Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast

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If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Books: William Vollmann’s Seven Dreams series

Video Games: Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy VI

As always, thanks so much for listening!

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Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Time: var. moments of social cavitation

Location: var. locales of New Old Mexico, esp. northern

Subject: Quiselgur, El Chavalito "Frank Traverse"

Concerns:

- rigid and constricted manifolds

- succulent flora

- turnabout

Recommendations:

- Continue observation

- Maintain separation from subject "QR"

- Apply steady pressure along lines of cleavage

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Music: Hermanos Gutierrez El Bueno Y El Malo (2022)

Film/TV: Acid westerns of Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain)

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

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Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.com

Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Interview with Michael Silverblatt: David Foster Wallace on Bookworm (1996-2006)YouTube · M.J. NichollsSep 22, 2021

String Theory by David Foster Wallace

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

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Nothing new about this episode, despite the 2.0 in the name. We had some problems with the original being Apple Podcasts exclusive, so the workaround was in changing the title (slightly).

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

Next episode: Pages 198-306

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If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Interview with Michael Silverblatt: David Foster Wallace on Bookworm (1996-2006)YouTube · M.J. NichollsSep 22, 2021

String Theory by David Foster Wallace

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.com

Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Before setting sail, we check in on the bouncing baby Jesse and the newlyweds who made him. Things aren't going too hot for the young family, the line between reciprocal sacrifice and foolheadedness seeming blurrier every day, and that's without getting into the vigilantism. But now they've parted ways, for the kid's own good, and as Reef eyes his duty to gallivant overseas, the crew shuffles paper in the form of talking politics.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Books: B. Traven’s Jungle novels:

• Government (1931)
• The Carreta (1931)
• March to the Monteria (a.k.a. March to Caobaland) (1933)
• Trozas (1936)
• The Rebellion of the Hanged (1936; first English pub. 1952)
• General from the Jungle (1940)

Music: Go listen to jass/jazz music

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.com

Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Thirty years ago, a monumental book was published which shook the literary world and completely revolutionized post-modern fiction. Not Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, or the first book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and it wasn't Fight Club (1996 was a pretty stacked year for media). David Foster Wallace's magnum opus, Infinite Jest was released on 01 Feb 1996 and has remained a staple in the "books you should read" discussion ever since.

On this first of many episodes covering the book, Kate and Cody discuss the author, his life, his work, and what this book meant to the literature world both then and thirty years later.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Link to the Infinite Jest trailer (2024): https://youtu.be/gW39U8nxoQU?si=UcO_avdROTly6NAa

Film/TV: The Wire (2002-2008)

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

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Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Dally rolls into town just around the corner, readier than most to take the world by its horns, but our crew of worryworts can't help themselves from checking in. Helpful roommate Katie eases some concerns, but then again, would a girl like Dahlia end up a mock white slave without some bad influences? Between Tong wars and ghosts of her past known and unknown, it seems like our time in NYC is to be short. At least we get to see a sampling of the sideshows.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Film/TV: Portlandia (2011-2018)

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.com

Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Kit's going through it, so we get down and rough it with the poor boy. It's nice to catch up with him, gives the crew an opportunity to connect some dots, draw some prospective lines. Between the continuance of Tesla v. World, acute personal loss, and unveiling Vibratory horizons, there are plenty of anchors to hang the threads. Perhaps too many.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Film/TV: The Wire (2002-2008), Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995-1998)

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.com

Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

It's the end of the year, so we decided to talk about some books we read in 2025 that weren't Pynchon. Of course, we decided to do this after we finished recording a 4+ hour episode for Against the Day, so we were admittedly all a bit spacey. Anyway, hopefully you'll recognize some of these books or come away with some new stuff to add to your never-ending TBR pile.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.com

Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Starting 01 February 2026, Cody and Kate will be (kinda) deep-diving into another book. What's the twist? It's not a Pynchon book (cue "shocking" sound bite). If you want to know what we're going to be covering in a monthly 10-part series within our series, give this brief explainer episode a listen!

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.com

Show art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit) bradspersecond.com