Lit Society: Books and Drama

This here's a very special episode! Before officially launching this podcast in 2020, we recorded months of episodes exclusively for a pool of private test listeners. Those listeners then provided feedback, and we improved the show based on their comments. Now, we proudly would like to share with you the fourth episode, previously unreleased - it's a real LOCO motive. (groan.) So, boom, here it is. The Orient Express, a luxurious train occupied by a motley group of passengers, is halted in the middle of the night by a blizzard — and a murder. (dun dun DUN!) Under the darkness of night, a passenger has been brutally stabbed to death. One detective must solve the case before the killer strikes again!  The book: Murder on the Orient Express The detective: Hercule Poirot Let's get LIT!

This Thursday we're getting reLIT with a throwback to one of our favorite shows from season one! 📖 Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem: A Memoir. A streetwise hustler grows up during America’s fight against drugs, poverty, and civility. He takes the lessons he’s learned and marries them to the philosophies and ideologies he picks up as an avid reader. With this knowledge, and after two trips to Africa, which inspired his path, he begins working on his life’s biggest hustle. He’s all in, but will his underground lifestyle take him OUT for good? The hustler’s name is Daniel Day. The book is Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem. LET’S GET LIT! See you Thursday! Opening song: Men at Work by Kool G Rap; Break Song: Money Makes Us Happy by Skyzoo f/ Black Thought and Bilal. The video Kari refers to is by AT&T, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb_sjwUq7Jk  

Before finishing our discussion of Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, we're talking about the first black pilots who helped us all get flewed out. Never forget, they broke boundaries and shattered ceilings so that none of us would have to fly Spirit today. They were uppity in more ways than one, and we can't help but aspire to their level flyness. Then it's on to Caste, a book Kari calls "a history book somewhat like any other you'd find in a well-stocked high school classroom." Of course, there are a few key differences. For one, Caste doesn't fade to black when it comes to the horrors of post-slavery America. It also lays out Nazi obsession with the American caste system and the reasons why our brand of cruelty was so popular with "der Führer".  Got the bandwidth for uncomfortable facts? This episode’s for you!  LET’S GET LIT!   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com

Caste is a history book somewhat like any other you'd find in a well-stocked high school classroom. The difference is that its contents dissect a country's most embarrassing and evil parts, lighting the anger and disbelief of purposely obtuse skeptics. However, it is complete with sources, and none of its information is new. It reminds us that no matter how embarrassed or angry we become by it, history does not change.    The book? Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents    The author? Isabel Wilkerson   LET'S GET LIT!   NOTE: Article from THE GUARDIAN is accidentally referenced as being from THE ATLANTIC: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/feb/06/race.usa   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com

In a memoir about standing up and standing out, one writer-slash-fashion editor must weave her way through society’s expectations, cheating boyfriends, and the racism, sexism, and doing-too-much-ism of corporate before finding she needs none of it to be enough.   The editor? Elaine Welteroth   The book: More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)   LET’S GET LIT! Theme of the week topic source: https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/how-to-ask-for-a-pay-rise Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com

Before Tom Joyner was cruising with your parents, Black Americans enjoyed resorts and vacations for us by us. What is the history of Black getaways? That's our theme this week. It's a lot of fun. Then, on to our book.   There's death in the air, even though this summer on the island of Martha's Vineyard, a wealthy, upper-class Black American beauty is planning her wedding to a white jazz musician of little means. Her eagerness to pursue a new life with one outside of her class and race forces everyone in her family to face their fears and insecurities and drives one man to desperation as he vows to take the soon-to-be bride for himself. Within 24 hours, secrets are unloaded, hearts are broken. Will former sins bring new woe's to the families both elevated and captivated by their past. By the end of summer, will they stand before an alter or a casket?   The bride-to-be? Shelby Cole   The book: The Wedding by Dorothy West   LET'S GET LIT!   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com

Who's black? Who's white? And who cares? One researcher challenges us to re-examine our self-identity. She explores how historical definitions of race continue to shape contemporary racial identities and lived experiences. Through a series of interviews and profiles, we realize race isn't black and white. The researcher? Dr. Yaba Blay The book: One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race   LET'S GET LIT!   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com  

The power of genius is considered the key to success in life and business. That genius, it is thought, cannot be earned; it is divinely gifted. Inexplicable. However, one writer follows exceptional cases and arrives at one conclusion: The power of genius is nothing compared to The Power of Community. The latter made the Beatles THE BEATLES. When you have the ability, this writer concludes, what gets you to the top is not genius. It's work. What's more, the exact amount of work necessary to reach outlier status is quantifiable: 10,000 hours = or 3 hrs per day / 20hrs per week for ten years. The writer: Malcolm Gladwell The book: Outliers LET'S GET LIT!   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com  

As travelers who fluctuate between Airbnb homes and hotels, we are no strangers to short-term rental living. But do you know what happens when Airbnb stays go wrong? Who's in charge of the cover-up, the investigations, and the big cash settlements? We've got the answers in our theme of the week discussion. Then, it's on to our book: An infamous and influential family in a wealthy New England town finds their only daughter dead under suspicious circumstances. Naturally, attention turns to her best friend, Avery Greer, an unconnected wannabe with a suspiciously tragic past. Will the truth exonerate Avery or unearth secrets long hidden by the most twisted and powerful members of her circle. The book? The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda Let's get LIT!   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com  

Are "BOHEMIANS" people from the Bahamas? Spoiler - no. No, they're not. But who exactly are the Bohemians and how did the moniker pass on to artists, writers, and the Kravitz family? We're getting to the bottom of the term BOHO, and (surprise!) its origins are pseudo-intellectual, semi-racist. After our theme of the week discussion, we'll get into the nonfiction story of a writer, his subject, and the singular truth that both of them are hiding from the world. It is as much about an eccentric bohemian flophouse frequenter, as it is about a writer for the New York Magazine who's battling with doubt and depression. In the end, one will expose the other and, by doing so, perhaps free them both. The writer? Joseph Mitchell.  The book? Joe Gould's Secret.   Let's get LIT!   Find Alexis and Kari online:  Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod;  Twitter — www.twitter.com/litsocietypod;  Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod;  Website — www.LitSocietyPod.com