When Banned Things Happen To Good People

We enter the second year of living in the Annex with Anne and her family as World War II continues around them. Hope is diminished but not gone and Anne struggles with complicated adolescent feelings -- whether frustration with the elders around her or budding feelings of love for Peter -- in this difficult and confined space. These entries cover a period from mid‑1943 to early‑1944. Email:  banne...

After a few weeks of scheduling difficulties, Todd and Peter have managed to get back to the microphones to start their look at The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, a true story of a young girl and her family's attempt to avoid detection from the Nazis during World War II. Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https://blahblahblahmedia.co...

Todd and Peter dig into some literal shit this episode with a look at Pier Paolo Pasolini's controversial Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom a film that is both graphically and thematically grotesque. Telling the story of four best friends living their best life in the Italian countryside, torturing, raping, and eventually murdering a number of local teenagers in the fascist Republic of Salò. Email: ...

If you missed our recent live episode, worry not because we made a copy of it for you so you could check it out to hear our final thoughts on Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a book that takes a pretty intimate look at some of the best and worst sides of high school. We also talk briefly about the film adaptation, which was written and directed by Chbosky. Email:  bannedthingshap...

Charlie continues to struggle with his high school experience in the latter half of Stephen Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Todd and Pete take the journey with him and come out the other side, a little bit wiser, a little bit more emotional, and yes, a little bit more messedup. Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https://...

It's been a crazy few weeks for us here at Banned Things, and we haven't had the chance to get together to record a new episode, so here's one from our bank that we recorded earlier in 2025 dedicated to Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead. Todd and Pete break down this classic of sloppy gore, slapstick comedy, and books of the dead, while considering its rightful place in horror history. Email:  bannedthing...

It's back to school time (or at least it was when we started reading this), and Todd and Pete are pulling The Perks of Being a Wallflower out of the school library to read over Christmas vacation, or however long it takes for all these episodes to come out. Here's part one of our look at the fourth most banned book of 2024. Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/banne...

We're adjacent to 1984 this episode as Todd and Peter take a look at the Terry Gilliam film Brazil, which also features a dystopian society, fascistic government bodies, and a doomed love story, but with noticeably more laughs. Though Gilliam did eventually get his version of the film to audiences, it didn't come without a fight, which you'll learn a bit about here. Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmai...

We've made it to the end of 1984, experiencing life in Oceania, and learning what Room 101 contains, and now it's time to finish things up with our final thoughts on whether this book was a decent predictor of what the today's United States of America might start drifting towards (short answer, yes; longer answer, just listen to the podcast, okay?) Todd and Pete share their take on this dystopian...

In this look at Part Three of George Orwell's 1984 we finally see the inside of the Ministry of Love, and eventually even get a look at room 101. But will the Ministry of Love live up to its name? Will there be a heart-felt reunion between Winston and Julia? Will Goldstein overthrow Big Brother? There's only one way to find out! Well, there are more than that, but one of them is listening to this...

In the second part of our look at George Orwell's 1984, love, or something like it, blooms in the grey-dusted despair of Oceania as Winston meets and gets to know, yes in the biblical sense, Julia, and our pair dabbles in revolution. Surely nothing terrible could happen in this dystopia. Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https://blahblahb...

It's time to get a little dystopian up in here as Todd and Peter begin their look at George Orwell's 1949 novel 1984. As we gaze at the news south of the Canadian border, it's kind of hard to believe how prescient this book is until you remember it was written following a previous attempt at fascism when the dangers were fresh in the mind of the author. And if you think we're looking at this book...

Todd and Pete dig into some media controversies ripped from the headlines, including the the arrest of Daddy's Little Toy author, Lauren Tesolin-Mastrosa, and Kanye West's release of the song Heil Hitler. How much is too much, and do either of these works cross a line? Join us for the conversation. Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https:...

We're doing something a little different this week as we invite producer Allyson Rice to join us as we discuss her new documentary Banned Together. The film is a look at the in book bans and challenges in the United States in recent years, particularly under the hand of the Republican Party. We talk about the film, the weaponization of language, and how things are likely to get worse before they g...

It's movie night at 'Banned Things' headquarters so Todd and Peter decided to check out what is almost certainly the funniest movie about fascism that's ever graced the silver screen, Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator. This film, which was released before the United States had joined World War II, satirized Adolph Hitler's rule over Germany at a time when few people were giving the man a second...

Todd and Pete wrap up their look at 'The Chocolate War', the controversial 1974 young adult novel by Robert Cormier, in which a catholic school's annual chocolate sale becomes a battleground for freedom. Do we dare disturb the universe? Well, we do, but you may have to make up your own mind. Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https://blahb...

Todd and Pete glide through the second half of Robert Cormer's The Chocolate War to reach the controversial ending, as well as the true answer to the question "Do I dare disturb the universe?" And no, you probably don't want to know what the answer is.  Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https://blahblahblahmedia.com Patreon:  https://patr...

After some delays, we're BACK (we hope) to a more regular release schedule starting with this episode, part one of our look at Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War. This 1974 young adult novel sees what should have been a standard high school fundraising chocolate sale turned on its head when one student asks the question, "Do I dare disturb the universe?" The answer might surprise you! Or maybe it...

Holy crap it's our 75th episode and we're celebrating by covering a video game! Actually, we already did that when we livestreamed us playing Postal 2 while we talked about it! You can find that on YouTube if you want to watch (and honestly, it's probably the optimum way to experience this episode). But if for some reason you don't want to do that, we've whittled that episode down to a pretty spry...

Todd and Pete head back to the 17th century courtesy of Ken Russel's The Devils, a notoriously controversial film that is next to impossible to see. But somehow we got our hands on it! And we're here to talk about it! Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https://blahblahblahmedia.com Patreon:  https://patreon.com/blahblahblahmedia Support: ...

It might be autumn, but it's time to finish up our summer of Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll with the Rolling Stones controversial concert film Cocksucker Blues, a movie with plenty of rock and roll. And also some sex. And some drugs. Honestly, this movie could have been dedicated to all three things. It's a hard movie to find, but Pete and Todd tracked it down on archive.org to experience in all it...

It might have felt like the longest short book they ever read, but Todd and Pete made it through the end of William S. Burroughs' 'Naked Lunch'. It was a meal consisting of sex, drugs, the black meat, homosexuality, jism, protoplasm, and, of course, ectoplasm, and so clearly not for everyone's tastes. But you'll have to listen in to this live episode to know how Pete and Todd landed with their tho...

Todd and Pete finish up their final bites of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, and though they enjoyed the meal overall, they probably couldn't tell you what it tasted like. Maybe the black meat? It's a strange journey that feels impossible to talk about, but they try. Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https://blahblahblahmedia.com Patre...

We're back! After some unscheduled away time from the podcast, Todd and Pete return just in time to strip down and enjoy a tasty Naked Lunch, courtesy of author William S. Burroughs. It's beautiful! It's weird! We can't tell what's going on! It's all part of the ride. (NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, Pete's audio quality drops substantially about halfway through this episode. We suspect he wa...

We celebrate our 69th episode with a look at SEX! No, not the act, but the coffee table book by Madonna from 1992. Also, yes, it was entirely an accident that this turned out to be the 69th episode, but we're gonna lean into it like it was intentional. Heck yeah. Let's talk about sex! Email:  bannedthingshappen@gmail.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/bannedthingshappen Web:  https://blahblahblah...