Returning guest Kamille Washington joins us this week to chat about A Promised Land, the first in former President Barack Obama's (planned) two-part presidential autobiography. We talk about the functions these books serve, both for the writer and the reader, and whether this book's recounting of Obama's early presidency squares with our experience with and memory of it a decade later (apologies to our listeners without a working knowledge of US politics, this one might be a little inaccessible).

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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N.K. Jemisin's award-winning Broken Earth trilogy concludes with two powerful magic users trying to harness the moon to bring about an apocalypse to end all apocalypses. We discuss how this book decides to stick its landing, including the impressive detour it takes to do an audacious amount of world-building for a closing entry in a series.

Just coming to the series now? Check out our episodes on the previous books: The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Gene Wolfe is a sci-fi author's sci-fi author, best known for his descriptive language and a penchant for unreliable narrators. To attempt to discover the REAL meaning of The Ziggurat, we take a break in the middle of this episode to read the story again. It only sort of helps.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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We're celebrating the fiction-filled and fictional holiday of Short Story Week by sharing two short stories with y'all this week. First up is The Comet, a speculative sci-fi tale by civil rights activist and writer W.E.B. DuBois from his collection Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil. After that is Woeful Tales from Mahigul, a short story collection within a short story collection by Ursula K. Le Guin from her collection Changing Planes.

Check out our previous LeGuin episodes on The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas and The Dispossessed.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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It's time to read a prominent work by a preeminent Canadian (specifically Québécois) author! Join us in Montreal in 1942 and meet a family with lots of problems but lots of heart.

Tremblay's known for insightful and whimsical character work, so it's fitting that we spend the bulk of the episode delving into the novel's deep roster of memorable characters. Also Canadian history is pretty interesting!

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Ancillary Justice is a novel take on sci-fi's "collective consciousness" trope. What if, when cut off from the rest of its collective, an individual member of a collective consciousness just went on existing as an individual? And also what if they were thrust into the center of high-stakes intergalactic political drama?

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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The second entry in N.K. Jemisin's award-winning Broken Earth series is centered on a mother/daughter pair of magic users, each learning new ways to use their abilities to heal their shattered world. It is, of course, the second book in a planned trilogy, so we discuss how well it sets up events that will be delivered on in the next book.

Just coming to the series now? Check out our episode on the first book: The Fifth Season.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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It's a bit late, but this year we trade a sexy holiday book for a murder mystery holiday book. After a local businessman/pervert turns up dead, it's up to Holly White and her friends in the town of Mistletoe, Maine to figure out who did it and to clear her best friend's name. 

Find out how to join us for bonus episode recordings at patreon.com/overduepod.

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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It's not referenced as often as George Orwell's 1984, but Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is in some ways a dystopia that's closer to our current reality: a society modeled around a production line, designed to pacify its citizenry while maximizing consumption in whatever way possible. Or maybe that's just our read on it!!

Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

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Welcome to the finale of Genie Babies, a magic carpet ride of a podcast from the boys here at Overdue! On this show-within-a-show, we're reading Husain Haddawy's translation of Muhsin Mahdi's manuscript of The Thousand and One Nights (also known by its westernized title, The Arabian Nights). 

Some Patreon supporters get these episodes early, but we always release them for general consumption later on. In this closing episode, we share stories we've yet to discuss as well as some not included in our edition.

Stories covered include: Aladdin, Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves, the Story of the Golden Apples, and more.

Programming note: keep an eye on our social feeds for the announcement of our next longread project.

Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.

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