Slow Learners

Asher Dark + John Semley
  • 4.5 (48)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

A podcast about big books. Season One is devoted to a reading an analysis of Thomas Pynchon's 1973 novel "Gravity's Rainbow," and other issues directly related to the text.

  1. VINELAND EP 6/7: Voicemails

    DEC 18

    VINELAND EP 6/7: Voicemails

    We clear out the voicemail machine. Included: Proustian Failure, One Battle After Another, Bungled Anarchist Theory, Joyce Comparisons, Dante and His Divine Three-Volume Series, Japanese Cadences; Is Fiction Just, Like, Autobiography, Man?; Pynchonian Media, Montreal, AND AS USUAL LOTS MORE!!!!!!

    1h 35m

  2. NOV 6

    VINELAND EP 6: Vineland The Good?

    We are back. Sorry for the delay--we were just uh...savoring the book's ending, and the richness of the text. John and Asher ride solo...together. Like DL and Takeshi! In our final Vineland read-through, we cover the book's last three chapters, learn more about Brock Vond's sexual proclivities, witness, the birth of Prairie, get the scoop on Zoyd's whole window-smashing-deal, return to Vineland itself for the Traverse-Becker family reunion, learn the fate of all our characters, and meet like 17 more. We also discuss myths of the afterlife, theories of hereditary madness (courtesy Italian phrenologists), giggling, acid versus coke rock, acid versus coke books, the ontology of the Pynchonverse, the (over)abundance agenda, if Sleep is the same band as Electric Wizard, Sylvia Plath, Proust (natch!), something-other-than-pessimism, the symbolism of blue jays, if hope is evil, and the impossibility of tilting the beam. Thanks for listening! We'll be back soon! And remember... SUNSHINE DAYDREAM SUNSHINE DAYDREAM SUNSHINE DAYDREAM SUNSHINE DAYDREAM SUNSHINE DAYDREAM SUNSHINE DAYDREAM SUNSHINE DAYDREAM SUNSHINE DAYDREAM Music In This Episode: Wendy Watson - "Degrassi Jr. High Theme" (excerpt) Sleep - "Dragonaut" (excerpt) Pop o' Pies - "Sugar Magnolia" (Demo Tape Version) (edited) Other Stuff: "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath "Proverbs for Paranoids" Gravity's Rainbow Guide

    1h 17m

  3. OCT 23

    VINELAND EP 5: It's The Libidinal Economy, Stupid! (W/Subliminal Jihad)

    THIS WEEK: John and Asher reads through Chapters 10-12 of Vineland, which takes them back in their shared semester at the College of the Surf (John was Asher's RA). We also learn about the scintillating backstory of Frenesi Gates and her love affair with a COP (ew)--the betrayal of all her ostensible values. We also talk Marx, Freud, Lyotard, Thorazine as a bad-trip-killer, cinematic radicalism, the horny monster who lives inside of you and makes you do stuff you shouldn't want to (or even don't want to) do, May '68, the Emerald Triangle, and the Pynchonian figure of the evil dentist. THEN: Asher is joined by Dimitri and Khalid of the Subliminal Jihad podcast to talk about Pynchon's ties (literary and otherwise) to deep state conspiracism, occult machinations, and all things para-political (or as the boys would say it: political). The truth is out there? WRONG AGAIN. The truth is in...here. MUSIC: Kimi-Bogdan Raczynski

    2h 25m

  4. OCT 16

    VINELAND EP 4: Keeping it DL (w/Ana Gavrilovska)

    This week: John and Asher continue reading through and chatting about Vineland, a journey that takes us from California to Ohio to Japan and back again. We mull the novel's conspicuous "Eastern" influences, deep state machinations pitting the mob against the feds, and spend a lot of time with the curious--and amazing!--character Daryl Louise Chastain. Then: we're joined by writer Ana Gavrilovska to talk about D.L., One Battle After Another, Against the Day....and we finally and definitively answer the question: can Pynchon write women? Follow Ana on Twitter and read her Substack, why dontcha! Music in this Episode: Black Flag - "TV Party" Cold Foamers - "Always"

    1h 3m
  5. VINELAND EP 3: Whether Underground (w/Eleanor Stein)

    OCT 9

    VINELAND EP 3: Whether Underground (w/Eleanor Stein)

    And we're back! With VINELAND, chapters 6-8. John and Asher discuss inter-generational negation, luddites, the computerized future, communitarian happenings, Esalen, transpersonal psychology, holotropic breathwork, and '70s solipsism. THEN: We speak with former member of the Students for Democratic Society and the Weatherman Eleanor Stein about '60s radicalism and their intersection with the hippier counterculture, left politics tactics, and the moral crises of then and now. MUSIC IN THIS EPISODE: "God's Children (End)" - The Kinks

    1h 39m

  6. OCT 2

    VINELAND EP 2: What Was The Hippie? (w/Jesse Jarnow)

    We begin our read-through of Thomas Pynchon's Vineland in earnest, covering Chapters 1-5. John and Asher discuss the amateurishness of opening a novel with a character waking up, the perils of transfenestration, the ersatzness of Hawaiian holidays, and whether Billy Barf and the Vomitones are a heavy metal band or a hardcore band. Was there D-beat before the band Discharge? We'll never know... Also! We welcome author, broadcaster and podcaster Jesse Jarnow to talk about the legacy of the '60s hippie counterculture and help situate Pynchon's novel, culturally. Jesse is the author of arguably the chronicle of the hippie underground, Heads (among other wonderful volumes), host of The Frow Show on the mighty WFMU in Jersey, also the co-host of The Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast. Follow Jesse on Bluesky, why dontcha? Here's John's article (that Asher helped edit) in Rolling Stone, about the history of LSD manufacture, that comes up in this episode. Music in this Episode: The Last Poets - "When the Revolution Comes" (1970) The Watts Prophets - "Public Enemy Number One" (1996) Jane Birkin - "Ex-fan des sixties" (1978)

    1h 38m

  7. SEP 25

    VINELAND EP 1: Snitches Get Stitches (w/ Noah Kulwin)

    We missed "Pynchon Summer." But just barely! Cut us some slack, eh? In any event, we are back with our read-through of Thomas Pynchon's Vineland (1990). Is it a triumphant return following the interminable 17 interregnum since Gravity's Rainbow? Or a total piece of junk! As usual, the truth is...what we say it is. This intro episode sets up the book, its themes, and background. Then we chat with returning guest Noah Kulwin about the role of the snitch or government informant in American politics and culture. Make sure to check out Noah and Brendan James' essential pod-chronicle of American Empire, Blowback, which just launched its sixth season. OK we are glad to be back! New episodes every week or so! MUSIC in this Episode: The Exploited - "Police Informer" (1987) The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - "California Über Alles" (1992)

    1h 24m

  8. 03/11/2024

    Mailbag Time (Listener Qs, A'd)

    We open the ol' mailbag, which is really more of google voicemail inbox, to answer some listener Q&As. At long last! We accidentally deleted one and apologize. So if you're the person who called in to ask about the "keying waves" sequence, where Slothrop is talking to his dad...well....we are truly sorry. It was a good question! Stay tuned. We are starting prep on our next season on Proust. We are currently arguing about whether to do just Swann's Way, or all of In Search Of Lost Time, which is like 9 billion words. Maybe we can do Swann's Way first, and then do other books? And then come back to Proust? If you have thoughts, we'd appreciate it, as we like to put our listeners first...after ourselves, and all our stupid, self-indulgent tendencies, and whims. It may be a few months off, in any event. If you're not doing so yet, follow us on Twitter, which will never be known as "X."

    54 min
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4.5
out of 5
48 Ratings

About

A podcast about big books. Season One is devoted to a reading an analysis of Thomas Pynchon's 1973 novel "Gravity's Rainbow," and other issues directly related to the text.

Information

  • Creator
    Asher Dark + John Semley
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Asher Dark + John Semley
  • Show Website
    Slow Learners

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