Peculiar Book Club Podcast

From journalist and drag historian Elyssa Maxx Goodman, an intimate, evocative history of drag in New York City exploring its dynamic role, from the Jazz Age to  Drag Race,  in queer liberation and urban life. Follow us on Twitter ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ), Facebook ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ), Instagram ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepecu...

Ever read The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart? I have. Several times, actually. Well, guess what book SHE is reading? “At last,” she writes, “a definitive guide to the medicinal origins of every bottle behind the bar! This is the cocktail book of the year, if not the decade.” What hallowed tome is she referring to? Folks, it’s a book so perfect for Peculiar Book Club that if it didn’t exist, I’d h...

Let’s imagine you’re nestling down for a good nap. You’ve already been to the market for food stuffs, you have filled your larder, and you even managed to get some brand new bedding. It’s cold out, and you are definitely ready for a long winter’s nap—when suddenly, someone rudely breaks into your home. Screaming. And maybe standing on a chair. Even though you’re just a common house mouse, minding...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book The Internet Con, we are discussing the early 2000's tech thriller Antitrust. Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this internet, tech company thriller and the themes of Big Tech, stealing IP, knowledge bel...

Remember when wasting time on Twitter and Facebook was… fun? When we thought a future of connection awaited us, with endless promise? Those hopes have not aged well, have they? Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech platforms made things easier… and then, when we weren’t looking, those easy-buttons became bricks in a prison wall. Just try leaving, they seem to say (I have left FB and then had to com...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, for a little bit of fun during the Holiday season, we are discussing the Stop Motion Animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. Join Davey Berris for a solo adventure, as he takes a deep dive into this sometimes a Halloween movie, sometimes a Christma...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of Amanda Deibert's work on the new animated He-Man show, we are discussing the 80's cult classic movie Masters of the Universe. Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this fantasy, superhero movie, as we look into the the...

We are THRILLED to have the multi-talented and best selling Amanda Deibert on our show! Author, screenwriter, and much more--AND her newest book, the daily guided gratitude journal, YOU ALREADY HAVE THE ANSWERS is currently available for pre-order. At PBC, we will be talking to Amanda about the world of comics and graphic novels! Amanda’s comic book writing includes multiple DC Super Hero Girls gr...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Aroused by Randi Hutter Epstein, we are discussing the TV Show House. Specifically we are watching Season 1, Episode 16 "Heavy", then Season 2, Episode 13 "Skin Deep", and finally Season 3, Episode 1 "Meaning&qu...

How about a guided tour through the strange science of hormones and the age-old quest to control them? Metabolism, behavior, sleep, mood swings, the immune system, fighting, fleeing, puberty, and sex: these are just a few of the things our bodies control with hormones. Armed with a healthy dose of wit and curiosity, medical journalist Randi Hutter Epstein takes us on a journey through the unusual...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, as a special treat for Halloween, we are discussing the iconic folk horror movie The Wicker Man. Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this classic british .  We'll be looking into the themes of religion vs. temptation, being acceptin...

It's our annual HALLOWEEN show! Costume contest (see our FB for how to sign up and vote), give-aways, candy, prizes, game--and how about some circus performance? SURE! A kooky evening of music and mayhem, with guests Charming Disaster and Sarah Mack (squid facts!) Don't miss it! James Taylor is the planet’s foremost authority on sideshow. You saw James Taylorand SHOCKED AND AMAZED! on The...

"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that―the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my lap-top?" In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists,...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian, we are discussing the movie The Pale Door. Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this witchy western movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of meshing genres, found family, and having...

Join us for the LAUNCH of RED RABBIT! Alex Grecian is the New York Times bestselling author of The Yard and its sequels The Black Country, The Devil’s Workshop, The Harvest Man, and Lost and Gone Forever, as well as the contemporary thriller The Saint of Wolves and Butchers, and the ebook The Blue Girl. He has also written multiple award-winning graphic novels, including Proof, and Rasputin. MUSIC...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Golem Girl by Riva Lehrer, we are discussing the movie The Bride of Frankenstein. Join Davey Berris (unfortunately Darren couldn't make it this month, but he'll be back), for a deep dive into this classic monster movie.  We'...

What if the world went on without us? Guess what. It will. A leading# ecologist argues that if humankind is to survive on a fragile planet, we must understand and obey its iron laws Our species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of #nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such e...

What do we sacrifice in the pursuit of #normalcy? And what becomes possible when we embrace monstrosity? Can we envision a world that sees impossible creatures? Lehrer was born with spina bifida, essentially a hole in the spine. In spina bifida patients, the spine does not fuse properly, leaving a fissure or lesion, creating an easy entry point for infections that risk going directly to the patien...

In this bonus episode of the Peculiar Book Club, suggested by Mary Roach, we got a chance to sit down with author Daniel Kraus for a preview conversation of his new book Whalefall. Don't worry, Brandy and Davey have not read the book yet, so there will be no spoilers, but you will get a great conversation about Daniel's inspirations and process for writing the book and the themes that come...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book The Memory Thief by Lauren Aguirre, we are discussing the movie Little Fish. Join Davey Berris and his podcasting partner Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this tragic movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of what makes a relati...

Could you lose your entire memory overnight? If so--what does it mean for the rest of us? The day neurologist Jed Barash sees the baffling brain scan of a young patient with devastating amnesia marks the beginning of a quest to answer those questions. First detected in a cluster of stigmatized opioid overdose victims in Massachusetts with severe damage to the hippocampus - the brain’s memory cente...

Maybe you're a fan of DOCTOR WHO. Or perhaps you were a fan of ELEVENTH HOUR with Patrick Stewart (Or Silent Witness. Or Rosemary and Thyme. Or Murder Rooms.) Perhaps thrillers are more your thing, books like KINGDOM OF BONES or BEDLAM DETECTIVE--or scifil, supernatural, graphic novels. Then YOU, my friend, are a fan of STEPHEN GALLAGHER! A novelist, screenwriter, and director with a list of b...

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Saving Yellowstone by Megan Kate Nelson, we are discussing the movie How the West Was Won. Join Davey Berris and his podcasting partner Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this epic western adventure.  We'll be looking into the theme...

Each year nearly four million people visit #Yellowstone National Park—one of the most popular of all national parks—but few know the fascinating and complex historical context in which it was established. In late July 1871, the geologist-explorer Ferdinand Hayden led a team of scientists through a narrow canyon into Yellowstone Basin, entering one of the last unmapped places in the country. The su...

No, it's not a new Batman Villain! But you will love The Puzzler anyway! The New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically goes on a rollicking journey to understand the enduring power of puzzles: why we love them, what they do to our brains, and how they can improve our world. What makes puzzles—jigsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus—so satisfying? Be it the formation of new ce...