Lit on Fire

Elizabeth Hahn and Peter Whetzel
  • 5.0 (9)
  • BOOKS

“Welcome to Lit on Fire — the podcast where literature meets controversy, where banned books, silenced voices, and dangerous ideas refuse to stay quiet. From classrooms to courtrooms, novels to news cycles, we explore how stories challenge power, expose injustice, and ignite social change. Our logo — a woman bound atop a burning stack of books — isn’t just an image. It’s a warning and a promise. A warning about what happens when voices are erased… and a promise that stories, once lit, are impossible to put out. So if you’re ready to question, to argue, to feel uncomfortable, and to think deeper — you’re in the right place. This is - Lit on Fire.

  1. 20H AGO

    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

    Send us Fan Mail If Fahrenheit 451 is “just” a book about censorship, why does it feel more accurate every time you open your phone? We read Ray Bradbury’s most overquoted dystopian novel as a warning about something harder to fight: a culture that willingly trades depth for speed, thought for noise, and meaning for constant entertainment. Elizabeth and Peter are joined by special guest Steve Hahn, a former literature teacher turned cybersecurity instructor, to unpack what Bradbury gets right about self-censorship, social approval, and the slow slide into apathy. We walk through Montag’s unraveling after Clarisse asks the question that should scare all of us: “Are you happy?” From Mildred’s numb “happiness” and wall-sized TV “family” to a society that barely notices it’s at war, the book sketches a world where distraction becomes a lifestyle and critical thinking becomes suspicious. We also dig into the darker corners: Beatty as a smart antagonist who can quote what he condemns, propaganda that rewrites history, and how “truth” collapses when people stop reading. Then come the scenes that still hit like a match: the woman who chooses to burn with her books, the “Dover Beach” breakdown in the parlor, and the closing image of people becoming living books after the city falls. We end with Bradbury’s companion story “The Pedestrian” and the idea of knowledge as a candle, not a bonfire. Listen, then share this with a reader who’s been doomscrolling lately, and if you like what we’re building, subscribe and leave a review. What’s one habit you want to change to protect your attention? Support the show

    53 min

  2. 3D AGO

    Circe by Madeline Miller

    Send us Fan Mail The myths taught us to treat Circe like a warning label: temptress, witch, monster. We’re not buying it. Tonight we step into Madeline Miller’s Circe and look at what happens when the so-called villain is finally allowed to speak in a full human voice.  With our guest Lyndi Whetzel, we trace Circe’s long arc from Helios’s obsidian palace, where she’s mocked, managed, and kept useful, to exile on Aeaea, where witchcraft becomes less about domination and more about survival. Along the way we dig into divine cruelty, patriarchal power, loneliness, revenge, and the way “transformation” keeps showing up as both magic and metaphor. We also talk about why Miller’s writing makes centuries feel intimate, and why familiar Greek mythology landmarks still land with surprise when the perspective shifts.  Then we get honest about the hard parts: violence wrapped in heroic stories, the danger of craving worship, and the moment Circe stops living as a reaction to everyone else’s energy. Motherhood raises the stakes, Athena sharpens the threat, and sacrifice becomes the clearest measure of love in a world that rarely rewards it.  If you love Greek mythology retellings, feminist literature, or character-driven fantasy that refuses simple heroes and villains, hit play. Subscribe, share the episode with a fellow reader, and leave us a review with your take: is immortality a gift, or just another prison? Support the show

    54 min

  3. APR 26

    Erasure by Percival Everett

    Send us Fan Mail Erasure doesn’t ask for your polite opinions. It dares you to notice what you reward, what you excuse, and what you call “authentic” when a book is marketed as the real thing. We talk through Percival Everett’s blistering literary satire and why it lands like a joke you laugh at first, then replay in your head when the discomfort kicks in. We start with Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, an Ivy-educated novelist and professor whose work gets ignored because it won’t perform the version of Blackness the publishing industry knows how to sell. Then the fuse catches: Monk writes a stereotype-stuffed parody as a pure act of spite, only to watch it become a bestseller with massive money attached. That twist lets us examine reader bias, cultural representation, and the economics of storytelling without hiding behind easy villains. The system matters, but so does the audience. From there we get into Everett’s craft and structure, including the journal-like frame, stories inside stories, and the way philosophical conversations about art and literature deepen the satire. We also connect Erasure to Everett’s James and the idea of language as power, especially how dialect and narrative control can erase real voices in plain sight. And we don’t skip the personal erasures: Alzheimer’s and memory, family secrets, sexuality, grief, and the final award-scene irony that makes identity feel like a costume you can’t take off. If you like book discussions that treat literary fiction as a live wire, listen through and tell us where you felt called out. Subscribe, share the show with a reader who loves sharp satire, and leave a review so more people find the conversation. Support the show

    46 min

  4. APR 23

    I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

    Send us Fan Mail A cage, forty women, and guards who never explain themselves. Then one mistake changes everything, and the real terror begins: freedom with no map, no society, and no reason built into the sky. We’re diving into Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men, a philosophical dystopia that feels less like world-building and more like an experiment in what identity becomes when memory, culture, and relationship fall away. We walk through the novel’s stark setup and why the unnamed narrator “the child” is so unsettling and so believable. We talk about the book’s deliberate refusal to deliver satisfying answers, why it earns five stars without being “enjoyable,” and how the atmosphere of repetition turns existence itself into the plot. Along the way, we trace the characters’ different responses to isolation: longing and collapse for those who remember, resilience and creation for someone who has never known anything else. From there, we dig into the episode’s biggest themes: witnessing as a form of legacy, dignity in death, and the ethics of being the one person left to see. We also bring in a Buddhist lens on attachment and suffering, plus the book’s surprising ideas about sexuality, secrecy, and self-agency. If you like existential literature, Beckett-style bleakness, or literary analysis that doesn’t flinch, this conversation will stick with you. Subscribe for more deep-dive book discussions, share this with a friend who likes uncomfortable questions, and leave a review. What’s one thing you think you’d still be without other people? Support the show

    42 min

  5. APR 19

    Author Reck Well - Interview #4

    Send us Fan Mail A LitRPG doesn’t have to be a power fantasy to hit hard. Live from the chaos and magic of JordanCon, we sit down with author Reckwell, the voice behind Stumbling Up: The Loser’s Guide to Progression, a LitRPG comedy that swaps flawless heroes for lovable strugglers who keep moving anyway. We talk about why Cole and his friends feel so recognizable: the self doubt, the constant comparison, the sense that everyone else got the instruction manual. Reck Well shares how personal career pivots and real loss shaped the core message, that progress is often messy and nonlinear, and that “loser” is usually just a temporary story you tell yourself. If you’ve ever wrestled with imposter syndrome, this conversation makes the case that progression fantasy can be more than escapism, it can be a mirror. Then we get nerdy about craft. Why give the party an animal companion who’s intentionally useless, sarcastic, and somehow unforgettable? Enter Richard, the fanged banana slug. Reck Well breaks down the audiobook choices with narrators Jeremy Fraser and Jessica Threet, the decision to stay in first person, and the “creamy not crunchy” approach to LitRPG mechanics, with just enough levels and loot to satisfy without burying the story in math. We also unpack grind, pacing, and how a system that rewards what you practice can turn self criticism into an actual in-world skill. If you love character-driven LitRPG, progression fantasy with heart, and stories that earn their wins, you’ll want this one in your queue. Subscribe, share the episode with a LitRPG friend, and leave a review, then tell us what you prefer: light systems or crunchy spreadsheets? Support the show

    32 min

  6. APR 19

    S.L. Rowland - JordanCon Interview #3

    Send us Fan Mail Cozy fantasy looks gentle from the outside, but the best of it cuts straight to the hard stuff: grief, identity, belonging, and the quiet fear of being remembered for the wrong thing. We’re live at JordanCon 2026 talking with author S.L. Rowland, creator of the Tales of Aedrea, about how he writes stories that feel like a warm room while still demanding real change from the characters inside it. We dig into Rowland’s path from LitRPG to cozy fantasy, why Legends and Lattes helped unlock the “retired hero” idea for him, and how writing nine LitRPG books sharpened the deep worldbuilding that makes Adria feel lived-in. He breaks down what cozy fantasy means in plain terms, why personal stakes can be higher than any “save the world” plot, and how standalones in a shared universe let him chase fresh emotional angles book to book. Then we stir the pot with his next swing: cozy horror. Think spooky, nostalgic vibes rather than gore, and a premise built around a retired adventurer, necromantic texts, and an aging dog he can’t bear to lose. We also talk arthritis awareness and his work with the Arthritis Foundation, plus a wild industry story about how he accidentally became “Author Steve Rowland” in Dungeon Crawler Carl. If you love character-driven fantasy, small business fantasy, and stories about legacy, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a cozy fantasy friend, and leave us a review. What’s the coziest book that still broke your heart? Support the show

    28 min

  7. APR 19

    Ben Wolf, Ryan H Reid and Gary Furlong - JordanCon Interview #2

    Send us Fan Mail We’re recording from the middle of JordanCon, where the background noise is real and the best conversations are the ones you can’t script. Author Ben Wolf joins us alongside Sound Booth Theater narrators Ryan H. Reid and Gary Furlong to talk about what happens when a story moves from page to performance and how LitRPG is changing what listeners expect from audiobooks. Ben breaks down Rickshaw Riot, his debut LitRPG series co-written with Luke Messa. The hook is pure gamer wish fulfillment with a sharp twist: a billionaire builds a massive video game world that mashes up beloved game styles across history, then gets trapped inside it with 1.3 billion players and no “good” class left. He’s stuck pulling a rickshaw like Crazy Taxi, grinding for survival while a Scrooge-like character arc pushes him from cynical profiteer toward something better. We also get practical craft talk on navigating LitRPG tropes, keeping stats readable instead of crunchy, and why planning an ending (six books, not endless sprawl) can make a series hit harder. Ryan and Gary take us inside the booth, where “just reading” isn’t enough anymore. We dig into immersive audiobook narration, live duet chemistry, casting choices, and the little production decisions that make audio feel three-dimensional. If you care about LitRPG, audiobook performance, progression fantasy, or how fandom communities like Dungeon Crawler Carl’s ecosystem influence new work, this one is for you. Subscribe for more creator conversations, share this with your favorite audiobook friend, and leave a review if you want more live convention chaos. What’s the one audiobook that made you forget you were “listening” and made it feel like you were there? Support the show

    43 min

  8. APR 18

    Jessica Threet (Actor/Audiobook Narrator) - JordanCon Interview #1

    Send us Fan Mail We’re recording live from JordanCon, surrounded by the hum of readers, creators, and pure convention chaos, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our guest is Jessica Threet, a voice actor, singer, and audiobook narrator with 500+ titles who knows exactly how a single voice can pull you deeper into a story than you thought possible. We talk about the craft behind audiobook narration and voice acting: why performing on stage isn’t the same as performing into a microphone, how mic technique changes everything, and what it really takes to deliver just a few finished hours of audio. Jessica shares how she stays “on” for long sessions, how she tracks character voices with notes and sound clips, and why certain accent combinations require a mental gear shift to keep performances clean and believable. We also get into the heart of the work. Jessica explains how she connects to characters through psychology, even when their experiences are nothing like her own, and why some series endings leave her openly sobbing in the booth. Along the way, she shouts out favorite projects, highlights the value of on-page representation in fantasy and cozy stories, and teases what’s next including Red Rising work, the Natural Magic series, Unserious, and a LitRPG release. You’ll even hear the story of a booth mishap that accidentally became a forever “Easter egg” on Audible. If you love audiobooks, narration, fantasy, romantasy, and the behind-the-scenes reality of storytelling, hit play and join us in the noise. Subscribe, share this with an audiobook friend, and leave a review with your favorite narrator pick. Support the show

    27 min
See All (30)

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

“Welcome to Lit on Fire — the podcast where literature meets controversy, where banned books, silenced voices, and dangerous ideas refuse to stay quiet. From classrooms to courtrooms, novels to news cycles, we explore how stories challenge power, expose injustice, and ignite social change. Our logo — a woman bound atop a burning stack of books — isn’t just an image. It’s a warning and a promise. A warning about what happens when voices are erased… and a promise that stories, once lit, are impossible to put out. So if you’re ready to question, to argue, to feel uncomfortable, and to think deeper — you’re in the right place. This is - Lit on Fire.

Information

  • Creator
    Elizabeth Hahn and Peter Whetzel
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    30
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Lit on Fire
  • Show Website
    Lit on Fire

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