This week we're taking it back to our very first episode, featuring a book that's drowning in controversy.
In the quiet village of St. Mary Mead, in the peaceful English countryside, the unthinkable happens — a murder. What is more, this is not just any murder. The dead man is found in the local's clergyman's office, blood on the desk and a note in his atrophying hand. Did the clergyman bring an end to the life of a man he envied? Or was it one of the many country folks who openly hated the deceased? One observant spinster aims to get to the bottom of the mystery before the wrong man is hanged.
Orphaned in high school, Ray Carney worked his way through college and now owns his own furniture store in 1960s Harlem. He's a family man living the American dream, but some dreams are no different than nightmares. Fighting both familial and internal influences, Carney must outlast three separate heists to secure the lives of those he loves most. Will he survive? Or will this man lose himself trying to find his dream?
It is the first week of June, and you know what that means. We're back with another WILD CARD episode. Instead of dissecting a book, we're discussing Kenneth Branagh's Death On the Nile, a film released in cinemas and streaming this year. We saw this film in theaters and at home, and we've got a LOT to say. Watch the flick before listening to see if our thoughts coincide with yours, and let us know if we finally pronounced Hercule Poirot correctly. (Spoiler: We didn't!)
Convenience Store Woman is the deadpan tale of one woman's happy life in a simple occupation before conformity-obsessed friends, family members, and strangers pressure her into confusion and despair. Will she find her way back, or will she end up like a sandcastle, washed away by the current of conventionality? As Beyoncé said, "This is for the 30-somethings that didn't turn out exactly how mom and dad wanted you to be."
This Harlem Renaissance classic is the story of a woman too beautiful to be trusted and too innocent to be cautious. She battles nearly debilitating loneliness, floating through life unseen, despite marrying twice. At a time she least expected, she finds love and that love takes her on a journey of self-discovery to inner, untouchable liberation.
Following the story of two sisters and the generations they birthed, this week's book covers each woman's journey from the tribe of their childhood to their children's lives and their children's children in America. Each new generation has new struggles, romances, passions, and pain. In the end, the sisters' families are united, brought home to the land and the water that bore them.
How has music influenced you as a storyteller?
This week's is a wild card episode. We're discussing song lyrics and our favorite musical storytellers. We've also got a game — because you all love to put Alexis on the spot (and Kari is more than happy to oblige).
The crew's task is to take down a foreign space station designed to spy on American citizens. Soviet activity forces American hands to action, but the Soviets are prepared with a canon-laden vessel and an American mole secretly working for them aboard the US spaceship. When the smoke clears, who will be left standing?
Black moments distilled into easily digestible verse, this book reminds us that literature lives outside classrooms or cringy rom-coms.
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