Workers' Lit

Game time.We keep the dystopian mood alive as we take on Suzanne Collins' 2008 YA smash hit, "The Hunger Games."Join us for a conversation about colonialism, necessary vs. unjustified violence, fanfiction, bodily autonomy, and more!What do YOU want to see out of a Workers' Lit Patreon? Email us at workerslit@gmail.com to let us know!

The American ruling class is at war.Physically, they are at war with Iran, pummeling the country with unrelenting airstrikes, slaughtering civilians, and doing their best to make yet another nation unlivable.But they are fighting another war: a psychological war against every one of us. They are building a world of declining literacy, misinformation, confusion, and fear.Combine those two wars and you get an apathetic American populace even as its own country murders untold innocentsBreht O’Shea of RevLeft joins Aysha, Jen, and Jacob to discuss these dual wars and how we can fight back.Check out RevLeft here or wherever you get your podcasts!Note: due to the urgency of the events of the Iran War we switched episode release order this week, releasing the politics episode on March 2 with our literature episode (on The Hunger Games) slated for March 4. Be ready for that!

Lenore and Jen are joined by Rae of ProlesPod to discus Gabriel Rockhill's new book, "Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?" You may be asking: what is a piper? Well, that part's not important.What IS important is the way the CIA and other U.S. government forces spent the 20th century infiltrating the media and every level of academia, squelching dangerous opposition, promoting capitalist propaganda, and even bolstering controlled left opposition that posed no threat to U.S. empire.ProlesPod is a podcast about history, politics, and culture... without the liberalism. You can listen to ProlesPod here or wherever you get your podcasts.If this episode interests you, why not go check out the book itself? You can buy it here.

Last time we covered Stephen King, we were walking a long ways. Now we're running. We're speeding up, folks!Today we're covering King's 1982 dystopian novel, "The Running Man." Joining us are Evan and Bill from the "Left of the Projector" podcast. Together, we'll get mad at how clearly Stephen wrote this book in just one week and then...didn't fix it.Topics include the fetishization of the working class, super-individualism, King's recurring bigotries, and 9/11.If you're wondering if there's a version of this story we like, you're in luck! In just a few days a pt 2. about the 2025 Edgar Wright adaptation will be up on Left of the Projector feed, ft. Aysha, Lenore, and Jacob, so go over there and subscribe to those fine folks to be ready to hear it!Listen to Left of the Projector here or wherever you get your podcasts

It's a bonus interview with the great science fiction author, Nick Mamatas!We talk about Nick's new book, the horrors of Silicon Valley, and Shakespeare adaptations.Don't miss out: go get your copy of "Kalivas! Or Another Tempest" right now.You can follow him on Bluesky @nmamatas.bsky.social

2026 is an election year, and we have no intention of ignoring it!We are joined by candidate for Governor of Georgia, Representative Ruwa Romman. Ruwa represents GA’s 97th House of Representatives district in Gwinnett County and is the first Muslim and Palestinian woman to ever be elected to the GA House of Representatives. She is a long time organizer, served as a delegate of the Uncommitted movement in 2024, and has a plan to build an affordable, better Georgia for ALL, not just the 1%.In this conversation we hit on hot-button issues such as internal Democratic Party conflict, police and ICE brutality, overcoming identity-based gaps in building a winning coalition, and the importance of building a mass movement that will not only bring good candidates into office, but govern alongside them and hold them accountable.Not from Georgia? No worries, this conversation has something for everyone!Want to read more about, donate to, and/or volunteer to the Ruwa Romman Campaign? Check out her website here!https://www.ruwaforgeorgia.com/Episode art comes from AP photo of Representative Ruwa Romman.

We promise we're super mature with Philip K. Dick's last name. Mostly.This week we're taking on Philip K. Dick's 1956 sci-fi novelette, "The Minority Report." What if you could solve crime before it happens? What if said process led to a lot of violence and exploitation? What if you dealt with all that that while worrying that your wife was cheating on you with your hotter assistant? That's more or less the vibe here.We go further and discuss science fiction's broader contribution (positive and negative) to our culture's political imagination, and think about the future of the genre.We couldn't have done this without our remarkable guests: Dalton and Dylan of The Pod Universe. If you like cool sci-fi, great podcast, and boundless creativity, you'll love their work. After all, they're making a whole cinematic universe...in podcast form!!Check out The Pod Universe here.

Can you kill a country with hardly anyone noticing? The Trump Administration intends to try with Cuba.In this episode we examine the criminal blockade on Cuba, and the way knowledge of it is essentially non-existent among Americans. Plus, we touch on different levels of information warfare based on class strata, Marco Rubio's plots, and...Elmo's feud with Taylor Swift??Support the Let Cuba Live Campaign here:https://www.letcubalive.info/Articles quoted in this episode:https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/cuba-united-states-oil-blockade-trump-mexico-claudia-sheinbaumhttps://www.dropsitenews.com/p/marco-rubio-is-deliberately-blockingElmo v. Rocco:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgyAWij3SLkEpisode art features a political cartoon by Carlos Latuff

Gay. Gothic. Romantic. I know you’re already cheering, and you should be, because we’re covering Vincent Verga’s 1980 novel “Gaywyck.”Why must breathy bodice rippers feature only the heteros? There’s plenty of good gay drama to be had, and gay drama Gaywyck delivers.We discuss the genre of the gothic romance, the groundbreaking nature of Verga’s willingness to not pull punches, and the place weird queer fiction like this is situated in the narrative.Cover art comes from the original publication of Gaywyck.

This is a really, really, REALLY cool guest.Today we are joined by Talia Bhatt, writer and radical trans-feminist whose work covers epistemic injustice, Third World feminism, and ranked competitive breast growth (yes, she has RANGE!)Want to know more? Just listen! She’ll explain it better than we can.You can find info on all of Talia’s work (including her new book, “Brown/Trans/Les”) at her website below:https://taliabhatt.com/

What's more literary than talking about one piece of literature? Talking about the very nexus from which literature flows!Today we sat down with Dave Ring of Neon Hemlock, an independent press for speculative fiction, rad zines, and queer chapbooks. Discussion topics range from the mission of Neon Hemlock to the state of publishing in the Age of Slop to the importance of queer art.Links to check out the things we mention in this episode:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davering/what-elegant-starshttps://www.neonhemlock.com/books/bitten-peachhttps://www.neonhemlock.com/books/cyberscionhttps://www.neonhemlock.com/books/shatter-the-sunhttps://www.bafflingmag.com/issue-twenty-two/crowdfund-your-new-citizen-body-a-performancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Signs_of_AI_writing

Welcome to Workers' Lit, your favorite show about the battle for narrative.Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?Today we talk about our focus as a show before discussing the ongoing narrative war in our culture...on several fronts. First, we made Jen watch Hamilton, so we chat about that, which turns into a bit of a side conversation about right-wing films.Then we get back into ICE and mass deportations. Is Trump on the back foot? Will the Democrats step up? Is the so-called "Joe Rogan Coalition" getting squeamish on MAGA? All that and more.Finally, we acknowledge Holocaust Remembrance Day and read Bend the Arc's statement.Read Bend the Arc's Statement Here.Read Prem Thakker's piece in Zeteo we quote here

9/11, Hamlet, the Statue of Liberty, Segismundo, Zoroastrianism, Puerto Rican Independence, Bananas: If you hear all those terms and think, “wow, this sure does sound like the building blocks of a great book,” then congrats, you’re award-winning author Giannina Braschi.We are joined by brilliant writer and host of Podside Picnic, Karlo Yeager Rodríguez, to discuss Braschi’s 2011 postmodern novel, “The United States of Banana.” This book gets real weird with it, so follow along as we spring Segismundo from his prison beneath the Statue of Liberty’s skirt, fight an American occupation with coconuts and witticisms, and set sail to liberate Puerto Rico!Go read Karlo’s newest short story, “Blanquitos,” here!Go listen to Podside Picnic here!

We are officially one year into Donald Trump’s second term. How’s everybody feeling?This week we discuss the nightmare 365 days that have passed, the battles to come, and the framework that’ll beat Trump for real.Also, we congratulate Usha Vance and her pool boy on their soon-to-be-born child.(We had some technical issues on sound today, so sorry about that!)Articles quoted from in today’s episode:https://zeteo.com/p/our-year-from-hell-trump-first-drafthttps://zeteo.com/p/trump-robbery-285-days-to-stop

It’s time to get real old-sportyThis week we narrowly avoided death-by-pool to deliver you a discussion of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 gilded age masterpiece, “The Great Gatsby.” Joining us is Joshua Ilon, voice actor on The Penumbra Podcast (Juno Steel, Mr. Serling, Jacob, Sir Tristan the Cold) to discuss just how ridiculously relevant Gatsby has become in 2026, our own fraught gilded age.Listen to the Penumbra Podcast here!Listen to Kevin and Harley of Penumbra’s episode of Workers’ Lit about “The Secret History”

It's time to break the ICE.Jen and Jacob discuss the dramatic week that's passed since the murder of Renée Nicole Good, the latest stats on ICE, Trump, and Congress' popularity, and the campaigns in motion to hold these fascists to account.Read Renée's poem here:https://poets.org/2020-on-learning-to-dissect-fetal-pigsSources cited in the episode:https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2026/1/dfp_ice_shooting_minneapolis.pdfhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/04/ice-2025-deaths-timelinehttps://zeteo.com/p/keith-ellison-minnesota-ice-trump-vancehttps://www.cnn.com/polling/approval/trump-cnn-poll-of-pollshttps://news.gallup.com/poll/1600/congress-public.aspxhttps://substack.com/home/post/p-184378952

April is the cruelest month, but it’s January so we should be good.Today we’re discussing T.S. Eliot’s 1922 modernist poetic masterpiece, “The Wasteland.” We also discuss Eliot himself…who’s a lot less cool than his poem.Joining us as we wander the wasteland is Chris Richards, AKA The Eclectic Radical. You can check out his work here!

Author and Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, Vijay Prashad, returns to the show to discuss the United States' kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores, Trump's claim that the United States now owns Venezuela's oil industry, and American foreign policy in the age he calls "hyperimperialism." We also get into Venezuela's unique and tumultuous history as it struggles to build socialism despite US aggression.Is all the discussion of Venezuela, Maduro, sanctions, international law, and all that jazz a little confusing? Vijay breaks it down perfectly.Also, stick around to hear Vijay's thoughts on the American education system in one of our best tangents ever.Check out the Tricontinental Institute here!The episode art is Vijay with Nicolas Maduro himself.

It's crime time.We're ringing in 2026 with James Ellroy's 1990 work of nasty neo noir, "LA Confidential." And we're mad about it! Why are there so many bizarre little policemen running around in this book???Joining us is Brian Wishart of "Moviepod: A Reclaimed Cinema Podcast" to unpack the weird freak that is James Ellroy, get exasperated over this absurd book, and occasionally acknowledge parts that are good.Check out Brian's podcat here!Learn about LA Police Gangs (in real life) here.Episode art is from the novel's second edition cover.

We took a weeklong break from talking about the news, but it's time to get back into the doings of the United States government...namely, starting new wars.Today we discuss Trump's Christmas strikes on Nigeria, the bombing of a Venezuelan port, and preparations being made inside Venezuela itself for siege and war. Also, we mention our favorite holiday movies.Articles referenced in this episode:https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/nigerian-residents-of-jabo-are-rattled-after-close-u-s-airstrikes-made-their-homes-shake-and-the-sky-glow-redhttps://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/29/nigeria_strikeshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/trump-bombs-venezuelan-land-for-first-time-is-war-imminenthttps://substack.com/home/post/p-182894927?source=queue