The Left Page

Hello everyone! I am back, this time, with a particularly intense and chaotic book, which you can hopefully also judge whether you want to read it or not, it's JG Ballard's 1970 (Collection of essays? Stories? Novel?) The Atrocity Exhibition ! A particularly scathing approach to contemporary American and, in general, neoliberal culture and the machinations of capital. In the episode with Kyle we g...

Hello everyone! In this exciting episode we go back to the roots of the Gothic, all the way to the 18th Century, as we talk of 1777's "The Old English Baron", by Clara Reeve! In this conversation with Dr. Sam Hirst we delve into the Gothic proper, some of its machinations, its origins with Horace Walpole's "Castle of Otranto" and relations of it with this book. Along with talking about class, Theo...

Hello everyone! Welcome to our special 2 year anniversary episode!!! Still unbelievable I've made it this far! The Left Page is my most cherished project right now, and an absolute joy to do! So I hope you enjoy this special character as we dive into the character of Arsène Lupin in the original stories, the recent show Lupin and even Persona 5! It was really fun to do, and even edit, what do you...

Hello everyone! Welcome back to a very special episode! The first one with an author and their own work, this time with CM Rosens' The Crows ! A fantastic horror and gothic novel that is just... so fun, so fun! We talked about horror, house ownership, worldbuilding... It was lovely and I hope you can enjoy it too! You can find more about her work and upcoming projects, including her podcast, launc...

Hello everyone! In our first episode as per our new way of doing things, I, Frank, have an incredible conversation with RS Benedict of the Rite Gud podcast! We wrap up a special double collab on Kurt Vonnegut, first on Breakfast of Champions  for a bonus episode, and now for us with Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death !  In this excellent episode we talked about...

Hello everyone! This a special announcement from me, Frank, about some changes to the show, what I'm thinking and doing next. Don't you worry, The Left Page will continue strongly no matter what! All in all, I will carry us forward best I can, and I am sure that there will be excellent conversations, talks and ideas! I shall take this as an opportunity, and strive my hardest to do a good show and...

Hello everyone! This is a short message for all from me Frank, as I consider and think back on 2020 and well... What is still the most important thing, what I'm after, what I need and what I seek. Hope. You can also find the text in full, here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/45634475 Thank you for always listening, caring, and being here, through everything. 2020 would have been much worse without...

Happy Holidays, a beautiful New Year and Merry Christmas all!! 2020 is almost done, but we are not! As a Holiday special we present to you a particularly festive story from Socialist writer and academic China Miéville! We are finally back, after too many technical and health issues, but back! We talked about copyright and Disney being evil, the idea of literature having greater potency than theory...

Hello everyone! This time we experimented with something slightly different from our usual material, we talked a retelling from Nordic Mythology! In particular from Neil Gaiman's collection of it. We focused on a particular one "The Mead of Poetry" and expanded wildly on art, creation, then onto the proper Left part of the show. Towards the violence involved in poetry and literature's world, and h...

This episode marks the return of the Poetry Club for our $5 Patrons, and as a special way to keep you company during this hellish week. Also a way to share a bit of what we're planning for the Poetry Club and how to both do it and expand what we're doing, hopefully you'll find it interesting and will be engaged into joining the Patreon for it! It's a very fun talk on a favourite poem of ours that...

Happy Halloween everyone! We are once again joined by the spectacular Horror Vanguard to talk about an incredible work, Thomas Ligotti's 2002 novella (and two short stories) form My Work is Not Yet Done! We face corporate horror, how capitalism drains away all that makes us human and good, and what both is and means standing against this Ichor of Darkness. It is a great and fascinating conversatio...

Hello everyone! This time we approach a very dear short story from an incredible Brazilian writer, Clarice Lispector. As we talk about "Love" we investigate the social conditions of the family and Brazilian middle class in the 1960s; how capitalism forces labour and work upon us as all meaning; the overwhelming power of an epiphany; and the important search for Revolutionary Love, and what that is...

We are back again! So soon? You might ask, but it is all in the name of getting back on track with our scheduling! This was an incredibly interesting episode to talk about Memory, History, the relation we establish with our lives and experiences... It was really insightful and a blast to do! So we hope you enjoy our brief conversation of Jorge Luis Borges' short story "Funes the Memorious".   The...

And once again, we are back! Chaos ensued for a bit, and my (Frank's) personal life got... intensely jumbled, but oh well. Here we are again, with a packed episode and an incredible collab with Roy from the Marxist Poetry Podcast!! CW for sexual assault, abuse, pedophilia and a lot of gore. We talk in this episode about Guy Endore's 1933 novel The Werewolf of Paris! An incredible and very intricat...

Hello comrades! In this episode we dive into the confusing and problematic time travel world of Isaac Asimov's 1955 novel "The End of Eternity"! We talk about utopias and dystopias, Sci-fi in the 50s, Time Travel and History, Imperialism and more! It's a fun and packed episode that was a real blast to do, hope you enjoy it, knowing, liking or disliking the book! Enjoy!   You can find us on Twitter...

Hello everyone! In this new (if troublesome with technical issues, but worth it) episode, we talk about a very short short story by an early 20th century Brazilian writer called "The Eyes Who Ate Flesh" (Frank's translation). In it we manage to get interesting insights into perspective, blindness and ableism as it can be portrayed, it's a good one! Unfortunately, my mic died midway through the rec...

Hello everyone! We're are for reals back now, and we have a great episode today! In using the short story "Enoch Soames", by Max Beerbohm, we consider the hellworld that is academia, how we can and must do better, even bringing up, quite fortuitously, Black Lives Matter! So join us, in this great and fun discussion, as we question the story of dear old Enoch Soames, and how he personifies and suff...

WE ARE BACK!!! This time, as we return in full force, we talk about writing, its importance to us and how anyone can write, if they want to! We also talk about the pod, about us, and a few things we're planning! You don't want to miss this one! Stay safe everyone! Thank you for being here with us and continue to follow us, we should now return fortnightly with a fun and interesting, if not that di...

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another Quarantine Log! This time I talk about the incredible "Catcher in the Rye", the 1951 novel by J.D. Salinger! In this episode I talk about being a teenager, about the relationship between generations, Persona 5, Twitter, and how we can understand some difficult times in our lives and this relationship to our own past. Hope you enjoy it! The people and links I...

Hello everyone! As I (Frank) said on Twitter: I AM BACK!! We had to take a little break, but now I am fully back and Bruno should too, as we record a full episode very very soon! This time I talk to you briefly about a Brazilian novel published druing the time of the Military Dictatorship, that lasted from 1964 to 1985. Published in 1973, "The Girl in the Photograph", by Lygia Fagundes Telles, an...

Hello everyone! Hope you're doing ok in these times, take care of yourselves, while we had some technical issues, were back! And there should be more quarantine logs tomorrow, and further on this week too! This time I, Frank, talk about the recent show Picard, and my impressions over a particular aspect of the ending and conclusion. And how, ultimately, it reinforces colonialist narratives, hope y...

Hello everyone! Hope things are as well as possible during quarantine, please be safe and wash your hands!  We've had a couple of setbacks, if nothing to major, so our full episode should come soon. But in the meantime and during this quarantine period, I, Frank, thought it could be interesting to share some ideas and insights, if only to keep close and keep you all copa during this time. I share...

In this episode we delve into how real monstrosity and horror isn't really a man turned into a cockroach, but capitalism and the traditional family. As we delve into Kafka for the first time, we brace the strange and nauseating realities of exploitation, and how capital truly is the worst monster of all. Have fun!   You can find us on Twitter  @leftpagepod Please support our Patreon if you're inte...

In this episode we talk about another piece of Gothic Fiction! Oscar Wilde's 1891, "The Picture of Dorian Gray". We have a great discussion on the dreadful Victorian society, how to think about Aesthetics in a not terrible way, the violence of Imperialism and how nobles are horrible! A really fun and a truly Wilde discussion! Hehe (sorry)   You can find us on Twitter  @leftpagepod Please support o...

We're back with Machado de Assis! Celebrating Black History Month in great style! We talk about his short story "Fame", discussing art, its relation to power, and the conditions of Imperialism in Brazil! Varied and fantastic, we hope you enjoy it!   The short story! Translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pm2xwAT8-Us-bZsNvPJfCXh8nAuhWZ5d/view?usp=sha...