It's our last episode of 2023...so let's end it on something we all know and love, "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin!

What is it about this little story that gets inside people's heads? Is Omelas basically just the story of Jesus? Can you reform a system built on child misery? (I'll go on and answer that one: no.)

For more top-tier Omelas content, check out this phenomenal article by friend of the pod, Kurt Schiller! https://bloodknife.com/omelas-je-taime/

We are giving shout-outs to anyone who donates to PSL Atlanta and sends proof of donation to our Twitter account (@SocialistShelf) or email ([email protected]). The link to donate is here: https://www.liberationatl.org/donate

Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart,)

Yeah. The dog dies.

This week we're discussing Paolo Bacigalupi's sci-fi short story, "The People of Sand and Slag."

There's a lot of sand, there's a lot of slag. There's not a lot of joy, but we and our fantastic guest from Podside Picnic, Karlo Yeager Rodríguez, manage to find it where we can. They haven't managed to write a story yet that can destroy the power of a good bit.

We talk about climate change as blasphemy, the responsibility of humanity to the earth, the job of speculative fiction, and manage to talk about "1984" AGAIN despite having not done a "1984" episode.

Check out Karlo's work at https://alineofink.com/ and follow him on Twitter @kjy1066. Also, be sure to listen to Podside Picnic! https://www.patreon.com/PodsidePicnic

We are giving shout-outs to anyone who donates to PSL Atlanta and sends proof of donation to our Twitter account (@SocialistShelf) or email ([email protected]). The link to donate is here: https://www.liberationatl.org/donate

Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart,)

Not all is well in the town of Salem...or Washington for that matter.

Join the Shelfers as we dive into Arthur Miller's 1953 not-so-subtle-allegorical play, "The Crucible"

Topics of discussion: McCarthyism, religious hypocrisy, Marilyn Monroe, and Jacob playing Judge Danforth in high school.

We are doing shout-outs to anyone who donates to PSL Atlanta and sends proof of donation to our Twitter account (@SocialistShelf) or email ([email protected]). The link to donate is here: https://www.liberationatl.org/donate

Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart,) episode art is high school Jacob looking snazzy as Judge Danforth.

It's a lesser-known series...you probably haven't heard of it.

Today the shelfers take on Matthew Stover's 2005 novelization of "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith," the novel that asks the dangerous question of what would happen if you made ROTS... good?

Enjoy us diving into the concept of Star Wars legends, criticize Yoda for undialectical thinking, encouraging Bail Organa to start a Marxist militia on Alderaan, and draw parallels between Taylor Swift and Anakin Skywalker.

As discussed in the cold open, we'll be doing shout-outs to anyone who donates to PSL Atlanta and sends proof of donation to our Twitter account (@SocialistShelf) or email ([email protected]). The link to donate is here: https://www.liberationatl.org/donate

Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart,) episode art is definitely an actual picture we took of ourselves to promote this episode.

Joss reads the entire thing at the opening so you have no excuse not to absorb this text (unless you just don't want to in which case...fair)

This week we discuss French philosopher Albert Camus' 1942, essential absurdist work, "The Myth of Sisyphus." You might have heard this one before, it's where the guy is happy despite his whole rock situation.

We get into the life of Camus (we've got opinions!), look into if absurdism and socialism are compatible ideas (we have MORE opinions) and talk about high school Jacob's brief fling with absurdist thought (no need for opinions on this one.)

Come back next week for a discussion of Matthew Stover's 2005 novelization of "Revenge of the Sith."

Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart), episode art from SuperGiant's masterpiece, "Hades."

History may have gone entirely differently, but the music of Bruce Springsteen is eternal...

Today we explore the alt-history dystopia of Koushun Takami's, 1999 novel, "Battle Royale." This one's a little more intense than Fortnite.

What does "successful fascism" look like? Why is the genre of kids murdering each other so lucrative? Will Koushun Takami ever write a second novel?

Music by SoloMonk (@SoloMonl 256 on Twitter and https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart.) Episode art from novel's cover.

Folks welcome to the episode where we debut our BRAND NEW THEME SONG!!!!! Massive shout-out to Solo Monk for putting it together. Please go give him a follow on Twitter @SoloMonk256, on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/tsalcollective

But we do have an episode today outside the music. We're discussing the great 1929 work of Japanese proletarian literature, "The Crab Cannery Ship" by Takiji Kobayashi.

How does the historical process of capitalist development in Japan mirror that in Europe, and how is it different? How can the nameless, faceless nature of the working class be turned into a strength? Plus, what to do if your revolution fails (hint, hint: it's try again.)

Episode art is a crab emoji.

It's existential horror time!!

This week we get into Victor LaValle's 2016 novella, "The Ballad of Black Tom," a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft's shockingly racist (and honestly boring) short story, "The Horror at Red Hook." And yes, we read the original short story too so you don't have to.

The Shelfers discuss Lovecraft adaptions that deal with his legacy (and all that entails,) the inevitability of resistance against oppression, and why Cthulhu is way less scary than the NYPD.

Tune in next week for, "The Crab Cannery Ship" by Kobayashi Takiji!

Episode art from the novel's cover, music by Kevin MacLeod.

Jacob fails to read poetry, Joss makes bad jokes, we have a cool guest, and we released the episode two days late...honestly, it's the platonic ideal of a Socialist Shelf episode.

This week we're talking about J.D. Salinger's 1951 rant of a novel, "Catcher in the Rye." Joining us is writer, game developer, and professional Holden Caulfield defender, Aysha U. Farah, begging you to forget everything YA Twitter has told you to think about this book.

What's the deal with middle-class American angst? Is Holden Caulfield gay? Are angsty teens just tiny Marxists waiting to be given direction? All this and more!

You can find Aysha's work at her website, here: https://www.ayshaufarah.com/, or follow her on Twitter or Bluesky at @ayshaufarah.

Music by Kevin MacLeod, episode art is just a rye field from Getty Images

Let's. Get. Edgy.

Step into (even more) fascistic London in Alan Moore's classic 1982-1985 graphic novel, "V for Vendetta."

What makes Moore such a remarkable creator? How do repressive regimes give birth to their own destruction? How brutal must a revolution be? Also...what's the deal with anarchism?

Art from the graphic novel, music by Kevin MacLeod.

A little housekeeping: we're going to be (for the most part) dispensing with the part ones and twos and doing full weekly episodes, so I hope y'all enjoy that. Tune in next week for our "Catcher in the Rye" episode!!