Questioning the Canon

We round out season 3 of our little podcast with another graphic novel, this time from revered author Alison Bechdel and her 2006 masterpiece, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. There was so much to discuss here, including, but not limited to sexual identity, death in the family, and toxic citrus spokespeople of the 1970's. This is an important book for anyone struggling with their sense of self that may clash with the world and family they grew up in. Even with our best coverage, there were still topics in this book that we didn't get to, but we at least try to put the fun in "perfunctory"!

Now is the time to explore strange new alien civilizations, and thereby explore strange new ideas within ourselves with Ursula K. Le Guin's 1969 sci-fi classic The Left Hand of Darkness! We found a lot to engage with this month, especially in gender and how it impacts our personal lives and even how we think about ourselves. As humans, we may not have a physical shifting sexual identity like the citizens of Gethen, but perhaps how we think about ourselves can shift. Be aware, though, that speed is relativistic and we all get where we're going in our own time.

None of us can ever know what it was like to live the harrowing experience of being a black slave in America in the early 1800's, but Octavia Butler was determined to try and give her readers a taste in 1979's Kindred. While the book was not perfect, it did leave us asking and mulling over some important questions about who we are and who we might be in different situations. Plus we get to talk about mosquito born illnesses! Slip away with us and learn about some often overlooked roots of American history, it's a trip that you won't soon forget.

Let us sit upon the ground and listen to nerdy podcasts about the death of kings. Alas, poor Hamlet! We reviewed it, dear listener! There was so much ground to cover in this legendary play by William Shakespeare and we mulled over wordplay, anachronisms, and a surprising amount of historical religious talk. As this is one of Felicia's favorite plays and the first time Ben has read it, there was a lively conversation to be had all around. Let's go to the theater tonight, it's only a penny to stand in the pit!

It can be hard putting your life back together after the traumas of war, especially if you are perceiving different portions of your life out of order. Or at least you think you are. Come unstuck with us as we wander passively through the life and times of Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five and the many events that were inspired from author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s life. We had a blast talking about aliens, post-modernism, and current treatments for ancient psychiatric conditions. Listen along with us and so it will go.

It's time we come clean about something with you...we covered the Secret History by Donna Tartt and we just can't hold it in any longer. Listen in on our confessions of researching the details of the murder filled book along with the mysterious life of its author. We also ask the question, should studying Classics be killed off once and for all? The weather is getting colder, put on your houndstooth jacket and let's go for a walk by the ravine.

The pumpkins are out, the wind is getting colder, it's time to hit the books and resurrect the dead! This month, we climb the glaciers of Switzerland and explore the involved and fascinating life of Frankenstein's author Mary Shelley. Further, we doggedly pursue topics including forceps delivery, the Year Without a Summer, and whatever Kenneth Branagh was trying to do with the 1994 film. If you don't deal with this episode now, you'll be haunted by it forever.

Come along with us as we try to rescue ourselves from our youngest demographically targeted book yet, A Wrinkle In Time! While we may not cover impossible distances instantaneously, we do cover our regular broad range of topics, this time including child prodigies, maturity, and Ben Franklin quotes taken badly out of context. If you want to fight It and the Darkness, all you need to do is tune into this episode. And probably some other things, too, but never mind that.

This month we're going underground talking about the book, movie, and phenomena that is Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club. We break the first two rules of the club pretty brazenly as we discuss masculinity, facing your feelings honestly, and "hitting rock bottom", whatever that means. We even discuss having more than one perspective on life in our medical corner. If tonight is your first time with Questioning the Canon...then you have to listen.

For America's birthday month, we decided to peruse Mark Twain's much discussed Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There were so many topics to cover including geography, the long-term effects of alcoholism, river travel, and, of course, the unique life of the author himself. What better way to pass a hot July afternoon than floating down the podcast river with us? Everyone aboard? We're casting off!