Workers' Lit

We take a break from our series on the wizarding world to talk about a book that definitely has no dementors in it: The City & The City by China Miéville. We are honored to be joined by Breht O'Shea of the RevLeft Radio and Red Menace podcasts to discuss this work of political fiction about what would happen if you lived in a city where it would be a crime to mention the other city built d...

It's Part 2 of our Harry Potter series. Are we having fun yet? This week the Shelfers are joined by returning guest and brilliant web-comic creator, Max Graves, in discussing J.K. Rowling's 2003 fantasy novel, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" as well as the second half of the series, including its YA turn. Rowling's finally getting POLITICAL! We have thoughts. Read...

The Rowling miniseries begins. The Shelfers and honorary Shelfer, Aysha U. Farah, hop on our broomsticks and zoom into the impossibly big world of Harry Potter, and whatever now-notorious bigot J.K. Rowling's whole deal is (Our working theory is that once you cross $100 million in net worth, no matter what you were like before, you lose your mind.) In this episode, we talk Rowling's origin...

Thar she blows! This week, the shelfers unpack The Great American Novel: Herman Melville's 1851 epic, "Moby Dick." Joining us is Isaac Boa, a writer, educator, and revolutionary organizer. Together, we're going to solve just what's going on with this whole whale situation. You can find Isaac's writing here. You can join the PSL Action Network Here. Music by Solo Monk (@So...

Octavia Butler Round 3 The Shelfers finish the Parable Duology and the hazardous life of Lauren Oya Olamina in Octavia Butler's 1998 masterpiece, "Parable of the Talents." This book is an absolutely brilliant analysis of fascism and the powerful organizing that can arise in the face of it. Octavia is the best to ever do it. What else can we say? CW: There is some discussion of sexual violence comm...

This is a bully good episode (am I using that term properly?) This week, the shelfers check out S.M. Stirling's 2018 alternative history WWI novel, "Black Chamber." The premise? Teddy Roosevelt gets a third term as president, and this time he's Bernie Sanders in a cowboy hat. We didn't dig this one. Jacob REALLY didn't dig this one. If you're here, you should check ou...

Have you ever considered that when a nuclear war happens your grandparents will die and it'll be really sad? No? Well this book is gonna make you consider that. This week, the Shelfers take on Raymond Briggs' 1982 graphic novel, "When the Wind Blows," an upsetting little tale about an old couple facing the apocalypse. We are joined by veteran of our Sonic episode and artist behin...

What if the treasure was the friends we made along the way but also was very literally a whole lot of treasure? Join us as we travel to 1988 to discuss Paulo Coelho's global phenomenon of a novel, "The Alchemist." We are joined by Kennedy Cooper, host of the podcasts, "The Worst Week Yet" and "The Most Important Election of our Lives." We haven't been able to...

Our new website is live! Check out socialistshelf.com for all your Socialist Shelf needs. Today we enter the very gay, very violent, and very authoritarian mind of Yukio Mishima, aka the worst coup-plotter of all time, as we discuss his 1949 work, "Confessions of a Mask." This novel is harrowing at times, ridiculous at others. Absolutely relatable to anyone with closet experience in one...

Have you ever thought, "Hey, why can't I have a guy strapped to my wall that will basically serve as a living large language model for me and my bored guests?" No? Well, we talk a lot about that concept anyway. This is our discussion of "Liberation Day," a 2022 short story collection from George Saunders. Joining us is confirmed genius, Tom from the Anime Sickos podcast. He...

It's time to talk about the quintessential vampire novel, Bram Stoker 1897 gothic horror, "Dracula." *Scary music plays, lightning flashes, we look very cool in an old castle* The Shelfers are joined by Scoob, Bluesky Elder, vampire expert, and longtime follower of the Count. Learn how Bram Stoker was the Forrest Gump of late 19th century literature as he stumbled his way through a p...

It's been a minute, but it's time for another famous Socialist Shelf interview!! We're delighted to feature Andy Boyd, a brilliant playwright and artist to talk about her play, "Occupy Prescott," a funny and thoughtful show about an Occupy Wall Street encampment in the much-smaller-than-Wall-Street Courthouse Square of Prescott Arizona. Purchase "Occupy Prescott" he...

We walk. And walk. And waaaalk. Welcome to the twisted mind of Stephen King, AKA Richard Bachman, and his 1979 dystopian horror, "The Long Walk." What if America was bad? Like...even more bad. What if we had young men play sports that killed them...like killed them even more than the ones they do now. The Shelfers investigate. Fascism. Masculinity. Sexuality. Repetitive Writing. We get into it all...

It's a year in review episode but also we do a short story because that's what we doooo, baby. It's been a great year for the show (and in basically no other way). We celebrate it in this episode by the giving of dubious gifts, reflecting on our favorite episodes of the year, and being slightly disrespectful to Jimmy Carter. We also discuss Ted Chiang’s 2001 short story, "Hell is the Absence of Go...

It's not just a poem, it an EPIC poem. This week, the Shelfers take on Harry Martinson's 1956 Swedish, sci-fi epic, "Aniara." Joining them is Max Johansson, who will be considered our pod's official Sweden expert from here on out. Proletarian literature, running away from your problems, existential despair, quibbling over translations, nuclear apocalypse!!! This one's got it all. Want more of Max?...

Let's get into the savage heart of the American dream, shall we? Join us as we visit Hunter S. Thompson's pocket dimension version of Las Vegas in his 1971 work of gonzo journalism, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Hear us praise the writing, be moved by the characters, and get really pissed at the author. Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, ⁠https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart⁠ ,) episo...

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here. Worst of All Possible Worlds’ Josh Boerman, veteran of both the Socialist Shelf and the battle every young man must face, join us as we take on the villainous Arterburn M Stephen and the downright freaky Fred Stoeker’s 2002, sexual purity self-help book, “Every Young Man’s Battle” If you’ve ever wanted to face the intersection of evangelical sexual oppression an...

Title: "Luke Castellan and the Heroic Kronosian People's Front's Noble and Correct War Against the Poseidonist Running Dog Known as Percy JacKKK$on and the Imperialist, Westernist Pigs at KKKamp Halfblood, Including the Reactionary and Hyper-Consumptivist Diony$u$ and the Liberal Moralist Annabeth Cha$e, Who Represent Scant Resistance to the Titanic Proletarian-Peasant-Monster Aligned Forces of th...

We went and ended the whole world this time. This week, the Shelfers unleash the powers of the Evil Earth with N.K. Jemisin 2015 fantasy hit, "The Fifth Season." We talk discrimination against earthbenders, repressed sexuality, and second-person narratives. Not necessarily in that order. Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart ,) episode art is my take on a...

It's time to do some serious 3D Printing. The Shelfers are joined by comic artist and internet expert, Max Graves, to discuss Cory Doctorow's 2009, near-future sci-fi, "Makers." Together, we discuss what Doctorow got really right, what he got really wrong, and a bunch of stuff that's just plain confusing. Do you like cheap plastic? Fad diets? Disney World mercenaries? I hope not, because we go har...

The epic saga comes to a close... This week we finish our Tolkien series with Return of the King...but the king's not the only one returning! Alongside us is the triple-guest, Aysha U. Farah! We're talking elves, we're talking gollums, we're talking sad homecomings and magic swords. You already knowwww! You can find Aysha's work at her website, here: https://www.ayshaufarah.com/, or follow her on...

No, it doesn't make sense that we did an episode on the Sonic Archie Comics...but it'll be fine. We had fun. To get into the wild world of Sonic comics, we bring on Wiispywitch, AKA Tay, AKA creator of the iconic (to us) Socialist Shelf art. Between her passion, Ryan's expertise, and the shadow of "The President is Missing" hounding everything we do, this is a fun one. Check out Wiispywitch's art...

It's time to jump off a cliff, seduce a troll, and get turned into a button. This week, we're talking about Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play, "Peer Gynt," an absolutely crazy ride of folklore, modernity's encroachment on tradition, good music, and Sphinxes with Berlin accents. Brian Alford of "the Worst of All Possible Worlds" joins us to discuss this foundational piece of literature...but can any of us e...

Remember James Comey, the FBI Director who infuriated Democrats by reopening the Hillary Clinton email investigation just before the 2016 election, then became a liberal hero a year or so later because Trump fired him? Well, he wrote a novel. We read it. "Central Park West" is a 2023 crime novel about the mafia, being a good mom, and using the full might of the U.S. government to crush your enemie...

Part 3 of our Tolkien series is HERE! It's time for Ents, Wizards, Giant Spiders, and Ecological Catastrophe, because we're talking about J.R.R. Tolkien's, "The Two Towers." Is this the most action-packed book of the trilogy? How did C.S. Lewis become a tree? How can we keep mind-control incels out of politics? Are Frodo and Sam gay (no...but actually?) Episode art is a colla...