The Casual Academic

Brazilian Literature Month at The Casual Academic is in full swing! On this episode, we discuss the debut novel of Clarice Lispector, "Near to the Wild Heart." We talk about her unique narrative style, it's break with institutionalized novelistic forms in Brazil, and of course "the thing itself." If you are interested in approaching Brazilian literature, this is the place to start. you can send us your thoughts, questions and ideas about Clarice's novel and our discussion at thecasualacademic@gmail.com, as well as read the articles and books we consulted on our website www.thecasualacademic.com. Don't forget, you can also reach us on twitter, facebook and instagram!

The Casual Academic's Brazilian Literature Month has officially started! You might say, isn't it March 20th? Well, you would be right, but we operate on a calendar the likes of Borges would appreciate. On this Aside, we speculate on the reasons why Brazilian Literature isn't the powerhouse it should be, and we present our two featured authors - Clarice Lispector and Machado de Assis. We briefly discuss the life and work of Lispector, and Alex shares his experience reading "The Hour of the Star." Last but not least, we also preview the next episode on Clarice's first novel "Near to the Wild Heart."

The recording of the launch event of La Errante, A Journal of Art & Literature based out of Madrid, Spain. The event was recorded live last Friday (10/4/2017) at the bookstore Desperate Literature in Madrid. The event was a total success and a lot of fun. It was a true pleasure to be able to be in a place with so many amazing people. We are very proud to be able to present this recording to all of our listeners. You'll hear Layla Benitez-James, Martha Sprackland, Robert Greer, Emma Roulette, James Womack and Terry Craven reading poems and flash fiction from the first issue (Layla's poems are her own). A big thanks to Terry, Robert and Charlotte Delattre at Desperate Lit for hosting the event and for letting us record as well as to everyone else involved in such an exciting and worthwhile project. Editors of La Errante -Terry Craven -Robert Greer -Emma Roulette -Martha Sprackland -James Womack Go to our instagram account to check out their profiles.

On our 18th episode Clay Oppenhuizen joins us for a heady discussion of Yukio Mishima's 1949 novel Confessions of a Mask. We continue our brief overview of some historical and cultural background of Japan's Meiji Restoration to lay the groundwork for Mishima's love/hate relationship with the Western world, his narrator's struggles to accept himself and his society in post-war Japan, and the influence of German literature and philosophy on Mishima's thought-provoking, brilliant novel. You can send us your thoughts, questions and ideas about Mishima's novel and our discussion at thecasualacademic@gmail.com, as well as read the articles and books we consulted on our website www.thecasualacademic.com. Don't forget, you can also reach us on twitter, facebook and instagram!

On our 11th Aside we welcome back our old friend and frequent guest Clay Oppenhuizen, who catches us up on his life, studies and upcoming article on our website about Ursula LeGuin's "The Left Hand of Darkness." We then introduce our new featured author Yukio Mishima and discuss his diverse artistic output, various personae, beliefs and his novel "Confessions of Mask" for our upcoming 18th episode. Don't forget to look for us on social media, send us comments, questions or recommendations at thecasualacademic@gmail.com, and to check out our website thecasualacademic.com.

On this episode we discuss Shirley Jackson's unsettlingly masterpiece in light of a general renewed interest in her work and life. We discuss her refreshing take on the gothic story and setting, the various interpretations of the castle and its relationship to the minds of Merricat and Constance, and celebrate the dark humor that abounds in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" as well as the recently published "Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings." We hope you enjoy the episode, and don't forget to check out our website www.thecasualacademic.com for new articles, bibliographies and further reading for every episode, and a catalogue of all our episodes and asides. To keep this project going, we would like to ask for listener reviews on directories such as iTunes, Stitcher, Tune-in Radio, Podcast Addict, etc. If you are kind enough to have written one, send us the review at thecasualacademic@gmail.com with a request for a book you would like to be featured on our podcast!

On this episode we discuss Shirley Jackson's unsettlingly masterpiece in light of a general renewed interest in her work and life. We discuss her refreshing take on the gothic story and setting, the various interpretations of the castle and its relationship to the minds of Merricat and Constance, and celebrate the dark humor that abounds in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" as well as the recently published "Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings." We hope you enjoy the episode, and don't forget to check out our website www.thecasualacademic.com for new articles, bibliographies and further reading for every episode, and a catalogue of all our episodes and asides. To keep this project going, we would like to ask for listener reviews on directories such as iTunes, Stitcher, Tune-in Radio, Podcast Addict, etc. If you are kind enough to have written one, send us the review at thecasualacademic@gmail.com with a request for a book you would like to be featured on our podcast!

It would seem that we are starting a schedule of sorts. Will it last? We hope so. Anyway, on this Aside we talk about our current featured article on Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice," the books we read over the winter holidays, and mostly importantly, introduce Shirley Jackson as our new featured author here at The Casual Academic. We are reading "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" for our 17th full-length episode, so if you haven't, go out and read it! Don't forget, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter, where we post articles and interviews pertinent to our discussions, as well as on Instagram where our favorite books, books to be read, and anything literary can be seen. Lastly, our website is always getting better, and now you can find all of our articles catalogued for your reading pleasure, and also all of our episodes and upcoming reads. You guys rock, and thank you for listening!

On our 15th episode, we tackle Tayeb Salih's widely acclaimed novel Season of Migration to the North. Voted as the most important book written in Arabic of the 20th century, Salih's novel writes back to the empire, but leaves problematic spaces that leave the postcolonial condition any but black and white. Also featured on this episode are writers Edward Said, Joseph Conrad, Chinua Achebe and even a little Shakespeare. Our new episode coincides with the launch of our new website! Check it out here at http://thecasualacademic.com/ You will find all of our episodes catalogued, as well as our bibliographies and recommended reading for each episode! Be sure to check out our featured article on Jorge Luis Borges, written by Jacob Welcker.

In our 8th Aside, we preview our upcoming episode on Tayeb Salih's "Season of Migration to the North," and its place among Arabic as well as postcolonial literature. We also introduce Edward Said and his landmark text "Orientalism," which we will be using in our full-length episode on Salih's novel.

It is the beginning of the end of Horror Month here at The Casual Academic. Our 14th episode is a collection of some of our favorite short creepy tales, as well as a few that were recommended by some of our listeners. We discuss ambiguity, some more about atmosphere, and talk about the following authors - Edgar Allan Poe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Algernon Blackwood, Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Kazuo Ishiguro.

We continue our streak of Horror Month 2016 with an episode dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft's famous 1936 novella. Our 13th episode no less. Listen for a continued discussion on the perennially fascinating use of the "Terra Incognita," a comparison to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," as well as the Shoggoth as allegory and our new favorite academic field, Mirage Studies. If we missed anything, make sure to let us know on our Facebook page, tweet us at @casualacademic, or write us an email at thecasualacademic@gmail.com. Happy listening!

We are back with our first full episode of Horror Month, and equally proud to present the FIRST podcast episode dedicated to the writer Thomas Ligotti (on iTunes and Stitcher at least). Jake reads a passage from one of our favorite stories, which launches us into a discussion on Ligotti's technique and vision; two things that are intricately linked to his philosophy of Pessimism. Our discussion includes stories from "Grimscribe: His Lives and Works," "Songs of a Dead Dreamer," "Teatro Grottesco," and his non-fictional work "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race."

In this special Aside for Horror month, Alex and Jake discuss Thomas LIgotti, H.P. Lovecraft and the weird history of the American Novel. They also preview the upcoming episodes on Thomas Ligotti (Songs of a Dead Dreamer/Grimscribe) and H.P. Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness). Finally, they ask for listener input on what short stories to read for the Halloween episode.

We are joined by our returning guest Zak Breckenridge in a conversation about the theories, ideas, and books behind Umberto Eco's debut novel. With his help, we establish a baseline understanding of Semiotics in order to make sense of the ways in which our author incorporated his own academic pursuits in "The Name of the Rose," as well as discuss the myriad of ideas, philosophies, authors and other books that appear in this labyrinthine "detective novel." We have to ask though, can we consider Eco's novel a whodunnit? We have our own opinions, but we would like to hear yours as well! Let us know what you think on Twitter, Facebook or email us at thecasualacademic@gmail.com. Enjoy!

In this Aside, Alex is joined by Clay and Zak to talk about their days at University of Chicago, broader themes about academia and preview the next episode on Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose."

We are happy to bring you our 10th episode on Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between The World And Me." Alex is joined by returning guest and fellow casual academic Clay Oppenhuizen and a new voice on our show, Leselle Hatcher. These three ex-pats dissect race in the U.S., and the history of black thought that can be seen in Coates' phenomenal book. Two authors are focused on in particular: Richard Wright and James Baldwin - how their work and thought permeate "Between The World And Me" and help shape it into the demasking, truth-seeking book that it is. The American Dream is interrogated, hard looks are taken at the soul of the United States of America, and history invades the present on this episode. NOTE: This episode is not for the closed-minded. If you find that you have one, you're invited to listen at your own risk of offense...which is your own problem.

In Part ll, the 2016-2017 season of The Casual Academic is decided in an intense and electrifying five-round book review draft. Psyche-outs, sleight of hand, and a book nobody wants on their kickball team. Alex might have made a comparison between Venedikt Erofeev and Allen Iverson. Maybe. You'll have to listen to find out.

After a long delay, we are back with an episode devoted to the wondrous Flannery O'Connor. We take our time in discussing her philosophy of writing; what the gothic does in "The Violent Bear It Away"; why her works appeal to religious and nonreligious readers alike; John Hawkes and his opinion of O'Connor's "devilish imagination" and of course the devil himself.

After a slight July delay, we are back with some pretty cool news about The Casual Academic project, as well as discussing our choices for our late summer and fall reads. Later on, Alex & Jake chat about American horror fiction, and the cosmically horrifying recurrence of The Yellow King and Carcosa. Bierce, Chambers, Lovecraft, True Detective....