Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron get into their last Office Hours of the year, tackling the future of literature, whether or not Tolstoy is still relevant, which Russian literature icon would win in a rap battle and — most importantly — the tale of John Moritsugu, a man who tricked PBS into funding filth. God bless public broadcasting.  Major themes: Raskolnikov the rap god, The future of art, Tricking PBS 05:41 - That publisher being Spuyten Duyvil, whose fantastic website you...

Heads up: This episode will contain conversation about incest throughout. Take that into consideration as you head into it. Also sorry about the kitchen noises in the background of some portions. Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron learn about narrative-causes and narrative-effects in The UnSimple, a novella by Ukrainian writer Taras Prokhasko and translated by Uilliam Blacker. Set in the Carpathians through the first half of the 20th century, the story follows Anna, Franz, Anna,...

Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron dig into the short story collection To Hell WIth Poets, authored by Kazakh writer Baqytgul Sarmekova and translated by Mirgul Kali. The collection, published in English by Tilted Axis Press in 2024, explores rural-urban divides (with a focus on the dissatisfaction life doles out on both sides), troubled people, sexual exploitation, and the indulgence of nostalgia. Although the entire collection is worthwhile, they’ll be covering the stories “The Night...

Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron host Office Hours, speaking about the wider state of reading as well as some non-Slavic lit they’ve been getting in to. Tune in to find their opinions about Lament for Julia by Susan Taubes and Z by Vassilis Vassilikos, whether or not literary analysis has any meaning at all, and whether we’re too concerned with what straight men are reading. Grab your extra credit and tune in!  Major themes: A.I. bait, straight men and novels, TikTok killed the...

Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Sergei Eisenstein’s landmark film Strike! (1925) to get a better look into his foundational ideas around montage and film composition amidst a tragic tale of a failed strike. Yes, they will be talking about the cow scene for most of the episode. Not sure what we’re talking about? You’ll have to tune in to find out.  Major themes: Cow slaughter, Influencing the audience, Everything is montage 01:30 - Mosfilm’s youtube channel actually does...

Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron dive into Andriy Sodomora’s short story collection The Tears & Smiles of Things with the help of its translators Roman Ivashkiv and Sabrina Jaszi. The collection draws together Sodomora’s reflections on life, ancient texts, and the difficulties of translation. The book holds the subtitle “Stories, Sketches, Meditations.” It’s never easy to tell which is which — if indeed a clear delineation can be made at all — but Jaszi and Ivashkiv do their best...

Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron talk Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song, dropping the nuclear bomb (a timely conversation), and torturing your roommates by cooking cabbage. They’ll also be getting into a topic that everyone has been dying to know more about: Jordan Peterson Academy. Well…maybe not, no one has asked us about it, but Cameron is dying to know how they got his email. Get read to get real anti-intellectual and tune in!  Major themes: Lackluster dystopias, Cabbage torture, Jordan...

Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron are down with the sickness of Schulzomania, covering parts of the short story collection “The Street of Crocodiles” by Polish-Jewish literary superstar Bruno Schulz. They’ll be talking about “Visitation,” “Tailor’s Dummies,” and the eponymous “The Street of Crocodiles,” delving deep into Schulz’s surreal vision of his family and city. Order versus chaos, taking the formation of matter into our own hands, seductive tickling — we’ve got it all here! Get...

Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron chart new territory by covering the novella Devil's Yard by Yugoslav writer, poet, and diplomat (at varying times) Ivo Andrić. Covering a story within a story, they’ll have plenty to say about the construction of narrative, storytelling from the core and periphery of empire, and what’s up with everybody talking about eyes, huh? Grab your prison blanket, find a safe spot to sleep in the yard, and tune in!  Major themes: Narrative confusion, Residue of...

Note: This episode originally aired in February 2024. Matt and Cameron are taking a much needed break this August and wanted to re-up some mid-series Life and Fate episodes they thought deserved more attention. Pick up a copy of The Czech Manuscripts here. Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron are joined by Professor David L. Cooper to talk about his new book The Czech Manuscripts: Forgery, Translation, and National Myth. In the book, Dr. Cooper takes a new look at the so-called Czech...

Note: This episode originally aired in January 2024. Matt and Cameron are taking a much needed break this August and wanted to re-up some mid-series Life and Fate episodes they thought deserved more attention. Pick up a copy of Ochre & Rust from Green Linden Press’ website. Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron tackle some of the work of Sergey Gandlevsky, translated by Philip J. Metres and collected in Ochre & Rust. Tune in to hear more about one of Russia’s most celebrated...

Note: This episode originally aired in April 2024. Matt and Cameron are taking a much needed break this August and wanted to re-up some mid-series Life and Fate episodes they thought deserved more attention. You can pick up a copy of Dr. Maya Vinokour’s book Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture here.  Show Notes: This week, Matt and Cameron sit down with Dr. Maya Vinokour to talk about her book Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture and touch on Daniil...

Show Notes: They said it couldn’t be done; they said it was too much work; they say it was simply too much Grossman. (The ‘they’ here is Matt and Cameron, to be clear). This week, more than 7 months after starting their Life and Fate series, Matt and Cameron proved them (us) wrong by covering Chapters 49 through 61 of Part 3. It’s time to say goodbye to characters we’ve followed across nearly 900 pages (or around 1700 pages if you also read Stalingrad), with many of them going out on notes...

Wondering where the other episodes in this series are? We've moved them to a secondary RSS feed (under the title Life and Fate - Chapter A Day Read Along) to avoid clutter. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 61 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get...

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 60 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 59 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 58 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 57 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 56 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 55 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 54 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 53 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 52 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Covering thoughts shared by some of our listeners on our Discord and on social media about Part 3, Chapter 51 of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate. You can read our post about the chapter here. If you haven't already signed up to get daily emails reflecting on each chapter of Life and Fate, you can do so on our website. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Discord to participate in the discussion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands