Workers' Lit

So…bad news. Pretty much all American institutions are imploding into their most idiotic possible forms. However, since that includes journalism, you’ll probably hear elsewhere that this is good news. Go figure.This week, the workers are joined by Nelson from the “What’s Left of The South” podcast to talk about the attempts of different mega-corporations to take over Warner Bros, the ascendence of the Unitary Executive Theory of Government, the Texas senate race, and Indigenous people fighting back against colonialism and climate change.What’s Left of the South is a great podcast about southern working class history. Check it out here!Articles quoted in today’s episode:https://zeteo.com/p/the-maga-moguls-media-takeoverhttps://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/08/supreme-court-slaughter-trump-firings-00681078https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/900-acres-bordering-yosemite-returned-to-tribe-that-was-expelled-175-years-ago/And of course, check out the Costco Guys’ new hit Christmas song

Nuclear war kinda sucks.We are joined by returning guest and apocalypse-understander Brian Alford of The Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast to discuss Nevil Shute's 1957 end-of-the-world novel, "On The Beach."What if the world was ending, but we were in Australia and being real polite about it? Have you been wondering what that'd be like? We know you have, so listen on!Listen to Brian's fantastic podcast, ⁠The Worst of All Possible Worlds⁠

It's a bonus author interview!We're joined by author, public theologian, and all-around cool guy Brian Recker to talk about his new book, "Hell Bent: How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love"If you were raised evangelical, this one will hit hard, but even if you weren't, this is a great discussion (and book!) about the politics of hell, liberatory (and anti-liberatory) forms of Christianity, and the way a fear of divine punishment hangs over our society...and how we all deserve to escape that fear.Buy a copy of Hell Bent here!

The US is up to some bad stuff, folks.We start by discussing the evangelical cabal (and Jacob's ties to it), move into the DC shooting (and the Pentagon's responsibility for it), and then talk about US meddling in Latin America, Pete Hegseth, and Jen's suspicious absence.Finally, Starbucks takes a big L (and we're very pleased).Articles referenced in this episode:https://www.propublica.org/article/roommates-steve-berger-mike-johnson-andy-ogles-right-wing-influence-townhousehttps://www.dropsitenews.com/p/national-guard-shooter-rahmanullah-lakanwal-afghanistan-zero-units-cia-imprisonmenthttps://www.dropsitenews.com/p/honduras-vote-election-libre-trump

This week Aysha and Jacob face down the twin horrors of Dionysian madness and class anxiety with Donna Tartt’s brilliant 1992 work of literary fiction/inverted mystery, “The Secret History.”We are joined by Kevin Vibert and Harley Takagi Kaner of “The Penumbra Podcast.” In the opinion of the Workers’ Lit team these two are among the greatest audio dramatists literally of all time…so yeah, they’re quite qualified to talk about some bomb-ass fiction.Themes: Closeted bisexual angst, middle class angst, academic angst, and hiding-a-murder angst.Go listen to the Penumbra Podcast!

The world remains quite weird.This week we’re joined by Jason Robinson of “48 Minutes of Dogs Barking” and “Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals” to talk about Marjorie Taylor Greene and the so called “MAGA Civil War,” some standout Epstein emails and the wackiest online reactions to them, the so-called “Seditious Six” scandal, and some truly horrid news out of Texas.Also, Jacob shares some college lore.Listen to “48 Minutes of Dogs Barking,” a podcast about the weird corners of the internet Listen to “Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals,” an audio drama about famous horror authors telling stories around a campfireWe’re experimenting with format for this side of the show, so please comment or email us (workerslit@gmail.com) with your thoughts!

It’s Alive!!!It’s time to make up a guy to get mad at with Mary Shelley’s 1818 genre-creating classic, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.”We join Victor as he falls in love with his sister, gets real depressed, and is sooooo mean to the poor little monster.Class critique, religious skepticism, a Guillermo Del Toro adaptation, this book’s got it all!

Epstein scandals! A tumbling economy! Nicki Minaj standing up for Christendom! AI in massive trouble! What a week to talk about the darn news.We are joined by Johnny Amizich, writer for Hard Drive and host of the podcast "Culture Dumpster," to talk about the happenings of the last week, with special attention put on the AI bubble. Johnny explains it well here, and for further reading, check out Ed Zitron's blog (which we refer to several times throughout the episode). Go listen to Culture Dumpster!Support the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund here.Learn how to support the Starbucks strike here.

What if you could really, really, REALLY go on the computer?William Gibson asks this vital question in his 1984 sci-fi classic, "Neuromancer," and today we're joined by Trevor Strunk of "No Cartridge" to consider just that!How did AI get so lame? Why are tech oligarchs the worst? How do we feel about hot women with claws? All will be revealed...Go listen to "No Cartridge," one of the best podcasts out there about video games!

Another crazy news week! We start with the summary, and then go into a discussion (featuring Josh Boerman) at around the 15-minute mark.Today's topics: huge electoral losses for the Republicans, the Zohran Mamdani victory, total Democrat capitulation on the shutdown, unceasing imperialism, too little (and too much!) water due to climate change, and a socialist victory in Atlanta.Listen to Josh's fantastic podcasts, The Worst of All Possible Worlds AND Ill Conceived!

This truly is a book for our moment.The pod dives into (friend of the pod) Lee Mandelo’s 2024 queer horror, “Woods All Black.”Looking for an intersection of queerness, rage, and resistance in the face of rising fascist undercurrents? Look no further!Episode art is an edited version of a Deviantart post (and later popular meme) by Endlen.

It’s our first ever news and current events episode!We start with a news summary, followed by commentary beginning at 16:37.Today's topics: The government shutdown, SNAP, looming war in Latin America, Sudan and Gaza, ICE raids, healthcare, transgender rights, and sea turtles making a comeback.If you can, please make a donation to Middlebury's Prism Center for Queer and Trans Life in Lia Smith's honor.

Probably our most important episode yet.Aysha U. Farah and Jen Big Nasty join the shelfers to...no wait, I'm seeing they're just joining the pod. Straight up. They're members of the show now. Let's goooo!We're excited to announce that this feed will be rebranding, with the umbrella name, "Workers' Lit." This is not because we're getting rid of The Socialist Shelf (you couldn't escape us that easily), but because we're adding a second show to the feed: "Unfit to Print," a weekly news roundup that starts with a structured summary of the last week's events and then launches into a more relaxed discussion of the current state of affairs.That's right, two episodes a week! Listeners, you asked for current events, you asked for more content, you asked for more Aysha and Jen, now you're getting it all!We're extremely excited to bring Aysha onto the Socialist Shelf side and Jen onto the Unfit to Print side. This is going to be a lot of work, but we're extremely excited to grow this project and hope y'all will be along for the ride!Please support us by following on social media, leaving a review, and telling your friends!

We’re covering Ben Shapiro again. We’re doing this for you, listeners. You asked us to do this. You inflicted this pain on us. YOU DID!It’s time to get into Ben’s most recent fascist screed, 2025’s “Lions and Scavengers,” and we’re joined by famed Ben hater and theatre understander (unlike Ben), AJ Ditty of the Worst of All Possible Worlds!As much as we joke, this is a pretty good episode if you want to learn to dissect the arguments of the intellectual-sounding right. Also…learn Ben Shapiro’s connections to Sephiroth.Are you listening to Worst of All Possible Worlds? Why the hell not? Go check it out right now. Go go go!!

Oh wow. What a time. We really did this.At listener request, we covered Kamala Harris’ supposed tell-all “107 Days.” Whoo boy.Joining us is Josh Mayfield, a revolutionary organizer, artist, and generally a cool guy.Topics: how it’s not Kamala’s fault, how Kamala wants you to stop caring about Gaza, how Kamala hates her husband, and how fascism cannot be beaten at the ballot box.Check out Josh’s brilliant art here!Art is Coconut Us.

What if a flu killed almost everyone and so you performed Shakespeare in a traveling band of vagabonds, and also famous actor flashbacks and creepy airport prophets and graphic novels and the 2008 financial crash were involved? And what if somehow it all worked?Welcome to “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel, where you’ll find all that and more.Fair warning, we summarize the plot in about the same way the book presents it, so things get disjointed…but we’re all having fun, right?

Yeah. We read Kash Patel's book for kids. It's about as good as you expect.The now FBI Director's 2022, "Plot Against The King" is an allegorical tale sure to delight and amaze...or something like that.Episode art is the book's cover but with that epic Kash Flare

We’re delighted to welcome author and journalist Talia Lavin to the show to discuss her book, “Wild Faith: How the Christian right is taking over America.”This is a broad topic that we know a lot of you are interested in. We touch on the rise of the Moral Majority, the mainstreaming of the Satanic Panic, the unwavering faith of true believers, and we throw up a peace sign over James Dobson’s grave.Go buy Talia’s book! It’s phenomenal!

“1984 is a great fiction novel to read but it seems like it is becoming the reality we are currently living under more and more each day”—noted genius Madison CawthornToday we get into THE dystopian giant, Georgia Orwell’s 1949 novel, “1984.” We have mixed feelings.Learn about the very earnest and very annoying George Orwell, a man of often good intentions even more often ridiculous blunders and baffling choices. Then, get into the world of Oceania, with beautiful writing and…a complete lack of any useful political analysis whatsoever,This one’s complicated! Bring your popcorn and let’s enjoy it together.

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.