Episodios

  • Words from Nigeria 3 – Emezi’s Pet & Hunters for Truth

    Words from Nigeria 3 – Emezi’s Pet & Hunters for Truth
    Jan 30 2026
    Akwaeke Emezi demonstrates how Nigeria’s contemporary writers turn our conceptual realities around. They offer a YA novel that doesn’t condescend, but more, one which shows that we should not “walk away” from Omelas, but perhaps “Stay and Hunt.” This is also the final of three episodes which offers a broader look at the history and […]
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    38 m
  • Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero

    Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero
    Jan 24 2026
    Why have so few read Soyinka? And can we find hope through his cynical dramas? I admit I am a victim of the myth-making around me which has made Soyinka and other African writers largely invisible. Let’s see why. Episode 6.24 – Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero African writers named […]
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    40 m
  • Words from Nigeria Pt 1: Adichie and the Literary Manifesto

    Words from Nigeria Pt 1: Adichie and the Literary Manifesto
    Jan 16 2026
    What sort of literature is this, anyway? Today we introduce some approaches to Nigerian literature, offer a bevy of African writers, and explore how one of Nigeria’s most powerful authors can write her own modest letter to humanity. Also, we learn about hostile architecture from one of our listeners. Episode 6.23 – Words from […]
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    38 m
  • Cassandra: Uncertain Steps

    Cassandra: Uncertain Steps
    Jan 9 2026
    And what if nobody listens? Yes, entering our calls for justice into public space carries no small amount of anxiety. And the poster-child for being unheard, the Trojan princess and priestess Cassandra, may–if we read our mythology carefully–provide us some clues to our purpose and goals in writing as anti-epic heroes, wielding language as […]
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    37 m
  • Writing Back: Letters to Humanity

    Writing Back: Letters to Humanity
    Dec 27 2025
    26 Dec 2025 Episode 6.21 – Writing Back: Letters to Humanity A different sort of New Year Resolution, moving us from personal improvement to public advocacy! Let’s write an essay of address, framing our passions into a perspective that would make Le Guin proud! Texts from this episode: Nazim Hikmet: Letters to Taranta-Babu, 1935 […]
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    39 m
  • The Great Societies: Lowry’s “The Giver”

    The Great Societies: Lowry’s “The Giver”
    Dec 19 2025
    19 Dec 2025 Episode 6.20 – The Great Societies: Lowry’s The Giver Another thorny utopia, Lowry’s Community practices a different kind of strategy to the Hideous Bargain: ethical evasion, a too tempting strategy for all of us. Political? Yes. But also a YA fantasy vision of what some of the latest writers and thinkers […]
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    38 m
  • The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning

    The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning
    Dec 12 2025
    12 Dec 2025 Episode 6.19 – The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning We finish our discussion of the silent film Metropolis and answer our question of art and politics by examining the text, context, and reader meaning-making. Discussed in the episode: A definition of Context: with / accompanying / […]
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    51 m
  • Is All Art Political? The Great Societies, Pt. 1: Metropolis

    Is All Art Political? The Great Societies, Pt. 1: Metropolis
    Dec 5 2025
    It seems everything is politics these days. But at least can't we keep art pure? You know, art for art's sake? I offer my thoughts on the topic while we examine the classic silent film, Metropolis (1927).
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    54 m