Censored

By Aoife BhreatnachSociety & Culture Arts Books History

Censored episodes

November 04, 2021 Dirty Foreigners: O'Brien 'The Lonely Girl' (1962)
This novel is the further adventures of Caithleen and her sidekick Baba in the big city, as they search for fun, love and a free meal. A sequel to ‘The Country Girls’ (1960) it was automatically banned by a board who hated its author.

·      There was no such thing as a safe book. The Caithleens of Ireland – young women – were especially susceptible to notions.
·      Caithleen’s independent life outside her father’s control can be snuffed out at his whim.
·      The humour in the novel is really something, it’s magnificent.

Join me on Patreon for show notes and unexpurgated guest interviews: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod
I have stickers… https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34 min
October 21, 2021 Obscene knowledge: Irish Family Planning Association 'Family Planning' (1976)
Information about contraception or ‘family planning’ was illegal under the censorship act but weirdly, the censors banned this booklet for being ‘indecent or obscene’. What followed was a lengthy legal battle and a dent in the authority of the mighty censor. With guest, Dr Laura Kelly.

‘The IFPA felt there was a huge need for this booklet in Ireland.’

‘What’s distinctly Irish about this is there’s no mention of things like abortion or sexual pleasure. You get those in British and American publications of the same time.’

‘It’s lovely to think that this little booklet changed so much.’

Join me on Patreon for show notes and unexpurgated guest interviews: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod

Check out my merch https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39 min
October 07, 2021 Wanton: Powys 'Mr Weston's Good Wine' (1927)
What could be indecent in a novel about God as a travelling wine salesman? Apart from the blasphemy, there are dirty deeds done under the oak tree in Folly Down village.

Join me on Patreon for show notes and unexpurgated guest interviews: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod

Check out my merch https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32 min
September 23, 2021 Bottom wriggling: Anon 'The Memoirs of Dolly Morton' (1899)
This ‘novel’ is an odd entry on the blacklist: why would censors in 1989 ban a publication from 1899? This antique erotica reveals a lot about 19th century kinks as well as the marketing strategies of smut merchants. Pity about the nauseating amounts of racism.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
38 min
September 09, 2021 Dirty Irish Colleens:
Part 1 of a deep dive into the early work of Edna O’Brien, whose work has infuriated people since 1960. How did The Country Girls become one of the most notorious Irish novels of the 20th century? Blacklisting made this coming-of-age novel and it’s young author wildly famous. So many myths surround The Country Girls that it’s past time to read the novel for filth and rate its rudeness. With Dr Maureen O'Connor.

Join me on Patreon for show notes and unexpurgated guest interviews: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod

Check out my merch https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
49 min
August 04, 2021 Squalid Glamour: Isherwood 'Goodbye to Berlin' (1939)
This fine collection of stories about the Berlin’s bohemian underclass in Berlin probably annoyed the censors. If they had read it closely, the rent boys and loose women would have given them a collective coronary. Guest: Dr Jonathan Kemp
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
37 min
July 22, 2021 All Cork: O'Faoláin 'Bird Alone' (1936)
Seán O’Faoláin’s love letter to his homeplace, Cork city, was singled out for censorship in 1936. Being blacklisted provoked his career-long critiques of the Irish state. Was this atmospheric, sometimes nostalgic novel banned because of its author or its content? Guest: Dr Paul Delaney.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
53 min
July 08, 2021 Teenage Rebel: Lessing 'Martha Quest (1952)
Doris Lessing's radical politics scared the government of more than one country. This semi-autobiographical novel features an angry, impatient teenager growing up amidst the racial conflict in Africa.

Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod
Get your merch here https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39 min
June 24, 2021 Revolutionary: Hansen and Jensen 'The Little Red Schoolbook' (1969)
This little book was so dangerous that the French, British and South African governments joined the Irish censors in banning it. The blunt honesty about sex and drugs caused a global moral panic about childhood and innocence.

Support the show with stickers or subs!
Merch: https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32 min
June 10, 2021 Girls, Girls: Mead 'Coming of Age in Samoa' (1928)
When it was published in America, this popular anthropology book made its author famous. The censors ignored it for nearly 20 years, until they banned it in 1944. Maybe they finally noticed that Mead praised horny teenage girls.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod

Merch: https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
45 min