Questioning the Canon Ben Rathert, Felicia Dieguez

All aboard for Season 4! We crash through snowy Russian landscapes and meander about pastoral Russian farmlands in our exploration of Russian foundational novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. We certainly had enough to say on this one, which is not surprising as the book is well over 700 pages in length with overflowing detail on every page. If you've never made the trip all the way through this one (just like I hadn't until recently), travel along with us as we sojourn to light and dark places alike. Sometimes it's more about the journey than it is about arriving anywhere in particular.

We round out season 3 of our little podcast with another graphic novel, this time from revered author Alison Bechdel and her 2006 masterpiece, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. There was so much to discuss here, including, but not limited to sexual identity, death in the family, and toxic citrus spokespeople of the 1970's. This is an important book for anyone struggling with their sense of self that may clash with the world and family they grew up in. Even with our best coverage, there were still topics in this book that we didn't get to, but we at least try to put the fun in "perfunctory"!

Now is the time to explore strange new alien civilizations, and thereby explore strange new ideas within ourselves with Ursula K. Le Guin's 1969 sci-fi classic The Left Hand of Darkness! We found a lot to engage with this month, especially in gender and how it impacts our personal lives and even how we think about ourselves. As humans, we may not have a physical shifting sexual identity like the citizens of Gethen, but perhaps how we think about ourselves can shift. Be aware, though, that speed is relativistic and we all get where we're going in our own time.

None of us can ever know what it was like to live the harrowing experience of being a black slave in America in the early 1800's, but Octavia Butler was determined to try and give her readers a taste in 1979's Kindred. While the book was not perfect, it did leave us asking and mulling over some important questions about who we are and who we might be in different situations. Plus we get to talk about mosquito born illnesses! Slip away with us and learn about some often overlooked roots of American history, it's a trip that you won't soon forget.

Let us sit upon the ground and listen to nerdy podcasts about the death of kings. Alas, poor Hamlet! We reviewed it, dear listener! There was so much ground to cover in this legendary play by William Shakespeare and we mulled over wordplay, anachronisms, and a surprising amount of historical religious talk. As this is one of Felicia's favorite plays and the first time Ben has read it, there was a lively conversation to be had all around. Let's go to the theater tonight, it's only a penny to stand in the pit!

It can be hard putting your life back together after the traumas of war, especially if you are perceiving different portions of your life out of order. Or at least you think you are. Come unstuck with us as we wander passively through the life and times of Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five and the many events that were inspired from author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s life. We had a blast talking about aliens, post-modernism, and current treatments for ancient psychiatric conditions. Listen along with us and so it will go.