The Orphan Master’s Son

In this episode, Jess & Joseph tackle The Orphan Master’s Son, Adam Johnson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2012 novel about humanity and survival in North Korea. As with many stories about North Korea, The Orphan Master’s Son is grim, violent, and disturbing, but as with many works of fiction, it is also funny, hopeful, and sprinkled with small scenes of joy. We consider the role of a novel like The Orphan Master’s Son as a guide to the harsh realities of life in North Korea, and how fiction can offer readers broader educational scope for serious topics than reading only nonfiction for education.