how to win the lottery: a book club podcast

our un/adaptable module continues with blood and guts in high school by kathy acker, which is difficult to adapt for many reasons. joey kicks things off by explaining how tulsa has changed his brain before we dive into blood and guts in high school to talk about its three distinct sections and its collage style/presentation. we also break down its focuses on the body and language itself, and wheth...

our un/adaptable module continues with memory by donald e. westlake, which is being adapted by duke johnson. part of the “hard case crime” series, we talk about how memory never quite gets to crime, subverting all expectations of the series. we discuss jarring time jumps, the downer ending, and whether or not the narrative is propulsive. we wonder about “concussion,” learn what moby dick knows abo...

our un/adaptable module continues with speedboat by renata adler, which may be our first truly unadaptable novel this season; we discuss why that’s the case. we also talk about the humor in the novel (and why its meanness works so well), adler’s discussion of the politics of education, and how the novel has a timeless quality. we compare adler’s writing to alice munro and amy hempel and joan didio...

don delillo returns to the podcast (via the written word) as we continue our un/adaptable module with underworld. in spite of us kicking off the “unadaptable” half of this module with this book, it turns out… it’s very adaptable, and may be getting made! oops. anyway. we talk about how underworld is “the delillo fingerprint,” how the narrative’s structure re-prioritizes plot vs. character, and how...

we head back in time to kick off our un/adaptable module with the zone of interest by martin amis. first, though, we stop for a pre-emptive fantasy baseball team check-in before we find an updated cast list for jonathan glazer's adaptation. tulsa takes down goodreads readers and then shares some background on martin amis. we talk about whether or not martin amis is a showoff (but, like, in a good...

after our briefest module yet, we’re back to unveil the theme and reading list for our next batch of books. before that, though, we plan for either one of us to die and tulsa explains aphantasia. then, we unveil the theme: un/adaptable. (spoilers.) we announce the titles for this module, talk about our cathy cartoon (and this tumblr page), and frame why some of these titles are deemed “unadaptable...

our louisiana module comes to a close with its third and final book: a confederacy of dunces by john kennedy toole. before we discuss the book, we learn about tulsa as "a state of mind" and finally unveil why original host bobby left the show. we discuss the interconnectedness to other books this module, whether or not we know any ingatius j. reilly types in real life, and whether it feels more or...

our “suck shit, sufjan stevens” module (#1) continues as we stay in the sticky, humid louisiana weather for all the king’s men by robert penn warren, our first of two pulitzer prize-winning novels in a row. we discuss the parallels you can (easily) draw between willie stark and donald trump, compare the protagonist (and their levels of inaction) of this novel (jack) to the protagonist of our last...

we’re kicking off our first “suck shit, sufjan stevens” module by heading down to louisiana for a three-book season, kicking off with the moviegoer by walker percy. after tulsa establishes his obsession with four loko (and joey shares his history adjacent to it), tulsa makes an assertion that he gets wrong and joey surprises tulsa with his reaction to this book. we talk about how the moviegoer kin...

we're embracing our inner lottery and gambling spirit with the fourth season of the pod. (if you don't want to have the theme spoiled, just listen to the episode.) years ago, sufjan stevens vowed to write an album for every u.s. state. he made two then bailed. we plan to outdo him. (thus the season's theme: "suck shit sufjan stevens.") we're unveiling which state will be covered in the (shortened)...

our internet module comes to a close with fake accounts by lauren oyler — and yet another great author instagram handle. we share praise for the title, discuss whether or not fake accounts is satire, and talk about the likeability (or absolute lack thereof) we have for the narrator. we admire the meticulous way with which each sentence is unbelievably crafted, praise lauren oyler for her precise e...

our internet module is nearing its end, and today we’re talking about we had to remove this post by hanna bervoets. we talk about the value of reading literature in translation, the weird position that reading novellas puts shreds in, and the current state of social media (and content moderation). we discuss how we had to remove this post reframes long-term exposure to horrific things, how it comp...

our mini sci-fi module (maybe not really a thing) within our broader internet module continues with neuromancer by william gibson. after checking in on our new year’s resolutions (for the second time this module? but first [maybe?] time-appropriate instance) and setting new ones for 2023, we offer a disclaimer for neuromancer superfans. we compare neuromancer to snow crash, talk about ridley scott...

recorded in spooky season, releasing in the most wonderful time of the year (according to that one song), our internet module continues with things have gotten worse since we last spoke and other misfortunes by eric larocca. we talk about the different ways the titular story can be consumed, discuss why the narrative might be set in the year 2000, and lament the lack of variation in its epistolary...

after covering her work last week, we spoke with allie rowbottom, author of aesthetica and jell-o girls. joey and allie share some memories about her book’s launch party/reading before we talk about the publishing world being separate from this type of content, how allie focused on the deep emotional underpinnings of the characters and the world, and how it’s more than just an “internet novel.” jo...

the newest episode of lotto pod is also the newest book we’ll cover this season: aesthetica by allie rowbottom. first, some news: shreds is dead; long live tulsa, who shares his thoughts on saying “happy birthday.” we then talk about how the internet has changed over the course of this season, how “the real world” keeps popping up in our conversations, and how phones have changed the ways we socia...

can a dog be twins? our next stop in our internet module is no one is talking about this by patricia lockwood. we talk about how the novel’s content (at least in the first-half) relies on existing (and somewhat inexplicable) scaffolding around internet humor as well as the way that it captures how fast trends happen and how the internet has an ability to change language forever. we compare it to d...

we’re headed back in time (?) to go forward in time (maybe?) to the metaverse (definitely) to talk about snow crash by neal stephenson. we talk about science-fiction being an unusual genre for the pod, trying to balance prescience and ingenuity with problematic plot points, and the pros and cons of writing dystopian futures based on current events. bob gets flabbergasted by neal stephenson’s turn...

our internet module continues as we talk about 17776 by jon bois. is it a book? what defines a book? we get into it. after shreds kickflip mctwists his way back onto the podcast, we talk about what we love about bois's work and discuss "the ichiro moment." we break down the sci-fi future presented by bois, the work's unusual intersection of science-fiction and sports, and using the internet to tel...

our internet module continues with our longest book this season (and one of our favorites we’ve covered so far): liveblog by megan boyle. (our interview with megan will drop next week.) this episode begins with a return to everyone’s favorite segment (schedule talk) before we talk about our poor planning re: podcast preparation. we explore the “scaffolding” of liveblog, megan boyle’s bravery (and...

our internet module heads toward another brand new novel as we share (kind of!) conflicting opinions about the novelist by jordan castro. we talk about how castro writes about the process of writing, the multiple jordan castros at play here, and how online life dictates our thoughts and controls our actions. bob lays out his dictates for editing this podcast before (boldly!) defending himself; joe...

we’re joined by fernando sdrigotti, author of shitstorm, to talk about his writing and how “the algorithm loves a shitstorm.” we find out about the (vastly different) origins of the “novelette,” how the pacing of the writing changed over time, and being on twitter throughout the news events referenced in his writing. we talk about richard dawkins, the need to “do the work” to keep up with social m...

sorry, tipper gore! our internet module continues with shitstorm by fernando sdrigotti, and the google ban is still being upheld. it’s not christmas (yet), but we check in on our new year’s resolutions and talk about (very) short stories before diving into sdrigotti’s novella. we discuss the perceived catharsis of writing this, the novella’s parallels to our reality, and how it investigates the hy...

this episode of how to win the lottery starts in media res, which is fancy speak for “in the middle of the action.” (this may be wildly wrong, but we must operate under the assumption that bob’s google ban is still in effect.) we’re joined by b.r. yeager, author of amygdalatropolis, to talk about what “transgressive fiction” means (and if it means anything at all), how to pin down truth in a place...

our internet season continues with amygdalatropolis by b.r. yeager, which tackles a topic new to literature. (note: this episode has a content warning.) after stumbling over the title (and what an amygdala does), we talk about the literal structure and style of printing books, the act of (once again) reading the internet in print form, and defining the different worlds explored in the narrative. w...