episode 36: The Metaverse Before the Metaverse in “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson
What’s up with Facebook changing their name to “Meta”? What is the “Metaverse” and where did it originate? In this episode, we tackle Neal Stephenson’s book “Snow Crash”, which first conceived of the Metaverse. Join us as we discuss late-stage capitalism and its next technological frontier that aims to transform our lives as ones lived and experienced exclusively through the internet...
episode 37: Truly Dark Academia: The Precarious World of Private School Kids in “Smokers” by Tobias Wolff
A train is whizzing across the plains of New England, carrying with it two young boys full of hopes and dreams – one with a green alpine hat carelessly tossed over his head, large suitcases clumsily blocking the train car doors, while the other haughtily looks upon the scene. They are heading to a private boarding school named Choate where their loyalties and allegiances will be tested. In this episode, we are talking about “Smokers” by Tobias Wolff and debunking the myths of upward mobility...
episode 38: Buying a New Life Package in “Standard Loneliness Package” by Charles Yu
In a (not-so-distant) future world where the experience of pain is outsourced to the third world, a man tries as he might to find intimacy. That is the premise of the short story, “Standard Loneliness Package” by Charles Yu, under today’s discussion. In this episode, we talk about emotional labor, the corruption of intimacy and the quiet piecewise loss of one’s life...
episode 39: Genderswaps in the Dark and Humorous Fairy Tale “Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower” by Tamsyn Muir
“It's also not fair at all that stupidity has gotten you this far. That's another creature you've killed simply by having no brains, which makes anyone with brains feel as if it isn't worth the headache of having them.”
This type of quick, witty humor is what characterizes the treat of a read that is “Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower” by Tamsyn Muir...