Just In Case We Die

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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?

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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.

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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.

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May is National Short Story Month and the cast of Just In Case We Die decided to celebrate by devoting an entire discussion to the craft and art of short stories. Aaron, Rodney, and Rebecca each selected two short stories for the others to read. In retrospect, this conceit may not have been the best option for listeners who have no context for the stories being discussed, but the discussion does go into great depth about the individual writers and their works. Perhaps you end this discussion with some suggestions for your own excursions into the world of short stories.

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It would appear that there are two bonus episodes this month!

April 27th is Independent Bookstore Day. In collaboration with a favorite independent bookstore (The Lit in Champaign, Illinois), Just In Case We Die is pleased to present a special episode to help celebrate. 

Aaron and Rebecca made an in-store appearance and had conversations with patrons of the store.  Rodney wasn't present, but Aaron's children were. They recommend a hamburger joint because, well, because they're twelve. 

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Did you know that the C.I.A. seized an opportunity to embarrass the Soviet Union by publishing a special edition of Doctor Zhivago in 1958? The cast of Just In Case We Die didn’t know this either. As far as they’re concerned, this is the only reason why anybody should have ever cared about this pointless, plotless, horribly-written novel by Nobel Peace Prize-winner Boris Pasternak in the first place.

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Aaron was introduced to Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, and J. M. Barrie in third grade. Rebecca spent her childhood devouring Nancy Drew. Rodney has an obsessive need to reread The Chronicles of Narnia in its entirety throughout his life. All three members of this podcast’s cast became avid readers at a very young age.

This month, to celebrate International Children’s Book Day, the cast of Just In Case We Die participate in a round table discussion about their favorite authors when they were youths, the children’s books they keep returning to, and how a love for the written word has been ingrained in them for as long as they have known to read. Rebecca joins Rodney and Aaron from Tennessee via Zoom for a very lively conversation.