DEATH // SENTENCE

Vampires are having a bit of a moment, and the best book in the current wave is Genevieve Jagger's Fragile Animals, a literary maybe-vampire story set in Scotland. We talk about why vampires are back, Catholicism, trauma and the best vampire films (Near Dark and The Only Lovers Left Alive). Music by Glassing and Inter Arma

Eden sits down with the non-fictional representative of the book of webs, Jesse Kohn, to talk about the weird, beguiling, and bubbling Love Chronicles of the Octopodes by Karen An-hwei Lee! Gene editing, Emily Dickinson, internal monologue, cosmic adventures, the Moon personified, and more whirl in this unique and scintillating book! Music played - TWRP - Online (feat. Tom Cardy & Montaigne) https://twrp.bandcamp.com/track/online-feat-tom-cardy-montaigne

In honor of the world-ending eclipse that's scheduled for today, Gareth and Eden sit down to tackle Sven Holm's Termush! The novel explores an atomic post-apocalypse and the parasitic, depraved, neurotic, and straight up weird well-to-do people who try to survive it. The two tackle ideas of middle class violence and manners, radiation and climate change, cooperation vs. selfish survival, and elite panic! Music played: Savage Oath - Blood For the King https://savageoath.bandcamp.com/track/blood-for-the-king

Horror Vanguard's Jon Greenaway explores the meaning of Utopia and its relevance today. Discusses Ernst Bloch's philosophy, the role of utopia in Marxism, societal contradictions, and utopian ideals. Touches on music recommendations and upcoming book releases.

What if nasty commoners were going around breaking all the nice people's art? What if we've been getting morality all wrong? We consider all this and more when talking about Kay Dick's rediscovered masterpiece They. Music by Sleepyime Gorilla Museum: https://sleepytimegorillamuseum1.bandcamp.com/album/of-the-last-human-being

What if everything you were taught about Neoliberalism was wrong? What if it's not a free-market free-for-all but as tightly controlled as any planned economy? Grace Blakeley joins us to discuss her new book about this, why everything is so expensive, where all the money went and what we can do about it. Music by Full of Hell.

Langdon talks to Ian Cory, former editor-in-chief of the almighty Invisible Oranges blog and now lead of genre-agnostic (but generally heavy) band Lamniforms.

We're 'mad for it' on this episode! And by 'mad for it' we mean mad about how Manchester, the city where capitalism and communism were invented, has turned into a nightmare of hotdesking 'spaces', dumb concept bars that last two weeks and towers to store insufferable yuppies. Isaac Rose is here to talk about his new book The Rentier City: Manchester And The Making Of The Neoliberal Metropolis and what has happened to this once-adequate city. Music by Genital Shame. Join our Patreon community and get an invite to our Discord, where you can ask us questions about things: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence

It's a very chipper and uplifting episode, as Langdon and Eden tackle the question of revolutionary optimism, the role of hope (or lack thereof) in revolutionary politics, and the question of "doomerism". Then, they dive deep into a workplace novel unlike any other, the incisive, empathic, and deeply sad Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind. Dreams, quotas, debt, rent, and monsters mix and clash as they tear the protagonist's (and our) lives apart. Also, join us on Discord - https://discord.gg/A2RXQXmtrq Music played: Wishbone Ash - Throw Down the Sword https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-BHRQrMglo Wishbone Ash - The Pilgrim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoCnt-yP6_o

This time around, Langdon and Eden talk about how the Internet is dead, actually, and who has killed it. Then, they stay on the topic of demise by diving into Nicole Kornher-Stace's Archivist Wasp, a weird and twisted exploration of death, the afterlife, and trying your best. Music played: Vitriol - Locked in Thine Frothing Wisdom https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/track/locked-in-thine-frothing-wisdom Chapel of Disease - A Death Though No Loss https://chapelofdisease.bandcamp.com/track/a-death-though-no-loss