Workers' Lit

It's that time again. It's a patron-chosen episode!!

This time the patrons chose a dark one: Octavia Butler's 1979 time travel novel/first-person slave narrative, "Kindred."

This book is a classic for a reason. It engages directly with American slavery and its long-term legacy, and doesn't shy away from the brutality. As such, this is a darker episode...though we still think you'll enjoy and get a lot from it!

Some podcast news: starting next week we'll be launching "Workers' Lit: The Epilogues," an additional half hour (or so) of conversation around the week's book and related topics we'd like to get to but didn't quite fit in the episode. These Epilogues will release the same day of every new episode, and be available only to Workers' Lit Patrons.

We'll also be launching a Patrons-only Discord and reading club very soon, so be on the look out for that (and support us on Patreon so you can be part of it!)

https://patreon.com/workerslit

THIS IS A PATREON EPISODE! If you want the full episode go support us on Patreon here:

https://www.patreon.com/WorkersLit/posts/ayshas-author-173875308

In today's bonus Patreon episode Aysha sits down with one of our favorite writers and guests: Lee Mandelo!

Lee is a brilliant horror author, having written such books as "Summer Sons" and "Woods All Black." In this conversation he and Aysha delve into discussion about his genre, creative examinations of gender and sex in literature, and watching shows with subtitles.

We hope you enjoy! Also, go check out "Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity", a sci-fi collection edited by Lee and featuring Aysha!

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770919/amplitudes-by-lee-mandelo/

Have y'all heard about this whole "European colonialism" thing? It's bad news, REALLY bad news!

Isaac, an organizer with the South Dekalb Coordinating Committee joins us today for a conversation about a true political titan: Walter Rodney. A Guyanese historian, political philosopher, and organizer, Rodney published his masterwork, "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" in 1972.

This conversation takes you through Rodney's life, the outline of his arguments, and a high-level view of the historical processes by which European colonization and imperialism stunted the growth of the African continent, leaving us with the geopolitical situation we see today. It's upsetting stuff, but it's absolutely crucial to understand should we want to see change!

Go support the South Dekalb Coordinating Committee in its quest to organize, educate, and support the people of the Metro Atlanta area in their fight against capitalism and racism!

https://linktr.ee/SDCC_

Go check out Isaac's writing on Substack!

https://substack.com/@isaacboa

Go support Workers' Lit on Patreon!

https://patreon.com/workerslit

Links to sources for this episode:

https://www.economist.com/special-report/2025/01/06/the-economic-gap-between-africa-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-growing

https://www.policycenter.ma/publications/impact-chinese-investments-africa-neocolonialism-or-cooperation

https://www.worldbank.org/en/brief/2026/09/17/the-job-i-hope-for

https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/m7o1qi/africa_according_to_the_conference_of_berlin/

This is a preview. To access the full episode please go support Workers' Lit on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/workerslit

It's time for yet another installment of Lenore and Rahab's monthly patron-only miniseries, "Article Brain!"

This time we wade into two very different, very stupid articles. First, Jacobin asks us why books aren't manly anymore. Then, Larry David (yes, that Larry David) shows that even a generational comedian can't make "socialism is when no iPhone" funny.

Links to the articles. Please do not read them, this is just to cite our sources or whatever:

https://jacobin.com/2026/10/lonesome-dove-reading-novels-men

https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-view-from-here

IMPORTANT NOTE: You might notice one of our hosts is going by a new name (Rahab/Ray). Have you slipped into an alternate reality? Perhaps, perhaps not. For some specifics, go check out the "Rise of Rahab" episode on the Patreon. Or just pretend it was always this way, that works too.

Let's Go Lesbians!

This is a really special episode. The incredible science fiction author Amal El-Mohtar joins us to discuss August Clarke's 2024 "Metal From Heaven," a queer, violent, exciting, sexy, brutal, blast of a novel that will have YOU ready to join the Highwaymen's Choir.

Discussion includes: building parallel systems in the face of oppression, the performance of gender and its intersection with sexuality, the need for more strap-ons in science fiction, and becoming communist God.

Go check out Amal's incredible work at her website: https://amalelmohtar.com/

Go support Workers' Lit on Patreon:

https://patreon.com/workerslit

Sources from the episode:

https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html

https://www.semcoop.com/blog/post/end-hereafter-qa-august-clarke-author-metal-heaven

The age of humanity has passed. The age of the noodle is at hand!

This week, we are joined by the brilliant author Cecilia Tan to discuss "Automatic Noodle," a cozy sci-fi novella by Annalee Newitz. This book will finally answer the question we've all been waiting to solve: What happens when a bunch of abandoned, sentient robots try to claim their autonomy and open a restaurant?

This episode has a bit of friendly disagreement as we discuss questions like: Is the environment TOO warm and fuzzy? Where does sci-fi succeed/fail as it turns real-world issues into allegory? How did California separate from the United States? All this and more!

Cecilia Tan is an incredible author. Go buy her books and support her on Patreon! All relevant info can be found at Cecilia's website here:

https://www.ceciliatan.com

We also covered one of Cecilia's books, "The Mystery of the Bitten Peach," just a few months ago. Go listen to that here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6q5EVMX85CuyFPD1SeSUke

Go support Workers' Lit on Patreon!

https://patreon.com/workerslit

Capitalism is not up to the task of 21st century healthcare. Facing wars, an ageing population, fossil fuel-driven disasters, debilitating diseases, and the everyday rigors of life, the capitalist healthcare system instead prioritizes profit above all else.

On this episode Jake Flores of "Pod Damn America" joins Jen and Lenore to discuss this crisis, then they get into a different healthcare model presented by, "Health Communism," a 2025 book written by Artie Vierkant and Beatrice Adler-Bolton of the "Death Panel" Podcast.

It's a great book. It's a great episode. Don't miss it!

Go support "Workers' Lit" on Patreon!

https://patreon.com/workerslit

Go check out Jake Flores' podcast, "Pod Damn America"

https://www.patreon.com/poddamnamerica

Go check out "Health Communism"

https://www.versobooks.com/products/2801-health-communism

On September 28, 2021, Lee Mandelo released his debut novel: "Summer Sons," a southern gothic horror that wrestles with guilt, sexual repression, the long shadows of southern history, the evils of academia, and reinventing BDSM dynamics from first principles with your buddies.

On September 28, 2026, Workers' Lit released an episode with Lee himself, looking back on "Summer Sons" as a book.

We've had authors on to talk about their books, but never to break down their novels in a beat-by-beat way we typically review literature. We were thrilled to have Lee back on the show for this amazing topic.

Want more of Workers' Lit/Lee collaboration content? You'd be crazy not to. Links to his two previous appearances and our coverage of "Woods All Black" here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5j6AH8gxlpojTjZdEiuJH9?si=0qRwbRd3Q_G8w26qW-EGhw

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5M8AaWNVKHh0zuhWDVbt81?si=fl-JuDvlTiqgoojLR7ztGg

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3CRYIorpGHJVC0oYvtJhLu?si=_qTz2i4OR9eWku4PjLnIzQ

Want to support Workers' Lit on Patreon? Of course you do. Link here!

https://patreon.com/workerslit

Want more of Lee? OBVIOUSLY! Link here!

https://leemandelo.com/

Now is the time of monsters!

Caleb from Kill The Computer and 60 Minute Drill returns to the pod to discuss the legendary Italian intellectual, Antonio Gramsci. Trace the life story of this short king with us as he travels from the poor countryside of his youth to meet baddies in a Moscow sanitarium all the way to revolutionary struggle and prison in fascist Italy…and bro didn’t stop there! As soon as he hit the jail cell he started, “The Prison Notebooks.”

Over 3000 pages of documents, “The Prison Notebooks” contains keys for understanding the failure of the working class to defend its own interests, the way the ruling class exerts control despite all odds, and answers the key question: is Macklemore an intellectual?

Go Support Workers’ Lit on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/WorkersLit

Go Check out Caleb’s podcasts!

https://www.killthecomputer.com/

https://linktr.ee/60MinuteDrill

This is a preview. To access the full episode please go support Workers' Lit on Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/WorkersLit

Once again it's time for an Article Brain, the monthly sub-series where we find the worst articles of our day and age to torment one another with.

First up, we read Ross Douthat's departure from the New York Times. In typical Ross fashion, he manages to "both sides" in a way specifically designed to drive us insane.

And then we get CNN's take on the AI Apocalypse. Sure, it's coming, but don't we prefer an American AI Apocalypse to a Chinese one??

Links (not recommending you read these please God don't):

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/opinion/obama-trump-biden-enemy.html

https://us.cnn.com/2026/09/15/tech/ai-kill-everyone-china