Workers' Lit – Details, episodes & analysis

Article Brain returns!

Once again, we try to drive each other insane with articles, and this time both comes from close to home…

Yeah scrapping all our institutions of public health is bad, but have you considered maybe they deserve it because sometimes doctors try to be trans inclusive? That’s what our first article seems to think.

And then we talk about “The Department of War” name change and how words matter…so much that calling it “The Department of Defense” meant we hadn’t been doing anything bad before.

It’s a bonus episode!!

Lenore sat down with Alec Karakatsanis, civil rights lawyer and author of the book, “Copaganda” and a newsletter by the same name, to talk about his writing, the deeply violent nature of the American police state, and the way our media plays an active role in carrying out police terror

Get Alec’s book here!

Read Alec’s newsletter here!

Cover art is the book’s cover.

We've seen plenty of dystopian futures...how about a utopian one?

Terry Bisson's 1988, "Fire on the Mountain" explores an alternate timeline where Harriet Tubman was able to join John Brown at the Harper's Ferry raid, and with her tactical skill the raiders made it out and went on to start a nation-wide slave rebellion. How did history go differently? Listen on to find out!

We talk about Bisson's own relationship to radical politics (including guerilla fighters!), and the liberatory possibilities of visionary fiction.

Also, Jacob sings a really, really good song.

Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,) episode art is John Brown's utopia, and what we're doing in it instead of podcasting.

Bad news: Joss is out for this episode. The good news: we've got our first guest! You can (and should) follow him on Twitter @dkpmason.

Listen to Jacob and Mason chat about "The Jungle," the 1906 work of political fiction by Upton Sinclair.

What would the Biblical story of Job look like in early 1900s Chicago? What's changed, what's stayed the same, and what's sliding backward? Plus, some good tips for staying in shape (hint: don't leave the forests of Lithuania!)

The episode art is a picture of the old muckraker himself. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

We had a weeklong hiatus but now we're back at it! It's time to talk bioengineering, it's time to talk irresponsible research, it's time to talk chaos theory, it's time to talk about Michael Crichton's 1990 sci-fi novel, Jurassic Park!!

Music by Kevin MacLeod. As for the episode art...you already know who it is and where it's from.

Dive with us into Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins's 1995 apocalyptic evangelical thriller, Left Behind! This is a weird one, folks.

In this episode, we take a long look at the borderline-supervillain of life of Tim LaHaye, assess how the 1990s were primed for apocalypse hysteria, and really tear into the deliciously incompetent prose of Jerry B. Jenkins.

Cover from the 1995 release of Left Behind. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

We're back! We've got aliens! We've got monsters! We've got...penguins? Yes. Lots of penguins.

What good is a mystery you can't solve? How do you survive a shoggoth attack? What comes of a dream of a better world when it's clouded by anti-solidaristic bigotry? We cover a lot in the span of forty-five minutes or so.

Music by Kevin MacLeod. Art by Gecko! for the Moscow University Press.

It's time to enter the weeeiiirddd world of H.P. Lovecraft.

In this episode, learn about the life of Lovecraft, the good, the bad, the ugly, the badder, and the uglier (seriously, he wasn't a very good guy.) We discuss the influence of Lovecraft on the horror genre, the looming sense of doom instilled in the capitalism of the 1930s, and what makes a story actually scary.

Episode art by Howard V. Brown's cover of "Astounding Stories." Music by Kevin MacLeod.

You're really uploading an episode on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol?" In February? Are you crazy? Maybe!

Join us on the foggy streets of Dickens' London, a place where all sorts of wondrous folk fight to scratch out a living in the birthplace of industrial capitalism. How does light get introduced into such a bleak setting? Why does this story speak to us more than a century-and-a-half later? What can it teach us about our own world?

Let's dive in!

Follow us on Twitter @SocialistShelf or email us at TheSocialistShelf@gmail.com!

Cover image from the film, "The Muppet Christmas Carol." Music by @FreeToUseMusic.

Let's read a problematic gay fantasy novel!!!

Author Lee Mandelo (Summer Sons, The Woods All Black, Feed Them Silence) and 5 time returning guest, writer, and podcaster, Aysha U. Farah (Life is Strange: Double Exposure, The Sky Left Us, All My Maidens Podcast) join us to discuss "Mélusine," a fantasy novel from 2005 by Sarah Monette (also known as Katherine Addison).

We discuss the puritanical limitations put upon queer art, effective representation of abuse and trauma, and the myth of the perfect victim. As you may have picked up from that, we get into some pretty intense themes of sexual and physical violence in this episode, so feel free to skip this one if that sounds like something you're not in a place to listen to.

Check out "Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity," edited by Lee and featuring a story from Aysha. It's a really remarkable collection. Buy Amplitudes here (or wherever you get your books) now!

Check out Aysha's podcast, "All My Maidens" and follow Aysha on Bluesky @ayshaufarah.bsky.social

Follow Lee Mandelo on Bluesky @leemandelo.bsky.social‬ and check out Lee's website here,Music by Solo Monk (@SoloMonk256 on Twitter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/solomonkart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,) episode art is our basic cover art...with a twist! We figured Aysha deserved her flowers after five guest appearances. Here's to five more!!