Philosophy, Murder, and Radical Freedom with Charlene Elsby

On this episode, philosopher and author Charlene Elsby joins the show to discuss her novel Poor Damned Souls.The book follows a nameless narrator who works behind the glass at a payday loan business called The Money Store and lives with her partner, Scott.When she begins to suspect Scott is cheating, she investigates and uncovers something far worse than another woman.Rather than running, she is pulled deeper in.Charlene explains why the narrator is wounded more by being shut out than by the killing itself.We get into her view that the deepest fear is other people existing beyond our control, and the unsettling idea that to truly possess someone is to destroy them.She shares how her PhD in philosophy shapes the book, drawing on Aristotle, Stoicism, phenomenology, and existentialism.The conversation wanders into the Jungian shadow self, Nietzsche, consciousness, and why revealing our darkest thoughts feels so dangerous.Charlene also reveals that the Money Store is autobiographical, drawn from her own time working at a payday loan center.She breaks down how that job erodes empathy, why the bullet resistant glass is a quiet calculation on the value of a human life, and how corporate language like a folder labeled Human Resources sanitizes violence.We talk about the narrator's flat, methodical voice, the dark humor running through the book, and why grotesque discoveries sit right beside ordinary household routine.It is a bleak, funny, and deeply philosophical conversation about love, control, and the horror of never fully knowing another person.Author Websitehttps://charleneelsby.com/Social MediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlene_elsby/X/Twitter: https://x.com/ElsbyCharleneFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlene.elsby/Where to BuyMerigold Independent: https://www.merigoldindependent.com/charleneelsby-poor-damned-soulsAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Charlene+ElsbyBarnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Charlene%20Elsby%22Support The Dark Mind Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast