Workers' Lit

History may have gone entirely differently, but the music of Bruce Springsteen is eternal... Today we explore the alt-history dystopia of Koushun Takami's, 1999 novel, "Battle Royale." This one's a little more intense than Fortnite. What does "successful fascism" look like? Why is the genre of kids murdering each other so lucrative? Will Koushun Takami ever write a seco...

Folks welcome to the episode where we debut our BRAND NEW THEME SONG!!!!! Massive shout-out to Solo Monk for putting it together. Please go give him a follow on Twitter @SoloMonk256, on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/tsalcollective But we do have an episode today outside the music. We're discussing the great 1929 work of Japanese prole...

It's existential horror time!! This week we get into Victor LaValle's 2016 novella, "The Ballad of Black Tom," a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft's shockingly racist (and honestly boring) short story, "The Horror at Red Hook." And yes, we read the original short story too so you don't have to. The Shelfers discuss Lovecraft adaptions that deal with his legacy (and al...

Jacob fails to read poetry, Joss makes bad jokes, we have a cool guest, and we released the episode two days late...honestly, it's the platonic ideal of a Socialist Shelf episode. This week we're talking about J.D. Salinger's 1951 rant of a novel, "Catcher in the Rye." Joining us is writer, game developer, and professional Holden Caulfield defender, Aysha U. Farah, begging yo...

Let's. Get. Edgy. Step into (even more) fascistic London in Alan Moore's classic 1982-1985 graphic novel, "V for Vendetta." What makes Moore such a remarkable creator? How do repressive regimes give birth to their own destruction? How brutal must a revolution be? Also...what's the deal with anarchism? Art from the graphic novel, music by Kevin MacLeod. A little housekeeping:...

Some are calling it THE literary classic. This week the boys get into "My Immortal," a notorious 2006-2007 Harry Potter fan fiction by the user known as XXXbloodyrists666XXX. What makes a bad fanfiction so magical? Why are so many preps flaming our podcast? What can we learn from the earnestness of online fiction...plus, some young Jacob and Joss lore. If you like this episode, please le...

We're back and holding Rich Devos accountable. This is the second half of our conversation on "Compassionate Capitalism" and "Ten Powerful Phrases" by Amway founder and rightwing billionaire Rich Devos. In this half we really tear into the cult of toxic positivity, discuss dialectics the Devos way, and Jacob gets REAL heated about the idea that God will "just take care...

It's time to learn more than we ever wanted to about Amway founder and general rightwing psycho, Richard Devos. Josh Boerman from Worst of All Possible Worlds returns to the podcast to discuss Devos' self-help book/manifestos "Compassionate Capitalism" and, to a lesser extent, "Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People." They're some doozies, folks. Who is this Rich guy, and how did he manage to ge...

Welcome back to the cyber-adrenaline rush that is Neal Stephenson's, "Snow Crash!" The Shelfers team up with Kurt Schiller of Podside Picnic and Blood Knife Magazine to get to the bottom of age-old questions like: how do you handle a guy who has a nuclear bomb strapped to his motorcycle? (and other stuff like that) Check out Kurt's work at https://bloodknife.com/, https://www.pat...

We're going to the distant, wild, far-flung cyberpunk future of the early 2000s...as seen from the early 90s. Yep, we're talking about Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction/action/dystopian/satirical/straight-up-badass novel, "Snow Crash." Joining the Shelfers to discuss is editor of Blood Knife Magazine and member of Podside Picnic, Kurt Schiller. What's the difference...

EMBRACE THE IMMORTAL SCIENCE OF MARXISM-LENINISM-LEVONISM!!!! We're back with Sydney to finish out this trudge through what I assume has to be Ben Shapiro parodying himself: "True Allegiance." This book is bad. It's so so so so bad. Music by Kevin MacLeod, episode art is of a random child who tapped me on the shoulder and asked if he looked cool in his hat.

UGGHHHHHH That more or less summarizes our reaction to "True Allegiance," Ben Shapiro's work of fiction that repeatedly, incessantly, infuriatingly, asks over and over and over: "Have you considered wokeism might be at the heart of our problems?" No Ben, we haven't. Joining us is cringe-fiction expert and Jacob's spouse, Sydney, to really get into this evil creation...

It's our first repeat author! Get ready to discuss the short stories, "Bloodchild," "Amnesty," and "Book of Martha" by the Queen of science fiction, Octavia Butler. Joining us is noted sci-fi enthusiast, drip-king, and all-around-cool-guy, Aaron Thorpe! How does one sanitize literally being eaten alive? Why is the internet into botflies? What would you do with the...

It's the week of interviews, and we're back with another fantastic one...this time with legendary socialist writer, thinker, and enjoyer of good fiction, Vijay Prashad! Hear Vijay's thoughts on superhero films, the (super)power of organizing, how mass media reveals the insecurities of the ruling class, and how anti-capitalist fiction can become revolutionary art. For more from Vijay Pr...

We enjoyed his book, "American War," and in this episode, we got a chance to enjoy speaking to the author! Listen to acclaimed writer and journalist Omar El Akkad chat with the Shelfers about climate change, the dangers of American individualism, his writing process...and then even more about climate change. You're not required to scroll back and listen to our "American War&quot...

Y'all know what's up: it's Kim Stanley Robinson's climate fiction smorgasbord, "The Ministry for the Future!" REVOLUTIONARY OPTIMISM!!!!!!!! Music by Kevin MacLeod, episode art is of KSR himself

"Jacob...Joss...do y'all talk about nothing but bleak books anymore? I'm getting tired! I'm getting depressed." Never fear listeners, it's time to talk about Kim Stanley Robinson's positive, anti-dystopian work of climate fiction, "Ministry for the Future." Questions we consider: What will spur the working masses of the world to action? What role does sci-fi...

"First of all, I don't want to hear the word surrender..." We're back with more dystopia! "American War" by Omar El Akkad continues to deliver with discussion of life as a refugee, island torture facilities, and economies strangled by war...sound familiar? The chickens are coming home to roost. With us is delightful guest, Josh Boerman, helping us figure out what to mak...

What if everything was bad...and then it got worse...and then it kept getting worse...and everything generally stayed bad forever? That's what Omar El Akkad tackles in his work of climate fiction, "American War," and that's what the Shelfers are here to discuss. But wait! Joining us is noted apocalyptician and student of declining empire, Josh Boerman from The Worst of All Possib...

Part 2! Welcome back to the godless wasteland roamed by the Glanton Gang. We, along with our guest, Drew Mason, will be your guides. We're talking more about Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian." In this episode, we ask how the Judge Holdens of the world can be fought, try to puzzle out just what that epilogue is talking about, and give a send-off to one of the best writers to ever...

Everybody's favorite dirt mage, Drew Mason, is back to talk with us about "Blood Meridian" by the recently late, forever great, Cormac McCarthy. What does the Western (or in this case, anti-western) teach us about the foundations of the United States? What is the truth behind this nation's founding myths? Can we have an episode even darker than our discussion of "The Jungle?...

No poetry for this episode summary, just appreciation for Tamsyn Muir's blast of a novel, "Gideon the Ninth." How does the internet intersect with Millennial and Gen Z art? How much lore is the right amount of lore? Is romance dead? (Spoilers, it's not.) Also, here's a link to a really good interview between Three Crows Magazine and the author. If you didn't already like...

Two for the stories reread in our dreams Three for the prose we remember in memes Four for the books that we both recommend Five for the ones where we're glad for the end Six for the classics debated to death Seven for those that have wasted our breath Eight for the novels inspiring our stuff and Nine for the pod and for all of its scuff (P.S. Sorry to Ms. Tamsyn Muir for the fact that I can&#...

"Stop reading this! It's too awful!" our brains cry. "No," we reply, as we sink further into madness. Yep, we're back with more of "The President is Missing" by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. How do reactionary politics work hand-in-hand with liberalism? What is Joss' personal lore with Bill Clinton? How do you create the world's most annoying visio...

Bill Clinton wrote a novel, y'all...Yes, that Bill Clinton. Join us as we slowly lose our minds trying to crawl through the nightmare that is "The President is Missing" by James Patterson and former U.S. President, Bill Clinton. We'll be answering such questions as: "Can a former President still be deeply insecure?" (Yep.) and "Can liberalism save us?" (Nope.)...