This week we answer the question on everyone's minds: why, the last man? This mid-2000s graphic novel imagines a world without men, a specific kind of apocalypse with a different flavor from The Leftovers or other "what if X suddenly disappeared from Earth forever" fiction.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

C Pam Zhang's Booker Prize-listed debut novel focuses on a family of Chinese immigrants working coal mines, panning streams, and laying railroads in the American West. Her characters, myth-making, and lyrical style work to correct the historical record with specificity and humanity.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Chabon's 2007 alternate history novel is a murder mystery featuring a hard-boiled detective, though neither the detective nor the murder mystery are the most memorable parts of it. The alternate history part, along with Chabon's prose, are enough to make up for whatever other shortcomings the novel might have.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if all we knew about alien culture was their garbage? Or is it their garbage? The Strugatsky brothers' most famous novel is about a world where stalkers crawl through hazardous Zones for precious artifacts. Also it's about hope, bureaucracy, and our relationship to the unknown.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We just couldn't resist another trip to Panem! This origin story for the trilogy's primary villain, Coriolanus Snow, takes us all the way back to the 10th Annual Hunger Games. Things are a little less flashy, but no less deadly. Struggle along with us through the hunger, through the games, and through the limits of fiction told through the antagonist's eyes.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Find our how to join us for bonus episode recordings at patreon.com/overduepod.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join us and our possibly imaginary gigantic anthropomorphic rabbit for a discussion about a play that just HAPPENS to be about a man who is friends with a possibly imaginary gigantic anthropomorphic rabbit. Funny how that works out!Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We've all heard that a tree grows in Brooklyn. But what ELSE grows there? A love of reading? A bootstraps narrative? We get to the root of the mystery this week on Overdue.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Eggs is a book that has eggs in it, but also adolescent pain and friendship. Eggs! Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lauren Oliver's first novel is about a teenage girl forced to relive the last day of her life over and over again. What can she change? What should she change? And how will she change? Find out the answers to those questions and more (namely, how all time loop fiction is beholden to the 1993 film Groundhog Day) in this week's episode.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Children of Blood and Bone takes familiar fantasy tropes and puts them in a new context, which makes them unexpectedly poignant and powerful. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.