The Free Bin

Harrison regales Denyse with the story of the Antiqua-Fraktur dispute. A dog wears a crown. Hitler gets mad. Due consideration is given to Comic Sans, mechanical typewriters and Frumpy Tuba Guys. The Library has one fish. In this episode: Antiqua (Wikipedia) Fraktur (Wikipedia) Gothic Textualis (HMML School)    

Denyse and Harrison share some books celebrating Black history and bid Deb a fond farewell. In this episode: "African Samurai" by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard "Afrofuturism" by Ytasha L. Womack "The Black Count" by Tom Reiss "Black is a Rainbow Color" by Angela Joy "Black Boy" by Richard Wright "Brother Robert" by Annye C. Anderson "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson "Carter Reads th...

In this short episode, Deb and Harrison introduce the phenomenon of clandestine "bone music" in the Soviet Union, and also learn what "CoQ10" is. In this episode: X-Ray Audio - by the Bureau of Lost Culture

Deb and Harrison share their favorite "cozy" titles. In this episode: "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman "A Common Life" by Jan Karon "Crooked House" by Agatha Christie "Death of a Green-Eyed Monster" by M.C. Beaton "Espresso Tales" by Alexander McCall Smith "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling "The Haunt of Fear Vol. 1" edited by Daniel Chabon "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien "The...

The Free Bin concludes its outsider art series with a lively discussion of a few notable outsider musicians. Discussed in this episode: "Cousin Mosquito #1" by Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker "Demon Angel: A Day and Night with Roky Erickson" (1984) "El Touchy" by Luie Luie "If You Have Ghosts" by Roky Erickson "Paralyzed" by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy "Rock N Roll McDonald's" by Wesley Wi...

Content warning: This episode contains discussions of hate crime and physical injuries. Happy New Year! Deb, Denyse and Harrison drink some cordyceps and explore the world(s) of outsider visual artists. In this episode: Hawkins Bolden Ferdinand Cheval's Palais Ideal (from Atlas Obscura) Mark Hogancamp Vivian Maier Joe Minter

Deb and Harrison introduce a new series on outsider art with a discussion of outsider literature. Along the way, they touch on psychobilly pioneers The Cramps, science fiction luminary Philip K. Dick, former United States Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, and the loaded implications of the term "outsider art" itself. In this episode: Henry Darger (from Down the Rabbit Hole) Philip K. Dick Friedrich Nagler "...

Deb and Harrison discuss the work of recently-departed author John Nichols, focusing on his novels "The Sterile Cuckoo" and "The Milagro Beanfield War," as well as their film adaptations. In this episode: "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols "The Milagro Beanfield War" (1988) directed by Robert Redford "The Sterile Cuckoo" by John Nichols "The Sterile Cuckoo" (1969) directed by Alan J. Pacu...

Deb and Harrison discuss and debate  The awkward poetry most do hate And other flawful arts in turn That public ridicule did earn   Deb holds the line for formal writing standards as Harrison condemns laughing at bad writing (while also, kind of, totally doing it). Deb plays devil's advocate, and Harrison plays super-devil's advocate. What is bad writing? What are the consequences of putting down...

Denyse and Harrison share some useful and informative books about cooking and culinary heritage. In this episode: "The Cooking Gene" by Michael W. Twitty "Fry Bread" by Kevin Noble Maillard "Hello, Cupcake!" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson "Honest Pretzels" by Mollie Katzen "Jubilee" by Toni Tipton-Martin "Meet the Latkes" by Alan Silberberg "100 Recipes from Japanese Cooking" by Hata Koichiro a...

Deb and Harrison talk about Robin Hood ballads, from the traditional to Bryan Adams. Along the way, they encounter talking animals, a fraudulent decapitation, the Red Scare, Tex Cobb , and more!  "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) directed by Michael Curtiz " (Everything I Do) I Do It For You " by Bryan Adams " The English and Scottish Popular Ballads " (5 volumes) by Francis James Child " A Ge...

Deb gives her review of Brandon Sanderson's wonderful stand-alone novel "Tress of the Emerald Sea," and Harrison shares a bit about the renowned author.  In this episode: "EUOlogy: Goodbye, Mr. Jordan" by Brandon Sanderson " The Wheel of Time " series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson "Tress of the Emerald Sea" by Brandon Sanderson  

Denyse and Harrison have a "gdreat" time discussing the "Crispy R." Sources: "The 'Crispy R' and Why R is the Weirdest Letter" by Dan Nosowitz (from Atlas Obscura) Linguist Tara McAllister demonstrates the bunched and retroflex R (from Atlas Obscura)  

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence. In this Halloween episode, Harrison and Deb discuss the history and meaning of werewolves. In this episode: Coir Anmann "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann Wolf Blood (1925) The Wolf Man (1941)

Harrison reads "Yuki-Onna," from Lafcadio Hearn 's 1904 collection " Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things ." Mentioned in this episode: "The Book of Yokai" by Michael Dylan Foster, illustrated by Shinonome Kijin

Harrison reads "The Phantom Hag," from 1904's " 25 Ghost Stories ," collected and edited by W. Bob Holland.

Horror-fan Harrison and horror-averse Deb share some documentaries about scary (and not-so-scary) movies to kick off your film studies this October spooky season!  Discussed in this episode: "Best Worst Movie" (2009) dir. by Michael Paul Stephenson "Blood & Flesh:The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson" (2019) dir. by David Gregory "Godzilla" (1954) dir. by Ishirō Honda "Hollywood Dreams & Nig...

Harrison reads " The Signal-Man " by Charles Dickens.

Harrison shares a few Spanish-language recommendations as the Free Bin Squad prepares for a larger episode. In this episode: "Atlas de Imperios" by Miguel del Rey & Carlos Canales "Balas de Plata" by Elmer Mendoza "La Llorona" (2019) dir. by Jayro Bustamante

Harrison reads "An Autumn Encounter," from Kenneth Grahame 's 1894 collection " Pagan Papers ."

Denyse and Harrison talk briefly about the Yaquina Bay Bridge. Errata and clarifications: When Harrison says the channel under the bridge is 133 feet high, that's the vertical clearance above the waterline, not the depth of the channel. Books mentioned in and related to this episode: "Murder at Yaquina Head" by Ron Lovell "The Old Yaquina Bay Lighthouse: A Brief History" by James M. Howes "One Hun...

Deb and Harrison share some new and newly-arrived titles! In this episode: "Behold the Monster" by Jillian Lauren "Last Action Heroes" by Nick de Semlyen "Onlookers" by Ann Beattie "The Personal Librarian" by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray "Silver Nitrate" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia "Skinamarink" directed by Edward Kyle Ball "Up Beaver Creek" by Sue Fagalde Lick "Wolfsong" by TJ Klune...

Content warning: This episode deals with Khmer Rouge war crimes. We don't go into too much graphic detail, but it gets ugly. Be forewarned. Harrison tells Deb and Denyse the story of how an archival classification system helped bring war criminals to justice. Along the way, we explore library metadata, the complexities of the cold war, some (nearly) lost music*, and the  Walmart of communism . Dis...

Harrison shares his favorite story from Edmund Lester Pearson's 1912 collection, " The Believing Years ."

Local historian Ted Cox stops by to discuss Toledo's past, including its important historic connection to the dairy industry. H ere is a picture of an item similar to the ones discussed. Do you have local family history, documents, or other information that might help Ted in his ongoing research? Get in touch! You can reach him via the Toledo Public Library , the Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historica...