book club

Kindred

by Bedrosian Center

“I lost an arm on my last trip home.

My left arm.”

The iconic first line of Octavia Butler’s novel, Kindred, puts the reader right there. The gravity of the legacy of slavery is there in the face. Who has lost an arm? How? Why?

Listen as host Jeffery Jenkins and guests Ange-Marie Alfaro, Caroline Bhalla, and Aubrey Hicks as they think about this classic work of American fiction.

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of the “Kindred” episode click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!

Ender’s Game

by Bedrosian Center

When you’ve grown up thinking everything is a zero sum game … what happens when you learn it isn’t?

New episode features host Jeffery Jenkins with guests Aubrey Hicks, Matt Schauer, and Ehsan Zaffar.

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of the “Ender’s Game” episode click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!

Ursula K. Le Guin and the walk away from Omelas

by Bedrosian Center

The world lost one of the greats on Monday, January 22nd. Ursula K. Le Guin passed away at the age of 88 and left a hole in many hearts around the world.

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” We use this short, short story as a jumping off point to discuss our mutual love of Ursula K. Le Guin, science fiction/fantasy, and how reading shaped our lives.

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of the “Ursuala K. Le Guin and the walk away from Omelas” episode click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!

Democracy in Chains

by Bedrosian Center

In Democracy in Chains, MacLean delves in the history of Nobel Prize winning economist James Buchanan’s partnership with the Koch brothers to spread the theory of public choice economics. She argues the relationship was formed in order to harness political influence for a small majority of propertied individuals over the will of the majority. The book, while short listed for the National Book Award, met with sharp criticism from conservative think tanks.

Find out what our panel of political scientists, economics, and lawyers think of this controversial work.

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of Democracy in Chainsclick the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!

All the President’s Men (40th Anniversary Edition)

by Bedrosian Center

Bernstein and Woodward published All the President’s Men a mere three months before Nixon’s resignation. We’re revisiting (or visiting for the first time) this classic work of political journalism in the wake of the many callbacks since the 2016 Presidential election. Are dirty tricks just part of politics? What role does the press play? Are there parallels to the Trump administration?

Featuring host Jeffery Jenkins (@jaj7d ‏), and guests Aubrey Hicks (@AubreyHi), Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), and Donnajean Ward (@DonnajeanWard).

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of All the President’s Men click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!

Bonus episode: Lolly Willowes

by Bedrosian Center

Lolly Willowes: or, the loving huntsman is the deceptively simple novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner, about a woman who after 40 years spent in devotion to taking care of her father, and her brother’s family, decides to move to the countryside and become a witch! Does she find freedom, or does she exchange one form of subjugation for another?

If you haven’t read the novel yet, beware – we assume you’ve read it, so here’s your spoiler alert!

Featuring Aubrey Hicks (@AubreyHi), Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), and David Sloane (@dcsloane53 )

@BedrosianCenter

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of Lolly Willowes click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!

The Fact of a Body

by Bedrosian Center

The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich is a true crime memoir. After encountering the child murderer Ricky Langley, Alexandria’s desire to work as a lawyer to fight against the death penalty is up-ended. She spends several years investigating Ricky’s story as a way to confront the story of her own child abuse. This is a deeply moving book, and a relatively easy read given the morose topic – a testament to the author’s skill.

Our conversation ranges from the effects of trauma on individuals and communities to the genre itself. If you haven’t read it yet, beware that we assume you’ve read it, spoiler alert!

Featuring Jeffery A. Jenkins (@jaj7d ‏), Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), Brettany K. Shannon (@brettanyshannon), and Deborah Winters

Follow us on Twitter! @BedrosianCenter

Special thanks to Flatiron Books for sending us review copies!

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of The Fact of a Body click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, or Google Play

White Tears

by Bedrosian Center

For our discussion of Hari Kunzru’s White Tears, we return to the question: can America overcome its sin of racism? Or will our collective inability to deal with the consequences of our actions win the day? If you have not read this novel, beware – this podcast it mostly spoilers! We dive into the themes Kunzru explores in this complex novel, relish the strong prose, and question the role of cultural memory and American identity.

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of White Tears click the orange arrow in the Soundcloud player here -or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, or Google Play

Featuring Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro (@AngeMarieH), Aubrey Hicks (@AubreyHi), and David Sloane (@dcsloane53)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

by Bedrosian Center

The narrator of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist may be unreliable as he tells his American experience before and after 9/11 with an unknown American dinner guest, but we wonder if he is any more unreliable than the voice inside all of us. We discuss the East/West conflict, the relationship between fundamentalism and nostalgia, the narrator’s reluctance and fundamentalism, the narrator’s love of America and Erica, as well as puzzle over the ending as we delve into this deep and short novel.

To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of The Reluctant Fundamentalist click the orange arrow in the Soundcloud player at the top of this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through iTunes, Soundcloud, or Google Play

Bonus- Cop in the Hood (part 2)

by Bedrosian Center

In part 2 of our discussion of Cop in the Hood by Peter Moskos, we discuss the notion of discretion in the legal system – by police all the way to prosecutors & parole/probation boards. We think about discrimination in enforcement made possible by discretion. We think about conflicts of interest in investigations of police misconduct – especially in relation to the war on drugs. How should we move forward?