Have you ever read a book where you haven't been entirely sure what happened in the book? Where you haven't been sure what's "real," and if you can tell what's "real," you can't tell who the book is "real" for? Have you ever felt like the whole world is a stage, and that we are merely players? If you answered "yes" to all these questions, you might be the target audience for this one.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Here we go again: another collaboration with Heaving Bosoms! Buckle up for a supersized episode on this folklore inspired YA fantasy by Sher Lee. Special thanks to our guests Melody and Sabrina from Heaving Bosoms for joining us to discuss snakes, lost contacts, love, and Chinese myth. We have a lot of questions about snakes! Do we get all the answers? Listen along to find out.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Living in our age of elite impunity made us want to imagine what it must be like to have one million US dollars (approximately $2.6 million, when adjusted for inflation). Luckily, there's a book series that lets you choose to be anything you want to be, as long as what you want to be exists within one of several scripted narrative paths of steadily escalating goofiness.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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For this show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew learned about the world of Middle-Earth by reading J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumously published legendarium THE SILMARILLION. This episode posted first for our Patreon supporters in July 2025. If you want to hear our current longread project TOKYO DRIFTERS (and a bunch of other stuff besides), visit Patreon.com/overduepod.

The Elves are here, and it's time to learn all about them! Because there are a whole bunch of different sub-types of them, mostly sorted by whether and how quickly they decided to heed the summons to come party with the gods on their paradise island.

The most important one we meet is Fëanor, who forges the book's MacGuffins and then instantly gets super weird and possessive about them, in a way that ensures lasting misery for all involved. Hooray!

The reading list:

Ep 1 - Ainulindale, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion Ch 1-3

Ep 2 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 4-10

Ep 3 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 11-16

Ep 4 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 17-20

Ep 5 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 21-24

Ep 6 - Akallabeth, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, Appendices

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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In 2019, author Taylor Jenkins Reid released her sixth novel Daisy Jones & The Six, a fictional oral history of a Fleetwood Mac-esque 70s rock band. In May 2026, Andrew and Craig from Overdue recorded a podcast about the author, her novels, the themes and points of inspiration that helped make Daisy Jones a bestseller. This is an aural history of that recording.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Less a story about AI, and more "what if that Star Trek episode about whether Data was a person was also exploring the concept of domestic abuse?" Greer writes a short punchy novel that is occasionally uncomfortable but thoughtfully constructed, not unlike a sentient humanoid robot might be.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the not-so-distant future, Andy Weir will write a novel about a Competent Man getting into trouble and then getting himself out. Then it will be made into a major motion picture starring a relatively bankable movie star. Then Overdue will (probably) read the book. That's what happened with The Martian, and that is what's happening this week with Project Hail Mary -- a novel about a science teacher on a mission to save Earth (and maybe some other planets) from an otherworldly threat.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/overdue.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

To celebrate this year's Children's Book Week, we're discussing the work of children's author and illustrator Eric Carle, whose colorful art and innovative prints have delighted our children (and us!) for years. Since they're each pretty short we decided to talk about a bunch of them, including:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (with Bill Martin, Jr.)

3. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (with Bill Martin, Jr.)

4. My Very First Book of Numbers

5. My Very First Book of Colors

6. The Grouchy Ladybug

7. The Very Lonely Firefly

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Around 25 minutes into this episode, Andrew and Craig take a mysterious elixir that turns them into younger versions of themselves with worse microphones and less research under their belts. Oh no! I hope they can find the ingredients to turn themselves back!

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For this show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew learned about the world of Middle-Earth by reading J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumously published legendarium THE SILMARILLION. This episode posted first for our Patreon supporters in June 2025. If you want to hear our current longread project TOKYO DRIFTERS (and a bunch of other stuff besides), visit Patreon.com/overduepod.

In the beginning, Eru Ilúvatar created the heaven and the earth, primarily by watching his child-angels have an epic sing-off. And Melkor was there singing bad stuff, but Ilúvatar was like "no matter how bad you sing I can always make it a part of the awesome world I am building."

Anyway, this episode is about perhaps the most biblical part of the Hobbit Bible, where a god-like figure creates the world and casts out one of his followers who thinks he's good enough to challenge god himself. Also: the Dwarves are created, and the Elves wake up.

The reading list:

Ep 1 - Ainulindale, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion Ch 1-3

Ep 2 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 4-10

Ep 3 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 11-16

Ep 4 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 17-20

Ep 5 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 21-24

Ep 6 - Akallabeth, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, Appendices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.