Literary Nomads

  And when the child cannot speak for itself? Humanity’s first global lawsuit! In this 10th-century Islamic fable, animals put mankind on trial for the crimes of the extraction economy. We unsettle the habitus of human exceptionalism to ask: would we change the story’s ending because we couldn’t handle our own complicity? Discover the original […]

  We’ve turned the basement into a casino! A man who turns to fortune-telling to assuage his conscience. A society that chooses its victims through a lottery. Does “mathematical fairness” absolve the citizens of Omelas, or does it simply creates a more sophisticated illusion of justice? Today it’s the dark philosophy of Jorge Luis Borges’s […]

  10 April 2026 Waypoint - “The Fortune Teller” by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis is perhaps the greatest writer of Brazil. In “The Fortune-Teller,” a secret affair driven by anonymous threats pushes a committed skeptic toward a dingy attic and a deck of cards. It is a study in […]

  The “Hideous Bargain” is no longer just about one child’s pain . . . We investigate the “Euclidean Mind” that seeks to flatten our messy humanity into a spreadsheet of “mathematically infallible happiness.”  Unsettle the sterile peace of the OneState and the rigid hierarchy of Flatland to ask: Is your imagination a gift, or […]

The “Hideous Bargain” moves from metaphor to the operating table. In this episode, we let loose the bonds of metaphor in Le Guin’s “Omelas” and meet the visceral reality of clinical labor. We examine how the “Sanitization of Language” allows societies—from the United Federation of Planets to modern biotechnology markets—to rebrand human suffering as a “sacred honor” or a “net gain”. “We explore the “clinical labor” of Star Trek and Never Let Me Go. We re-story the “Redshirt” trope through the lens of necropolitics and the ethical extractions of the modern bioeconomy. Episode 6.29 – Utopia’s Spare Parts: Star Trek & Ishiguro Readings & Resources: Ishiguro, Kazuo – Never Let Me Go (2005) “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach,” Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Season 1, Episode 6 (2022) Mbembe, Achille –  Necropolitics (2019) Scarry, Elaine – The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World (1985) Waldby, Catherine & Melinda Cooper – Clinical Labor: Tissue Inventory and the Embodied Economies of Regenerative Medicine (2014) Singer, Peter – Practical Ethics (2011) Haraway, Donna – “A Cyborg Manifesto” (found in Simians, Cyborgs, and Women, 1991) Some Key Terms from this episode: Clinical Labor – The extraction of biological value (tissues, organs, experimental data) from the human body as an economic resource. Habitus – Our “social autopilot,” the internalized set of habits and worldviews, shaped by our upbringing, that makes certain paths feel “natural” while others remain literally unthinkable Homo Sacer – [Homo SAH-cher], An individual reduced to “bare life”; excluded from legal protection and able to be killed without it being a crime. Necropolitics – The use of social and political power to dictate how some people may live and how some must die. Sanitization of Language – The use of euphemisms (e.g., “completion” instead of death) to make unethical systems palatable. Listener’s Guide Reflection Questions When we encounter a “sanitized label” like “economic downsizing,” what physical extractions are hidden by the syntax? In what ways does our own “habitus” make social sacrifices feel like inevitable “canon events” rather than choices? If a “docile body” accepts its own exploitation/extraction, does that change the nature of the bargain, or just the visibility of our choices? How does the concept of “clinical labor” reframe the human body as a “mathematical” utilitarian equation? If empathy has “limits” within a walled ideological system, what other strategies may help us overcome those walls? Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Crewman, We Hardly Knew You 07:43     Intro Theme 08:19     Extractions of Labor 14:49     Star Trek Meets Le Guin 28:10     Ishiguro and the Quiet Bureaucracy 37:16     Utilitarian Defense 43:18     The Flesh and the Machine 48:10     Closing Credits   === Transcript and Bibliography:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-29-utopia-spare-parts New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the main program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and BlueSky:  @WaywordsStudio === CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.29 Utopia’s Spare Parts: Star Trek & Ishiguro,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 20 March 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

The Omelas basement has a physical address in America: the prison-industrial complex.  This week, we use the lens of Toni Morrison’s literary criticism to interrogate the 13th Amendment and the ‘Hideous Bargain” of mass incarceration. If the basement is built into our laws, can we ever truly ‘walk away’? We analyze Toni Morrison’s book Playing in the Dark and the prison-industrial complex through the documentary film 13th. We discuss the ‘Architecture of the Dungeon,’ and the ‘Hideous Bargain’ of American systemic racism.  We discuss how ‘white silence’ sustains the Omelas basement and why dismantling the ‘Utopia Illusion’ requires an open and strenuous engagement with marginalized narratives and those of the Western white canon. The Omelas framework is both the literal and literary architecture of the American dungeon: the prison-industrial complex. We identify the 13th Amendment’s ‘punishment clause’ as the legal anchor for the ‘Hideous Bargain,’ where the civil liberties of the majority are tethered to the systemic extraction of life from the imprisoned. Through Morrison’s lens, we recognize that ‘white silence’ acts as the mortar in these walls, sustaining a ‘Utopia Illusion’ that requires the intentional obliviousness of the privileged class. Episode 6.28 – The Architecture of the Dungeon: Toni Morrison and the 13th Amendment Readings & Resources: DuVernay, Ava, 13th (documentary film, 2016) Morrison, Toni. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (1992) Morrison, Toni. “Recitatif.” (1983) Some Key Terms from this episode: Africanism (or Africanist Presence):  Fabricated, denotative, and connotative blackness that African peoples have come to signify within Eurocentric thought; a backdrop against which white identity and freedom are constructed. Copaganda:  Portmanteau of “cop” and “propaganda,” coined by Alec Karakatsanis, describing media that shows policing, state violence, and the criminal justice system as inherently fair, noble, and necessary. 13thism: A historical paradigm and narrative trope which argues that the Reconstruction era did not end slavery, but instead used the Thirteenth Amendment’s exception clause as the legal foundation for the mass re-enslavement of African Americans.   Listener’s Guide Reflection Questions How does the presence of a “legal exception” for slavery in the 13th Amendment shift our perception of the Constitution from a ‘Declaration of Freedom’ to a ‘Manual for Management’? If we consider ‘silence’ as a physical building material, what structures in your immediate community appear to be supported by what is not being said? In what ways does the ‘psychological manufacture’ of a criminal’s identity serve to protect the moral comfort of mainstream society? If the ‘Garden Walls’ of our reading choices seal us in with our own illusions, what specific ‘frictions’ are required to break them? How does the ‘Extraction of Labor’ from the marginalized physically manifest in the ‘Abundance’ of our modern digital and physical harvests? Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Advisory 01:51     Turning the Camera Around 07:24     Intro Theme 07:59     Personae 19:20     Studies in Morrison 26:18     Legal Loopholes: 13th 38:39     Spare Parts 41:01     Closing Credits   === Transcript and Bibliography (most accurate):  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-28-morrison-and-13th New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the main program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and BlueSky:  @WaywordsStudio === CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.28 The Architecture of the Dungeon: Toni Morrison and the 13th Amendment,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 27 February 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

What happens to the story when the ‘object’ of our sympathy looks back and refuses the role we’ve written for them? The allegory of the ‘Suffering Child’ is a powerful challenge, but it creates its own blind spots: it can turn a living history into a static prop. This week, we use Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars to break that Omelas mirror. We explore the ‘Sovereign Center’—a reality where trauma is not a relic in a basement, but an active, intergenerational authorship that demands a more strenuous engagement than simply ‘walking away.’ We also consider the legacy of the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, the Sand Creek Massacre, and the concept of ‘Survivance’ as a rejection of static victimhood. And we wonder if Renya Ramirez’s ‘Native Hub’ theory explains how Louise Erdrich and Tommy Orange use narrative power to challenge the ‘Bureaucracy of Erasure’ and the Omelas dilemma. Episode 6.27 – Wandering Stars: Tommy Orange and the Sovereign Center Readings & Resources: Erdrich, Louise: The Night Watchman, Love Medicine (expanded editions) Harjo, Joy. “I Give You Back.” from She Had Some Horses (1983) Momaday, N. Scott. “The Man Made of Words.” (1997) Ortiz, Simon: “Towards a National Indian Literature” (essay), from Sand Creek (poetry) Orange, Tommy: There There (2018) and Wandering Stars (2024) Vizenor, Gerald. Manifest Manners: Narratives on Postindian Survivance.    Some Key Terms from this episode: Native Hub: A concept by Renya Ramirez describing the urban center not as a place of cultural loss or assimilation, but as a dynamic network where Indigenous culture is collected, maintained, and reinvented through “intertribal” connection. Survivance: Gerald Vizenor’s term for an “active sense of presence” that renounces the static narratives of tragedy and victimhood, combining survival with resistance to create a continuous, evolving Indigenous identity. The Loop (vs. Linearity): A temporal structure used by Tommy Orange to describe both the repetitive cycle of addiction and the non-linear nature of Indigenous history, where past traumas and present realities occur simultaneously, even internally, contrasting with the “settler time” of linear progress.   Listener’s Guide Reflection Questions How does the transition from viewing an individual as a “subject of care” to an “agent of sovereignty” alter the ethical requirements of the observer? In the context of “intergenerational trauma,” what are the implications of treating time as a toroidal loop rather than a linear sequence of events? How might the “Native Hub” model challenge traditional Western definitions of “citizenship” or “territory”? Consider the linguistic friction in the term “Emancipation” when applied to “Termination”—how does the misuse of language facilitate ontological erasure? If we reject the binary choice of “Stay or Walk Away,” what is the intellectual cost of “Adding oneself back” to a fractured history? Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Breaking the Mirror of Omelas 04:18     Intro Theme 04:51     Some Spatial Theory 17:19     Monsters Within 21:02     Survivance 23:57     Theories of Time: Toruses and Loops 26:56     Literature from Our Margins 29:03     Closing Credits === Transcript and Bibliography (most accurate):  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-27-wandering-stars-orange New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the main program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and BlueSky:  @WaywordsStudio === CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.27 Wandering Stars: Tommy Orange and the Sovereign Center,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 20 February 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

Your Interpretation is Colonial. When we turn Zen into a pop-culture vibe or a totem pole into a corporate metaphor, we aren’t learning; we’re committing interpretative violence.  Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman and Simon Ortiz’s “Towards a National Indian Literature” confront the “Bureaucracy of Erasure.” We ditch the linear “vanishing Indian” myth for the Torus—a non-linear, sovereign loop of survival where the ghosts of the past still speak in the official transcripts of the present. Along the way, we learn about MMIWR (see below) and the 1953 Termination Act (House Concurrent Resolution 108). In this episode, we apply the Omelas Framework to that historical policy, identifying it as a state-sponsored “Hideous Bargain”. The US government used the euphemism of “Emancipation” to market the erasure of Indigenous tribes as a “deal” for full equality, effectively seeking to “prosper” by silencing the sovereignty of the victim. Rather than “walking away” from this systemic injustice, Erdrich’s protagonist, Thomas Wazhashk, uses the “Emperor’s tools”—the English language and parliamentary procedure—to “write back” against the bureaucracy, transforming the narrative from one of passive suffering into one of active, sovereign “survivance”. Episode 6.26 – The Bureaucracy of Erasure: Erdrich’s The Night Watchman Readings & Resources: Erdrich, Louise: The Night Watchman, Love Medicine (expanded editions) Ortiz, Simon: “Towards a National Indian Literature” (essay), from Sand Creek (poetry) MMIWR Not Our Native Daughters: https://notournativedaughters.org National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center: https://www.niwrc.org   Some Key Terms from this episode: Torus: A doughnut-shaped continuous surface used by Erdrich as a spatial metaphor for Indigenous time, a non-linear, cyclical reality where the “tribal private” core remains protected from the settler state’s linear mapping. Catachresis: The rhetorical abuse or misuse of a word (e.g., using “Emancipation” to name a bill that enacts “Termination”), which is the primary linguistic weapon of the “Hideous Bargain” in the 1950s. Here, “euphemism” is a kind of catachesis. Survivance: Gerald Vizenor’s term describing an “active sense of presence” that rejects the binary of “dominance/victimhood,” allowing indigenous peoples to use colonial tools (like English or bureaucracy) to ensure continuity rather than assimilation.   Listener’s Guide Reflection Questions In what ways do we unknowingly use “museum culture” logic to view marginalized communities as static relics of the past rather than evolving, modern identities? Can you identify a “Hideous Bargain” in your own local or national community where the prosperity of many relies on the “euphemized” erasure of another group How does the metaphor of the Torus—time and space as a looping, overlapping substance—change your perspective on historical traumas like boarding schools? If language is a tool for both “colonization” and “liberation,” how can we consciously “write back” against systems that profit from silence What “monsters” in our current systems are we failing to name because our language has been sanitized by bureaucratic euphemisms? Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     My Own Monsters 06:17     Intro Theme 06:50     The Bureaucracy of Erasure 16:08     Erdrich and the Emancipation Trap 23:01     Turning Back Upon Ourselves: MMIWR 26:05     Donuts & Time 41:03     Killing Metaphysics 44:42     The “Suffering Child” Who Won’t Stay Dead 50:25     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript and Bibliography (most accurate):  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-26-erdrich-the-night-watchman === Literary Nomads is the main program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and BlueSky:  @WaywordsStudio === CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.26 The Bureaucracy of Erasure: Erdrich’s The Night Watchman,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 13 February 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

Akwaeke Emezi demonstrates how Nigeria’s contemporary writers turn our conceptual realities around. They offer a YA novel that doesn’t condescend, but more, one which shows that we should not “walk away” from Omelas, but perhaps “Stay and Hunt.” This is also the final of three episodes which offers a broader look at the history and newer trends in Nigerian literature along with recommendations for reading. Part 1 discussed Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Part 2 explored Wole Soyinka’s play, The Trials of Brother Jero. Episode 6.25 – Words from Nigeria 3 – Emezi’s Pet & Hunters for Truth Full list of African writers with sample works I recommend: Abani, Chris (Nigeria): Graceland, The Secret History of Las Vegas Achebe, Chinua (Nigeria): Things Fall Apart, The Anthills of Savannah, Arrow of God, Hopes and Impediments Adeyemi, Tomi (Nigeria): Children of Blood and Bone Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (Nigeria): Dream Count, The Thing Around Your Neck, Americanah, Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, Dear Ijeawele Agualusa, José Eduardo (Angola): A General Theory of Oblivion  Armah, Ayi Kwei (Ghana): The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born Bâ, Mariama (Senegal): So Long a Letter  Braithwaite, Oyinkan (Nigeria): My Sister the Serial Killer Cole, Teju (Nigeria): Open City, Tremor, Known and Strange Things, Every Day Is For a Thief Dangarembga, Tsitsi (Zimbabwe): Nervous Conditions, The Book of Not Djebar, Assia  (Algeria): Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade El Saadawi. Nawal  (Egypt): Woman at Point Zero  Emezi, Akwaeke (Nigeria): Pet, The Death of Vivek Oji, Freshwater, Dear Senthuran, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty Farah, Nuruddin (Somalia): Sweet and Sour Milk, Secrets Forna, Aminatta (Sierra Leone): The Memory of Love Gordimer, Nadine (South Africa): The Conservationist, July’s People Gurnah, Abdulrazak (Tanzania): Paradise, Desertion Gyasi, Yaa (Ghana): Transcendent Kingdom, Homegoing Head, Bessie (Botswana/South Africa): A Question of Power  Iyay, Festus (Nigeria): Violence La Guma, Alex (South Africa): Time of the Butcherbird Mabanckou, Alain  (Republic of the Congo): Black Moses, Broken Glass  Makumbi, Jennifer Nansubuga (Uganda): Kintu; The First Woman; A Girl Is a Body of Water Marechera, Dambudzo (Zimbabwe): The House of Hunger Mbue, Imbolo (Cameroon): How Beautiful We Were Mujila, Fiston Mwanza (DR Congo): Tram 83 Nwapa, Flora (Nigeria): Efuru, This is Lagos and Other Stories Okorafor, Nnedi (Nigeria): Noor, Death of the Author, Binti Okri, Ben (Nigeria): The Famished Road, Starbook Owuor, Yvonne Adhiambo (Kenya): Dust Salih, Tayeb (Sudan): Season of Migration to the North Saro-Wiwa, Ken (Nigeria): Sozaboy Sarr, Mohamed Mbougar (Senegal): The Most Secret Memory of Men.  Sembène, Ousmane (Senegal): God’s Bits of Wood Serpell, Namwani (Zambia): The Old Drift Soyinka, Wole (Nigeria): A Shuttle in the Crypt, The Trials of Brother Jero, Kongi’s Harvest, The Lion and the Jewel, A Play of Giants Thiong’o, Ngũgĩ wa  (Kenya): A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood, and Wizard of the Crow African Instapoetry: Lebo Mashile (South Africa), Titilope Sonuga (Nigeria-Canada), Dike Chukwumerije (Nigeria), Yrsa Daley-Ward (Nigeria-UK), Upile Chisala (Malawi) Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Barbarians Block the Gate 06:06     Intro Theme 06:42     Exploding Canons  18:03    The Power of YA and Queer Ontology 25:48    Evasion Modeling 32:46    Reading Differently 36:33    Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript and Bibliography (most accurate):  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-25-nigeria-3-emezi === Literary Nomads is the main program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and BlueSky:  @WaywordsStudio === CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.25 Words from Nigeria 3 – Emezi’s Pet & Hunters for Truth,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 30 January 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

Why have so few read Soyinka? And can we find hope through his cynical dramas? I admit I am a victim of the myth-making around me which has made Soyinka and other African writers largely invisible. Let’s see why. Episode 6.24 – Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero African writers named in this episode and some of the most rewarding reads: Soyinka, Wole: The Trials of Brother Jero, Kongi’s Harvest, The Lion and the Jewel, A Play of Giants Achebe, Chinua: Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, The Anthills of Savannah Cole, Teju: Open City, Known and Strange Things Emezi, Akwaeke: Pet, Freshwater Nwapa, Flora: Efuru, This is Lagos and Other Stories Saro-Wiwa, Ken: Sozaboy Iyay, Festus: Violence Okorafor, Nnedi: Binti, Noor, Death of the Author Braithwaite, Oyinkan: My Sister the Serial Killer Okri, Ben: The Famished Road, Starbook Abani, Chris: Graceland, The Secret History of Las Vegas Western writers from this episode: Kipling, Rudyard: Kim, The Jungle Book, “White Man’s Burden” Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mine Cary, Joyce: Mister Johnson Ballyntine, R. M.: Coral Island Collins, Wilkie: Moonstone Boulle, Pierre: Planet of the Apes Burroughs, Edgar Rice: A Princess of Mars Cameron, James: Avatar Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder Heinlein, Robert: Starship Troopers Longyear, Barry B.: Enemy Mine Verne, Jules: Master of the World, The End of Nana Sahib Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     My White Mythology 08:35     Intro Theme 09:08    Tigritude 13:24    Frictions and Flux 21:58    The Text: The Trials of Brother Jero 29:53    The Trickster and False Omelas 37:38    From Satire to Ontology 38:50    Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-24-nigeria-2-soyinka === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @WaywordsStudio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.24 Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 23 January 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  What sort of literature is this, anyway? Today we introduce some approaches to Nigerian literature, offer a bevy of African writers, and explore how one of Nigeria’s most powerful authors can write her own modest letter to humanity. Also, we learn about hostile architecture from one of our listeners. Episode 6.23 – Words from Nigeria Pt 1: Adichie and the Literary Manifesto African writers from this episode and some of the most rewarding reads: Achebe, Chinua (Nigeria): Things Fall Apart, The Anthills of Savannah, Arrow of God, Hopes and Impediments Adeyemi, Tomi (Nigeria): Children of Blood and Bone Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (Nigeria): Dream Count, The Thing Around Your Neck, Americanah, Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, Dear Ijeawele Armah, Ayi Kwei (Ghana): The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born Cole, Teju (Nigeria): Open City, Tremor Dangarembga, Tsitsi (Zimbabwe): Nervous Conditions, The Book of Not Emezi, Akwaeke (Nigeria): Pet, The Death of Vivek Oji Farah, Nuruddin (Somalia): Sweet and Sour Milk, Secrets Forna, Aminatta (Sierra Leone): The Memory of Love Gordimer, Nadine (South Africa): The Conservationist, July’s People Gurnah, Abdulrazak (Tanzania): Paradise, Desertion Gyasi, Yaa (Ghana): Transcendent Kingdom, Homegoing La Guma, Alex (South Africa): Time of the Butcherbird Mbue, Imbolo (Cameroon): How Beautiful We Were Nwapa, Flora (Nigeria): Efuru, This is Lagos and Other Stories Okorafor, Nnedi (Nigeria): Noor, Death of the Author Okri, Ben (Nigeria): The Famished Road, Starbook Salih, Tayeb (Sudan): Season of Migration to the North Soyinka, Wole (Nigeria): A Shuttle in the Crypt, The Trials of Brother Jero Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00    Where is African Literature? 07:09    Intro Theme 07:45    Why Listen to White Boy Talk? 10:50    Nigerian Frictions, Flux, and Future 1 18:06    Adichie: Intimacy and “Author”-ity 26:56    The Banality of Sexism 31:06    Writing Back: Our Turn 37:05    Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-23-nigeria-1-adichie === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @WaywordsStudio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.23 Words from Nigeria Pt 1: Adichie and the Literary Manifesto,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 16 January 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  And what if nobody listens? Yes, entering our calls for justice into public space carries no small amount of anxiety. And the poster-child for being unheard, the Trojan princess and priestess Cassandra, may–if we read our mythology carefully–provide us some clues to our purpose and goals in writing as anti-epic heroes, wielding language as our weapons. Episode 6.22 – Cassandra: Uncertain Steps Texts from this episode: Aeschylus: Agamemnon Euripides: Trojan Women Schwarz, Hans: Kassandra Smale, Holly: The Cassandra Complex Wolf, Christa: Cassandra Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00    The Morning After 04:36     Intro Theme 05:11     Cassandra, You Shifty Rabble Rouser 11:18     The Medial Woman 15:47     Privilege and the Apollonian Collective 20:31     The “Anti-Epic Hero” 25:10     Still Anxious 31:02     Methods of Repair: Neurath’s Boat 35:32     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-22-cassandra-uncertain-steps === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @WaywordsStudio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.22 Cassandra: Uncertain Steps,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 09 January 2026, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  26 Dec 2025 Episode 6.21 – Writing Back: Letters to Humanity A different sort of New Year Resolution, moving us from personal improvement to public advocacy! Let’s write an essay of address, framing our passions into a perspective that would make Le Guin proud! Texts from this episode: Nazim Hikmet: Letters to Taranta-Babu, 1935 Aimé Césaire: Notebook of a Return to the Native Land, 1939 Walt Whitman: various poems from Leaves of Grass, 1855 Mahmoud Darwish, “Identity Card,” 1965 Chimamanda Adichie: Dear Ijeawele, 2017 Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     New Years, New Laments 06:16     Intro Theme 06:50     Why Write Back 12:06     Our Writing Prompt: Anchor & Sting 21:34     Topics, Topics, Topics 26:21     I’m Writing, Too 37:30     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-21-writing-back-letters-to-humanity === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.21 Writing Back: Letters to Humanity,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 26 Dec 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  19 Dec 2025 Episode 6.20 – The Great Societies: Lowry’s The Giver Another thorny utopia, Lowry’s Community practices a different kind of strategy to the Hideous Bargain: ethical evasion, a too tempting strategy for all of us. Political? Yes. But also a YA fantasy vision of what some of the latest writers and thinkers believe we’re doing already. Texts from this episode: Lois Lowry, The Giver, 1993 Rabih Alameddine, Comforting Myths, 2024 Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, 2025 Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Choosing Ugliness 05:45     Intro Theme 06:19     Evasion Modeling 11:40     Meaning and Politics in The Giver 20:58     Price Tags for Blissful Ignorance 25:00     At Stake: The Sanitation of Memory 33:30     Where To? 36:44     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out my introductory episodes (0.1-0.3) to find out what’s going on here! I’ve got an episode for readers, for teachers, and for students: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-20-the-great-societies-the-giver/ === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.20 The Great Societies: Lowry’s The Giver,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 19 Dec 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  12 Dec 2025 Episode 6.19 – The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning We finish our discussion of the silent film Metropolis and answer our question of art and politics by examining the text, context, and reader meaning-making. Discussed in the episode: A definition of Context: with / accompanying / outside of (traditional definitions) as a Limitation as Dialogue as Horizon as Motive Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Art Against the Emperor 04:37     Intro Theme 05:12     Reading the Text: Architecture pf Exploitation 15:38     Blinding Ourselves with Plot 22:03     Reading Context 30:51     Revisionism and Metropolis 36:56     Reader Readings 45:39     Accountability for Politics and Arts 49:27     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-19-the-great-societies-pt-2/ === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.19 The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 12 Dec 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  5 Dec 2025 Episode 6.18 – Is All Art Political? The Great Societies, Pt. 1: Metropolis It seems everything is politics these days. But at least can’t we keep art pure? You know, art for art’s sake? I offer my thoughts on the topic while we examine the classic silent film, Metropolis (1927). In the process, we discuss an indigenous protest against American Art, the nature of ideology, an opening definition of a Great Society, and the four areas of inquiry we must pursue to answer the question, “Is All Art Political?” The Author’s Intention The Text Itself The Context Around the Text The Reader’s Thinking This Part 1 considers the first of these by asking what we know about the creators of the German silent film; Part 2 will look at the next three approaches. Some links to items mentioned: An Indigenous Takeover of the MET:  https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/an-indigenous-takeover-of-the-met-asks-who-should-be-writing-art-history-1234757699/ Metropolis (1927):   https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFzHH9EL9x0 Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Great Garden Walls 09:03     Intro Theme 09:38     Framing the Talk 19:18     Some Metropolis Backstory 29:58     Harbou and Lang: Artist’s Intent 37:30     Author Trouble 48:38     Where This Leaves Us 52:49     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-18-the-great-societies-pt-1/ === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.18 Is All Art Political? The Great Societies, Pt. 1: Metropolis,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 5 Dec 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  28 Nov 2025 Episode 6.17 – True Horror: Le Guin, Poe, Cavarero, Bataille, and Arendt NOTE: While nothing explicit or graphic is named in this episode, it does touch upon difficult and challenging psychological topics, so it is not recommended for those sensitive to violence and war. We finish our side trail on the implications of Poe’s horror by stepping more deeply into our own capacity to violence, reaching finally to Le Guin’s own direction: look to our modern political scene and the impulse to annihilation. From Poe’s violence without motive to Bataille’s celebration of it and Cavarero’s call to embrace our primal call to the necessity of care, we are left with Le Guin’s reference to the “banality of evil,” a direct indication to what she’s also been discussing all along: Arendt’s accounting of totalitarianism in World War 2 and after; its true horror. Some links to items mentioned: Reading Guide to Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism:  https://waywordsstudio.com/project/arendts-the-origins-of-totalitarianism Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00    Listener Advisory 00:44     Marking Our Trail 12:27     Opening Theme 13:03     The Pathology of Annihilation 19:26     Utility and Annihilation 34:00     Alignments: Structural Horrorism 46:59     The Burden of Complexity 51:35     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-17-true-horror === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.17 True Horror: Le Guin, Poe, Cavarero, Bataille, and Arendt,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 28 Nov 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  21 Nov 2025 Episode 6.16 – Poe: Horror, Pathology, and the Necessity for Care *NOTE: While nothing explicit or graphic is named in this episode, it does touch upon difficult and challenging psychological topics, so it is not recommended for those sensitive to violence and war. We say Poe has influence the genre of horror, but have we really considered what that influence has revealed to us across the generations? What happens when we tell stories of a culture that has abandoned its moral foundations? In this episode, I reflect on the role of horror as a cultural mirror or cultural alarm, that current trends away from the good-evil binary offer a unique consequence for us, and that Poe understood it. We also look at Adriana Cavarero’s idea of “horrorism” and how it fits itself to our reading. Some links to items mentioned: My review of Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho: https://waywordsstudio.com/general/reviews/the-mysteries-of-udolpho-by-ann-radcliffe/  My blog series of zombies and Army of the Dead: https://waywordsstudio.com/essay/zzsg-ch1-identification/ Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Listener Advisory 00:37     RomZom 05:39     Opening Theme 06:14     The Sociology of Horror 17:18     Our 19th Nervous Breakdown 32:11     The Aesthetic of a Hideous Bargain 42:07     Beyond Madness 47:46     Strenuous Moods 50:09     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-16-poe-horror-pathology === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.16 Poe: Horror, Pathology, and the Necessity for Care,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 21 Nov 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

  7 Nov 2025 Episode 6.15 – The “Hideous Heart:” Poe’s Aesthetic of Accountability   There really isn’t that much to say about Poe, is there? He’s just creepy. But wait. What if we could explain the supposed madness in all these stories?  We look at the narrators of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Imp of Perversity,” and “The Cask of Amontillado.” Along the way we consult several of his essays of the aesthetic, of literary craft, in order to understand what he may be up to. Poe’s Works Discussed: “The Tell-Tale Heart”  (Read aloud in a recent episode) “The Imp of Perversity” (Read aloud in a recent episode) “The Cask of Amontillado” “Review of Twice-Told Tales” “The Philosophy of Composition” “Review of Night and Morning” “The Poetic Principle” “Eureka” Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Peeking In 07:54     Opening Theme 08:28     The Moral Door; The Vulture Eye 16:00     Structure, Confession, and Control 27:08     Accountability & The Aesthetic of Betrayal 37:12     Sanity Defense 44:39     And If We Object? 50:45     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-15-hideous-heart === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “The ‘Hideous Heart:’ Poe’s Aesthetic of Accountability,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 7 Nov 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

Another Halloween treat from Poe, a reading of this lesser-known tale. And follow the podcast for some ways to think about it and "The Tell-Tale Heart"!

This story, a quintessential Poe classic, is perfect not only for its conception of the psychology of horror, but for our larger discussion in Le Guin's Journey 6. 

  10 Oct 2025 Episode 0.3 – Literary Nomads for Teachers   What is this podcast? I recommend you start here, with this introduction to Literary Nomads and get a taste of what the larger series offers! And, to be sure I’ve sold you, we’ll offer some fresh approaches to the most-taught poem in the US, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” Listen and find out how we’re doing a different kind of reading and learning from everybody else. And you know why? “That’s just the way it is.” Bruce Hornsby’s “The Road Not Taken”:  www. youtube.com/watch?v=C555rExz4ds CHAPTERS 00:00     Hornsby Meets Frost Meets Us 04:13     Opening Theme 04:47     Frost a la Mode 13:05     Reading – Frost: “The Road Not Taken” 14:20     The Basics, Wrong and Less Wrong 22:46     Unresolved Tension 32:12     Aporia 39:41     Darker Cynicism 45:19     Over My Abjections 51:13     Critical Shifts 54:47     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? You may also want to check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/0-3-literary-nomads-for-teachers === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Literary Nomads for Teachers,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 10 Oct 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/

  3 Oct 2025 Episode 0.2 – Literary Nomads for Students   What is this podcast? I recommend you start here, with this introduction to Literary Nomads and get a taste of what the larger series offers! And, to be sure I’ve sold you, we’re looking at one of the lamest choices for literary discussion, the much-overtaught “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost. And even though you just winced at the choice, I know that this moment is a node in the universe which cannot be altered. Now listen. And while you do, here’s something about the poem you may not have considered . . .   CHAPTERS 00:00     Wrecking Our Choices 07:35     Opening Theme 08:09     Promises, BTS, and Lame Beginnings 13:30     Reading Frost: “The Road Not Taken” 14:51     The Basics, Wrong and Less Wrong 23:04     Ego-Maniacs 30:28     Philosophy On the Road 35:04     Other Routes 39:57     Critical Shifts 44:25     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? You may also want to check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/0-2-literary-nomads-for-students === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Literary Nomads for Students,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 3 Oct 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/

  26 Sept 2025 Episode 0.1 – Literary Nomads for Readers   What is this podcast? I recommend you start here, with this introduction to Literary Nomads and get a taste of what the larger series offers! And, to be sure I’ve sold you, we’re looking at one of the lamest choices for literary discussion, the much-overtaught “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost. And if that’s not a reason for you to move on quickly . . . but wait! Here’s something you may not have considered . . .   CHAPTERS 00:00     Introduction 01:02     On Pipes and Mirrors 08:33     Opening Theme 09:07     A Lame Beginning 16:32     Reading: Frost – “The Road Not Taken” 17:51     The School Interpretation 25:36     A Bit Further Than School 35:14     Reading the Road 41:12     How to Read with Literary Nomads 45:02     Closing Credits 45:21     Y Puns 47:09     Closing Credits Again === New to Literary Nomads? You may also want to check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/0-1-literary-nomads-for-readers === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Literary Nomads for Readers,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 26 Sept 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/

  19 Sept 2025 Episode 6.14 – Le Guin – What I Carry With Me   Now that we’ve wrestled in and with Omelas for a bit, what questions remain for us to take forward on our journey? We’re walking away from Omelas, but let’s have an idea where we’re going.   Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Re-Packing for What’s Ahead 06:28     Opening Theme 07:01     Trails and Tools 15:27     Six More Lousy Questions 16:38     1. What’s Wrong with the Andrews Family? 20:04     2. How Should I Use My Otium? 22:36     3. What Responsibilities for Reading & Writing? 25:00     4. How Can I Tell If I’m Morally Disengaged? 27:58     5. Are There Gradations of Accountability? 30:06     6. What Choices Do I Make in the Now? 33:00     Questions, Directions, and What We Do 38:33     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-14-le-guin-what-i-carry-with-me === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Le Guin – What I Carry With Me,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 19 Sept 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

12 Sept 2025 Episode 6.13 – Le Guin Part 5: Q&A Listeners offer their questions from narrator trust to activism to teaching controversy. I rant–or respond–back. Important Links Mentioned: Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Literary Nomads, Journey 5, “Dorian Gray and Difficult Conversations”: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-08-dorian-gray-and-difficult-conversations/ Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Better a Q & R 02:04     Opening Theme 02:43     Getting Questions 04:03     Is the narrator in ‘Omelas’ unreliable? 10:45     Some examples of subverting fantasy tropes? 16:29     How do I keep contradictions in my head? 21:10     How am I supposed to take action in uncertainty? 27:35     How do I find the ‘main idea’ of the story? 32:08     How can we teach controversy without triggering? 41:32     How about some teaching strategies? 50:49     Literary Nomads Model 53:51     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-13-le-guin-part-5 === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Le Guin Part 5: Q&A,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 12 Sept 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

5 Sept 2025 Episode 6.12 – Le Guin Part 4: The Ones Who Stay – N. K. Jemisin Can we pull this utopia dilemma together? Or will we add even more levels of complication? When we wrestle with Le Guin, take solace knowing that others have, too, and so we enter into the dialogue of building utopia, together with its responsibilities! As we explore today, we add Mikhail Bakhtin and George Bataille into the mix together with writers Sadoeuphemist and N. K. Jemisin! Our Main Texts: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf  Jemisin, N. K.: “The Ones Who Stay and Fight”: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-ones-who-stay-and-fight/ Important Links Mentioned: Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  Sadoeuphemist: “What Else, What Else, in the Joyous City?”: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/what-else-what-else-in-the-joyous-city/ Literary Nomads, Journey 5, “Reading and Living in Uncertainty”: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/reading-and-living-in-uncertainty/  Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00.00     When a Place Is Not a Place 00:04:22     Opening Theme 00:04:55     From Complicity to Resolve 00:11:30     Counter-Narrative and Dialogics 00:20:05     Jemisin’s “The Ones Who Stay and Fight” 00:34:03     Narratives of Power and Normalization 00:43:55     The Ambiguity of Moral Action: Bataille 00:51:28     A Call to Ethical Attentiveness 00:54:57     Book Clubs & Classroom Engagements 01:00:40     Where We Haven’t Explored 01:08:51     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-12-le-guin-part-4 === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn:  @ Waywords Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Le Guin Part 4: The Ones Who Stay – N. K. Jemisin,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 5 Sept 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

29 Aug 2025 Episode 6.11 – Le Guin Part 3: The Reader’s Labyrinth Sure, the Omelas dilemma is tough, but at least we have our narrator as ally, right? Right? Perhaps the real horror in Omelas has less to do with the child at its center. We also discuss how the relationship between culture and the individual, narrator rhetoric, broader allegories, reader psychology, and the alienation effect. Our Main Text: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Into a Land UnLike Our Own 05:34     Opening Theme 06:14     The Narrator’s Rhetorical Toolkit 20:04     Choices and Subversions 29:32     And So We Walk Away? 36:29     How Do I Teach This Nightmare? 40:16     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-11-le-guin-part-3 Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Le Guin Part 3: The Reader’s Labyrinth,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 29 August 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

22 Aug 2025 Episode 6.10 – Le Guin 2: Architectures of Happiness Is this story really about that suffering child? Or is it more about how we wall its suffering out, then invite it back in? We also discuss how social complicity, blissful ignorance, binary breakdowns, and the pee privileges at Waywords Studio. Our Main Text: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     The Weight of Happiness 04:16     Opening Theme 04:58     The Fictions of Happiness 15:34     The Psychology of Complicity 26:28     The “Conditions of Omelas 34:59     …And Its Virtues 39:26     So What Is Left for Us? 43:56     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-10-le-guin-part-2 Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Le Guin Part 2: Architectures of Happiness,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 22 August 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

15 Aug 2025 Episode 6.09 – Le Guin 1: The Hideous Bargain At last we settle in to think about Le Guin’s Omelas story and set aside some common approaches to it. The first of several parts. We also discuss how the obvious question posed by the story may not be the place to start, and how philosopher/historian/critic Rene Girard’s scapegoat theories played a role in Le Guin’s thought. Our Main Text: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     I Walk Away 06:29     Opening Theme 07:12     A Moral Gauntlet 14:32     Omelas: The Story 21:23     The Giant Omelas in the Room 27:36     Dilemmas False and True 35:53     Narrative as Moral Test 39:14     Her Party, Her Rules: Scapegoats and Archetypes 46:05     So What Do We Do? 49:12     Closing Credits === New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-09-le-guin-part-1 Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Le Guin Part 1: The Hideous Bargain,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 15 August 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

8 Aug 2025 Episode 6.08 – Gardens of Imagination – Narrative Utopias Let’s niche down into a small sub-genre of fantasy and explore our desire for it, the classic utopia. As Le Guin’s work is utopia, understanding the genre’s tradition, functions, and roles for readers is our final essential piece prior to taking on the story directly. Some key texts discussed in this episode: Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 1880 Lois Lowry, The Giver, 1993 Thomas More, Utopia, 1516 Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, 1888 William Morris, News from Nowhere, 1891 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland, 1915 H. G. Wells, Men Like Gods, 1923 Aldous Huxley, Island, 1962 B. F. Skinner, Walden II, 1948 Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” 1972 Marge Piercy, Woman On the Edge of Time, 1976 Categories of Utopia We Discuss: Sincere Utopia Thoughtful Puzzle Thorny Utopia False Utopia Dystopia New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00    Utopia Unjoined 05:07    Opening Theme 05:40    Utopia and Dystopia as Fantasy 18:41    The Utopia Tradition 26:26    Utopia as Thought Experiment 31:45    From Otium Gardens to Action 34:18    Closing Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-08-gardens-of-imagination Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Gardens of Imagination: Narrative Utopias,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 8 August 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

1 Aug 2025 Episode 6.07 – In Defense of Fantasy Riddle: What do Beowulf, Palmolive dish liquid, and Sarah Maas have in common? Hint: Ursula K. Le Guin knows! Today we wonder at both the disdain of fantasy as genre and its enduring popularity, examine some of Le Guin’s arguments for it as literature, and take a crash course in the history of fantasy across the millennia. Some key texts discussed in this episode: Ancient Texts: Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey Roman Epics: The Aeneid, Africa Chanson de Geste: The Song of Roland; Beowulf Amadis of Gaula Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queen Cervantes: Don Quixote Works of Sir Walter Scott William Morris: The Well at the World’s End Lord Dunsany: The Gods of Pegana J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings C. S. Lewis: Narnia series Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson: Dungeons and Dragons Readings on Fantasy Recommended: Tolkien, J. R. R. – “On Fairy Stories” – https://archive.org/details/on-fairy-stories_202110 Le Guin, Ursula K. – “From Elfland to Poughkeepsie” Carter, Lin – Any of his essays or books on fantasy history New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Geekdom and Down-the-Nose POV 07:40     Opening Theme 08:10     Un-Trashing Mass Culture 15:49     Truths of Fantasy 22:12     History of the Fantastic 38:39     You’re Soaking In It 41:56     The Fantasy Formal 46:33     Closing Theme and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-07-in-defense-of-fantasy/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “In Defense of Fantasy,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 1 August 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

25 July 2025 Episode 6.06 – Stephen King Meets Shel Silverstein: Formalism and Trope in Story What do a children’s story and horror film have in common? Maybe our Suffering Child question, with very different approaches to it. In the meantime, we break down some of the keys to understanding form, genre, trope, medium–and throw some shade of formula, cliches, and stereotypes. Terms from today’s episode: Formalism – A literary theory which considers structure before content in considering meaning. Some of its principles: Texts stand alone; consider only the text, not outside factors Close Reading is an active strategy for thinking about how texts are built Defamiliarization (ostranenie) is when something in the text is subverted, changed, varied, to upset our comfort levels Organic Unity is the idea that every single part of a text works towards building the meaning of the whole work Terns of structure discussed today: Form Genre Trope Medium Formula, cliche, and stereotype New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Building Story 07:50     Opening Theme 08:23     From What to How 17:32     Blueprints: Choosing Form 21:03     Genre: Breaking the Unwritten Contract 28:16     Pattern Recognition: Tropes 33:24     Medium: The Material of Story 38:46     Formula, Cliché, & Stereotypes: The Shadow Side of Formalism 43:48     The Hideous Bargains 49:38     Glimpse into the Fantastic 52:55     Closing Theme and Credits === Transcript: https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-06-stephen-king-meets-shel-silverstein/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Stephen King Meets Shel Silverstein: Formalism and Trope in Story,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 25 July 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

18 July 2025 Episode 6.05 – Negotiating for Space: Compromise and Flag-Planting This is getting challenging. What are we to do with the Suffering Child question? And on which form of suffering do I plant my flag of resistance? Dostoevsky and Langston Hughes both offer clues. The complete reading of Dostoevsky’s “Rebellion” in The Brothers Karamazov: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17z89hjeEz1Rl_hcx4jUdkQi1M0jzbwv2/view?usp=drive_link  Langston Hughes: “Let America Be America Again” – https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147907/let-america-be-america-again New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Our Suffering Child 02:19     Opening Theme 02:52     And Yet We Know, Too 09:47     A Plethora of Principles 15:35     A Different Hideous Bargain 23:38     Rebellion, Revolution, Reconciliation 28:03     Reading: Langston Hughes “Let America Be America Again” 33:09     Closing Words 34:45     Closing Theme and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-6-05-negotiating-for-space-compromise-and-flag-planting Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Negotiating for Space: Compromise and Flag-Planting,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 18 July 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

11 July 2025 Episode 6.04 – Reading: “Rebellion” from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov Still another famous writer has posed the Le Guin question, and he did it in one of Russia’s most famous novels, The Brothers Karamazov. This chapter precedes the more famous and discussed ‘The Grand Inquisitor.’  Here it is. The Complete Reading as pdf: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17z89hjeEz1Rl_hcx4jUdkQi1M0jzbwv2/view?usp=drive_link  Also mentioned: William James: “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life” – https://archive.org/details/jstor-2375309/page/n1/mode/2up New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     The Question in Non-Fiction & Fiction 05:53     Opening Theme 06:31     Reading of “Rebellion” from The Brothers Karamazov 36:05     Next Week 37:04     Closing Theme and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-6-04-reading-rebellion-from-dostoevskys-the-brothers-karamazov/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Reading: ‘Rebellion’ from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 11 July 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

4 July 2025 Episode 6.03 – Otium and The Moral Philosopher – William James Le Guin leans on an essay by William James, but what does that have to do with all our garden talk? It’s about our blind spots and our privilege. Here’s James’s argument and how it sets up a pragmatic popular ethic that may be worrisome. William James: “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life” – https://archive.org/details/jstor-2375309/page/n1/mode/2up New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Listener Survey Available!  Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too! https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7 Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     The Cranky Professor 05:25     Opening Theme 05:59     Oppositions to Work 12:51     Otium as Privilege 23:22     Hideous Bargains: William James 29:40     Back to Our Garden 32:37     Closing Theme and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-6-00-trailer Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Otium and The Moral Philosopher – William James,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 4 July 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

27 June 2025 Episode 5.18 Marvell’s Garden and Ours: Otium Speaking of links back to Andrew Marvell’s poetry–weren’t we?–we add a new concept into our repertoire which exposes some of our misapprehensions about nature, leisure, and work. And we read Marvell’s poem “The Garden” while we think green thoughts about it. Confused about our episode numbering? Don’t be! Since this episode is more about Andrew Marvell’s work, it appears as a Journey 5: Andrew Marvell episode, though it aired in the context of Journey 6 where the concept of otium became important to us! New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Listener Survey Available!  Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too! https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7 Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”:  https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/LeGuin_VasterThanEmpires.pdf Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Reverie in Roma 04:32     Opening Theme 05:05     Building Nature 11:15     Reading” The Garden” by Andrew Marvell 15:14     Green Thoughts 23:05     Otium 37:35     Closing Theme and Credits === Transcript: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-18-marvells-garden-and-ours-otium/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Marvell’s Garden and Ours: Otium,’” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 27 June 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

20 June 2025 Episode 6.02 – “Vaster Than Empires” – Le Guin What does it mean to embrace “Other”? And how might we understand carpe diem if we truly had “world enough and time?” Le Guin shows us in her famous science fiction short story. New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Listener Survey Available!  Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too! https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7 Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”:  https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/LeGuin_VasterThanEmpires.pdf Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Pastoral Splendour 04:29     Opening Theme 05:03     Living Fast and Slow 12:05     The Story: “Vaster Than Empire and More Slow” 18:13     Le Guin and Marvell 28:50     Veggie Minds and The Other 40:58     Green Silences 47:42    Closing Theme and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-6-02-vaster-than-empires-le-guin/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Vaster Than Empires – Le Guin” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 20 June 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

13 June 2025 Episode 6.01 – Signpost: Pretty Gardens in Paint Where we’ve been and where we’re going, and we take a pause in a museum gallery, too! New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Listener Survey Available!  Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too! https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7 Thomas Gainsborough painting: Mr. and Mrs. Andrews (1750): https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/thomas-gainsborough-mr-and-mrs-andrews Literary Terms Reviewed: narrative distance dramatic irony inter-textuality ekphrasis allusion polysemy sfumato Reading Strategies Reviewed: Embracing uncertainty and ambiguity Asking why questions Our interpretation process: notice, significance, pattern, coherence Engaging our experience; engaging others Authors & Titles Reviewed: Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress” Horace, Ode 1.11 Roman Krznaric, Carpe Diem Regained Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo” Concepts and Themes Reviewed: Carpe diem as “pluck” or “harvest” Accountability Uncertainty Ethics of Choice Ethical Attentiveness Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”:  https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/LeGuin_VasterThanEmpires.pdf Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00     Pastoral Splendour 06:38     Opening Theme 07:16     Signposting 09:19     Literary Terms 17:22     Interlude: The Andrewses 21:28     Strategies for Meaning 28:52     Interlude 2: The Andrewses 33:21     Authors and Titles 37:23     Interlude 3: The Andrewses 40:47     A Few Themes 47:43     Final Visit: The Andrewses 51:20     Closing Theme and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-6-01-pretty-gardens-in-paint/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “6.01 Signpost: Pretty Gardens in Paint,’” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 13 June 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

30 May 2025 Episode 6.00 – Trailer Looking ahead at Season 6: Ursula K. Le Guin’s story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” and all the wrestling we do with dilemmas of ethics. New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/ Listener Survey Available!  Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too! https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7 Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”:  https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/LeGuin_VasterThanEmpires.pdf Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/ CHAPTERS 00:00    Trailer === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-6-00-trailer Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8  === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Journey 6 Trailer,’” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 30 May 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.

23 May 2025 Episode 5.17 – What I Get Wrong We close out the journey with a needed reflection, a look at what I’ve been doing, how it fits our collective needs, and what we might see for changes ahead. I reflect on the integration of skills in language, the role of thinking skills, and why reading and interpretation cannot be about objective deliverables. Listener Survey Available!  Please let me know what you thought of the season, and get some free stuff, too! https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7 Reading Ahead, Journey 6: Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”:  https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/LeGuin_VasterThanEmpires.pdf Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/ CHAPTERS 00:00    Announcement 00:56    Reflecting on the Wrong 08:13    Opening Theme 08:45    Nuts & Bolts 14:52    More Bolts Than Nuts 17:13    Interpretation and Intimidation 26:42    Getting It Right? 32:53    The Wrong Of It 39:47    A Bit of Daring 44:38    Outro and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-17-what-i-get-wrong Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97 What are your thoughts on our discussion?  Email me: [email protected] === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “What I Get Wrong,’” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 17 May 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/.

16 May 2025 Episode 5.16 – Writing Back 2: Getting Over Our Essay Anxiety It’s time for the end of our carpe diem journey, and we celebrate with a congratulatory essay! Hey, why so glum? We look at what has caused all this anxiety over the ostracized essay, rant against how traditional schooling has abused it, and offer some introductory ideas on how the best essays are essential to the literary tradition. And we all get to write one now, too! Key Terms: Conduit metaphor – A linguistic concept, that if we can structure, control, and limit the connotative diction in our writing, that our communication might travel from speaker to audience with minimal misunderstanding. Essai – Verb, after the pioneering creator Michel de Montaigne; to try, to attempt, to explore, especially the exploring of one’s own thinking Steve’s Poetic Response to Marvell: “To His Bold Master”: https://waywordsstudio.com/verse/to-his-bold-master/ Longform Essay YouTubers Recommended: Deep Cuts – for lovers of music: ww w.youtube.com/c/deepcuts In Praise of Shadows for horror history: w ww.youtube.com/@InPraiseofShadows Defunctland for history of extinct theme park: w ww.youtube.com/@Defunctland Jacob Geller, for video games, history, politics, empathy: w ww.youtube.com/@JacobGeller Solar Sands, “of waking up”: ww  w.youtube.com/@SolarSands Jenny Nicholson, for popular culture: ww w.youtube.com/@JennyNicholson PhilosophyTube with Abigail Thorn, giving away a philosophy degree: ww  w.youtube.com/@PhilosophyTube Traditional Essays Recommended: Zadie Smith, Intimations Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time Martin Amis, The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyperreality Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/ CHAPTERS 00:00    Irony So Common It’s Cringe 05:59    Opening Theme 06:31    Why Write Back? 10:58    But Why Oh Why an Essay? The Conduit of Fear 23:33    Writing for Uncertainty 27:23    But What Do I Write About? 31:47    Yeah, But Who Is Reading This Thing? 35:19    Outro and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-16-writing-back-w-getting-over-our-essay-anxiety Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97 What are your thoughts on our discussion?  Email me: [email protected] === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Writing Back 2: Getting Over Our Essay Anxiety,’” Waywords Studio, 16 May 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/.

9 May 2025 Episode 5.15 – Bellow Seizes Our Day Sure we can philosophize, but what happens when we put carpe diem to the test in the modern world of capital? We work through Saul Bellow’s approach to carpe diem, how his ironies may not all be what we expect them to be, what separates Seize the Day from other modernist American literature, and how he spins our ethical discussion on carpe diem with still more complexity. Our analysis will focus on the final mystifying scene of the novel. Oh, and we also talk about my first efforts in business! Key Terms: Trickster figure – Generally a trouble-making, cunning, or humorous character who upsets social norms. Trickster figures are often complex or paradoxical, and they are almost always transformational. Think of Loki in mythology, Bart Simpson, the Chesire Cat in Alice’s Wonderland, Bugs Bunny, Batman’s Joker, or Q in Star Trek. The American Dream – “A kind of romantic expectation, a belief in the possibility of achieving some kind of glowing future through hard work and sincere devotion”  (Walter Brylowski). Our Reading & Interpretation Process Complete: Notice – What text stands out in the reading? Significance – What possible meanings are in that text? Pattern – What pattern forms amongst these possible meanings? Coherence – Does the pattern hold together in the total work? The closing paragraph of Seize the Day which we focus our time on: “The flowers and lights fused ecstatically in Wilhelm’s blind, wet eyes; the heavy sea-like music came up to his ears. It poured into him where he had hidden himself in the center of a crowd by the great happy oblivion of tears. He heard it and sank deeper than sorrow, through torn sobs and cries toward the consummation of his heart’s ultimate need.” Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/ CHAPTERS 00:00     The Dream 05:56     Opening Theme 06:28     A Glowing Future 11:53     Bellow’s ‘Seize the Day’ in Brief 15:56     Capitalism and Alienation 22:50     Seizing and Seducing 36:53     Ethics of a Machine 43:17     Answering the Question 52:04     Outro and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-15-bellow-seizes-our-day Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97 What are your thoughts on our discussion?  Email me: [email protected] === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Bellow Seizes Our Day,’” Waywords Studio, 9 May 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/.

2 May 2025 Episode 5.14 – Rilke and Carpe Don’t Rhyme Finding carpe diem in art and literature; abandoning “seize the day” and ending in uncertainty. What is required of us to find the power and meaning in art? in poetry? Is it related to carpe diem? And does it give us any guidance in how to approach meaningful lives? In a continuation of our carpe diem talk last episode, we return to Roman Krznaric, to Rainer Maria Rilke’s sonnet “Archaic Torso of Apollo,” and consider immanence, a kind of meaningfulness which “seize the day” might never discover. Key Terms: immanence – something, perhaps abstract or spiritual, which is contained entirely within an object (naturally, divinely, permanently) Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/ CHAPTERS 00:00     The Mysteries of Art 05:47     Opening Theme 06:19     Merking “Seized” 13:58     Rilke: Broken Art & Potent Readings 24:07     Ethics Tests – A Reflection 30:03     So What Do We Carpe? 36:23     Outro and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-14-rilke-and-carpe-dont-rhyme Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97 What are your thoughts on our discussion?  Email me: [email protected] === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Rilke and Carpe Don’t Rhyme,’” Waywords Studio, 2 May 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/.

25 April 2025 Episode 5.13 – Carpe All Over the Place How far away are we from the original meaning of carpe diem? And does it matter? Looking back across our wanderings so far, it seems that our literature and culture has gotten fairly sloppy (or cavalier?) in its popular imagination of philosophy, perhaps dangerously so. We investigate those understandings, capturing several modern approaches to carpe diem and contrasting them dramatically to where Epicurus and friends began. Along the way, we visit Thoreau, Rilke, and contemporary thinker/philosopher Roman Krznaric. Key Terms: Eudaimonia (a deep well-being) Ataraxia (peace of mind) Aponia (freedom from pain) Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/ CHAPTERS 00:00  Thoreau vs Pop Culture 05:45  Opening Theme 06:17  Recap: Seize the Day, We Barely Knew You 12:03  Poly-Carpes 19:13  An Epicurean Ideal? 28:47  Krznaric’s Carpe 31:46  Outro and Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-13-carpe-all-over-the-place Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97 What are your thoughts on our discussion?  Email me: [email protected] === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Carpe All Over the Place,’” Waywords Studio, 25 April 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/.

18 April 2025 Episode 5.12 – Star Trek: “World Enough and Time” Can some fan-fiction teach us more about carpe diem than a classic Roman poet? Let’s get over ourselves a bit and give this fan-produced Star Trek episode a chance. How we decide literary quality, how we work with allusion, and how we interpret contemporary texts are all fair game in this episode that finds some surprising depth in the screenwriting in a science fiction literary niche. Watch the New Voyages episode, “World Enough and Time” (2008):  https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4TC5wl0IzE Our Steps In Literary Interpretation: Notice Significance Pattern   (tba) Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/ CHAPTERS 00:00   Trekkie Love 03:35   Theme 04:08   Un-Trashing Mass Culture 10:02   New Voyages Backgrounder 14:18   Alluding to “World Enough and Time” 17:42   Star Trek Answers Marvell (All Spoilers!) 27:52   Did We Get an Answer? 34:42   Outro & Credits === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-12-star-trek-world-enough-and-time Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97 What are your thoughts on our discussion?  Email me: [email protected] === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Star Trek: ‘World Enough and Time’,’” Waywords Studio, 18 April 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/.

11 April 2025 Episode 5.11 – Not Horacing Around: Ode 1.11 Can an ancient Roman poet offer insight into carpe diem?  Perhaps, but then again . . . Along the way, we talk about Catullus, Horace and his Odes, the translation of “seize the day” vs. “pluck” or “harvest,” a close analysis of Ode 1.11’s imagery and possible subtext, parallels between Horace and Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” “Seize the Day” and popular imagination, Roman poetic meter and choriambs, a possible Epicurean revision through harvest metaphors, and the sorting of domestic pigs. The Mailbag segment reminds listeners how much material from Waywords is Creative Commons copyright. https://waywordsstudio.com Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/ CHAPTERS 00:00   My Poem Asks a Question 06:02   Opening Theme 06:35   Odes, Book 1, Poem 11 12:37   Mistranslation’s Tradition 20:34   Reconciliations 23:32   Idealism and Harvests 28:18   Mailbag: Can I Get a Copy of Your Poem? 30:45   Closing Theme === Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-not-horacing-around/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97 What are your thoughts on our discussion?  Email me: [email protected] === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Not Horacing Around: Ode 1.11,’” Waywords Studio, 11 April 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/.

4 April 2025 Episode 5.10  – Writing Back: Answering Marvell Writing back to authors and their works is essential to the literary culture; it also helps us answer our essential questions. Let’s do some of that, then! === Chapters 00:00  ERROR #5210b05:10  Intro Theme05:42  Matching Sabers09:00  The Sport of Kings13:02  What’s On Your Mind? Marvell Re-Ironied19:19  The School of Reply23:07  “To His Bold Master”25:20  What To Do With It28:33  Outro and Credits=== Poems Cited: Finch, Annie – “Coy Mistress” – https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46082/coy-mistress Hope, A D – “His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell” – https://allpoetry.com/His-Coy-Mistress-To-Mr.-Marvell Send me your poetry replies!  Email me: [email protected] === Complete Resources:   https://waywordsstudio.com/project/marvell/ Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97 Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-10-writing-back-answering-marvell What are your thoughts on our discussion?  Email me: [email protected] === Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas. Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses. Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/ Instagram: @WaywordsStudio Facebook: Waywords.Studio YouTube: Waywords Studio LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio CREDITS: Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/) Transitions by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski USING THIS WORK: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution. MLA CITATION: Chisnell, Steve. “Writing Back: Answering Marvell.” Waywords Studio, 4 April 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/writing-back-answering-marvell.