Literary Nomads

Steve Chisnell
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Join me, Steve Chisnell, as we find and lose meaning across modern and classic tales, through ancient and distant verse, atop everything in our many cultures which might be read. For teachers, students, and lovers of reading, we will discover new paths to understanding!

  1. 6D AGO

    The Bureaucracy of Erasure: Erdrich’s The Night Watchman

    Your Interpretation is Colonial. When we turn Zen into a pop-culture vibe or a totem pole into a corporate metaphor, we aren't learning; we're committing interpretative violence.

    52 min

  2. JAN 30

    Words from Nigeria 3 – Emezi’s Pet & Hunters for Truth

    Akwaeke Emezi demonstrates how Nigeria’s contemporary writers turn our conceptual realities around. They offer a YA novel that doesn’t condescend, but more, one which shows that we should not “walk away” from Omelas, but perhaps “Stay and Hunt.” This is also the final of three episodes which offers a broader look at the history and […]

    38 min

  3. JAN 24

    Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero

    Why have so few read Soyinka? And can we find hope through his cynical dramas? I admit I am a victim of the myth-making around me which has made Soyinka and other African writers largely invisible. Let’s see why. Episode 6.24 – Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero African writers named […]

    40 min

  4. JAN 16

    Words from Nigeria Pt 1: Adichie and the Literary Manifesto

    What sort of literature is this, anyway? Today we introduce some approaches to Nigerian literature, offer a bevy of African writers, and explore how one of Nigeria’s most powerful authors can write her own modest letter to humanity. Also, we learn about hostile architecture from one of our listeners. Episode 6.23 – Words from […]

    38 min

  5. JAN 9

    Cassandra: Uncertain Steps

    And what if nobody listens? Yes, entering our calls for justice into public space carries no small amount of anxiety. And the poster-child for being unheard, the Trojan princess and priestess Cassandra, may–if we read our mythology carefully–provide us some clues to our purpose and goals in writing as anti-epic heroes, wielding language as […]

    37 min

  6. 12/27/2025

    Writing Back: Letters to Humanity

    26 Dec 2025 Episode 6.21 – Writing Back: Letters to Humanity A different sort of New Year Resolution, moving us from personal improvement to public advocacy! Let’s write an essay of address, framing our passions into a perspective that would make Le Guin proud! Texts from this episode: Nazim Hikmet: Letters to Taranta-Babu, 1935 […]

    39 min

  7. 12/19/2025

    The Great Societies: Lowry’s “The Giver”

    19 Dec 2025 Episode 6.20 – The Great Societies: Lowry’s The Giver Another thorny utopia, Lowry’s Community practices a different kind of strategy to the Hideous Bargain: ethical evasion, a too tempting strategy for all of us. Political? Yes. But also a YA fantasy vision of what some of the latest writers and thinkers […]

    38 min

  8. 12/12/2025

    The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning

    12 Dec 2025 Episode 6.19 – The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning We finish our discussion of the silent film Metropolis and answer our question of art and politics by examining the text, context, and reader meaning-making. Discussed in the episode: A definition of Context: with / accompanying / […]

    51 min
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About

Join me, Steve Chisnell, as we find and lose meaning across modern and classic tales, through ancient and distant verse, atop everything in our many cultures which might be read. For teachers, students, and lovers of reading, we will discover new paths to understanding!

Information

  • Creator
    Steve Chisnell
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    71
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Show Website
    Literary Nomads