Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century.

Normalcy is (maybe) returning to the Worst Century feed, and we are back with the final installment in our discussion of the year 2001. In this episode, we use Namwali Serpell's 2020 collection Stranger Faces* to look at the role of the face in 2001 and today. To help do this work, we get into four great films, which you can find here if you want to watch before you listen. During the discussion, we get into pet theories based on the year 2001, MAGA face, and the required autobiography of marginalized folks when creating art.

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Subscribe to get our next episode where we will discuss the award winning books of the year 2002. We'll be reading Middlesex* by Jeffrey Eugenides, You Are Not a Stranger Here* by Adam Haslett, Servants of the Map* by Andrea Barrett, and Three Junes* by Julia Glass.

As always, consider following and leaving us a rating and review. If you like what you hear, share the pod far and wide!

Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats.

* All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century.

Life continues to disrupt, but God's two favorite little soldiers power on. This episode, we get into the critical darlings of 2001: Bel Canto* by Anne Patchett; I, the Divine* by Rabih Alameddine; The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse* by Louise Erdrich; Erasure* by Percival Everett; Choke* by Chuck Palahniuk. The discussion ranges from what these 2001 books were saying about women and Queers to the resonating call for a return to small community and new literary lenses.

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Subscribe to get our next episode where we explore the themes of 2001. We'll be discussing Namwali Serpell's 2020 collection Stranger Faces* along with the movies Better Man (2024) and A Different Man (2024).

Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats.

* All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Reproductive/Gendered Violence Content Warning

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century.

After a month and a half of moves, power outages, and vacations, we're back! This episode, we're talking about the "Most Popular" fiction books of 2001 as listed by GoodReads: Life of Pi by Yann Martel*, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd*, and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón*. We get into Page's hatred of child protagonists, some of their favorite current cultural theories, identity co-opting, and political repression.

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Subscribe to get our August 10 episode on the critical favorites of 2001: Erasure by Percival Everett*; I, The Divine by Rabih Alameddine*; The Last Report on the Miracle at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich*; Bel Canto by Ann Patchett*; and Choke by Chuck Palahniuk.

Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing (and fact-checking) support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats.

* All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century.

This episode, we're talking about the big awards books of 2001, but first, we discuss the Pulitzer drama of 2025. We get into generational trauma, the right wing "they're coming to get you" conspiracy, how sad men are, and influencer culture and the monetization of hobbies. You know, light stuff!

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Subscribe to get our June 22nd episode where we talk about the award Goodreads most popular novels of 2001: Life of Pi by Yann Martel*, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd*, and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón*.

Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing (and fact-checking) support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats.

* All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century.

This episode, we're talking about how Camp absolutely slays the house down boots, divas. Listen along as we discuss how 2000 was the last year of Camp until the Barbie movie and how auteur directors are resurrecting the studio system to bring Camp back. We get into Sontag's seminal essay "Notes on Camp" as we discuss Gladiator II & The Substance, and we talk about the essay collection Tacky by Rax King as a love letter of Millennial culture. We also talk about passably hot nepo babies, radio plays, and how much Page hates Darren Aronofsky.

Subscribe to get our June 8 episode where we talk about the award winning novels of 2001: Empire Falls by Richard Russo*, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen*, and John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead*.

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Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing (and fact-checking) support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats.

* All book links redirect to our affiliate account on Bookshop.org, helping to fund the podcast.

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century.

Today's episode is about the books 2000 wants you to remember. We get into Dan Brown, John Grisham, George Saunders, and Helen DeWitt. We get caught up in the limbo that is time talking about a pope who was alive when we recorded. (And you get to hear Chris's voice giving us a little real-time update.) We also discuss how the year 2000 helped to create America's obsession with the "Deep State" and how it was a better time for America's greatest export: Straight White Men with Opinions.

Subscribe to get our May 25 episode where we talk about the year 2000's legacy of camp in the year 2025. We get into: The Substance, Gladiator II, Tacky: Essays by Rax King, and "On Camp" by Susan Sontag.

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Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing (and fact-checking) support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats.

Episode 2 and still going strong!

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century.

Today's episode is all about the movies of the year 2000. We start by diving into the Oscar & Indie Spirit Best Picture nominees for the year - really it's just a lot of talk about drugs and corporate power. Then we play a fun game where we look back to create our own ideal ballots for the year. A full list of the movies we talked about can be found here.

And subscribe to get our May 10 episode where we talk about the other books that have stuck around from the year 2000: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, The Brethren by John Grisham, Pastoralia by George Saunders, and The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt.

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Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing support. Music: "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats.

We're so back, baby!

Ian and Page, your two favorite store-brand English professors, have put together a syllabus for reading our way to an understanding of the 21st Century.

On this first episode, we get into our rules for the road, share a little about what went in to making this project, and dive into the first two books for the year 2000: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize) and In America by Susan Sontag (winner of the 2000 National Book Award for Fiction).

Listen to hear us speculate about life before 9/11 (we're both so young), discuss "Coming to America" stories, and investigate Ian's love of The Apprentice and how he might be personally responsible for Trump's presidency.

And subscribe to get our April 26 episode where we get into the movies of 2000 and create our own wishcast ballots for the 2001 Academy Awards.

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Our thanks to Chris Delano for editing support. Music "MTV (Pop, Britney Spears)" from BigBadBeats.