#255
Mentioned in 55 episodes

The Handmaid's Tale

Book • 1985
The novel is set in a near-future New England in the Republic of Gilead, a patriarchal, totalitarian state that has overthrown the United States government.

Offred, the narrator, is one of the 'Handmaids', women who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class, known as 'Commanders'.

The story explores themes of powerless women, loss of female agency and individuality, and the suppression of women's reproductive rights.

Offred's life is marked by her restrictive routine, her memories of her past life, and her interactions with the Commander, his wife Serena Joy, and other Handmaids, including her friend Ofglen who is part of an underground resistance movement.

The novel is a scathing satire, an ominous warning, and a tour de force of narrative suspense.

Mentioned by

Mentioned in 55 episodes

Mentioned by
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Jeffrey Wasserstrom
in comparison with Orwell's '1984' and Huxley's 'Brave New World'.
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Tim Ferriss
as one of her many books.
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Alastair Campbell
as a comparison to J.D. Vance's political stance.
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Ben Carlson
who read it recently and recommends it.
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Jon Lovett
when discussing
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Bradley Whitford
's role in the show.
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Nick Bostrom
as an example of dystopian literature.
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Adam Grant
as a self-proclaimed procrastination expert and author of "The Handmaid's Tale"
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Ian Morris
when discussing the potential for machine intelligence to surpass human understanding.
37 snips
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Tim Ferriss
as one of Margaret Atwood's many works.
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Mentioned by Will McCaskill in the context of dystopian futures and potential value lock-in.
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Mentioned in relation to the TV series adaptation, highlighting the continued interest in dystopian fiction.
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Jonah Goldberg
in the context of discussing societal regulations and the impact of the internet.
29 snips
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Allie Beth Stuckey
in the context of surrogacy and its comparison to the novel.
28 snips
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Mentioned as an example of books being banned that address sexually explicit content.
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Deborah Frances-White
in relation to the phrase 'better never means better for everyone'.
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Deborah Treisman
as the author of several books, including "The Handmaid's Tale", "The Testaments", and "Old Babes in the Wood".
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Eddie Pinero
while discussing the importance of finding the right starting point in a story, both in writing and in life.
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Spencer Greenberg
as an example of a well-known dystopian novel.
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Mentioned by
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Scott Galloway
as a relevant book in the context of discussing the Handmaid's Tale.
19 snips
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