And here we are in the middle of the long and fruitful leadership of Vladimir Lenin and... Wait a second, is that Joseph Stalin's music?? Welcome to Part Two of our series on George Orwell's Animal Farm! Thia week we are taking a dive into the history behind this book so we can better understand what exactly Orwell was hoping for us to learn from it. Sydney gives us a brief look at the life of Orwell (but for a detailed summary check out Part Two of our 1984 series), discusses the Russian Revolution that changed the country from the ground up, and points out what aspects of that history Orwell has placed in his novella! Then be sure to join us back next week when we put all the pieces together and analyze the book, telling you just how good we think it is!

Other stuff discussed this episode:

Boys of Alabama by Genevieve Hudson

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

The Satire Fire "Episode 3: 1984 Part 2"

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

Welcome to a new year and a new series of the Satire Fire! We are starting the year off strong with the classic George Orwell novella Animal Farm. This is Orwell's first step into the socialist themes that would come to define his work. Here on an unassuming farm Orwell weaves a narrative of greed, revolution, and class struggle that has become a staple of modern English literature! Join us this week as we discuss the plot of the story, breaking down all the major beats so you are all caught up if it has been a while since you read it. Then join us again next week as our journey into the context of this book takes us on a trip through the Russian Revolution before we take on the task of analyzing and reviewing the story in Part Three!

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

We have reached the end of the year and that can only mean one thing! It is time for Sydney and Samuel to speculate wildly on what will happen in the world of books in 2026! This is the start of a yearly tradition where your Satire Fire hosts will put their industry knowledge to the test by making 10 predictions each about the upcoming year, then check back in next December to see who is the best at guessing. Be sure to fill out your own bingo card at home to follow along with us! Then be sure to join us back next week as we go back to our regular programming by starting a series on the George Orwell book Animal Farm!

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

It's the week of Christmas and much like the proverbial bird in the hand Samuel is alone! Sydney had some travel issues which means Samuel is picking the topic and running the show by himself this week, and the holiday topic he has chosen to cover is... Niche erotica? This week Samuel talks us through the enigma that is Chuck Tingle, breaks down the artistry and satire that he uses in his works, and then analyzes a story that is sure to be a holiday favorite for some of you out there! Come back next week for our final Stocking Stuffer of the season when Samuel and (hopefully) Sydney will be making their literary predictions for the new year!

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

Welcome back to the Satire Fire Stocking Stuffer Series, where each week we are bringing you a fun and casual holiday episode to help with that seasonal stress! This week we are playing a holiday movie game where Sydney and Samuel take turns guessing the plots of movies they haven't actually seen! Are we true media knowers, or just pretenders to the throne? What kind of comprehension skills do you need to host a book podcast? Do either of these movies even need to be seen? The only way to find out is by listening, and the only way to listen is by playing so go ahead and jump right in!

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

It's the most Holiday time of the year, and The Satire Fire is here with a short holiday supplemental episode! Wait what's that? Sydney and Samuel got too caught up talking about their favorite books and accidentally recorded a full length supplemental? Well, 'tis the season of giving and here we are giving you a full hour of your favorite book podcast! For this first Stocking Stuffer we are talking about our personal 5 favorite books and who in your life they might be a good gift for. With books ranging from nonfiction memoirs to western epics, we have every reader on your list covered. Then join us again for next week's supplemental where we will be playing a holiday movie game!

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

We are one last time venturing into the tunnels under your floorboards to figure out exactly what that guy living there is up to. This is the final episode of our series on Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and it is the one we have all been waiting for! In Part One we discussed the plot, in Part Two we examined the context, and here in Part Three we are finally analyzing! We discuss what the whole point of the book is, look at why Dostoevsky may have written it and what he was hoping to say with it, and also give our thoughts on it. Is the book any good? Is it making useful commentary? Does that dang Underground Man actually have a point? Find out all that and more in this week's episode!

Other stuff discussed this episode:

A People's History of the Unites States by Howard Zinn

Sydney's sick new lunch recipe

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

Can you smell what Dostoevsky's cooking?? Spoiler alert, it's a poignant picture of the human condition that also doubles as a pointed insult for a guy he disliked! We are back for Part 2 of our series on Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and this episode is all about the context. Turns out kids these days don't know what was going on in 1800's Russia, so we are here to tell you about the life of Dostoevsky, what events led him to writing Notes from Underground, and what exactly it is he is writing in reference to! It's a great time and we hope you enjoy it. Then be sure to come back next week for Part 3 where we will put the plot and the context together to finally discuss if this book is worth all the hype or if it was just a flop!

Other stuff discussed this episode:

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

Local updates on the brewery scene in Knoxville, TN

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

What's that noise I hear? Has someone crept into my basement and started playing the hit literary podcast The Satire Fire from their portable speaker? Oh how thoughtful! This week we are starting the ambitious challenge of discussing Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, the novel equivalent of a diss track! In this part we will be discussing the plot of the book, getting you caught up if it has been a while since you read it or if you aren't familiar with it at all. Then next week we will be back to break down the context behind this particular beef, talking about all the context you need to know to appreciate this 19th Century classic. Is this narrator relatable? Is he merely the world's first incel? Is he an empath? Tune in to find out all this and more!

Other stuff discussed this episode:

The Book of Mormon (the musical, not the religious text)

The Sewanee Review (and the state of writing in general)

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!

The days are shorter, the holidays are coming, and that means it's time to watch a Jane Austen romance movie! Join us this week as we talk about and review the 2007 movie adaptation of Northanger Abbey starring podcast darling Carey Mulligan. We break down what the differences are between the book and the movie, if one of them is better than the other, then spend a lot of time talking about movie adaptations in general. If you are like us and have a lot of thoughts about books being made into movies, this one is for you! Then be sure to come back next week when we start our new series on Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, our last series of the year before our special holiday episodes!

Other stuff discussed this episode:

I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

Sydney's European Adventure

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Want to support our podcast and a local bookstore? Check out our page on Bookshop.org to pick up any book we cover on the show, or our personal favorites!