how to win the lottery: a book club podcast

you just heard an episode last week, but we’re back with our first episode in months (our time): the vine that ate the south by j.d. wilkes. we catch up on stuff, like how life has been going (busy) and what we’ve been up to (not reading). we talk about the kudzu plant. we explore rural myths, cryptozoology, and more x-files stuff before talking an interesting exploration of a state largely unknow...

we're once again embracing our lottery and gambling spirit with the eighth season of the pod. we've passed sufjan stevens with this one. the most exciting moment in podcasting returns -- and no, we're not talking about shreds sharing his thoughts on the irish or joey declining to do an impression. instead, we are returning to the deck of cards to determine our fate as we reveal state #3. in doing...

our graphic content module draws to a close with ragnarok by walter simonson. fantasy content is tough for us, which isn’t particularly fair to this book, but we still find things to love and appreciate about it. we talk about what moving away from marvel allows for simonson to do with this book, which segues into a discussion about the future of the mcu. we wonder: does pop culture have space for...

our graphic content module truly lives up to its name (for the first time) as we talk about prison pit by johnny ryan. we talk about whether or not johnny ryan is an edgelord — and if there’s a reason he aims to offend. we talk about the art’s similarity to “kid drawings” (and joey’s regret about the reading experience). shreds shares a perhaps too-thought-out analysis of what prison pit is about....

we’re finally entering the realm of the superhero in our graphic content module with kingdom come by mark waid and alex ross. shreds explains why he sees this as a superman comic but not a batman comic, and joey explains why he felt lost by an apparent lack of context for dc mythology — and why the book would likely work better on a second read. we gush over alex ross’s gorgeous art, wonder why ev...

the next stop in our graphic content module is asterios polyp by david mazzucchelli. after discussing how this module being defined by medium (rather than content) seems to yield great success, we talk about the singular vision and design and presentation of polyp before reading something from mazzucchelli’s wiki that totally endears him to us even more. we talk about how polyp is reminiscent of u...

we’re tackling our first young adult book this module as we’re covering this one summer by mariko tamaki and jillian tamaki. after talking about location-specific friends and family fights on vacation, we dive into the emotionally-fraught story as we tap into our love of media aimed at teen girls. shreds gets passionate about this book and describes about how the tamakis deftly get around the “adu...

we’re headed to 1920s harlem on this episode of lottery pod as we talk about bitter root by david f. walker, chuck brown, and sanford greene. (a fun note: heather antos worked on this book!) we talk about the incredible value of this book’s omnibus, the book’s absolutely gorgeous coloring, and how the story smartly resets for each new third. we discuss the timeliness of the narrative (and the unfo...

after covering the seeds last week, we are joined by ann nocenti, the book’s author, to talk about hexagons, fake news, and andrei tarkovsky. ann talks about the roots of the journalism in the book, how the novel’s other major themes found their way in, and what changed through the course of the development. she talks about the origin of the ending, shares storytelling advice for young writers, an...

our graphic content module continues with the seeds by ann nocenti and david aja and a return to familiar subject matter. first, though, we talk about steven soderbergh for a while. then, we talk about how the seeds reminds us of the private eye, except with aliens and different ideological divides among its characters. we talk about the book’s 90s feel re: aliens and accompanying aesthetics, the...

our graphic content season continues with no longer human by junji ito, which marks our first foray into manga. we explore the medium (including our overall unfamiliarity with it, despite its global prominence) and how no longer human‘s original publication specifically targeted adult men (and how this manifests itself in the story). we analyze how the book unknowingly returns to several of our sh...

after covering the private eye last week, our first interview this season comes with the book’s illustrator, marcos martin, as we continue to figure out how to talk about art on the pod. we discuss the way (and the speed at which) marcos works, the machinations of the page layout/format (and the process of adapting it for the physical release), and the idea behind forming panel syndicate and the p...

our graphic content module continues with the private eye by brian k. vaughan, marcos martin, muntsa vicente, which looks like a “more traditional comic” (read: superhero comic) and feels like a classic noir. we discuss archaic/obsolete tech (including joey’s beloved zune), the book’s unusual layout/format, and whether the story is cynical or optimistic in the way it discusses technology. we talk...

it’s a surprise bonus episode in our graphic content module as we cover gender queer by maia kobabe, one of the most banned/challenged books this year. the graphic novel memoir covers some serious content, so we open with some absolute nonsense before we dive into our discussion. shreds again gets heated talking about banned books before returning to his favorite topic: the exploration and use of...

our graphic content module kicks off in earnest with coyote doggirl by lisa hanawalt. after shreds shares a bone he has to pick with joey, we explore lisa hanawalt’s connection to bojack horseman before spending a while complimenting the beautiful art on display and how well it (wordlessly) communicates information. we talk about coyote doggirl‘s ability to both lean into and subvert western trope...

we’re kicking off our seventh module with two firsts for the pod: a guest (heather antos) and discussing a book in the intro episode (understanding comics: the invisible art by scott mccloud). after learning about our histories with comics, we spend a while talking about dilbert and scott adams (please read this) as well as our favorite “sunday funnies.” we share love for sam and max, learn about...

we are closing out our delaware mini-module with sunburn by laura lippman, along with even more delaware facts. first, though, we sort through a meager list of musicians from the state. then, into sunburn, which is firmly set in delaware, even though belleville is not a real place. we talk about what makes it delaware, a solidarity among beach towns, and the story’s plot twists vs. its emotional t...

our delaware module “keeps on truckin'” (this is a delaware phrase) as we read the book of unknown americans by cristina henríquez. joey shares some more delaware facts before we look up tv shows set in delaware and confirm, for the first time this module, that yes we are firmly set in delaware. we discuss what “delaware qualities” are covered in the text, the issue of consent in the novel, and th...

our delaware module (suck shit, sufjan stevens #2) gets off to a questionable start, geographically speaking, with fight club by chuck palahniuk. joey kicks things off by sharing some delaware facts before he and shreds discuss their history with palahniuk and what his writing meant to people coming of age in the 90s and 00s. we talk about fincher’s adaptation (what it does better and what it does...

we’re once again embracing our lottery and gambling spirit with the sixth season of the pod. (if you don’t want to have the theme spoiled, just listen to the episode.) we’ve tied up sufjan stevens with this one. as a reminder, years ago, sufjan stevens vowed to write an album for every u.s. state. he made two then bailed. we plan to outdo him. we’re unveiling which state will be covered in the (sh...

our un/adaptable season draws to a close with infinite jest by david foster wallace. shreds is back, and he’s got a story to tell. we discuss the difficulty of the text (which is baked into the design), a mere fraction of the many things joey missed in his first read, and why you don’t really read infinite jest so much as you re-read it. we talk about the purpose and importance of the endnotes, wa...

our final novel this module with an upcoming adaptation is nightbitch by rachel yoder, which breaks new ground for the podcast, as former host bobby had (briefly) covered this already in a patreon exclusive behind the elsive paywall. (a reminder: don’t subscribe to our patreon. it’s not worth it.) we talk about feeling less qualified to talk about this novel than others in a similar space, rachel...

our un/adaptable module continues with crying in h mart by michelle zauner, which also marks our first foray into nonfiction. joey is joined once again by a guy named gary, who shares a plea from shreds and expresses a hatred for a specific pronunciation of a particular word. we talk about whether or not you need to know a lot about korean food to appreciate this book, lament not having a food/coo...

the next stop on our un/adaptable module is continues with the raw shark texts by steven hall. joey is joined by a guy named gary, who arrives with special instructions from tulsa… and we need your help! after checking on what macaulay culkin is up to — and taking a brief sidebar to talk about area legend miss cleo — we wonder why there are so many amnesia stories and whether or not naming a chara...

our un/adaptable module continues with project hail mary by andy weir, soon to be a major motion picture from lord/miller starring ryan gosling. (if you’re a fan of this book, here’s an apology in advance. “sorry, dorks!”) we talk about the similarities between project hail mary and the martian, the coincidence of covering another amnesia book this module, and how rocky (and, by extension, the bud...