Novel Ideas

After a bit of a hiatus, Novel Ideas returns with a classic American play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. (Ben here: My apologies for our absence, but I’ve been studying for my oral exam for my master’s degree. Now that I’ve finished that off, we should be back on schedule, more or less. More on that in a moment.) This is a pretty well known work that gets performed frequently and is a regular presence in school curricula. In this episode we cover the parallels between this play and McCarthyism, a variety of unlikeable characters, and the psychology of a witch hunt. We also cover elements of feminism (of course!), old people who are also badasses, and why white people are, generally speaking, the worst.

The music bump today is “Witch Hunt” by Rush, which is actually yet another use of witch hunts as a metaphor. Look up the song lyrics if you don’t believe me.

32- The Crucible – Bitches Be Trippin’

A quick administrative note: We will be posting a special holiday bonus episode next week, though we’re not sure which day just yet. The following Tuesday, January 1, we’ll be taking off before resuming our usual weekly schedule of a new post (mostly) every Tuesday.

After trekking through numerous levels filled with puzzles, monsters, and platforms spaced just so, Novel Ideas returns with Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This is a book about video games, nerdery, and the 1980’s. Also about corporate interests, environmental disaster, and the 80’s. Also also about friendship, the superiority of real life to virtual life, and the 80’s. But mostly this is a book about the 80’s. In this week’s episode we discuss all of those issues, as well as the 80’s, with only brief intervals to make our own nerdy references. (And don’t forget the 80’s.)

The music bump is “Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo, appearing in the intro to the book as well as the intro to Jim Halliday’s rather narcissistic posthumous treasure hunt.

31 – Ready Player One – Extreme Nerdery

Welcome to our special election edition of Novel Ideas. Today’s episode features Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, a book that has absolutely nothing to do with elections. This is a slightly shorter than average episode, as the book itself is rather short itself. But for such a short book, there is a surprising depth to it. In the podcast we talk about the character traits of twelve year olds, the effects of August, and the ethics of kidnapping. We also talk about immortality. Like, a lot. So who wants to live forever? No one and everyone.

The music bump is “Who Wants to Live Forever” by the immortal (not literally) Queen.

30 – Tuck Everlasting – Immortality Rules

Welcome to a very spooky episode of Novel Ideas, featuring the decidedly not spooky Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This is a book about a monster and the man who created him told in a very romantic style. (I have to mention this now because we forgot to say it in the podcast.) In this episode we cover various tropes, unsympathetic characters, the theme of science v. nature, and the theme  of isolation v. acceptance. We also cover the timelessness of teenage behavior, the importance of being genre savvy, and whether Frankenstein’s monster might actually be Santa Claus. Make sure to listen in a well lit room so you don’t get scared!

The music bump is “Night on Bald Mountain” by Modest Mussorgsky because, dude, Halloween. I’m not entirely sure how this piece of music came to by synonymous with that holiday, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the way it sounds.

29 – Frankenstein – An Eloquent Monster

This week’s episode features Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the science fiction classic about a scientific utopia. Or possibly dystopia. This book is weaker on characters than many of the books we’ve read, but it is full of issues, many of them more relevant than ever in today’s world. We touch on feminism, racism, sexuality, eugenics, consumerism, and religion. And, of course, zippers. Zippers are amazing. Because they are THE FUTURE. There are also some bad puns, the usual level of silliness, and a small amount of modest self-promotion. We think you will find it quite pneumatic.

The music bump is “Brave New World” by Styx, chosen not just for the obvious title tie-in, but at least a small amount of lyrical relevance. Hang out for an extra twenty seconds at the end of the podcast and see if you agree.

28 – Brave New World – Quite Pneumatic

It may not be obvious because of the size of the picture, but the header this week is from an edition of the book that had an egg with a zipper on the cover. The reason we chose this image should be quite obvious by the time you’re about twenty minutes into this episode.