Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneYou can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts to get early access to our Infinite Jest series as well as any other bonus episodes/series we do down the road (or just to support us!)If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Books: William Vollmann’s Seven Dreams seriesVideo Games: Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy VIAs always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Time: var. moments of social cavitationLocation: var. locales of New Old Mexico, esp. northernSubject: Quiselgur, El Chavalito "Frank Traverse"Concerns: - rigid and constricted manifolds - succulent flora - turnaboutRecommendations: - Continue observation - Maintain separation from subject "QR" - Apply steady pressure along lines of cleavageIf you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Music: Hermanos Gutierrez El Bueno Y El Malo (2022)Film/TV: Acid westerns of Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain)As always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Interview with Michael Silverblatt: David Foster Wallace on Bookworm (1996-2006)YouTube · M.J. NichollsSep 22, 2021String Theory by David Foster WallaceAs always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Nothing new about this episode, despite the 2.0 in the name. We had some problems with the original being Apple Podcasts exclusive, so the workaround was in changing the title (slightly).If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Interview with Michael Silverblatt: David Foster Wallace on Bookworm (1996-2006)YouTube · M.J. NichollsSep 22, 2021String Theory by David Foster WallaceAs always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Before setting sail, we check in on the bouncing baby Jesse and the newlyweds who made him. Things aren't going too hot for the young family, the line between reciprocal sacrifice and foolheadedness seeming blurrier every day, and that's without getting into the vigilantism. But now they've parted ways, for the kid's own good, and as Reef eyes his duty to gallivant overseas, the crew shuffles paper in the form of talking politics.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Books: B. Traven’s Jungle novels:Government (1931)The Carreta (1931)March to the Monteria (a.k.a. March to Caobaland) (1933)Trozas (1936)The Rebellion of the Hanged (1936; first English pub. 1952)General from the Jungle (1940)Music: Go listen to jass/jazz musicAs always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Thirty years ago, a monumental book was published which shook the literary world and completely revolutionized post-modern fiction. Not Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, or the first book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and it wasn't Fight Club (1996 was a pretty stacked year for media). David Foster Wallace's magnum opus, Infinite Jest was released on 01 Feb 1996 and has remained a staple in the "books you should read" discussion ever since.On this first of many episodes covering the book, Kate and Cody discuss the author, his life, his work, and what this book meant to the literature world both then and thirty years later.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Link to the Infinite Jest trailer (2024): https://youtu.be/gW39U8nxoQU?si=UcO_avdROTly6NAaFilm/TV: The Wire (2002-2008)As always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Dally rolls into town just around the corner, readier than most to take the world by its horns, but our crew of worryworts can't help themselves from checking in. Helpful roommate Katie eases some concerns, but then again, would a girl like Dahlia end up a mock white slave without some bad influences? Between Tong wars and ghosts of her past known and unknown, it seems like our time in NYC is to be short. At least we get to see a sampling of the sideshows.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Film/TV: Portlandia (2011-2018)As always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Kit's going through it, so we get down and rough it with the poor boy. It's nice to catch up with him, gives the crew an opportunity to connect some dots, draw some prospective lines. Between the continuance of Tesla v. World, acute personal loss, and unveiling Vibratory horizons, there are plenty of anchors to hang the threads. Perhaps too many.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Film/TV: The Wire (2002-2008), Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995-1998)As always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

It's the end of the year, so we decided to talk about some books we read in 2025 that weren't Pynchon. Of course, we decided to do this after we finished recording a 4+ hour episode for Against the Day, so we were admittedly all a bit spacey. Anyway, hopefully you'll recognize some of these books or come away with some new stuff to add to your never-ending TBR pile.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:As always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com

Starting 01 February 2026, Cody and Kate will be (kinda) deep-diving into another book. What's the twist? It's not a Pynchon book (cue "shocking" sound bite). If you want to know what we're going to be covering in a monthly 10-part series within our series, give this brief explainer episode a listen!If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneAs always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit) bradspersecond.com

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Books: Warlock by Oakley Hall; The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hansen; Lincoln In the Bardo by George SaundersMusic: Hermanos Gutierrez - Sonido CósmicoFilm/TV: The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007; dir. Andrew Dominic)As always, thanks so much for listening!Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/Merch: mapping-the-zone.myspreadshop.comShow art by Brad Wetzel: @bradspersecond (on IG and Reddit)bradspersecond.com