Books Undone

What if the legitimacy of a government could be manufactured on-demand? What if this is done to hide the decay in a political order where principle and practice no longer align?

Let us discuss one of the most banned books in history: Animal Farm.

Find my own books: https://liviajelliot.com/my-books

What makes a human human? At first glance, the Gom Jabbar Test, from Frank Herbert's Dune, hits at something far larger than self-control: the necessary and sufficient conditions for leadership. And yet... the test is flawed. Incomplete. Let's get this idea undone.

https://booksundone.com

https://liviajelliot.com/my-books

What happens if meaning only arrives at the same moment it becomes impossible? That's the terrifying question at the core of Hour of the Star, the last masterpiece of Brazilian author, Clarice Lispector. Let's get this book undone.

Find the transcript: https://www.booksundone.com

What is humanity in the first place? That's the question cyberpunk explores. So much more than "high-tech, low-life" and so pertinent to the times we live in. Join me today, in conversation with the Dr of Cyberpunk himself, T.R. Napper, as we discuss what cyberpunk is, where it comes from, and why it's more relevant than ever.

Find T.R. Napper's books: https://nappertime.com/

Find the transcript and more episodes: https://www.booksundone.com

Cormac McCarthy and Jorge Luis Borges. On the surface, their styles and worlds could not be more different. But there is one book and one short story that have more in common than it first appears: they are circling the same premise.

Is morality something we do, or something we tell ourselves we've done?

Let's get these books undone.

https://www.booksundone.com

Tender Is The Flesh is not simply the vegan allegory some readers assume it to be. The horror here serves a more unsettling purpose: it shows the power of language. Like Marcos himself said in the book: "Words carry the weight necessary to mold us, to suppress all questioning."

Today's episode discusses how can language make violence palatable, and why does it reshape ethics and morality.

Find the transcript and citations: https://liviajelliot.substack,com

What do Blade Runner and Dune have in common?

Both revolve around the same mechanism: scarcity creates demand, and demand turns possession into prestige... but here is the twist.

Prestige is not just about wealth, because status only emerges when wealth is tied to something else: an ethical meaning. In this episode we'll explore one unique possibility: what if prestige requires morality?

Full transcript (and links): https://liviajelliot.substack.com

In this discussion, we dive into the layered deceptions of Dune — a “feint within a feint within a feint.” We explore whether free will can survive foreknowledge, how cycles shape history, and whether heroes are truly liberators… or traps. We also ask a bold question: is religion a belief system, or a technology engineered for power?

My guests: K.D. Marchesi, Sarah K. Balstrup, and Henry Nielsen.

My Substack: https://liviajelliot.substack.com

Dune is, by no means, a simple book. It examines how an environment shapes a society and its politics, how political and economic power intertwine, and how resources can both provoke or deter war. It speaks about the consequences of scarcity, and how differently we treat abundance when it overflows.

With that in mind, this episode will focus on two key threads—details often smoothed in adaptations: the geopolitics of Dune's universe, and how religion and myth are leveraged to manufacture authority.

Let's get this book undone.

Check my latest book, The Omens of War: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNN94R17

Embassytown is one of the most extraordinary linguistic thought-experiments in modern SFF. This episode explores how Miéville uses language—not just as a tool for communication, but as the very architecture of consciousness, politics, and power.

We look at how signs and symbols shape meaning, why the Hosts can't lie, Avice’s role as a living simile and the moment language evolves into something new.

If you love stories where words remake the world, this is for you.

My substack: https://liviajelliot.substack.com

My book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNN94R17