76 min listen
Episode 40: Parable of the Sower
FromBetter Read than Dead: Literature from a Left Perspective
ratings:
Length:
96 minutes
Released:
Jun 14, 2020
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
On this episode, we talk environmental catastrophe, economic collapse, and racism in the 2020s. If any of that sounds awfully familiar, stay tuned, because we are diving into Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler’s 1993 novel about the long, slow end of the world.
We get into class, the family, religion, the biblical parable (which we definitely all knew and did not have to google), race, and metaphor. We also chat about our cool, tall protagonist—a Black teenager who starts her own religion—and why blasting off into outer space with her sounds so much more appealing than the Elon Musk version.
As you’re checking out more Octavia Butler, we recommend her 1980 essay “Lost Races of Science Fiction” on race, writing, and sci-fi. It was originally published in Transmission magazine, and you can find it reprinted in Vice’s Garage Magazine, Issue 15, as “In 1980: Octavia Butler Asked, Why Is Science Fiction So White?”
Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @betterreadpod, and email us nice things at betterreadpodcast@gmail.com. Find Tristan on Twitter @tjschweiger, Katie @katiekrywo, and Megan @tuslersaurus.
We get into class, the family, religion, the biblical parable (which we definitely all knew and did not have to google), race, and metaphor. We also chat about our cool, tall protagonist—a Black teenager who starts her own religion—and why blasting off into outer space with her sounds so much more appealing than the Elon Musk version.
As you’re checking out more Octavia Butler, we recommend her 1980 essay “Lost Races of Science Fiction” on race, writing, and sci-fi. It was originally published in Transmission magazine, and you can find it reprinted in Vice’s Garage Magazine, Issue 15, as “In 1980: Octavia Butler Asked, Why Is Science Fiction So White?”
Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @betterreadpod, and email us nice things at betterreadpodcast@gmail.com. Find Tristan on Twitter @tjschweiger, Katie @katiekrywo, and Megan @tuslersaurus.
Released:
Jun 14, 2020
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Episode 10: The Awakening by Better Read than Dead: Literature from a Left Perspective