It’s another Patron-selection! Welcome to “All Systems Red,” a 2017 sci-fi adventure novella by Martha Wells.We talk about Wells’ life and the story, but a good chunk of this episode is dedicated to discussing robots in fiction more generally. What makes the robot who wants love such an interesting stand-in for real world alienation? Where do those parallels fall short? How does the rise of Gen AI (particularly AI slop) impact our relationship to robot narratives? Would Muderbot engage in kink at Pride discourse? All this and more will be answered!Support us on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/workerslit

In the year 2000 a snarky chef named Anthony Bourdain published a collection of essays, rants, and observations about the food industry. The dude went on to do cool stuff, so much that our patrons voted for us to discuss this book!In this episode we discuss how restaurant culture has (and mostly hasn't) changed, how to have working class solidarity in weird situations, the beauty of loving your job and having dignity in it, and the new A24 Film, "Tony."Read the original Bourdain essay here:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/04/19/dont-eat-before-reading-thisGo support us on Patreon here!https://www.patreon.com/workerslit

This is a preview. To access the full episode please go support Workers' Lit on Patreon.https://www.patreon.com/workerslitThe spookiness only grows!Jonathan Sims returns to Workers' Lit to talk with Aysha about his work, his novel, "The Burn Line" (which you should buy!), horror, trains, and more!This episode is exclusively for $5 patrons and up. Every patron we gets helps us keep the show going and growing, and we appreciate you all for it!Check out more of Jonathan's work here: https://jonathan-sims.com/Go buy Jonthan's newest book, "The Burn Line" https://www.sourcebooks.com/the-burn-line.html

It's about to get really spooky.Join us as we explore Robert W. Chambers' iconic 1895 short story collection, "The King In Yellow." Learn about this iconic influence on Lovecraft and eldritch horror as a genre, consider what might lie within the pages of that cursed play that makes you crazy, and consider whether you might in fact be the King of the United States.Joining us is Jonathan Sims, writer of the Magnus Archives/Magnus Protocol, voice actor in games such as Slay the Princess, and author of books such as, "Family Business." Together, we will answer such puzzles as why Rhode Island is so scary, what the deal is with American and British naming conventions, and why the second half of this collection really, really, REALLY drags.Also, would an eldritch being find Jacob sexy? We discuss!Check out Jonathan's work here:https://jonathan-sims.comGo support Workers' Lit on Patreon!https://patreon.com/workerslit

It’s a classic “we read a conservative book and get mad” episode!This time we take on pseduo-biographer and self-proclaimed public intellectual Eric Metaxes and his 2022 book, “Letter to the American Church.” Eric says he sees scary parallels to nazi Germany in today’s USA…and he thinks Donald Trump is going to stop it.Joining us is 7-time returning guest and evangelical-freak-understander Josh Boerman. Together we will crash out about Eric and, somewhere in the rage, try to figure out the core of his ideology and how to fight it.Check out Josh’s phenomenal podcasts, The Worst of All Possible Worlds and Ill Concieved, at his website!https://joshboerman.com/Go support Workers’ Lit on Patreon!https://patreon.com/workerslitLinks from the episode:https://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2010-09/hijacking-bonhoefferhttps://currentpub.com/2024/10/20/bonhoeffer-family-to-eric-metaxas-we-are-horrified-to-see-how-the-legacy-of-dietrich-bonhoeffer-is-being-distorted-and-misused/https://manhattandeclaration.org/

This is a preview. To access the full episode please go support Workers' Lit on Patreon.https://www.patreon.com/WorkersLit/posts/article-brain-167304042It's August Article Brain! And we've got more brain worms than ever.This month, Lenore brings us an article about a trans woman who is bemoaning that the CIA is becoming less accepting of trans people (no mention of becoming more accepting of election results in the Global South). Jacob brings us an article by a never-Trump Republican claiming that actually, Democrats shouldn't run on popular things.

This book is weird, and horny, and gnarly, and gross, and exciting, and an all around winner.Welcome to our discussion of “The Works of Vermin,” Hiron Ennes’ 2025 speculative fantasty slam dunk of a novel. Seriously, go buy this one. Go read it. The episode will still be here when you’re done.And we’re not alone! Maria Ingrade Mora, author of “A Wild Radiance” and many others joins us as we descend into this labyrinth of class, gender, angst, repression, and artistic agonies.Questions we discuss: Can art be a revolution? What makes a good plot twist work? Where is the line between effective and overwrought prose? Is it possible to get head so good you join a new political movement?Go check out Maria’s work and get a copy of “A Wild Radiance!”https://www.mariamora.net/Go support Workers’ Lit on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/workerslit(Production Note: Lenore’s internet was a problem so she had to drop out of the episode midway through and we didn’t get any of her audio. As such there may be an occasional odd-sounding moment in the first half because we had to cut around Lenore. Apologies for any confusion this may create!)

It’s the big one. Our most requested text ever. The spectre haunting Europe is now haunting our podcast.It’s 1848’s “The Communist Manifesto” from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels!What are the origins of this earth shattering text? Where does it still hold up, and what needs adjusting for a modern context? Did Marx and Engels ever kiss? We discuss it all!If you ever wanted to learn about the foundation of communism but bounced off the age of the work or lack of context, this is perfect. And if you’re a certified Marx expert there’s still stuff to love. It’s a good episode!!Go support Workers’ Lit on Patreon!https://patreon.com/workerslitRead or listen to the Communist Manifesto yourself here, it’s not long!https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdfhttps://www.marxists.org/audiobooks/archive/marx-engels/communist-manifesto/index.htm

We've returned to the dark abyss that is the mind of Just Dance Vance.AJ Ditty of The Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast joins us to take on Vice President JD Vance's newest book, "Communion: Finding my way back to faith." Vance tells us all how he totally became an authentic Catholic, definitely believes in God, and certainly isn't merely trying to set up a 2028 presidential run.Topics in this discussion include Vance's quirky millennial-ness, Vance as wife guy, the networks of money behind Vance, and some helpful tips to shut down anyone who tries to say this dude is worth your time.Link to our original episode on JD Vance (Hillbilly Elegy):https://open.spotify.com/episode/0MiUlc8fho79aP1twvVDDzCheck out The Worst of All Possible Worlds: https://www.patreon.com/WorstOfAllGet tickets to see AJ's play, "Heart of Duckness":https://portlandstage.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0SPa00000dFOunMAGGo support Workers' Lit on Patreon!https://patreon.com/workerslit

Grab your three-ringed binders, highlighters, and spellbooks, this week we're talking about "The Incandescent," a 2025 academia fantasy novel by Emily Tesh.We've got schools, and labor concerns, and demons, and bisexuality, and a fantastic guest: Brandon Crilly, author, organizer, and all around cool guy. You may know his novels, such as "Catalyst" and "Castoff," or perhaps his work on The Expanse RPG. Know him or not, you'll be a fan by the end of this episode!You can check out everything Brandon's up to here:https://linktr.ee/brandoncrillyGo support us on Patreon, where we release exclusive content such as author interviews (including an upcoming one with Brandon himself!)https://Patreon.com/workerslit