SPLANCHNICS: The Society for the Preservation of Literature, the Arts, Numinosity, Culture, Humor, Nerdiness, Inspiration, Cr Clare Walker & Hannah Kubiak

Clare and Hannah return with another book club, this time covering Joseph Heller's Catch 22, a satirical commentary on corporate malfeasance, nonsense, incompetence and bureaucracy. A classic war novel that coined a phrase still prominent in the modern zeitgeist, Catch 22 left Clare feeling like a dummy and convinced Hannah that she does indeed have a twisted brain. In other words, a bit of light reading for your summer.Support the Show.

In this breakfast chat, Clare shares a truly embarrassing story from a fellow veterinarian. Names and locations have been changed to protect those involved from further shame. This episode may be troubling for more squeamish listeners, as it contains terms like: uterine horn, testicles, castration, cervix, and litter-bearing animals. Also, Hannah ate spaghetti throughout this recording.Support the Show.

In part 2 of our series on the kings and queens of England, Clare and Hannah talk about two kings who embodied the term, "man-child." Henry II spent his entire wedding reception goofing off with his best friend and ignoring everybody else, including his new queen. Richard II surrounded himself with his favorite sycophants, spent a ridiculous amount of his country's money on clothes, and commissioned a religious icon featuring... himself. Support the Show.

Hannah takes the "reigns" for part 1 in a series about the kings and queens of England. Because royalty in England just cycled through the same three names over and over, today we learn about two kings named Henry:Henry II: the highlights of his reign were murdering his best friend in a cathedral, getting whipped within an inch of his life in the same cathedral, and giving a gorgeous castle to a six year-old out of spite.We talk about several movies: Becket (1964, starring Peter O'Toole as Ki...

Clare shares a song that terrifies both her and the man who wrote it. Hannah's song of choice did not so much rock her world as haunt her every waking moment for two weeks straight.Clare's song: "Cat's in the Cradle." Music, lyrics, and performance by Harry Chapin. In December of 1974 it was the Number 1 song on the Billboard Top 100. The link includes a brief interview with Chapin's widow and with his son, followed by a live performance of the song. The comments below the video are both hear...

Clare and Hannah read Charles Portis' 1968 novel, True Grit, and have not been able to talk normally since. We also analyze two movie adaptations of the book: the 1969 adaptation directed by Henry Hathaway and the 2010 adaptation directed by the Coen Brothers. To get your own copy of this amazing book and/or your own DVD copy of the movies, visit Clare's Bookshop.org store. (It's in the Splanchnics Book Club section). You'll get a discount AND you'll be supporting your favorite podcast! Thank...