This week, we conclude our spooky-season unit on The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. As Eleanor retreats from the story, how do we become aware of the perspective of the house itself? Is it possible to read Theodora as a villain? What, in the end, walks alone inside Hill House?
To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Footnotes:
Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we continue our thirteenth unit on The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. What are the atomic units of identity, and how do they interact? How does the book operate with -- or without -- the queer subtext? Is there, at the most basic level, something supernatural about Hill House?
To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, chapters six to nine of The Haunting Of Hill House, live on Patreon on Thursday, October 30th at 9PM Central Time.
Footnotes:
Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we begin our thirteenth unit with an introduction to The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. How does Jackson's biography help us to understand the themes of this book? How do we understand Hill House in the gothic tradition? Is this the best first paragraph any book ever?
To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, chapters two to five of The Haunting Of Hill House, live on Patreon on Thursday, October 23rd at 9PM Central Time.
Footnotes:
Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we conclude our unit on David Sodergren's The Haar. Where did cozy fiction come from? Is the satire effective? How do we understand Muriel's faith and final decision?
To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, we begin Shirley Jackson's The Haunting Of Hill House, live on Patreon on Thursday, October 16th at 9PM Central Time.
Footnotes:
Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we continue our spookily-seasonal unit on David Sodergren's The Haar. What is the role of memory in a story preoccupied with bodies? How is identity constructed? Is this book the first recorded instance of Cosy Gore?
To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, we conclude David Sodergren's The Haar, live on Patreon on Thursday, October 9th at 9PM Central Time.
Footnotes:
Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★Welcome to spooky season, and our Modern Horror unit on David Sodergren's The Haar. What is the necessary context for this novel? How does the possibility space of a horror novel work in practice? Is Muriel Margaret McAuley the best protagonist we've studied?
To see the video version of this week's show, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, we continue David Sodergren's The Haar, live on Patreon on Thursday, October 2nd at 9PM Central Time.
Footnotes:
Follow Stars And Swords on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
To join me for the live broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we conclude our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. How does the text position WIlloughby as an interesting villain? Is there a moral lesson to be found in Marianne's last transformation? Is Edward enough for Elinor?
To see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, we begin David Sodergren's The Haar, live on Patreon on Thursday, September 25th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we continue our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. How are the Miss Steeles revealed to be undesirable types? Why does Mrs. Jennings set up a great conflict, then immediately resolve it? Just how feminist is Austen anyway?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, we finish Sense and Sensibility, live on Patreon on Thursday, September 18th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we continue our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. How does Colonel Brandon's awkwardness communicate his honesty? How do we understand the backstory of Willoughby and Eliza? Is John Dashwood or Robert Ferrers worse?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, Volume 3, Chapter I (37) to VII (43) of Sense and Sensibility, live on Patreon on Thursday, September 11th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we continue our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. How does Marianne embody the modernity of Austen's age? What are the social expectations surrounding courtship and engagement? Is Edward maybe sometimes kind of a loser?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, Volume 2, Chapter VI (28) to XIV (36) of Sense and Sensibility, live on Patreon on Thursday, September 4th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we continue our discussion of Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility. Does Willoughby make the perfect heroic entrance into the story? What draws Elinor and Colonel Brandon together? Is Barton Cottage secretly a metaphor for Marianne?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, Volume 1, Chapter XV (15) to Volume 2, Chapter V (27) of Sense and Sensibility, live on YouTube on Thursday, August 21st at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we begin our eleventh unit and our discussion of Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense And Sensibility. How are Elinor and Marianne Dashwood compared and contrasted? How sharp is Austen's satire? What exactly makes a flannel waistcoat so unattractive?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, we finish the first volume of Sense and Sensibility, live on YouTube on Thursday, August 14th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we conclude the our study of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion with the back half of On the Rings of Power and the Third Age. How bad is Isildur's failure? How does Tolkien integrate the material from The Hobbit? Does Sam deserve more attention?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, we begin Jane Austen's classic Sense and Sensibility, live on YouTube on Thursday, August 7th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we conclude the history of Númenor and the Second Age with some apocalyptically terminal punctuation, and then rewind to consider what's been happening in Middle-earth this whole time. Could Sauron have been redeemed? What are the powers of the Rings? Why is it called the Last Alliance?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, the end of The Silmarillion and the feature story of the Third Age, live on YouTube on Thursday, July 31st at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, the history of Númenor and the Second Age in the penultimate part of The Silmarillion, Akallabêth. How do we understand the different influences which inspire this part of Tolkien's secondary creation? Why do the Men of Westernesse have such a hard time reconciling themselves to death? Are the words Atalantë and Avallónë really just coincidental?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Don't forget to check out my new Tolkien-related show, Shire Reckoning!
Next week, the end of The Silmarillion and the feature story of the Third Age, live on YouTube on Thursday, July 24th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
This week, the stories of Eärendil and the War of Wrath in Chapter XXIV of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. How does Tolkien stick the landing in the story of Beleriand and First Age? How do we understand the consequences of the Oath of Fëanor and the Doom of the Noldor? Are there hints of a happy ending?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, the story of the Second Age and the Fall of Númenor in Akallabêth, live on YouTube on Thursday, July 3rd at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, the last city falls but a new hope is born in Chapter XXIII of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. How is Tuor different from the other heroes of the age? Why is the story, as presented in this book, so brief? Does Maeglin get the fate he deserves?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, the end of the Quenta Silmarillion and the story of Eärendil in Chapter XXIV, live on YouTube on Thursday, June 26th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, things come undone in Chapters XXII of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. What do we make of the final fate of Húrin? How does the influence of Morgoth differ from that of the Silmarils? Could anything have saved Beleriand?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, we discuss Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin in Chapter XXIII of the Quenta Silmarillion, live on YouTube on Thursday, June 19th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★This week, we conclude the story of Túrin Turambar in Chapter XXI of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Who do we blame for the tragedy of the Children of Húrin? Does Nienor end her life on her own terms? Why is Túrin counted among the Elf-Friends?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, we approach the end of the First Age with Of The Ruin of Doriath, Chapter XXII of the Quenta Silmarillion, live on YouTube on Thursday, June 12th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes:
This week, the middle act of the story of Túrin Turambar in Chapter XXI of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Why is this version of Glaurung so different? What is the mythic power of a sword re-forged? How many names can one man have?
To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!
Next week, we conclude our discussion of Túrin with Chapter XXI of the Quenta Silmarillion, live on YouTube on Thursday, June 5th at 9PM Central.
Footnotes: