3. No Longer at Ease

A nice, quick-and-dirty bonus episode on "The Voter," Achebe's early stab at A Man of the People! For the rest of our conversation, see the bonus episode from a few weeks ago on The Many Saints of Newark...

Gerry and Aaron talk about what may be their favorite Achebe novel yet, A Man of the People, originally published in 1966. Also they try to figure out whether or not America had a coup.

We are all but faulty microphones in the podcast of an angry God! Thanks to Aaron for his absolutely heroic efforts to recover the audio from this nearly lost episode and thanks to all of you for your grace and forgiveness on the sound quality. In this one we close out the so-called African Trilogy with Arrow of God -- lots of religion talk for all you religion-heads, and a lot more to talk about besides... Next week: A Man of the People!

We've had some audio problems with the Arrow of God episode, which Aaron is working hard on and which should be out soon very soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this emergency b-b-b-b-b-b-bonus episode of our brand-new season that is absolutely not a one-off joke, all about The Many Saints of Newark...

Another week on the short stories from the 50s and 60s! This week it's "Chike's School Days," "The Sacrificial Egg," and "Akueke." If you like stories in which nothing really happens, then this is the podcast for you! Sincere apologies for the slightly tinny sound in spots -- somebody stepped on an egg, and there was a problem with Gerry's mic that only showed up on the recording...

On this week's not-exactly-a-mini-episode, Gerry and Aaron talk about two of Achebe's early short stories, "Dead Man's Path" and "Marriage Is A Private Affair," while also looking forward and backward to Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease and forward to Arrow of God. Along the way they somehow find time to talk about Kurt Vonnegut, Octavia Butler, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Wole Soyinka, Amos Tutuola, Cyprian Ekwensi, Flora Nwapa, Raymond Williams, Tolkien, Chekhov, Nabokov, and the Bible, too...

Sixty years later, Gerry and Aaron are joined by Keguro Macharia to talk about No Longer at Ease! Should it be illegal to teach Things Fall Apart without also teaching its sequel? Find out within...

Gerry and Aaron are back for more Things Fall Apart, talking about parts two and three of the novel. We also talk The Sopranos, Watchmen, Breaking Bad, bad fans, The Things Fall Apart film, just a little Vonnegut, and Achebe's 1973 essay "Named for Victoria, Queen of England"...

Gerry and Aaron dive into Things Fall Apart, chapters 1-13!

The first episode of season two! Gerry and Aaron discuss the gameplan for Grad School Achebe, the history and reception of African literature inside and outside academia, Achebe's place in the canon, his uncanny recurrent deaths on social media, the finer points of pronunciation, and more. Next week: the podcast falls apart. Texts discussed: Chinua Achebe in conversation with Bill Moyers (1988) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrT6BqOckX0 Chinua Achebe in conversation with Lewis Nkosi and Wole Soyinka (1964) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uys3XuJBnro Chinua Achebe, No Longer at Ease (2015) https://thenewinquiry.com/blog/chinua-achebe-no-longer-at-ease/