The Drip

At his recent visit to the Twin Cities, Everett joked that he was "so tired of talking about this book." The good news is that the Spoilers aren't. This might be one of our most engaged and lively discussions in a while. We definitely have a LOT to day. So sit back and relax and enjoy the Spoilers at their best talking about a book we all adored. 

The Spoilers are back discussing another fun book with serious subtext. It got us thinking about a lot of things, including what kind of revolutionaries make the best parent and is it radical to own a lot of apartment buildings? We hope you will be happy to hear our shining voices after a few months off. Be sure to listen past the ending music for the Spoilers reading from the poem the book takes its name from: "Puerto Rican Obituary" by Pedro Pietri. As our loyal listeners know, we LOVE reading poetry for our audience!

In Part II of our Parable series, the Spoilers continue their discussion of Butler's amazing novels. While Sower is definitely a shockingly accurate book in so many ways, Talents hits home with even more power. President Jarett and a Christian Nationalist movement whose motto is "Make American Great Again"? Yikes, you guys. The parallels between this book and our current world are enough to make the baby hairs in your kitchen stand straight up. Maybe someone needs to get to work on that fleet of spaceships or something" (not you, Elon) Ultimately this show ends up being a heartfelt conversation about family and community and how we need both to survive. Check it out!

The first of two episodes on Octavia Butler's Parable series, this show finds the Spoilers discussing one of the most beloved books of the last 40 years -- Parable of the Sower. The Spoilers have a lot to say about this amazing novel. They are amazed at Butler's prescience in depicting the world of 2024, as well as her drawing of the captivating character Lauren Olamina. There are a lot of feelings in the episode, but maybe the strongest have to do with the relationship of Lauren and Bankole. That one keeps coming back again and again. Check it out for an exciting exploration of the novel everyone needs to read and no one can forget! Part II is being released simultaneously, so when you finish with this one you can go right into our discussion of Parable of the Talents! You're welcome.

This episode, though subdued, is a fascinating journey into the critical minds of the spoilers as they try to figure out what it is about Mukherjee's stories that has a hold on them. It's probably fair to say that we didn't LOVE this collection, but there were stories here than really get in our minds. A book of its time that resists neat categorization, THE MIDDLEMAN is one of those books that sparked a passionate conversation that we may not have been expecting. Take a listen!

In this, our 50th episode, the Spoilers discuss everything from the inception of our little show to our favorite books and episodes. As you can imagine, it is celebration of everything that has kept us going all these years, including poetry, coffee, book covers, and the eternal question of genre! Come join us for a trip down memory lane as we revisit our favorite moments from the first 50 episodes of The Drip!

The Spoilers are back with the penultimate episode on their way toward the big 50! In this episode they heap praises upon Jesmyn Ward's latest triumph about a young, enslaved woman being led on a journey to the dark and deep of slavery's corrupt heart. They spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to understand this novel and what to do with its beauty and horror. In the end, they just follow Annis from the Carolinas to New Orleans on her harrowing journey and talk a lot about spirits, gods, love, and poetic brutality (a term they are not actually familiar with and do not use). Hope you enjoy it!

The gang is back, you guys! It's been awhile, but we are back to discuss Shannon Gibney's amazing memoir of transracial adoption, family, and love. We've read a lot of books doing this show over the years, but you can be sure that we have never read one like this -- and it definitely shows in the episode. So come along with us again and take a wondrous ride through time. It's not technically a wormhole you'll go through, but we are going to take you back to a few months ago to when we first recorded this episode. And let me tell you, it's worth the wait!

The Spoilers are back with an episode about Charmaine Wilkerson's worthy novel, Black Cake -- just in time for the Hulu release of the series on November 1st. If you haven't read the book, all you have to do is listen to our episode and you'll be ready to watch whatever Oprah ends up doing for this adaptation. As for us, we have a lot to say about this sprawling novel. There's a lot we love and some things we don't, but one thing cannot be denied -- this book got us to thinking: love, family, secrets . . . oh man, those secrets! Don't miss this one, folks. You just might learn some some things you didn't know about the Spoilers, themselves!

In this episode the Spoilers talk about Aidoo's wonderful novel, but as you might expect, they end up talking about patriarchy. And in particular they spend a lot of time talking about Esi and her car. You know, we don't always understand Esi (there are lots of questions), but in the end we all really love her and we all wish we were riding in that car with her wherever she wants to go. Don't miss this one. We can all go for a ride!