things because of head trauma or because for most of his life he’s been able to get by without acknowledging the existence of systemic problems. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give ...
Jan 15, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Banned in many countries until the 1960s, David Herbert Lawrence's 1928 novel is both racier and tamer than you might imagine. What more would you expect from a book that uses both "the love experience" and [BLEEP] to describe, well, adult behavior? Caveat lictor: this episode features discussions of Adult Situations. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis . Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-n...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 2 min
