Best Kenneth Nickels Podcasts (2025)

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Ep 701 - Madeline (series), by Ludwig Bemelmans 1:16:08

2d ago1:16:08

1:16:08

Everyone get into two lines, break your bread, brush your teeth, get into bed, and listen to our episode about Ludwig Bemelmans’ original series of Madeline stories. We talk about the art’s blend of sketchy and beautiful, the rise of Pepito, and the voice acting in 90s educational CD-ROM games. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to square…

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Ep 700 - Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, by Stephenie Meyer 1:35:40

9d ago1:35:40

1:35:40

We have to go back. Back to FORKS! To celebrate 700 episodes of our show, we decided to celebrate the tenth anniversary of a companion novel celebrating the tenth anniversary of Twilight. Meet Beaufort and Edythe, who very much resemble Bella and Edward, and the rest of the genderswapped cast who inhabit this novel that is definitely not all differ…

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Ep 699 - Arrival (Stories of Your Life and Others), by Ted Chiang 1:31:15

16d ago1:31:15

1:31:15

This collection of short stories runs the gamut from biblical fiction to sci-fi mockumentary to "short story that inspired a very successful film named Arrival." Recurring themes include Creation, Thought, and Perception. Pretty heavy stuff! But Chiang tackles it all with creativity and flair. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squares…

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Ep 698 - The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley 1:12:43

23d ago1:12:43

1:12:43

Have podcast, will (time) travel! This is the time travel book-slash-romance novel you write when you’re enamored with a hot old-timey boat guy and his doomed Arctic exploration. It’s got a whole lot going on, for better or worse! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Pri…

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Ep 697 - The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner 1:15:49

1M ago1:15:49

1:15:49

This is a podcast, recorded by two nincompoops, full of the novel The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, signifying...something? a recording in which we discuss the Modernism the italics the three sons the Mother the golf course the South and is Craig sick who knows this consciousness won't stream itself you know This episode is sponsored by S…

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Ep 696 - Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games #0.5), by Suzanne Collins 1:35:49

1M ago1:35:49

1:35:49

The Hunger Games are back, and so are we! Remember Haymitch Abernathy, the occasionally sympathetic drunk from the original Hunger Games trilogy? Well, here he is as a young man, being ground into dust by his authoritarian government and its media apparatus. Collins really wants to make sure that you Get It This Time. Our theme music was composed b…

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Ep 695 - Orbital, by Samantha Harvey 1:07:49

1M ago1:07:49

1:07:49

We're up on the International Space Station this week, floating around with our coworkers/friends, looking at the earth as it speeds by multiple times a day. We're not really "doing" anything in like, a "narrative" sense. But it's a vibe, man. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Ov…

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Ep 694 - Supercomputer (Choose Your Own Adventure), by Edward Packard 1:31:35

2M ago1:31:35

1:31:35

GREETINGS LISTENER. HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY? IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE BOOK SUPERCOMPUTER BY EDWARD PACKARD? Sometimes people make mistak. YES THEY DO. SHALL WE PLAY A GAME(BOOK)? This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Our theme music was comp…

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Ep 693 - Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke 1:06:57

2M ago1:06:57

1:06:57

Welcome to the infinite halls of Piranesi’s House. Don’t mind the flooded basement, or the cloudy attic, or the fact that staying here more than a day starts to really take a toll on your memory. Piranesi’s got it all written down, so he knows everything there is to know about the House. Or does he? This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give onl…

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Ep 692 - The Princess Bride, by William Goldman 1:13:43

2M ago1:13:43

1:13:43

It's not every day you run across this skillful an abridgment of S. Morgenstern's classic tale of love and adventure, one that was also turned into a beloved feature film of the same name. But there's something weird going on here. Both author and abridger are editorializing a LOT, and I'm not sure I can even find the kingdom of Florin on a map. Oh…

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Ep 691 - The Invasion (Animorphs #1), by K.A. Applegate 1:48:15

2M ago1:48:15

1:48:15

The time has come...to become...Animorphs! We had a blast diving into this 90s sci-fi hit for Scholastic. The kids: they become animals. The stakes: they become apocalyptic! Complete our listener survey at gum.fm/overdue. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Poli…

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Ep 690 - The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett 1:08:13

3M ago1:08:13

1:08:13

How does one construct an identity? And what must you sacrifice to forge one all your own (and who is most impacted by your choices)? Bennett's acclaimed novel The Vanishing Half meditates on these questions and more in a story about passing, sister/motherhood, and acting. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for …

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Ep 689 - In the Midst of Winter, by Isabel Allende 1:07:18

3M ago1:07:18

1:07:18

This book's heavier social commentary is... leavened? Heightened? By being juxtaposed with some borderline-goofy corpse-hiding heist stuff. We think it works! Not all reviewers of the book agree. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme music …

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Ep 688 - The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead 1:07:51

3M ago1:07:51

1:07:51

Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-winning novel The Nickel Boys tells a haunting story of two young men whose identities are forever changed by their experiences at a brutal institute for boys in 1960s Florida. It's not easy subject matter, but Whitehead's wonderfully economic prose keeps it engaging all the way to the downright surprising end. This epis…

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Ep 687 - The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair 1:06:47

3M ago1:06:47

1:06:47

Sometimes you read a book that you heard about in high school, something that was taught as a sort of historical document that helped to explain why things are the way they are today. But sometimes it turns out that the book is actually about a whole lot of other stuff too! Including lots of (apparently) live debates about politics and food safety!…

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Ep 686 - Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Amy Newmark 1:32:43

4M ago1:32:43

1:32:43

Over 100 tales of trauma, inspiration, and a vague sense that Positive Thinking may not be all it's cracked up to be! This collection (and its surrounding media empire) can be heartwarming, but nothing quite as heartwarming as a sodium-rich can of condensed chicken soup with noodles. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/o…

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Ep 685 - Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1:07:26

4M ago1:07:26

1:07:26

A prime example of the "healing fiction" genre, Before The Coffee Gets Cold has uncharacteristically low stakes for a time travel novel: no future of humanity to save, no butterfly effects, no risk of destroying the present by altering the past. It's more concerned with simpler questions: if you had just a little more information about things that …

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Overdue Update - January 2025 17:27

4M ago17:27

17:27

New year, new podcast ideas! Time for a few announcements that won't fit into a regular episode. In this special edition podcast update, we share some tweaks to our Patreon project. This includes the new Dusty Bookshelves newsletter, monthly Q&A streams, and more! Also, we'd like to thank you all for listening and for supporting the show. For more …

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Ep 684 - Thornhedge, by T. Kingfisher 58:58

4M ago58:58

58:58

In this award-winning novella, T. Kingfisher asks, "What if you DIDN'T want to wake Sleeping Beauty?" The protagonist Toadling is most certainly not the princess in question. She is, however, an "interesting, but sad" fae creature who tells her tale with a moving mix of warmth and tragedy. Complete our listener survey at gum.fm/overdue. This episod…

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Ep 683 - The Princess Diaries, by Meg Cabot 1:13:25

4M ago1:13:25

1:13:25

Imagine waking up one day to find out that you're the heir to the throne of a tiny fictional European country. Now imagine that, after that, you still need to navigate the choppy waters of high school! Also you're flunking Algebra, which has somehow created an opening for your teacher to date your mom. Oh no! Complete our listener survey at gum.fm/…

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Ep 682 - A Mafia Mistress for Christmas, by Brooke Harper 1:13:35

5M ago1:13:35

1:13:35

For this year's Happy Hornydays celebration, we go under the covers undercover with the FBI on a fast-paced mission to infiltrate the Zicari Crime Syndicate. This steamy little novella is more criminal than Christmas, but it still makes for a fun conversation about professionalism, brotherhood, and limousine intimacy. Complete our listener survey a…

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Ep 681 - Neuromancer, by William Gibson 1:11:06

5M ago1:11:06

1:11:06

It's time to jack in and try to decode one of the ur-texts of cyberpunk: William Gibson's Neuromancer. It's got everything you'd expect from a cyberpunk story (hackers, cybernetic enhancements, malevolent AI constructs) while also being the one of the reasons you have those expectations in the first place! This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. …

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Ep 680 - Wicked, by Gregory Maguire 1:22:28

5M ago1:22:28

1:22:28

Ironically this week we are succumbing to gravity, reading the book that is the source material for a musical that is the source material for a pair of major motion pictures. But if the musical or movie Wicked led you to the book Wicked, we are here to tell you: these things are not the same! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online the…

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Ep 679 - The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov 1:10:13

5M ago1:10:13

1:10:13

What if a play didn't need a "plot" to move you? What if all it needed was a gun on a wall and a bunch of artists besot with unrequired love? That is what Chekhov's The Seagull accomplishes. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. This episode is also sponsored b…

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Stop! Homer Time: The Iliad - Episodes 09 & 10 (Books 20-24) 1:53:07

5M ago1:53:07

1:53:07

It's the conclusion of our show-within-a-show dedicated to Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We read it a few books at a time and had a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. This episode covers Books 20-24. Episode 09: Everybody's "favorite" guy Achillies is finally back on the battlefield! The gods want this t…

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Ep 678 - The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller 1:18:12

5M ago1:18:12

1:18:12

Sing, goddess, of the creativity of Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles. This romance/war history deftly combines the existing canon of Greek epic and myth with a moving story about young Patroclus and his love Achilles. We read a lot of myth this year (including The Iliad) so we have a lot of feelings! This episode is sponsored by Aura…

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Ep 677 - No Longer Human, by Osamu Dazai 1:08:09

6M ago1:08:09

1:08:09

Misanthropy, anxiety, and societal alienation? In this economy?? This week's book and author aren't the most uplifting podcast subjects we've ever covered, but our discussion ended up being an oddly cathartic way to help process election results and the feelings downstream from election results. This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to …

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Ep 676 - The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame 1:03:23

6M ago1:03:23

1:03:23

The Wind in the Willows is a classic novel for young readers. But, uh, why? Is it the animals that are basically just Edwardian gentlemen? Is it the deep longing for a nostalgic pastoral past? Is it the friend who is addicted to cars?! Surely, these are all universal childhood experiences. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therap…

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Ep 675 - The Kid Who Ran For President, by Dan Gutman 1:46:17

6M ago1:46:17

1:46:17

It's election season here in the US (please go vote if you're reading this on November 4th or 5th)! And to uh "celebrate" we have chosen to put together a one-hour-and-forty-five-minute episode on Dan Gutman's 1996 book The Kid Who Ran For President, a book that is pretty wild and only made wilder by Scholastic's characteristic late-00s-early-10s s…

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Ep 674 - The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris 1:08:17

6M ago1:08:17

1:08:17

An FBI agent seeks counsel from an imprisoned serial killer on how to apprehend an active serial killer. That's the elevator pitch for the *delicious* thriller Silence of the Lambs, which (along with its hugely successful film adaptation) helped to establish a lot of tropes currently *baked* in to how we tell stories about terrible crimes (whether …

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Ep 673 - I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson 1:03:08

7M ago1:03:08

1:03:08

I Am Legend is a foundational block for a lot of modern zombie fiction (even though its monsters are technically vampires). But it's much less interested in the dog than the 2007 Will Smith adaptation. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your best self. Our theme …

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Ep 672 - Nothing but Blackened Teeth, by Cassandra Khaw 51:38

7M ago51:38

51:38

Do you need a ghost story to tell? Maybe one about a bunch of friends who probably shouldn’t be friends anymore? Then Cassandra Khaw has you covered with this flashy little novella about yokai, spooky weddings, and releasing one’s inhibitions. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on yo…

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Ep 666 - Tender Is The Flesh, by Augustina Bazterrica 1:00:49

7M ago1:00:49

1:00:49

Spooktober 2024 is here! And we're opening this month's spooktacular with a book about a cannibal dystopia, where people eat other people and where maybe we draw some parallels between how Special Meat is treated and how real-world non-special meat is treated?? Also we deal with the spookiness of a protagonist who Sucks. This episode is also sponso…

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Sit Me Baby One More Time Episode 0 - The Baby-Sitters Club, an Introduction 39:16

7M ago39:16

39:16

For this new show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew will be learning about the world of babysitting! We're going to read eight books in this seminal series, picking books where we meet new Club members. This episode is a free teaser for our Sit Me Baby One More Time longread project. Patreon supporters can get new episodes monthly (Episode 1 is up ri…

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Ep 671 - The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje 1:10:37

7M ago1:10:37

1:10:37

Four wounded souls try to endure the end of WW2 in a bombed out Tuscan monastery. Ondaatje's novel digs into these liminal lives as they project themselves onto the blank slate that is [dramatic music] the English patient. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/overdue and get on your way to being your …

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Ep 670 - Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (Novelization), by Tracey West (Bonus Episode) 1:15:57

7M ago1:15:57

1:15:57

We want to be the very best (podcasters)! The best (podcasters) there ever were! And our true test was to talk about the novelization of the first film in the most successful media franchise in the world: Pokémon. To join us for future bonus recordings, head to patreon.com/overduepod. Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Our theme music was …

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Ep 669 - A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess 1:09:18

8M ago1:09:18

1:09:18

Real horrorshow episode for you this week, malchicks and devotchkas! The best-known version of A Clockwork Orange might be Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film, which is based on a version of the story that is missing its last chapter. Burgess wants us all to know that he'd disown this story if he could, but if we're going to read it, we might as well get t…

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Stop! Homer Time: The Iliad - Episodes 7 & 8 (Books 15-19) 1:44:45

8M ago1:44:45

1:44:45

For our latest show-within-a-show, we'll revisit Ancient Greece through Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's The Iliad. We'll be reading it a few books at a time and having a more in-depth chat about it than we do about most books. These two episodes cover Books 15-19 Episode 7: Things start heating up in books 15 and 16, as Achilles finally s…

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Ep 668 - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark 1:06:14

8M ago1:06:14

1:06:14

Are you in your prime? If you were, would you know it? And would you know what to do with it?! Miss Jean Brodie's in her prime, and she's going to teach all these girls about art history, being the creme de la creme, and how Mussolini made the trains run on time. Tune in for a story about how teachers can have a huge impact on your life while still…

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Ep 667 - The Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood 1:02:19

8M ago1:02:19

1:02:19

In The Odyssey, Penelope is mostly a side character who exists to be faithful to Odysseus (and clever enough to be compatible with him). Atwood's Penelopiad asks: what was Penelope up to? What did she want? What if the Homeric version of Odysseus' story isn't the true one? And what if Penelope's version isn't either? This episode is sponsored by Be…

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Ep 665 - The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Leo Tolstoy 1:04:29

8M ago1:04:29

1:04:29

In this classic novella, Leo Tolstoy asks, "What would it take for a guy who stinks to realize he stinks? And how would he feel about that at the end of his life?" This episode is sponsored by the PBS American Masters: Creative Spark, find it on your favorite listening app. This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdu…

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Ep 664 - The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5), by Rick Riordan 1:20:52

8M ago1:20:52

1:20:52

And so the (initial) story of the world of Percy Jackson draws to a close. It's time to discuss the Battle of New York, the resolution of a prophecy, and the ultimate theme(s) of Riordan's blockbuster series. This episode is sponsored by the PBS American Masters: Creative Spark and Jordan J. Hall's new story collection Mammoth, Massachusetts: A Col…

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Ep 663 - The Magic School Bus, by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen 1:07:04

9M ago1:07:04

1:07:04

The Magic School Bus series, beloved of 80s and 90s kids as both a book series and a TV show, depicts a school where every day is a field trip and every field trip is actually a fantastical voyage through time and space. I don't want to think what these permission slips look like. This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com…

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Ep 662 - Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami 1:11:11

9M ago1:11:11

1:11:11

The book that put Murakami on the map in Japan is an intimate tale about youth, love, sex, and grief. So it's not surprise he settled on a Beatles song for his novel's title?? Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California…

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Ep 661 - Into the Wild (Warrior Cats #1), by Erin Hunter 1:10:47

9M ago1:10:47

1:10:47

Hello, cats and kittypets! If you're up for a Redwall-y, Watership Down-y exploration of warrior cat societies and territorial conflicts, boy do we have the dozens and dozens of books for you! Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priva…

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Ep 660 - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride 1:01:25

9M ago1:01:25

1:01:25

Communities collide in the Chicken Hill neighborhood of 1930s Pottstown. Will the tensions become more than this town can manage? Since this is a James McBride novel, probably not! His work is characterized by a warmth of spirit that feels optimistic without naivete. So it shouldn't surprised you that folks of different backgrounds are finding comm…

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Ep 659 - Beach Read, by Emily Henry 1:11:37

10M ago1:11:37

1:11:37

Emily Henry's Beach Read is a romance novel that's light on the romance, and also on beaches and reading. But it's still fun! An a good argument against aggressively pigeonholing books or their authors into any given genre box. Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See Privac…

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Ep 658 - Garfield: His 9 Lives, by Jim Davis (Bonus Episode) 1:16:43

10M ago1:16:43

1:16:43

Garfield creator Jim Davis decided to turn his PAWS, Inc. artists loose on multiple interpretations of our favorite orange feline. Behold, a truly absurd collection of tails -- I mean, tales. EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS DISCUSSION OF AT LEAST ONE ODDLY EXPLICIT TURN OF PHRASE THAT REALLY CONFUSED US. To join us for future bonus …

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Ep 657 - Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach 1:04:40

10M ago1:04:40

1:04:40

Caw caw! Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a New Age messiah. Or is it? All we know is that this seagull loves to fly and craves perfection -- which is somehow an allegory for self-improvement? This episode is also sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Our theme music was compose…

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Ep 656 - Thérèse Raquin, by Émile Zola 1:04:59

10M ago1:04:59

1:04:59

This podcast is about to REAL! In that we are about to talk about Realism and Naturalism, two things we definitely have an amazing handle on. And did Émile Zola have a handle on them in his notable novel Thérèse Raquin? Tune in to find out. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Follow @overduepod on Instagram and Bluesky Advertise on Overd…

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Kenneth Nickels Podcasts

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