Le Guin Part 5: Q&A

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Literary Nomads

Steve Chisnell

60 episodes

3 days ago

Join us as we find and lose meaning across modern and classic tales, through ancient and distant verse, atop everything in our many cultures which might be read. Explore familiar and unfamiliar reads, discovering ways to read, ways to know, and ways to make meaning. For teachers, students, and lovers of literature, Waywords can be listened to on its own but also comes with a host of bonus materials on its website for those who wish to go further.
I can’t promise what we’ll find along our paths each time, only that we will meet it together.

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Le Guin Part 5: Q&A

Literary Nomads

55 minutes 8 seconds

2 months ago

Le Guin Part 5: Q&A

12 Sept 2025
Episode 6.13 - Le Guin Part 5: Q&A
Listeners offer their questions from narrator trust to activism to teaching controversy. I rant--or respond--back.

Important Links Mentioned:

* Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8
* Literary Nomads, Journey 5, "Dorian Gray and Difficult Conversations": https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-08-dorian-gray-and-difficult-conversations/

Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/

CHAPTERS

00:00 Better a Q & R
02:04 Opening Theme
02:43 Getting Questions
04:03 Is the narrator in 'Omelas' unreliable?
10:45 Some examples of subverting fantasy tropes?
16:29 How do I keep contradictions in my head?
21:10 How am I supposed to take action in uncertainty?
27:35 How do I find the 'main idea' of the story?
32:08 How can we teach controversy without triggering?
41:32 How about some teaching strategies?
50:49 Literary Nomads Model
53:51 Closing Credits

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New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we're all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/

Transcript: https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-13-le-guin-part-5

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Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas.

Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses.

Website: https://waywordsstudio.com

Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/

Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn: @ Waywords Studio

CREDITS:

Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/)

Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski

USING THIS WORK:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution.

MLA CITATION:

Chisnell, Steve. “Le Guin Part 5: Q&A,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 12 Sept 2025, https://waywords...