Overdue

For this new show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew will be learning about the world of babysitting! We're going to read eight books in this seminal series, picking books where we meet new Club members. This episode is a free teaser for our Sit Me Baby One More Time longread project. Patreon supporters can get new episodes monthly (Episode 1 is up right now!), but the rest won't unlock on the m...

Four wounded souls try to endure the end of WW2 in a bombed out Tuscan monastery. Ondaatje's novel digs into these liminal lives as they project themselves onto the blank slate that is [dramatic music] the English patient. 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 compose...

We want to be the very best (podcasters)! The best (podcasters) there ever were! And our true test was to talk about the novelization of the first film in the most successful media franchise in the world: Pokémon. 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 Le...

Real horrorshow episode for you this week, malchicks and devotchkas! The best-known version of A Clockwork Orange might be Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film, which is based on a version of the story that is missing its last chapter. Burgess wants us all to know that he'd disown this story if he could, but if we're going to read it, we might as well get the ending as originally intended. This episode is...

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 15-19 Episode 7: Things start heating up in books 15 and 16, as Achilles finally sort of acknowledges that there's a war on and Patr...

Are you in your prime? If you were, would you know it? And would you know what to do with it?! Miss Jean Brodie's in her prime, and she's going to teach all these girls about art history, being the creme de la creme, and how Mussolini made the trains run on time. Tune in for a story about how teachers can have a huge impact on your life while still remaining mysterious in their motivations. This e...

In The Odyssey, Penelope is mostly a side character who exists to be faithful to Odysseus (and clever enough to be compatible with him). Atwood's Penelopiad asks: what was Penelope up to? What did she want? What if the Homeric version of Odysseus' story isn't the true one? And what if Penelope's version isn't either? This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at  bette...

In this classic novella, Leo Tolstoy asks, "What would it take for a guy who stinks to realize he stinks? And how would he feel about that at the end of his life?" This episode is sponsored by the  PBS American Masters: Creative Spark , find it on your favorite listening app. This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to  squarespace.com/overdue  for 10% of your first purchas...

And so the (initial) story of the world of Percy Jackson draws to a close. It's time to discuss the Battle of New York, the resolution of a prophecy, and the ultimate theme(s) of Riordan's blockbuster series. This episode is sponsored by the PBS American Masters: Creative Spark and Jordan J. Hall's new story collection Mammoth, Massachusetts: A Collection of Speculative Folk Fiction . Our theme mu...

The Magic School Bus series, beloved of 80s and 90s kids as both a book series and a TV show, depicts a school where every day is a field trip and every field trip is actually a fantastical voyage through time and space. I don't want to think what these permission slips look like. This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to  squarespace.com/overdue  for 10% of your first purchas...

The book that put Murakami on the map in Japan is an intimate tale about youth, love, sex, and grief. So it's not surprise he settled on a Beatles song for his novel's title?? 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:...

Hello, cats and kittypets! If you're up for a Redwall-y, Watership Down-y exploration of warrior cat societies and territorial conflicts, boy do we have the dozens and dozens of books for you! 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...

Communities collide in the Chicken Hill neighborhood of 1930s Pottstown. Will the tensions become more than this town can manage? Since this is a James McBride novel, probably not! His work is characterized by a warmth of spirit that feels optimistic without naivete. So it shouldn't surprised you that folks of different backgrounds are finding common cause on all sorts of things - like how cool it...

Emily Henry's Beach Read is a romance novel that's light on the romance, and also on beaches and reading. But it's still fun! An a good argument against aggressively pigeonholing books or their authors into any given genre box. Follow @overduepod on  Instagram  and  Bluesky Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19...

Garfield creator Jim Davis decided to turn his PAWS, Inc. artists loose on multiple interpretations of our favorite orange feline. Behold, a truly absurd collection of tails -- I mean, tales. EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS DISCUSSION OF AT LEAST ONE ODDLY EXPLICIT TURN OF PHRASE THAT REALLY CONFUSED US. To join us for future bonus recordings, head to  patreon.com/overduepod ....

Caw caw! Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a New Age messiah. Or is it? All we know is that this seagull loves to fly and craves perfection -- which is somehow an allegory for self-improvement? This episode is also 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...

This podcast is about to REAL! In that we are about to talk about Realism and Naturalism, two things we definitely have an amazing handle on. And did Émile Zola have a handle on them in his notable novel Thérèse Raquin? Tune in to find out. Our theme music was composed by  Nick Lerangis . Follow @overduepod on  Instagram  and  Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at...

Nora Ephron is known mainly for her films, but her voice comes through loud and clear in Heartburn , a thinly-veiled autobiographical novel about love and divorce and how much she doesn't like Washington DC. This episode is also 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 Leran...

You find yourself facing a cherry tree. Is it on the level? Is it secretly plotting revenge against the President? Make a choice and dive into this revolutionary tale. 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....

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 episod...

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 A...

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  squ...

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 Pol...

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 per...

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  squar...