Aside #16 - Weddings, Summer Reads & an intro to Neil Gaiman's "American Gods"

Explicit content warning

07/12/17 • 24 min

We're getting the band back together! After a few guest-filled episodes we're back to talk summer reads, weddings and of course Neil Gaiman and his mammoth tome "American Gods." In our introduction to our new featured writer, we outline his decorated and eclectic career, the praise and criticism of "American Gods," and the hullabaloo surrounding the new TV adaptation.

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Episode 22 - Science in Sci-Fi, Aliens, and a Critique of Democracy in "The Black Cloud"

Special guest Shawn Moksvold joins me to discuss Sir Fred Hoyle's "The Black Cloud." We talk about real science in Science Fiction and our conceptualization of aliens. We also think about Fred Hoyle's unique criticism of democracy. If you thought "The Handmaid's Tale" was scary in how it pertains to today, you won't want to miss this episode! *Note: What happens when you try to record in 105 F heat and the A.C. is broken? This episode! We apologize for the occasional background noises. Luckily, we survived.

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Episode 23 - Belief, Con Artists & The American Soul in Neil Gaiman's "American Gods"

We're back with a brand new episode, after some delay caused by the ever-dreaded summer camp schedule - just kidding, we love escaping the big city, but it's good to be back and talking about Neil Gaiman's "American Gods," a novel loved by many and recently adapted to TV. It was a lighter turn for us, but we still enjoyed Gaiman's perspective on U.S. culture and its relationship to myths touching religion, identity and the long-established character of the grifter, or con artist. There is a definite postmodern touch to the novel, and we discuss some of our favorite references, as well as Gaiman's use of Joseph Campbell's ideas found in "The Hero With a Thousand Faces." Finally, stick around for the end when we compare the TV series to the book and highlight what we like about the new adaptation. ***Some news - for you Goodreads users out there, we've started a reading group called "The Casual Academic Podcast," where you can find discussion questions on the books we've read, peruse our bookshelves, and get involved in the preparation for our episodes! We're excited about it, and we hope you will be too. **Don't forget, you can find us on instagram, twitter, facebook and soundcloud, or email us at [email protected]. Finally, check our website www.thecasualacademic.com for a bibliography of the episode, including articles, interviews and videos on "American Gods." Happy listening!