Show notes
The Handmaid plays Scrabble, gets asked for a kiss she doesn't mean, and then spends a sleepless night remembering a TV documentary about a woman who spent her whole life insisting the man she loved wasn't a monster. Dan and Jennifer end up somewhere they didn't expect: a real conversation about how anyone learns to live next door to something horrible without ever looking at it directly.
This episode includes AI-voiced content, including our trusty fact-checking robot, Robot.
Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books chapter by chapter — we don't read ahead, so you're discovering the story with us.
Things To Listen For:
Aunt Lydia's "men are sex machines" line turns into a real back-and-forth about who that kind of thinking actually protects
Robot IDs the real 2023 film hiding behind Dan and Jennifer's half-remembered movie reference, and gets a genuinely dark joke out of it
Jennifer gets unusually honest about how much this book is starting to feel like a warning label
A closet, a scratched-in Latin phrase, and a laugh that isn't really a laugh
Why was The Handmaid's Tale banned?
This chapter's mistress-of-a-camp-commandant flashback is the kind of thing school boards flag as "graphic" or "inappropriate for age," when the actual discomfort is what it says about ordinary people convincing themselves not to see what's in front of them.
If this is your first episode, you're fine starting here. Our fact-checking Robot catches you up fast, then we read the next chapter (spoilers).
Banworthy to Bingeworthy
Good News for Lefties — Beowulf Rochlen's news segment, an entire show dedicated to the good news you're not hearing anywhere else. This week: a Bay Area family's decades-long collection of LGBTQ children's books just found a permanent public home.
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Disclaimer
Banned Camp features readings and discussions of banned books for the purpose of criticism, commentary, education, and entertainment, in accordance with fair use guidelines.
The material used from the book The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is shared under these principles, with the intent of provoking thought and discussion about literature, censorship, and societal issues. The original work remains fully owned by its copyright holders, and we strongly encourage listeners to purchase a copy here to experience the book in its entirety.
https://bookshop.org/a/20953/9780385490818
This podcast is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Margaret Atwood, her estate, or the publishers of The Handmaid's Tale. Any monetization of the podcast is separate from the copyrighted material discussed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was The Handmaid's Tale banned?
The Handmaid's Tale has been challenged or banned in American schools and libraries every single year since its publication in 1985. It was the most challenged book in the United States in 2023. It has been targeted for profanity, sexually explicit content, and content deemed "offensive to Christians." But the deeper reason is that Margaret Atwood showed what happens when a government uses religion, tradition, and "protecting families" as justification for stripping women of their rights, their names, and their autonomy. That's the part that actually scares book banners, because it looks a lot like Tuesday.
Is there a podcast that reads The Handmaid's Tale chapter by chapter?
That's us. Banned Camp reads a different banned book every season, one chapter at a time — neither host has read ahead, so you're discovering the story together in real time. Season 11 covers The Handmaid's Tale, and every episode includes the chapter reading, discussion, a fact-checking Robot, and a segment on why books get banned.
Do I need to start Banned Camp from the beginning?
No. Every episode opens with Robot's recap of the previous chapter, so you can jump in anywhere. Most listeners tell us they started mid-season and went back to the beginning after they were hooked.
What does "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" mean in The Handmaid's Tale?
It's a phrase scratched into the floor of a closet by a previous Handmaid, and it's not real Latin, it's schoolboy joke-Latin roughly meaning "don't let the bastards grind you down." In chapter 24, Offred finds it and can't decode it at all, since she has no dictionary, no library, and no internet. Banned Camp covers the discovery in their Season 11 reading, including the real story behind how the phrase gets recorded for the show.
What is "The Zone of Interest," the movie referenced in Chapter 24?
It's a 2023 film based on a Martin Amis novel, about the family of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss living an ordinary domestic life right next door to the camp. Dan and Jennifer connect it directly to what The Commander is doing in this chapter, and it becomes the backbone of this week's discussion.
Topics Covered:
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, Chapter 24, Offred, Aunt Lydia, the Commander, Rudolf Höss, compartmentalization, patriarchy, propaganda and denial, Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, banned books, banned books podcast, book banning, censorship, literary analysis, comedy podcast