The Getting Lit Podcast

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Here is a sneak peek of our series on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic novel of revolutionary violence, Demons. All three parts are available in full on Patreon.

Go to https://www.patreon.com/c/GettingLit to listen.

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Josh from the Dionysian Dream joins me once more to discuss Wicked! This time, we are looking at the sequel to the 2024 movie, Wicked: For Good. We chat about the film, the changes between the stage show and the movie version, the new songs, and why Wicked isn't just for the girls and gays.

Follow Josh on X: https://x.com/tragic_fruit

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

Substack: https://thedionysiandream.substack.com/

Music: Wicked - No Good Deed (Cynthia Erivo and Idina Menzel remix), Pure Re-imagination

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This is part 2 of our Philip K. Dick collaboration with the Rare Candy podcast. Head over to their feed for part 1 (https://open.spotify.com/show/2cXVcvC3G13PGUuYMVLGZb), where we cover The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965), before joining us here for the continuation of "Dick Week" as we discuss Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974).

In this novel, Jason Taverner, a genetically engineered celebrity talk-show host, wakes up one morning to discover he has been erased from the world. His identification records vanish, no one recognises him, and in a hyper-surveilled police-state America—where IDs are everything—this is effectively a death sentence. This noirish typically Dickian story goes in unexpected places. Just like this discussion!

Also, as an extra treat for our paid subscribers, we have a mini-episode on Patreon where we horse around with Glen and Psi. Go to patreon.com/gettinglit to listen.

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Paul Dalla Rosa returns to talk about Gary Indiana's fabulous pastiche of the Menendez Brothers trial, Resentment. We chat about vicious gay wit, the media circus around the trial, comparing the mediatised social life of television and the internet, Indiana's distinctive style, and much more.

Go to the Patreon for a continuation of this discussion on Back Matter, where we talk about Ryan Murphy's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story: https://www.patreon.com/c/GettingLit

Buy Paul's book here:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Exciting-Vivid-Inner-Life/dp/1800810121

Music: 

We're Living in Violent Times, The Barracudas

Who Shot Ya? The Notorious B.I.G.

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On this week's episode, we dive into Ryu Murakami's Popular Hits of the Showa Era, where a group of disaffected men find themselves in an absurdly violent war with a rival society of older women (Oba-sans) after a deadly encounter. We talk about the book's mix of ultra-violence, satirical humor, escalating absurdity, and much more!

This a teaser. For the full episode, and access to our complete archive and bonus content, subscribe at patreon.com/gettinglit

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In this week's episode, the legendary Bruce Wagner joins us to discuss his new novel Amputation, inspired by the 2025 Los Angeles fires. The conversation moves from the book’s genesis in anger at bureaucratic incompetence to Wagner’s reflections on art, rage, and the sacred. We discuss how indignation can be transformed into creative energy without devolving into polemic, his long-standing use of real public figures in fiction, and his resistance to censorship and “cultural bureaucrats.” The discussion broadens into questions of artistic integrity, nihilism, and compassion; the corrosion of civic responsibility; and how modern fame, selfhood, and delusion intertwine. We also meditate on impermanence, artificial intelligence, and the dissolution of self in art, positioning AI as both a creative threat and a spiritual mirror. And much more. Join us for one of our favorite episodes ever!

Buy Amputation here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1648211615?&tag=skyhorsepub-20

Music:

Because We Built It, John Maus

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Australian-American writer Lucas Smith joins us to discuss his collection of wonderful short fiction, Spare Us Yet. We discuss the elements of faith in his fiction, the pandemic, lockdowns, literary culture in Australia, as well as his experience running an independent publishing company, Bonfire Books.

This is a special crossover event with Sini's New Mythologies Substack, which you should check out: https://newmythologies.substack.com/

If you'd like full episodes of the Getting Lit Podcast, and access to the full archive and aftershows, go to https://www.patreon.com/c/GettingLit

Buy Spare Us Yet: https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p159/Spare_Us_Yet_and_Other_Stories%2C_by_Lucas_Smith.html

Follow Lucas on Substack: https://lucassmith.substack.com/

Follow Bonfire Books on X: https://x.com/BooksBonfire

Music: Celtic Ballad, The Saints

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*this is a PREVIEW. To listen to the full episode, go to patreon.com/GettingLit

This episode, Fresta and Sini riff on Fresta's Sydney trip, thrift shop book finds, Bret Easton Ellis, the fantastic Australian crime show Mr Inbetween, ABC Radio National's Top 100 books of the 21st Century, and much more. To find out why this episode has this title, you will have to wait until the end.

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This week, we're looking at Gustav Meyrink's The Golem, a strange novel of occultism, Kabbalah and psychological terror in early 20th century Prague's Jewish ghetto. Joining us on this journey is none other than Brad Kelly, host of the wonderful Method and Madness podcast.

Follow Brad on X: https://x.com/bradkelly?lang=en

Method and Madness pod: https://open.spotify.com/show/4AQR8tram18P2PBYdhKiQN

Music: Danse Macabre, Op. 40, R. 171, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

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This week, a big episode discussing a slim novel. We're joined by a couple of our favourite Southerners (Kalob Petty and Banjer Jack) and our favourite Montanan (Ryan Simón) to chat about Carson McCullers' classic Southern Gothic novel about repressed eros and dark desires, Reflections in a Golden Eye. 

We talk about the Southern Gothic tradition, why Southerners are so chill, why Carson McCullers was likely a f@g hag, horse girls, music, and much more.

This episode quickly turns into a rollicking bull session, full of hilarious tales, forbidden confessions, and...banjo. Lots of banjo.

Music:

Southern Blood, Kalob Petty

Sammie Where You Been So Long, Banjer Jack

Links to Kalob's music: https://linktr.ee/kalobdpetty

Ryan's American Vulgaria: https://americanvulgaria.com/

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