Claim OwnershipJust In Case We Die
Subscribed: 2Played: 35
Subscribe
© 2026 Just In Case We Die
Description
In 2006, Quintessence Editions Ltd. published a book entitled "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die". Edited by academic Peter Boxall, this list was a curated selection of novels deemed "essential" for literature lovers. Over time, as books were added and removed to accommodate new tastes, the list has continued to grow into subsequent volumes. As of today, there have been 1,316 novels included in the list. Aaron, Rodney, and Rebecca will attempt to read and discuss every single one of them. Sort of.
66 Episodes
Reverse
Send a text Watchmen is, without question, the most unique book to be up for discussion on Just In Case We Die. Of all the tomes to ever appear on the curated list, Watchmen is the only comic book. Originally released as twelve individual issues, the final collected volume premiered at the end of 1987 and has subsequently become one of the most consistently-reprinted graphic novels of all time. It also managed to win the Hugo award and find a spot on Time Magazine‘s list of 100 Best Novels as...
Send a text It is February 2026. This means that this is the first episode of the fourth season. It also means that Rebecca has a pre-arranged prior commitment and cannot join the cast for their bonus discussion. While the cat’s away . . . This seemed like a perfect opportunity to bring Rodney’s friend Joe Tavano, former sci-fi podcaster and self-avowed expert on all things J. R. R. Tolkien, in for a discussion about two books that Rodney and Aaron knew that Rebecca would vehemently veto. Tho...
Send a text The final episode of the third season features one of the world’s most successful writers. The author of novels, short story collections, works of nonfiction, children’s books, and comics, Margaret Atwood has been topping bestseller lists and wowing prize jury judges for more than six decades. Few Canadian writers have enjoyed the success that she has made seem easy. This discussion is an interesting one. Aaron is already a fan of Margaret Atwood. Neither Rodney or Rebecca have re...
Send a text If there is one thing that everyone here at Just In Case We Die can agree on, it’s this: Haruki Murakami is one of the greatest contemporary storytellers. Japan’s best-selling novelist, Haruki Murakami has made an international name for himself with thought-provoking, meaningful narratives that explore loneliness and the nature of love within the warm, surreal embrace of magical realism. He is the author of fifteen novels, five story collections, and five works of varied non-ficti...
Send a text This month’s book up for discussion involves one of the strangest novels to ever be featured on Just In Case We Die. It’s a crass, vulgar, and irreverent commentary on American media wrapped up in a misguided and confounding allegory written by an Australian author who somehow managed to beat Booker Prize-stalwart Margaret Atwood for Britain’s most distinguished literary prize. Confusion aside, this is a really good novel that made the cast laugh, think, and shake their baff...
Send a text Remember last December when the crew at Just In Case We Die celebrated the holidays and National Read A New Book Month by combining both into one gift-giving effort? Well, they decided to do that same thing again (even if two of them still haven’t finished the books they were given last year). Classic titles, obscure titles, novels by authors who have been mentioned repeatedly on the show, and one cast member tricked into reading a wholly new genre. Six new books up for discussion...
Send a text André Brink’s A Dry White Season is a great example of the sort of novel Aaron, Rodney, and Rebecca are describing when they classify a book as “essential.” First published in 1979, this thought-provoking story recounts the journey of a white Afrikaaner as he transforms from a passive observer into an active challenger of injustice. Emphasizing the necessity of taking action against oppression, this novel explores the complicity of white privilege, moral awakening, and the persona...
Send a text All three cast members of Just In Case We Die are acknowledging that their accumulation of books has gotten out of control. The to-be-read piles get increasingly more problematic. This is not a problem that appears to be remedying itself in the near future. Consider: 1) Next month, each cast member will be given two books by their co-hosts. 2) Every month for the next year, they’ll be reading one book from the list for discussion. 3) Each of them will, more than likely, receive ma...
Send a text It's Aaron's turn to handpick a book from the list, and he selected Italo Calvino's 1979 post-modern masterpiece. This novel is one that he has admired for more than a quarter century. In fact, he's been trying to foist it on Rebecca seemingly ad nauseum since 2001. The real reason he picked it, though, is because he wants Rodney to gain a greater appreciation of post-modernism, and there are college courses that consider If On A Winter's Night A Traveler a core text for academic ...
Send a text When it turned out that maybe Aaron and Rodney might be able to convince Rebecca that not all science-fiction was a waste of her time, Aaron recommended Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. It was a gamble, to be sure, because this is a Science Fiction novel (note the capital S and F). Space exploration? Alien race first contact? Scientific calamity that might bring on the apocalypse? Check, check, and check. Guess what? It took two years and a well-crafted trailer for the upcoming film...
Send a text Pär Lagerkvist, the recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize for Literature, was not a writer that had ever been in the to-be-read piles of any of this podcast’s participants. All three of them, though, were affected by this novel’s message. This short 1950 novel takes a character briefly mentioned in the Holy Bible, expounds on his story, and prompts a discussion that starts with one opinion and ends with a change in perspective. How can such a slight little volume have such a profound ...
Send a text All three members of the cast are in different locations this month, so our bonus discussion might seem a little lackluster. There are, though, three excellent reasons to give this one a listen: You will learn all kinds of new things you didn’t know about books that have been banned or challenged.Aaron really screwed up (BIG TIME!) when we compiled the list for this podcast and takes some time to remedy the situation.You might win our first ever trivia contest, which might allow y...
Send a text It would stand to reason that a writer that has led an interesting life could write an interesting novel. Unless you’re E. M. Forster. If you’re him, you would lead an interesting life and then write a real clunker about despicable people doing deplorable things. You might posit that you’ve written a work filled to the brim with themes that your prose would never adequately explore. None of which will matter when you eventually write A Passage To India. Yeah, we didn’t care for th...
Send a text What happens when we die? Do we exist in an ethereal plane that cannot be perceived by human conscience? Are we forced to spend eternity as the background characters in another person's dreams? Do we have to exist eternally seeing ourselves from the perspectives of those who knew us when we were alive? Will we get to meet Mary Shelley? All of these possibilities-- and quite a few more-- are posited in neuroscientist David Eagleman's delightful (and short) book of stories. Rodney d...
Send a text In 1967, Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn edited his new novel down from 96 chapters to 87 chapters in the hopes that a censored version would be more palatable to Soviet publishers. It was not. In 1968, he was able to successfully get the novel published in Europe. It was, however, the shortened 87-chapter version. In 1978, the full unedited version was finally published in Russia. A full English translation would not land in America until 2009. In 2025, seeing that In The F...
Send a text In Champaign, Illinois– the city that serves as the home base for this podcast– there is a man named Mike Trippiedi. He is an award-winning filmmaker, an accomplished stage actor and director, and the author of three novels. He also happens to be someone that Aaron has known for most of his life. Mike’s new novel is called Abraham Lincoln’s Traveling Medicine Show. It’s a very entertaining revision of the assassination of our nation’s 16th President, as well as the ensuing afterma...
Send a text It's June! This means that we discuss a book hand-selected from the list by Rebecca. The last time she did this, she selected The Book of Illusions, a novel she had never read that was written by a novelist she admires. She took a wholly different approach this time: couple the desire to read a writer she had never experienced before with the realization that we almost never read books by women. The end result was Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion. Considered one of the classic "L...
Send a text It’s summertime! That means beautiful weather, afternoons at the pool, and maybe some time to relax and catch up on our ever-growing TBR piles. It also means, however, that things are going to get chaotic around here– prepping for trips to Alaska, summer camp with the kids, schoolwork, jobs. Before the three of us get bogged down in real life, we decided to throw ourselves a backyard patio BBQ . . . and invite some of our favorite writers. Each of us invited three writers to the s...
Send a text The first movie released in the DVD format was the 1996 disaster film Twister. Bullfrogs never sleep. The nation of China is credited with the invention of ice cream. Africa is the only continent with land in all four hemispheres. Queen guitarist Brian May holds a PhD in astrophysics. Aaron, Rodney, and Rebecca are going to remember these five random bits of trivia before they ever remember anything about The Expedition of Humphry Clinker.
Send a text Remember last year when we decided to celebrate National Short Story Month by discussing six short stories hand-selected by the cast? Well, we had so much fun last year that we decided to do it again! This year, Rodney actually chooses a short story instead of a novella, Rebecca reveals an interesting way to select material for our show, and Aaron must endure insulting words about one of his favorite writers. Also– and probably most importantly– Aaron and Rodney are once again vin...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States