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a book club, like oprah’s if oprah were two suburban guys from new jersey, or reese witherspoon’s if reese were two suburban guys from new jersey, except without the engine of fame that those two huge stars provide. but come on: oprah is not going to answer your emails. (trust us, we know.) every two weeks, a new book microscoped and surgeried by benevolent despot joey lewandowski and disgraced college professor "shreds"... with your help! here's a guarantee: every episode ends with an arrestable crime. will it be something boring like credit card fraud or something sexy like a casino heist? listen to find out.
we’re dropping another surprise module on you (and on us) with a new format: a deep dive into the work of blake butler. we talk about how the module came about, why shreds has been intimidated by blake’s writing, and the idea of knowing “about” blake before reading his work. we discuss a throwback to an earlier time of creating successful and challenging art as well as why blake feels like the “right” author to do this type of module with.
reading list for season twelve
300,000,000 by blake butler
aannex by blake butler
uxa.gov by blake butler
void corporation by blake butler
we conclude our first great american novel module with blood meridian by cormac mccarthy and a simple question: what is this novel about? we talk about blood meridian‘s ties to an original american sin, whether or not the judge an antagonist, and mccarthy reacting to americans’ view of war. shreds sets a record in mentioning nominative determinism. we talk about why blood meridian feels like a religious text, the lack of weight applied to the violence (and what this leads to), and what makes this book “challenging” to read. we talk about adapting the novel and who would play the judge, we relate its themes to moby dick, and we open the mailbag to discuss when and how ambiguity can be satisfying. is cormac mccarthy making up a new world on just about every page? we explore what that would mean and how it thematically ties into the text.
reading list for season eleven
moby dick by herman melville
blood meridian by cormac mccarthy
the time has come for us to cover our first great american novel, moby dick by herman melville, which by definition makes it our greatest american novel yet. we talk about the insanity of ahab’s quest, the common misunderstanding of who the protagonist is, and who’s hanging dong aboard the pequod. we wonder if other novels provide a more apt companion to this than blood meridian as well as whether or not this should be considered a comedy or satire. we talk about who should adapt this and the movies this novel most feels like. we explore outdated whale facts, the whale as god, and moby dick‘s ties to the x-files and its impact on common vernacular. we connect this book to both jaws and the raw shark texts. we talk about gay language in the text (and how much of this was intentional at the time). we land on a verdict: is moby dick a great american novel?
reading list for season eleven
moby dick by herman melville
blood meridian by cormac mccarthy
we're adding in a brand new type of module here on lotto pod as we continue to get conceptually more difficult. welcome to the first installment of the great american novel module. what is "the great american novel"? where did that phrase come from? we try to figure that out. we talk about whether or not any of our previous books qualified for this categorization. we discuss what we're going to do at the end of each book, the specific format we're following, and how we're picking these books. we embrace our lottery spirit with a roll of the dice, and we learn that chance throws a difficult task our way. "ain't that america?"
reading list for season eleven
moby dick by herman melville
blood meridian by cormac mccarthy
we’re closing out our vermont module with flee by evan dara along with everyone’s favorite segment: vermont facts. we talk about the proverbial canaries in the coal mine of a dying town, grappling with gentrification, and a narrative tied to a specific moment in u.s. history that also finds itself as a timeless text. we discuss evan dara’s use of italics and varied fonts, the style of the writing and its overlapping dialogue, and a weird reversal for a major character in the final pages. shreds finds joey within a character in the text. we talk about whether flee feels vermont, either specifically or more broadly.
reading list for season ten
the shame by makenna goodman
radio free vermont by bill mckibben
flee by evan dara
our vemont module (and shreds’s maple syrup challenge) continues with radio free vermont by bill mckibben. before we talk about the book, joey quizzes shreds on famous vermonters, prompting shreds to ask: does vermont suck? we discuss whether the idea of pirate radio make the novel feel dated, the nicest (and least dramatic) way for the characters to do what they’re doing, and whether our characters lose their ethical high ground. we talk about mckibben seemingly (and strangely) underestimating the darkness of the u.s. government (as well as how to fix this). we vent about literary devices that allow for exposition dumps and discuss vermont’s blend of conservative and liberal beliefs. joey talks about his connection to rex tillerson. shreds sets the record straight on the origins of the dewey decimal system.
reading list for season ten
the shame by makenna goodman
radio free vermont by bill mckibben
flee by evan dara
we’re kicking off the vermont module in proper with the shame by makenna goodman. does this novel feel like vermont? we discuss. first, though, we (naturally) talk about halloween and halloween costumes. then, joey shares some vermont facts (that turns into a vermont quiz). we realize that we’ve covered quite a few books about motherhood as we talk about how the shame feels akin to both a touch of jen and nightbitch (as well as the film tully). we discuss the idea of making contact with your double (in the style of the science fiction trope). we decipher the titular shame, talk how that particular feeling has evolved over time, and describe what we expected the book to be about (based on both the title and the opening passage). shreds channels fox mulder. joey assigns some new lore to the walking (nay, skateboarding) myth that is shreds.
reading list for season ten
the shame by makenna goodman
radio free vermont by bill mckibben
flee by evan dara
we’re once again embracing our lottery and gambling spirit with the tenth season of the pod. we’ve doubled up sufjan stevens with this one. after shreds recaps what we’re doing — and draws a card — he blames joey for something he can’t control before the sound board acts up in an inopportune way. joey tries to remember an old card game on tv. shreds unveils this season’s books and shares the mysterious background of one of this module’s authors.
reading list for season ten
the shame by makenna goodman
radio free vermont by bill mckibben
flee by evan dara
we wrap up our eco module (perhaps our most depressing module yet?) with drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk. we talk about the novel’s unreliable narrator, who is revealed as such in a potentially frustrating way… except it doesn’t frustrate us. shreds talks about writing for writers vs. writing for readers, and the trick tokarczuk plays to potentially frustrate both sides of that divide. we try to make our way through a general lack of knkowledge around astrology and william blake, and we talk about language, translation, and names. shreds tells a strange story about a bird and a box. joey talks about having read the book before and forgetting the ending. we wrap up our eco module with a look back.
reading list for season nine
land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang
the overstory by richard powers
something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman
barn 8 by deb olin unferth
fever dream by samanta schweblin
square wave by mark de silva
the glacier by jeff wood
the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi
the deluge by stephen markley
drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
we covered stephen markley’s novel the deluge last week, and today we’re joined by him to talk about his work. after confirming that we have a mutual friend, we learn how stephen pronounces the title of his novel and how much research went into the deluge. stephen speaks about edits made in the paperback version of the book and whether or not the text is prescient. we discuss levels of cynicism in eco literature, face characters in the novel and how to invest in the humanity of every character, and stephen’s thoughts on audiobooks vs. e-books vs. physical books. we talk about the level of optimism found in the ending and how to create compelling characters through whom you convey the novel’s trends. we discuss the idea of adapting the novel and the problems with wikipedia.
stephen’s mini-module
storms of my grandchildren by james hansen
rising: dispatches from the new american shore by elizabeth rush
the work of bill mckibben
reading list for season nine
land of milk and honey by c. pam zhang
the overstory by richard powers
something new under the sun by alexandra kleeman
barn 8 by deb olin unferth
fever dream by samanta schweblin
square wave by mark de silva
the glacier by jeff wood
the man with the compound eyes by wu ming-yi
the deluge by stephen markley
drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk
Amanda is a wife. A mother. A blogger. A Christian.
A charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest.
But Amanda is dying, with a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know.
She starts a blog detailing her cancer journey, and becomes an inspiration, touching and
captivating her local community as well as followers all over the world.
Until one day investigative producer Nancy gets an anonymous tip telling her to look at Amanda’s
blog, setting Nancy on an unimaginable road to uncover Amanda’s secret.
Award winning journalist Charlie Webster explores this unbelievable and bizarre, but
all-too-real tale, of a woman from San Jose, California whose secret ripped a family apart and
left a community in shock.
Scamanda is the true story of a woman whose own words held the key to her secret.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Scamanda on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Amanda’s blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn.
