Nun Pod With Left Grief

Tamsyn Miur's Locked Tomb series (so far, Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and Nona the Ninth) offers a rich, humorous look at power, agency, and relationship under empire. Join Claire Beans (she/they), Han Koehle (any pronouns), and guests as we reread the Locked Tomb series chapter by chapter, analyzing Miur's universe and characters and connecting them to the real world through theory and fandom.Spoilers will be spoilt.

Gideon the Ninth, Act I, Chapter 1In the early morning darkness on the barren and remote planet of the Ninth House, Gideon awaits the shuttle that will help her finally escape from her life as an indentured servant.Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) discuss the ambiguity around Gideon's status, the economy of Drearburh, and what's happening with the Ninth's population. Claire puts porridge in a sandwich bag. Han has questions about space Alcatraz. Anything is necromancy if you try hard and believe in yourself?Content Warning: brief mentions of death, torture, slavery, racism, war crimes, genocideFurther Reading:R. F. Kuang (2018) The Poppy WarAchille Mbembe (2011) NecropoliticsAngela Davis (2003) Are Prisons Obsolete?W.E.B. Du Bois (1903) The Souls of Black FolkMichel Foucault (1975) Discipline and PunishNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License.

Gideon the Ninth, Act I, Chapter 2Reverend Daughter Harrowhark Nonagesimus offers Gideon a tempting deal. Gideon thinks it's a trick. It's a trick.Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) talk about lies, Gideon and Harrow's relationship, developmentally appropriate goblinry, the relationship between the imperial military and economy, and what it's like to fight Too May Guys. Claire wants to know how blood sweat works. Han has a Theory about Gideon's immortality. Both are perpetually confused about the thanergy/thalergy system.The audio quality in this episode is not where we'd like it to be. There was a thunderstorm through most of the recording session and Han's microphone got real weird about it. Sorry about that, and we promise it's better in episode 3.Content Warning: death, decomposition, blood, fictional and real-world injury, slavery, war, emetophobia, value-neutral mention of specific weight.Further Reading:William Shakespeare (1623) Hamlet (especially Act 5, Scene 1)Charles Dickens (1861) Great ExpectationsPeter Kropotkin and N.O. Bonzo (2021) Mutual Aid: An Illuminated Factor of EvolutionZach Norris (2020) We Keep Us SafeNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and share your art with us using #NunPod.

Gideon the Ninth, Act I, Chapter 3Gideon is having just the worst day. Harrow gets a surprising message. Ortus and Glaurica change plans.Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) explore why skeletons go to church, fatphobia in the myriadic year, and social norms around death on the Ninth. Claire waxes poetical about cosplay. Han wants to know the provenance of the Ninth prayer. Tamsyn Muir is a troll (complimentary).Content Warning: death, suicide, physical abuse, fatphobia, body size, suggestive themesFurther Reading:Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World (2013) edited by Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro and translated by Fábio Fernandes"Dehumanization is a Feature of Gig Work, Not a Bug" (2022) Eric AnicichMyths of Empire: Domestic Politics and International Ambition (1992) Jack SnyderNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and share your art with us using #NunPod.If you'd like to support our show, leave a review, share Nun Pod with a friend, or visit rescue.org and donate whatever you would have been willing to spend on Patreon to help Palestinians get life-saving healthcare, hygiene supplies, and cash aid. We'd like that a lot.

Gideon the Ninth Chapter 4. Harrow has a job for Gideon. Gideon is not into it.Claire Beans (main gauche fist) and Han Koehle (main gauche additional sword) have a combined 25+ years of sword fighting and are excited to talk about the weapons systems of the empire and what they tell us about the world. Gideon's ambiguous status comes into play again. We get clues about animal agriculture and class differences in clothing on the Ninth.Cover Image by Eerna.Content Warning: brief discussion of injury related to abuse and combat, medical injustice, slavery, war, caloriesFurther Reading:"Critical Theory for Political Theology 2.0: Refusal" (2022) Elisha Chi"A million other factors killing us": Black women's health and refusing necropolitics-as-usual during COVID-19" (2023). Megan A. Carney, Debi Chess, Deyanira Ibarra, Kianna Dieudonne, and Michelle Rascon-CanalesA Feminist Theory of Refusal (2021) Bonnie HonigThe Art of Swordsmanship (1482) Johannes Lecküchner"Hostess" (1951) Isaac Asimov"Reconciling the Privilege of a Few with the Common Good: Sumptuary Laws in Medieval and Early Modern Europe" (2009) Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli"Tetanus" (2025) SawbonesNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod.If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Gideon the Ninth Act I Chapter 5. Harrow and Gideon prepare for the challenges ahead.Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) dig into Ninth monastic paint, the relationship between the Ninth and the other Houses, the extractive nature of necromantic war, Gideon's early childhood, and the role of propaganda. Content Warning: death, addiction, war, suicideFurther Reading:"Achille Mbembe: Necropolitics" (2020) Antonio Pele"Necropolitics as Accumulation: Enforcement and Enclosure in Brisbane During COVID-19" (2023) Julia Caroline Morris"Combat Cuties: Photographs of Israeli Women Soldiers in the Press Since the 2006 Lebanon War (2012) Eva Berger & Dorit Naaman"Yank Magazine Created a Unique Record of American Soldiers' Roles in World War II (2022) Peter ZablockiNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod.If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

We're re-reading Gideon the Ninth Act I Chapter 6. We get a Gideon Nav training montage! Gideon gets a compliment (kind of). Harrow and Gideon leave home.Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) dive into monastic life, revisit material culture on the Ninth, and talk more about sword sports. Han wants to watch Gideon and Claire wrestle. Claire wishes somebody would make this fan video that Han made in 2023. Han wants to know why Crux even has a "turn off the heating for Gideon specifically" lever.Thanks Claire for this week's cover art. You can find more of Claire's art on Instagram.Content Warning: death, torture, slavery, child abuse, infertilityFurther Reading:"Training Montage" (2022) The Mountain GoatsDestreza Part 3 - Footwork (2013) Martial TravelerDon't Leave Your Friends Behind: Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities (2012) Victoria Law & China MartensChildhood and the Monastery: Jigme's Story (2019) UNICEFDiscipline and Punish (1975) Michel FoucaultAncrene Wisse (early 13th century) Author Unknown; Edited J. R. R. TolkienNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod.If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Gideon the Ninth Act I Episode 7. Gideon has an exciting encounter with a bright new world and people who aren't cultists!Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) dive into the possible reference behind the sunglasses, who knows what, and what exactly is meant by "blood flaw."Today’s cover art was provided by Ninth Knight Cosplay. You can find more of Bailey's art on TikTok.Content Warning: death probablyFurther Reading:Let's Read Homestuck Nun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod. If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Episode 8 is going to be temporarily delayed as the computer that edits the podcast is unexpectedly in the shop. We hope to get episode 8 out later this week but if that's not possible we'll pick up with our regular schedule next Tuesday.

Gideon the Ninth Act I Chapter 8. Teacher welcomes the scions and their cavaliers to Canaan House and lays down the ground rules. Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) discuss the weird vibes in the atrium, the very unusual sleeping arrangements, and Teacher's whole deal.This week's cover art is a gorgeous illustration of the Canaan House atrium by Lorin Wendell. You can find more of their work here and follow them on Instagram. Lorin did an amazing job of capturing the colors and textures and lush emptiness of the space and we're really excited to share this image.Content Warning: death, suicide, murder, genocideFurther Reading:Samuel Moyn (2021) Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented WarIan G. R. Shaw & Marv Waterstone (2021). A Planet of Surplus Life: Building Worlds Beyond CapitalismDouglas Adams (1981) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyBrian Fagan & Nadia Durrani (2019). What We Did In Bed: A Horizontal HistoryNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod.If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Gideon the Ninth Act II Chapter 9. Gideon encounters two trios as she explores Canaan House.Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) are joined by (first ever!) guest Night (he/him).Today’s cover art features our lovely guest Night as Ortus, photographed by Han.Content Warning: death, mild abuseFurther Reading:Daniella Mestyanek Young (2022) UnculturedJennifer Brubaker (2017) Antibiotic Resistance, Soap, and False AdvertisingYotam Rozin (2020). The Sociotechnical Imaginary of the Human SoapKimberly Twiner (2025) What is Bouffon?Victoria & Albert Museum (2012) "That's the way to do it!" A history of Punch & JudyNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod.If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) welcome Caro (she/they) to discuss Gideon the Ninth, Chapter 10. We dig into the seventh's claim that she never lied and what that means about the text. Speculations are made about possible animal agriculture (cannibalism??) in the Empire. Late in the episode we promise to share a link to this artist. We talk about in-world taboos and address which ships make us personally the most uncomfortable as readers.Content Warning: death, calorie mention, cannibalism, necrophilia, war crimes, self-harm, addiction, ableism, murder, incestFurther Reading:Volker H.W. Rudolf & Janis Antonovics (2007) Disease Transmission by Cannibalism: Rare Event or Common Occurrence?Nicholas Fabiano (2024) Is Exercise a Form of Self Harm?Susan Schweik (2010) The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public[Jack] Halberstam (1998) Female MasculinityCarolyn A. Day (2017) Consumptive Chic: A History of Beauty, Fashion, and DiseaseHarry M. Benshoff (1997) The Monster and the Homosexual, from Monsters In the ClosetNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod.If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Claire (she/they) and Han (any pronouns) dig into Gideon the Ninth chapter 11, contrasting the duals between Gideon and the cavaliers of the Fifth and Third and exploring the relationship between Magnus and Jeannemary. Claire has a spectacular cosplay idea. There's quite a lot of sword fighting discussion in this one.Content Warning: fatphobia, violence, child soldiersFurther Reading:Roy Ward Baker (1981) The Monster ClubSusanna Ives (2023) How to Victorian Maid ServantJoseph Brassey (2017) SkyfarerOlivier Girard et al (2023) "Living High - Training Low" for Olympic Medal PerformanceAnnotated List of Historical [Swordfighting] ManualsUnited Nations (n.d.) Child Recruitment and UseNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod. If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) welcome guest Geddy (she/her) to dig into Gideon the Ninth Chapter 12. Harrow does some crafting. Gideon is full of shit. Some people are not where Gideon expects them to be, and Gideon is in some unexpected places herself.Today’s cover art features our lovely guest Geddy (and friend of the show Kristen), photographed by Han.Content Warning: death, blood, murder probably?Further Reading:Britannica (n.d.) Memento moriAsaf Weisman et al. (2019) Congenital Insensitivity to Pain: A Misnomer.SnooFloofs3374 (2024) I'm unable to feel pain, AMAKeith Houston (2015) The mysterious origins of punctuationNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod.If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) dive into Gideon the Ninth Act II Chapter 13. Gideon and Harrow negotiate. Han questions Harrow's understanding of the rules. Claire highlights other necro/cav models. Conversation gets unusually dark there in the middle.Today’s cover art was provided by Claire.Content Warning: Blood, genitals, sex, emetophobia, kink, slavery, use of human remains, genocide, Nazis, eugenicsFurther Reading:Arendse I Lund (2016) The People Who Became Book BindingsJim Crow Museum (2013) Human LeatherAlexandra Minna Stern (2015) Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern AmericaGhada Sasa (2022) Oppressive Pines: Uprooting Israeli Green Colonialism and Implanting Palestinian A'wnaJohn Pollack (2011) The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized LanguageNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod. If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Note from Han: Sorry this is late! I have three major grad school deadlines coming up and I totally forgot, like, what day it was and that this podcast exists. My bad. Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) re-read Chapter 14 of Gideon the Ninth. Gideon and Harrow face an interesting challenge and take their relationship to an awkward new level. Harrow takes a nap. Gideon lays down some boundaries.Today’s cover art is by Han.Content Warning: blood, pain, injury, eugenicsNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod. If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Claire (she/they) and Han (any pronouns) welcome Hannah (she/her) to re-read Gideon the Ninth, Chapter 15. The Ninth receive an invitation. All the Houses get together. Gideon gets to eat a dessert.Our cover is guest Hannah. You can find her wonderful cosplay and commentary on TikTok and and Tumblr.Content Warning: eating your cav, murder, infertility, slaveryFurther Reading: Catechism regarding priests acting in persona Christi CapitisAubrey Smalls (2025) Did You Know About Court Dwarfs?Samin Nosrat (2013) Jeweled RiceT. H. White (1958) The Once and Future KingNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod. If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Claire (she/they) and Han (any pronouns) reread Gideon the Ninth Act II, Chapter 16. Gideon and Harrow enjoy their first major victory on the path to lyctorhood. Then, everything changes.Content Warnings: death, child abuse, emetophobia, humiliation, mild cannibalismFurther Reading:Gavin Van Horn, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and John Hausdoerffer (2022) KinshipJames Ashworth (2022). Neanderthal Extinction May Have Been Caused by Sex, Not Fighting. Victor Hugo (1831) The Hunchback of Notre-DameNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod. If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Need a break after Act II? Us too. While Han embarks on a research trip, enjoy this peek behind the curtain, featuring outtakes, tangents, personal lore, extended cuts, canon confusion, and other deleted scenes from our season so far. Next week we'll be back with Gideon the Ninth, Act III.This episode features Claire (she/they), Han (any pronouns), and guests Caro (she/they), Geddy (she/her), and Night (he/him).Our cover art for this episode features Han and its wife as Gideon and Harrow.Content Warning: unintentional weight loss, death, sex, abuseFurther Reading:Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (1990) Good Omens Note: We encourage you to source one in a way that doesn't give Neil Gaiman money, like borrowing a copy or picking a used copy at bookshop.org You can also make a donation to Our Voice in honor of his victims using the name "Calliope." Read more about that here.Thomas Wharton (2004) The Logogryph: A Bibliography of Imaginary BooksKaitlyn Vogt (2015) Being Nice is Lethal: Disciplining and Subverting Southern Femininity in Contemporary Southern Popular CultureAlexander M. Maley and Jack L. Arbiser (2015) Gentian Violet: A 19th Century Drug Re-Emerges in the 21st CenturyCindy M. Meston and David M. Buss (2009) Why Women Have SexHan Koehle (ongoing) The Locked Tomb: Unauthorized Annotated EditionT. X. Watson and Astrid Lundberg (2025) Academic and Ergodic LiteratureResting Glitch FaceNun Pod With Left Grief is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License. Find us at NunPod.com and get our attention with #NunPod.If you’d like to support our show with your voice, share NunPod with a friend or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to use money to support us, we encourage you to think of the amount you’d like to send us on Patreon each month and then instead send it here. Let us know that you did!

Claire Beans (she/they) and Han Koehle (any pronouns) dig into Gideon the Ninth, Chapter 17. (Almost) everybody tries to call back the ghosts of absent friends. The Eighth get weird. The third also gets weird. Actually Necromancers generally are weird.This week's cover art isContent Warning: murder, grief, blood, self-harm, cannibalism, abuse, child soldiers,Further Reading:bell hooks (2004) The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and LovePosh Painter (2024) European Noble Titles Explained [note: this is straightforward and contains interesting etymological facts, but it's also hardcore uncritical of empire and monarchy]Naomi Novik (2020-2022) Scholomance Trilogy (A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves)