Literary Disco

Hello all, Hey, it’s new episode day! This week we welcome Mark Haskell-Smith, author of the hilarious Heart of Dankness, who shares Sarah Levine’s brilliant picaresque novel Treasure Island. We loved it. We also share some really good stuff from our bookshelves about being a starving, boxing circus freak who lives under a bridge. (Or at least, if we combined all of our recommendations into one book, that’s what it would be about. Someone write this!) And finally, Tod once again tries to stump Rider and Julia on what’s a real poem and what’s just Tod reading stuff in a ridiculous poet-y voice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Evening, readers! Here we have Episode 5: Above the Factory. Read, listen, mull it over, throw your listening device across the room in frustration… whatever floats your boat. We also introduce a new bookish game: Judging a Book by Its Cover. We read first sentences from famous (or semi-famous) works, and then make educated guesses about the contents of the novels. Are you ready to play? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, everyone! Here’s Episode 4. Sorry for the delay. We were having technical difficulties, so here’s a tried-and-true MP3 for your listening pleasure. — Friends, family, loved ones of all sorts: if you were to organize a room for a lecture, where might you put the chairs? If you were to teach people how to play charades, what would you tell them? Are messenger bags relevant to this discussion at all? Kathryn Borel discusses “The Chairs Are Where the People Go,” with Tod, Rider, and Julia, who do not agree on its quality. Ready for a showdown? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we get silly. We discuss the various merits and demerits of Sweet Valley High. We revisit the classics, but upon Julia’s insistence, we give it the stupid name “Classics Corner– with two K’s!” See, that makes it friendly and approachable… right? Let us know what you think in the comments, and please enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our second podcast, we go back to our bookshelves again (or maybe put on our ipods, or maybe even just look at the back of the book). Then we take a deep dive into Darin Strauss’ memoir, Half a Life, which leads to a hot debate about the current challenges of nonfiction. Finally, Tod tries to stump Julia and Rider by reading things from the internet in the voice of a substandard poet. If you haven’t finished the book yet, don’t fret– you can revisit the episode any time. And there are no major spoilers– Half a Life is a meditative book so it’s more about style than plot, anyway. Feel free to leave your reaction to the book in our comments, or tweet us @LiteraryDisco. Happy listening, Literary Disco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The long-awaited first episode of Literary Disco has arrived! We begin by revisiting our bookshelves and recommending some of our favorites (or, in Rider’s case, weird books from the teen years) to each other. Then we get to the meat and potatoes of the episode: Bright’s Passage. We react, we question, we banter, we express enthusiasm for talking horses. If you haven’t finished the book yet, don’t fret– you can revisit the episode any time. And there are no major spoilers. We mostly speak about style and character in this episode, not plot. Feel free to leave your reaction to the book in our comments, or tweet us @LiteraryDisco. Happy listening, Literary Disco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe and listen! This is our introductory podcast, in which Rider, Tod, and Julia discuss the books they loved, standing up to librarians, and meaningful professors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices