Ted Morrissey (The Tunnel at 25, A Lesson Before Writing podcast) returns to help Kaija, Chad, and Brian close out this three-month-long discussion about William H. Gass’s The Tunnel. They discuss the book’s structure, its ending, hoarding and alcoholism, the lack of academic attention paid to the book, the value of the audiobook’s liner notes, and more!

This episode’s music is “I Wish I Was Sober” by Frightened Rabbit.

TMR will be back in mid-February with season 30 featuring I, The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos & Helen Lane. The complete schedule for season 30 will be available in the near future, but get your copies now and join along!

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

This week, pervy academics, rivers, candy shops, and a bit of childhood gambling carry us through the penultimate section of Gass’s The Tunnel. Brian and Kaija kick off the episode sans Chad, who pops in toward the end and vechoes the discussion about the book’s overarching pattern of 4s, the applications of “harnessing history,” and—once again and with feeling—what is it that creates and shapes despicable and/or evil people into their despicable and/or evil selves.

This episode features two songs: “The Candy Man” by Sammy Davis, Jr., and “Wabash Cannonball” by Johnny Cash.

Next week is the final episode for this season, covering the whole of the book. Then, in mid-February, season 30 will launch and feature I, The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos & Helen Lane. The complete schedule for season 30 will be available in the near future, but get your copies now and join along!

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

Susu, the Book of Judges, MAGA, morality, the mirror of literature, heavy furniture . . . all of these are discussed on this week’s episode covering “Susu, I Approach You in My Dreams,” which includes the all-too-timely subsection “Being a Bigot.” Brian fills in some biblical background this week, Chad argues that reading Kohler makes you a better person, and Kaija is concerned about cats.

This episode’s music is “Coast” by Snocaps.

As we head into the end of this season, we’ll be covering a very long section next week: “Going to the River” (pages 534–632). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

Ted Morrissey (The Tunnel at 25) returns to talk about his favorite section of The Tunnel, which has some Joycean overtones, and is a little less angry than some of the other parts of the book. (See: Kohler talking about breakfast, saying nice things about Martha.) It is a section that gets into the core of Kohler’s argument in Guilt and Innocence in Hitler’s Germany—an argument that can also be summarized for our times as, “who is more evil: Trump or someone who joins ICE?” A fun way to kick off 2026 with laughs and intellectual musings, and some additional background on Gass’s relationship to academia.

This episode’s music is “This Year” by The Mountain Goats.

The next episode will drop in 2026 and will cover “Susu, I Approach You in My Dreams” (pages 475–533). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

In this section of The Tunnel, Gass looks at academia, committees, power dynamics on campus, and the “curse of colleagues.” Chad, Brian, and Kaija have a lot of fun with this section talking about how gross Kohler is, which colleague of his they most represent, whether or not any of these people are “real,” and the state of college as a public institution in 2025.

This episode’s music is “Sideboob” by English Teacher.

The next episode will drop in 2026 and will cover “Around the House” (pages 437–475). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

Lori Feathers (Interabang Books, Big Book Project) joins Kaija, Chad, and Brian to talk about “The First Winter of My Married Life” in which Kohler and Martha suffer the invasive noises of a nearby neighbor, Kohler loses his cool because of his inconsolable son, and various memories are explored thanks to a photo album. They talk about this, about how Kohler is manipulating the reader (why? to what end?), the cruel humor of the book, and much more—including the unveiling of what book we’ll be covering next season . . .

This episode’s music is “Spring and by Summer Fall” by Blonde Redhead.

Next week we’ll cover “The Curse of Colleages” (pages 386–437). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

Chris Via of Leaf by Leaf joins Kaija, Brian, and Chad on this episode to talk about “Why Windows Are Important to Me.” They discuss Chris’s ten-hour-long project on The Tunnel, why “Blackboard” is his favorite section, edges and nodes and architecture in literature, philosophy and metaphors, and much more. A very high-level, intellectual episode thanks in large part to Chris’s contributions!

This episode’s music is “Das Verschwinden” by The Notwist.

Next week we’ll cover “The First Winter of My Married Life” (pages 334–385). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

Covering the “Mad Meg” section (pgs 214–282), Chad, Kaija, and Brian talk about the juxtaposition of Kohler’s childhood Sunday drives with the bombast of Mad Meg’s lectures, about Southern Gothic writing and Flannery O’Connor, blaming others for your sadness, history and ideas, and more.

This episode’s music is “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)” from Car Seat Headrest.

We’ll be back on December 4 to cover “Why Windows Are Important to Me” (pages 282–334). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

As Kohler begins to dig his actual tunnel, Chad, Kaija, and Brian talk about Culp as a sort of döppelganger, complicity, the symbolism of a tunnel, losing one’s wedding ring, whether the breakup scene with Lou really took place, the formal constraints of dirty limericks, and much more. For all the daily fascism in the novel, the conversation about it is fun and funny, while teasing out various themes and exploring the core issues.

This episode’s music is “Whistle While You Work” from Snow White.

Next week we’ll cover the second section, “Mad Meg” (pages 214–282). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

This week Chad, Brian, and Kaija talk about the midwest as hell, locusts and tornados, one’s family and attempts to escape it, forms of love found in the book, aging (as always), History and history, Rilke, whether or not we “know” Kohler, and much more. It’s a fun, illuminating episode covering a section that, despite the exploding glass and wind, is a bit slower and more focused than the previous two.

This episode’s music is “Whirring” by The Joy Formidable.

Next week we’ll cover the second section, “We Have Not Lived the Right Life” (pages 49–146). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.