Mid Lit
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
They're Banning Books All Over the Place
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for a speed round on the modern books getting banned by America's Censor Squad. From newly banned books like MAUS to a few oldies but goodie...
It's Toni Time
07 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've finally found a reason to talk about the G.O.A.T... Toni Morrison. Thank you to everyone who has ever banned a Morrison book, giving us a reason...
Podcasting with the Ghost of Tom Joad
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you've been wondering whether the American Dream was ever real, John Steinbeck has the answer for you. Everyone's favorite critic of the American l...
Things are Getting Orwellian
23 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America is once again on a book-banning spree – and we're so mad about it, we decided to record a special season of MID LIT honoring some of the mos...
Franzenpalooza: Part 2
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Forget Jonathan Franzen, we've got Seth Corwin from W.A.S.T.E. Mailing List on this episode! Rebecca is talking one-on-one with our Instagram pal abou...
Franzenpalooza: Part 1
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ya'll love you some Franzen... or at least love to listen to us talk about him! So, we're covering Jonathan Franzen's latest work "Crossroads." We're ...
Cucumber Sandwiches & Magical Thinking: RIP Joan Didion
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're popping in with a mini-episode to bid a fond farewell to Joan Didion, a magical thinker who depressed the hell out of us and lived an amazing li...
Mini-episode: The Lord's Work
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're talking about John Irving again, but it's a bittersweet victory for Theresa. Why? We're diving into "The Cider House Rules," John Irving's pro-c...
Spray My Rage Everywhere
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're wrapping up our thoughts on the twisted mind, the compelling work of Gillian Flynn, and a bunch of feminist AF protagonists who are fighting for...
Stay Away from Dark Places
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The movie adaptation of "Dark Places" shouldn't be as bad as it is. There's a good cast -- with Charlize Theron and Christina Hendricks carrying the d...
Satan at Your Service
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Gillian Flynn's "Dark Places" is one of her lesser-known novels, but we loved it! Between the Satanic Panic of it all, Ben Day's big Damien Echols vib...
Never Trust Little Girls
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amma. Adora. Camille. They're all brought to terrifying and startling life in HBO's interpretation of "Sharp Objects." Jean-Marc Vellee's vision and t...
Watch Out For Those Sharp Objects
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Camille Preaker has serious mommy issues, and her sister, Amma, isn't going to win any awards for being well-adjusted either. Meanwhile, the ill-behav...
Ben Affleck Embodies Terrible Husbands Everywhere
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What it lacks in nonsensical bear costumes, "Gone Girl" makes up for in great performances from Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Neil Patrick ...
That Girl is Gone, Dude
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" is more than a book. It's a playbook for every angry wife with a neglectful, cheating husband. Get out your notepad, ladie...
Mini-Episode: Unconventional Beach Reads, Read at Your Own Risk
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What does "beach read" mean to you? We explore the possibly sexist term with the help of an essay from Jennifer Weiner, and then recommend some of our...
Mini-Episode: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? We Are!
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We stumbled on a real doozy of a rant from the fist-lady of highfalutin literature, Virginia Woolf. Turns out, she haaaates "middle brows." So we knew...
Mini-Episode: We're All Somebody's Cat Person
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this mini-episode, we revisit Cat Person, Kristen Roupenian's 2017 short story for The New Yorker. As it turns out, the characters in Celeste Ng's ...
Celeste Ng: Wrap-Up Episode
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You've heard us gush about Celeste Ng's masterful way of depicting families, communities, and the complicated dynamics that propel them all to inevita...
Burn It All Down
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hulu's adaptation of "Little Fires Everywhere" goes off into some weird territory, making Mia a borderline unfit mother and Elena marginally more lika...
What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's all right there in the title, folks! Celeste Ng's debut novel, "Everything I Never Told You," is about all the things that go unsaid in a family....
There Are Little Fires Everywhere, Man
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mid Lit is back for Season 2, and we're jumping into a book that burns the house down, literally... In Celeste Ng's "Little Fires Everywhere" you know...
Mini-Episode: Living with an Owen Meany Addict
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wondered what it's like to live with someone who is obsessed with Volvos, doesn't trust anyone who can't drive a stick, and yells about ...
Mini-Episode: Overrated Author - Jonathan Franzen
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for another mini-episode, and this time we're tackling an author we think is overrated. Jonathan Franzen has received heaps of praise, prest...
Mini-Episode: A Good Flannery is Hard to Find
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
She was a crotchety southern belle with a problematic history and love of the grotesque, but Flannery O'Connor made us laugh. Join us for a quick talk...
Bonus Episode: The Stand
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You can't talk about Mid Lit without talking about Stephen King. "The Stand" is a King classic, but only a sadist would ask a guest to read that weigh...
John Irving: The Final Exam
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've come to the end of Season 1, but before we set the bears free forever, we have some great personal John Irving stories to share. From one friend...
The Set of "The World According to Garp" According to Colin McEnroe
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The World According to Garp was a huge hit way back in the early 80s. People went to the theaters in droves to see Robin Williams in a wrestling unifo...
The Revolution According to Garp
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The World According to Garp changes John Irving's life, turning him into a full-time writer and best-selling author. This book was, perhaps, ahead of ...
The Hotel New Hampshire is New York's Hottest Club
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Lowe. Jodie Foster. Beau Bridges. Tiny baby Seth Green. With a cast like that it had to be a hit, right? Not quite. Apparently, the American...
An Alarming Number of Bears
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Come visit The Hotel New Hampshire where you can choose whether you want to stay on the violent radical floor or the floor with the very noisy sex wor...
Simon Birch Must Die
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you love "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and hate "Simon Birch," or you've never read the book but love the movie, or somehow, inexplicably, love bo...
A Prayer for John Irving
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're kicking off Season 1 by diving into Theresa's favorite book of all time, "A Prayer for Owen Meany." This 1988 John Irving novel also happens to ...
Trailer: Welcome to Mid Lit
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Mid Lit is part book club and part lit class, but 100% in praise of unpretentious books! Tune in as Rebecca & Theresa of Big Little Podcast fame t...