Overdue

The former hosts of Appointment Television join us this week to talk about Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, the book version of the TV show Peacock's Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. This book makes that show and all other Dan Brown books seem actually kinda better by comparison?Follow Kathryn VanArendonk on Twitter. Follow Margaret H. Willison on Twitter. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Yaa Gyasi's debut novel tracks the lasting impacts of the slave trade across multiple generations and continents, through the eyes of two half-sisters and their descendants. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Where did his animal-talking abilities come from? Why is he worshipped by animals all over the world? Why does this book talk about money so much? And why did so few of us read Dr. Dolittle in grade school? This week, we tried to answer these questions (and more) with Alli from the SSR Podcast, a great show you should check out! You can also listen to our previous SSR Podcast collab: Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots with the Bailey School Kids.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Two horrible dudes double team one sexy lady in this horny, Christmas-adjacent story. This episode is EXTREMELY explicit, so buckle up!! For more on our bonus episodes, head to patreon.com/overduepod. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We return to the Dragon Tattoo-niverse this week to discuss the second book of the Millennium trilogy, and to talk about each of the three dozen-or-so named characters tucked inside this book. Need a refresher on Lisbeth and Mikke? Listen to our 500th episode on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We learn the art of military strategy, deception, and fire from Michael Nylan's 2020 translation of this classic text. We start by going in-depth on the contemporary political references in Nylan's Introduction to this edition, and then we go blow-by-blow and nugget-by-inspirational-nugget through Master Sun's timeless wisdom. Here's translator Michael Nylan writing about the book for LitHub: "The Art of War is Actually a Manual on How to Avoid It." Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jennifer Government is one of those near-future satirical works that probably felt a lot farther from reality back when it was originally written. Barry's predictions feel distressingly spot on here in 2021, and his prescience isn't exactly comforting. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sometimes a book is so meta it sort of breaks your brain! How to talk about a book that is all beginnings and no ends? How to discuss a book that enlists You, the Reader, in its chicanery? We try to get on the wavelength with Calvino's text. You be the judge of if we get there. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sandra Cisneros' first novel is a collection of rapid-fire vignettes about childhood and friendship and race and America. We also check in with the darker side of our recurring guest host, the Iowa Writers Workshop. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This contemporary Victorian story is chockablock with twists and turns, backstabs and broadsides, as well as Dickensian pornfiends. It also features a steamy lesbian romance between two women desperate to escape their own circumstances. We dive into what makes Fingersmith memorable, as well as where its structure overstays its welcome. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enjoy another episode of our latest show-within-a-show! We're reading Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption. These episodes cover Chapters 10-26 of Part Two. In Episode 9, someone enchants "Dulcinea" and Don Quixote fights a mysterious new foe. In Episode 10, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza attend a wedding and do battle with a puppet show. Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Groundhog Day meets the apocalypse in this week's book, in which the end of the world is approaching at an ever-faster pace through each of Harry August's successive lifetimes spent on earth. Hope you like paradoxes! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

DeLillo's award-winning breakthrough novel is a satirical rumination on the fear of death while living in a hyper-consumerist America inundated with information delivered by modern technology. Did we mention it was written in the 80s?Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's book observes society from the outside, asking occasionally uncomfortable questions about what it means to "progress" and to "fit in" and who gets to decide whether a person is doing those things. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We close out Spooktober with a cornucopia of spooky stories from a state we both have a relationship to. Join us for a conversation about ghostly grandpas, paranormal presidents, and spectral students. For more on our bonus episodes, head to patreon.com/overduepod. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the Big 500, we go to Sweden to solve a murder and also some financial crimes. And much like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, we also go on at some length about the specs of classic Macintosh computers. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Eight stories. Eight women (and plenty more). Eight experiments in genre and form that each explore modern horrors. Carmen Maria Machado's debut short story collection is filled with weird fiction and intimate nightmares, making it a fitting entry for Spooktober 2021. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A run-down mansion decades past its former glory, a headstrong heroine, a creepy family, and mushrooms all come together to form a perfect, spooky storm in this week's episode. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Spooktober continues! A narrator wanders rooms in his old house, telling the reader stories about his life. Is he an old man responding to a psychological evaluation? Is he a ghost recounting (and selectively editing) his best and worst memories? Will we ever know peace from the miasma of possibilities? Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Spooktober 2021 kicks off with a book about a jerk who turned himself invisible and then was still a jerk! The titular invisible man is a forerunner to a hundred comic book villains, who all suffered some kind of scientific mishap at their own hands and then took it as an excuse to become Evil. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enjoy another episode of our newest show-within-a-show! We're reading Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption. These episodes cover Chapters 43-52 of Part One, and the Prologue and Chapters 1-9 of Part Two. In Episode 7, a few more ancillary characters get their moment in the sun before Don Quixote's companions "enchant" him and bring him home. But Cervantes has heard that Quixote rode again! If only those stories were out there somewhere... In Episode 8, apparently everyone in Don Quixote's world knows about the novel Don Quixote now? And they sure have opinions! Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Natasha from the Unspoiled podcast joins us this week to hatch a podcast about Eragon, a book that borrows freely from every other fantasy/sci-fi story that existed as of its creation in the early 2000s. Find more from Unspoiled here! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's time to solve the mystery of the Boxcar Children! (Or is it The Box-Car Children?) Warner's novel about a quartet of self-sufficient kiddos underwent a major revision 20 years after its debut AND it spawned dozens of mystery-focused sequels despite there not really being a mystery in the original. Tune in to hear about our own secret hideouts and to learn about Andrew's favorite new website for author research. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Craig and Andrew said they would record the podcast themselves. This very modern episode about a very modern novel discusses Woolf's signature writing style, the regrets of a postwar British people, and when (or where) you might find yourself Thinking Big.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning is mostly concerned with big historical questions like "what if nationality had nothing to do with geography" and "what if a boy could make toys come to life," but it also deals with things like "what if noticing gender were a fetish" and "what if all the world's leaders were secretly slamming each other." Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Advertise on OverdueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Everybody get up it's time to read now. We got a podcast goin' now. Welcome to the Space Jam!Join us as we talk about a storybook edition of the 1996 cartoon basketball commercial Space Jam, starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After 488 episodes, we finally return to ol' Johnny Steinbeck. East of Eden mixes autobiography, pastoral fiction, and Biblical allegory -- a cocktail that has dismayed critics and excited audiences for decades. We dig into what works in this sprawling story and what might leave some readers wanting more.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This book is a work of "faction" (that's "fact" plus "fiction") about Richard Nixon's interactions with the physical manifestation(s) of Uncle Sam in the run-up to the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. So, uh, a weird one. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are small flames all over the place! Well, specifically all over a family's house in Shaker Heights, OH in the late 1990s. Ng's bestselling sophomore effort dives into two different but intertwined families whose lives are flip-turned-upside-down by a conflagration of personal mysteries, teenage desires, and a tense adoption case.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Everyone! There's been a MURDER! And the person who committed it is still listening to THIS VERY PODCAST!! While we try to figure this out you should definitely listen to us talk about Hercule Poirot, the unassuming-ish detective who is here to discover your deepest darkest secrets and chew bubblegum and is all out of bubblegum. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join us for a trip back to Sherlock Holmes Times, as Melody and Erin from the Heaving Bosoms podcast help us talk about Kristen Callihan's Moonglow. The second book in the Darkest London series, Moonglow brings the romance and the supernatural lore in a way that keeps all four of us talking. You can find more from our new friends at the Heaving Bosoms podcast here. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enjoy another episode of our newest show-within-a-show! We're reading Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.These episodes cover Chapters 28-42.In Episode 5, Don Quixote rejoins the party. and everyone decides to shack up in the only inn/castle in all of Spain. Secondary characters step into the spotlight with their own stories, including a novel-within-a-novel called The Man Who Was Recklessly Curious.In Episode 6, Don Quixote takes the backseat for a few more chapters. We have to close the book on Cardenio's Crew, finish the story of the Two Friends, and meet a few more ancillary characters who just love this inn.Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this kid goth Victorian house, objects talk...but only to the people who can listen! Find out what happens to Clod Iremonger and Lucy Pennant in this creepy-yet-kid-friendly novel about a bunch of people who live near (and develop a symbiotic relationship with) trash.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The House of the Spirits is a multi-generational, lightly-magical-realism-y Chilean novel that eventually ends up being about Piochet's military coup, but it's also about the importance of studying events over a long span of time to come to a deeper understanding of why things happen the way they do. Something we could all stand to do more of, honestly. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This sensational punk novel from 1993 got attention because it depicts a LOT: drug use, sex, and all sorts of deviance in late 20th-century Edinburgh. You may even be familiar with the film adaptation starring a young Obi-Wan Kenobi!We also discuss Welsh's connections to (and opinions of) local government, the joy of the beautiful game, and why Craig's cultural references stop in the mid 2000s.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We've got lesbian necromancers! We've got spooky mansion murder mysteries! We've got MEMES! What else could you need in your space fantasy? How about a lively chat debating the pronunciation of "Doge"?Find out more about our bonus episode recordings at patreon.com/overduepod.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's beach season! And that means it's time for beach reads (whatever that means). We discuss the loose meaning of this genre-slash-marketing-term-slash-state-of-mind, plus a very recent book about a Russian spy who has made it to the top of a fictional (but all-too-recognizable) American tech company. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hours is a late 20th-century homage to and interrogration of Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway. One woman writes it, one woman reads it, and one woman lives it. Now you can listen to us talk about it!Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you want to read a book where a well-adjusted character responds well to questions about their own sexuality, Giovanni's Room ain't it! But its depiction of one character's internal conflict is still compelling and relevant decades after its release.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Celebrated author and essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates entered the world of fiction in 2019 with The Water Dancer. A combination of his appreciation for superheroes and his years spent researching the Antebellum South, it's a book that tries to marry critique of American history with supernatural adventure. It also argues pretty hard for the power of remembrance.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you've ever read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and thought to yourself "this book is an interesting read except for the part at the end where Tom Sawyer shows up" then buddy I have a book podcast for you (it's this one). Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we choose our own lunar adventure! Join us as we learn some moon facts, climb on moon rocks, and make some choices about whether or not to meet Moon Separatists.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Carolyn Keene wasn't a real person, and we suspect that the Secret of the Old Clock might not actually meet the technical definition of a "mystery"? But dang if that plucky Nancy Drew and her confident stride aren't fun to talk about anyway. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enjoy another episode of our newest show-within-a-show! We're reading Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes a few chapters at a time. Some Patreon supporters get these episodes monthly, but every two months we'll combine them for general consumption.These episodes cover Chapters 15-27.In Episode 3, Don Quixote, the Knight of the Sorrowful Face, and his companion Sancho Panza - after getting their butts kicked up and down the Spanish countryside - bicker about the necessity of getting their butts kicked up and down the Spanish countryside. In Episode 4, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza lose their donkey (or do they?) before encountering the scorned lover Cardenio. Time to learn this raggedy man's backstory!Find out more about how to get these episodes monthly at patreon.com/overduepod.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's disorienting to read the tenth book in a longrunning detective fiction series without reading any of the books that came before, but Gaudy Night is noteworthy because its heroine Harriet Vane is a precursor to many many women found in today's mystery novels. Just come prepared for the romantic parts and the parts about English high society that all make it take longer to figure out who did the crimes.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tom Sawyer, a 19th-century amalgam of Zack Morris and Dennis the Menace, has much to teach us about the joys of boyhood and adventure in the pre-Civil War United States. Twain, by extension, has plenty to teach us about racial stereotypes and how they can bog down even the most charming of adventure stories. Check out our previous Mark Twain episode on The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

April's bonus episode uses Caroline Paul and Wendy MacNaughton’s illustrated sort-of-memoir Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology as a springboard to talk about being a Cat Person, loss, pandemic brain, and the fact that more books for adults should be illustrated.Find out more about our bonus episode recordings at patreon.com/overduepod.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What is Pippi Longstocking? A precocious nine-year-old child with a healthy disregard for The System? A Terminator? An elder god who dabbles in mortal affairs, eternally developing tests for us and finding us wanting? The answer might be "all of the above.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Téa Obreht's award-winning debut novel is about a doctor in a war-torn Balkan country, piecing together her grandfather's life one story at a time. Is it a magical realism? Is it mostly about animals? Is it surprisingly resonant with our Current Societal Moment™? Find out the answers to these questions and more on this week's episode.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join us as we journey down a dark corridor to a parallel world where we are friends and host a book podcast together but our eyes are shiny black buttons and we give you a vaguely uneasy feeling when we invite you to listen to us... forever. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.