If you didn’t enjoy Emily St. John Mandel’s post-apocalyptic book Station Eleven, you’re not alone—Lyta didn’t like it either. However, the HBO Max mini-series, starring Mackenzie Rio Davis and Himesh Patel, brings a powerful, unique, and deeply human quality to St. John Mandel’s story of a devastating global flu pandemic and societal collapse. In the latest installment of Art for the End Times, Lyta talks with writer and podcaster Aaaron Thorpe about why Station Eleven, an underrated and brilliant TV show in its own right, is one of the few contemporary examples of anticapitalist utopian storytelling.

Aaron Thorpe is a writer and podcaster based in Atlanta, Georgia. You can find his writing at Space and Light and his podcasting on The Trillbilly Workers Party, Everybody Loves Communism, and Struggle Session.

Read the transcript of this podcast:

Pre-Production/Studio: Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

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Art for the End Times: Station Eleven: ‘One of the most optimistic renditions of the apocalypse’