Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!
On New Journeys, Simplified Belief, and Free Stuff
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25 May 2025 Closing One Season,Anticipating AnotherReader, When I first conceived of the texts I would make as "base camps" for Literary Nomads, I remember reminding myself not to get too married to the order and concepts I would touch upon: it's a lesson I learned from teaching, too. I could compel classrooms in certain directions to meet curricular calendars, but the best learning always happened when I let them steer us by curiosity. Already, Nomads has turned in directions I had not guessed, and I am gratified for it. Part of this, of course, is always fueled by discussions I'm having elsewhere: with you from your feedback and with others I connect to in my non-podcast life. I "close" our discussion of carpe diem reluctantly, knowing that, despite 220 pages of transcripts, 125,000+ words, about 12 hours of podcasts and maybe 180 sources so far, I have yet left behind dozens of terrific topics still to explore and as many questions unanswered. (*sigh*) Perhaps our paths will cross here, again. . . . But in outlining the opening steps down the Journey 6 trail, Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," I already see the questions and complications snow-balling, the number of texts we will meet far-ranging. . . and I'm still carrying my questions from Marvell! I mean, yes, we'll still look at classic writers like Tennyson, Euripides, W. James, and Borges, but we simply must, too, find our way to Jemisin, Russia's Zemyatin, the anime Dororo, to several writers from Nigeria, to film directors like Fritz Lang and Peter Weir . . . . Le Guin implicates we readers in our own capacity and accountability. The new Journey begins June 13. In the meantime, if you'd like to read the first two works we're looking at by LeGuin, download them here:
It's hardly too late to help me shape that journey. What would you like to get from a podcast around the famous story? What questions have challenged you? Write me directly, or let me know at the Listener Survey link below and get free stuff!
Literary Nomads: Don't Make Me Think About It!When we finish a project (or here our first seasonal Journey), reflecting on what we've learned is always the step we earnestly miss doing. This past week, I look over what I've learned from making the season, from tech errors to my thinking about "takeaways." Reading is messy. As it should be. But I also offer readers a chance to weigh in and shift the way I do business: offer feedback! See the link below! The podcast will take a two week break and then return June 13 with a new Journey!
Up ahead:
Reading to Get Involved?
Arendt Attacks Simplification of History This first chapter of The Origins of Totalitarianism is filled with attacks on simplifications of history and how they have perpetuated narratives which leave us all in danger. Let's call these prejudices (yes, even on the Left). I have read these pages now several times, as a result, conflicting as they are to some of my own understanding of Germany antisemitism. This week I'll address the first true "history" chapter, tracing the attitudes and behavior by and about European Jews from about 1800 to 1900. Join in on the reading! We're doing about 25 pages each week, but you can choose any speed! Find more here:
Engaging DysfunctionJust an update on my ongoing local efforts to protect our schools from book censorship by enacting a solid policy for challenges that arise:
Do We Believe Our Own Slogans? Into June A couple of dates for your radar. Do something nice for your planet and then treat yourself with a blueberry glaze. Some Recommendations Early Recommendation from My Reading: The Spear Cuts Through Water (2022) by Simon JimenezFilipino-American writer Jimenez offers a compelling oral mythology, quest, unique love story, and tribute to the nature of humanity. From far away, the laughter was a crackle of noise, like some distant fireworks lit in honor of a hero’s passing—and up close, it was almost overwhelming, a bright and wincing joy that would make one realize there is no correct way to shake hands with pain.
"An Unsettling AI Agatha Christie is Here to Teach You How to Write" by James FoltaIt's okay. You can be creeped out. I am. I’m glad BBC cleared this project with the Christie estate, because that hasn’t been a given: Peter Cushing’s family sued Disney when the actor’s likeness was recreated for a Star Wars movie. And Christie’s estate was able to put some good pressure on the production, apparently stipulating that all of the words spoken in the video had to come from Christie. Though . . . .
Are you traveling? Have you made any trips to literary sites? Why? I'm curious! Let me know! Steve What's Still Ahead?
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Waywords Studio
Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!