Just In Case We Die

It’s October!

All three cast members of Just In Case We Die are in agreement that autumn is the best time of the year. It’s not just because of the cool temperatures or the pumpkin spice. It’s not just because of the beautiful changes in scenery as the leaves and foliage change color before winter. Fall is also their favorite season of the year because that’s the best time to break out the dusty books of scary stories!

This month, the bonus discussion centers around horror, some personal favorite creators in the genre, and an exploration into ways you can get your scary story fix without subjecting yourself to blood and guts. From old school classics to contemporary masters, the podcast offers more than enough suggestions to get through the Halloween season!

The temptation to accurately depict the general consensus on this (apparently) "essential" "novel" by leaving this space wordless and blank is almost overwhelming. That would be poor form, though. This is a website and it must have content. 

Novels should have content, too, though.

We're talking to you, Colette!

For the bonus material this month, the crew at Just In Case We Die takes a deep dive into the life and works of beloved children's author Roald Dahl. Listeners may know him as the mastermind behind such classic works as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. Would they also realize that he also penned a good amount of racy work for adults? Do listeners know that he was also a decorated fighter pilot, one of the forefathers of the pro-vaccination movement, and the inventor of medical equipment that everyone should be thankful they never needed? Are they aware that his work was embroiled in a recent censorship controversy that centers around something called "a sensitivity reader"? 

In 1898, William Heinemann published H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds in novel form for the very first time. In the 126 years that have passed since, this novel has never been out of print. It has been adapted into movies, television shows, radio productions, comic books, and musicals. It has also been the base inspiration for multitudes of other well-known science-fiction projects. Is The War of the Worlds the most famous science-fiction novel of all time? Does this novel actually fit into the genre? Why is H. G. Wells a wizard?

This month, Aaron, Rodney, and Rebecca– once again– discuss one of the hallmark novels of early science-fiction. 

The final day of August has been declared as We Love Memoirs Day. The gang here at Just In Case We Die has no idea how that holiday should be celebrated, but it did give them a good topic for this month’s bonus episode.

This month, the discussion centers around memoirs. What is a memoir? What makes for a good one? Are there specific memoirs that might be recommended? What happens when Oprah Winfrey discovers that your memoir is actually a bunch of crap that you made up for fame? Salman Rushdie, Augusten Burroughs, Michael J. Fox, the offspring of Kurt Vonnegut, and more!

Rodney: Meh.
Rebecca: Blech.
Aaron: OHMIGERD! OHMIGERD!

Yeah. That pretty well sums up the direction this week’s discussion goes.

In 1997, Peter Carey, perhaps Australia’s most important contemporary novelist, presented a pastiche of Charles Dickens with this enigmatic examination of inspiration. The cast of Just In Case We Die has never been more divided.

This month, the crew here at Just In Case We Die took an opportunity to discuss a genre that doesn’t normally come up on a podcast that discusses fine works of literature: “trashy” summer beach reads. You know, the books that only take you a couple of days to read and are utterly forgettable? The books you might not admit to loving in conversation with your college literature professor friends?

This month’s discussion is a lively one, with time devoted to childhood favorites, the differences between two of the bestselling names in horror, and the best adventure series that poorly cast Tom Cruise in the movie adaptation. There’s also some time devoted to those guilty pleasure writers that we don’t like . . . some of those will surprise you!

This month’s selection was hand-picked from the curated list by Rebecca. She selected this novel because she is an ardent admirer of this author’s work and this work was one that she had not personally read. Her selection– The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster– proved to be an excellent choice. Not only did everyone involved here at Just In Case We Die really enjoy this book, but it is the first selection in our uploading history to have garnered feedback from our audience before the discussion episode dropped.

What makes this novel so special?

Aaron can hear just well enough to record if all three cast members are within a few feet of each other, so, at long last, Just In Case We Die presents the bonus material for June. This month, the discussion celebrates Pride Month with an exploration of some personal favorite writers in the LGBTQIA+ community. There are horror writers, journalists, science-fiction writers, Booker Prize winners, and a beloved American novelist close to the hearts of all three cast members.

The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury’s 1950 collection of loosely-connected stories that chronicle the human colonization of Mars has long been a favorite of Aaron. Aaron is, in fact, a devoted acolyte of all of Ray Bradbury’s work and thinks it unfathomable that at least one work by this stalwart of the golden age of science-fiction isn’t included on the original list.

In this episode, the cast of Just In Case We Die reflect on the exclusion of a great American author, discuss the eloquence of sci-fi, and celebrate one of their own (Rebecca, natch) opening the gateway into the world of speculative fiction.