PODCAST · arts
Liberating Libraries
by Conspiracy of Equality
Welcome to Liberating Libraries, a podcast project presented by the Conspiracy of Equality. In this show, we talk about the fiction we’re reading and how it is informing, poking at, inspiring, or enabling our social justice work. We don’t delve deep ‘into the text’, but we use the work of our faves (like Octavia Butler, Marlon James, Zadie Smith, Ursula le Guin, Isabelle Allende…) to work through ideas and imagine the worlds that could be.
Episodes
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Update on Liberating Libraries July 2020
A quick note on where things are at with Liberating Libraries. You can find all our past episodes and writings at liberatinglibraries.org.
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Survivors Elsewhere
Tash Aw's We, The Survivors (2019) is all about exploitation and the toll of development on workers. Vladamir Lorchenkov's The Good Life Elsewhere (2008) looks at workers who have been made useless and disposable. They're two sides to the same capitalist system, and they show us some important...
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A Return to Octavia Butler
We're back in 2020 with a look at one of the authors who inspired this whole project: Octavia Butler. In this brand new episode we return to and build on our very first discussion of her amazing works Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998). This time we add our reflections…
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2019 Year in Review
Ever wonder what it's like to hear us talk about books we DIDN'T like? Best and worst reads off our shelf in 2019, and some discussion of plans for upcoming episodes (pleasure, work, and African and Indigenous Futurisms). Books we talk about: The Old Drift (Namwali Serpell) Spring (Ali Smith)…
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Fighting Fascism with Fiction
How should we feel and share our feelings in times of rising fascism? In this episode we tackle this question by looking at stories about life in German and Italy before and during WWII. We examine the three part graphic novel Berlin (2018) by Jason Lutes and Natalia Ginsburg's memoir of...
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Zadie Smith and Neoliberal Friendship (REPOST)
A short repost of an episode from last year. Zadie Smith is one of our favourite authors, so we had to cut this one down A LOT! Here we're talking about her most recent novel Swing Time. You can find the full original version on our website, liberatinglibraries.org.
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Land Epics and Great Transformations
We've been excited about this one for a while! An episode looking at two epic tales of dispossession, transformation, and the development of contemporary capitalism. Putting together John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and Abdelrahman Munif's Cities of Salt, we're talking about fiction that explores...
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Mohsin Hamid and Writing the Moment (REPOST)
An episode we recorded in 2018, but remains as timely as ever. Looking at Mohsin Hamid's books The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West to talk about breathing life into historical moments, and writing with human dignity.
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Marlon James On Violence (REPOST)
A repost of one of our first episodes looking at A History of Seven Killings and The Book of Night Women by Marlon James. CONTENT WARNING: contains descriptions of graphic violence, oppression, and sexual assault.
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Scarborough Takes On Can-Lit
In this episode we look at Scarborough (2017) by Catherine Hernandez and Brother (2017) by David Chariandy, two powerful novels that bring voice to a diverse and chronically underfunded community in Canada. Both set in Scarborough, Ontario, they use intimacy and bureaucracy to show the workings…
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Can we be Estraven? (REPOST)
REPOST: An episode from 2018 about the work of Ursula K Le Guin. We talk about the books The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) and The Word for World is Forest (1972), delving into her inventive and radical ideas on how we approach 'the other' and build trust. This episode was recorded a few months...
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Reading for Decolonization (Repost)
RE-POST: While we work on our next episode, we're re-releasing some of our earlier stuff. This is a re-edit of a discussion we had in 2018 about the books Birdie by Tracy Lindberg and The Break by Katherena Vermette. We explore reading these fabulous Indigenous women as settlers in Canada/Turtle...
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Reading is a Singular Pleasure - Part 2 John Steinbeck
Here's part 2 in the series, all about John Steinbeck! About: In this series, we talk about authors who mean a lot to one of us, and less to the other, and explore how our reading styles can draw us to very different kinds of writing. Most people find certain kinds of stories and storytelling…
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Reading is A Singular Pleasure - Part 1 Dionne Brand
Part 1 in a 2-part series. We talk about authors who mean a lot to one of us, and less to the other, and explore how our reading styles can draw us to very different kinds of writing. Most people find certain kinds of stories and storytelling more compelling than others, and that’s okay. It’s...
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Where is Climate Change in Fiction?
This episode asks how is contemporary fiction incorporating (or not) the present realities of climate change and can it provide avenues for building a response to climate crisis? To do this we look at two recent books about post-climate change dystopia - American War by Omar El Akkad and Gold…
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Early Reads for Liberating Libraries
Welcome to our relaunch of Liberating Libraries by the Conspiracy of Equality. In this podcast we examine how fiction informs us as activists concerned about fostering empathy, justice, kindness, and equity. In this episode we discuss where this project came from, who we are as people trying to...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Welcome to Liberating Libraries, a podcast project presented by the Conspiracy of Equality. In this show, we talk about the fiction we’re reading and how it is informing, poking at, inspiring, or enabling our social justice work. We don’t delve deep ‘into the text’, but we use the work of our faves (like Octavia Butler, Marlon James, Zadie Smith, Ursula le Guin, Isabelle Allende…) to work through ideas and imagine the worlds that could be.
HOSTED BY
Conspiracy of Equality
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Liberating Libraries have?
Liberating Libraries currently has 16 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Liberating Libraries about?
Welcome to Liberating Libraries, a podcast project presented by the Conspiracy of Equality. In this show, we talk about the fiction we’re reading and how it is informing, poking at, inspiring, or enabling our social justice work. We don’t delve deep ‘into the text’, but we use the work of our faves...
How often does Liberating Libraries release new episodes?
Liberating Libraries has 16 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Liberating Libraries?
You can listen to Liberating Libraries on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Liberating Libraries?
Liberating Libraries is created and hosted by Conspiracy of Equality.
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