Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast (Thomas Pynchon books discussed here!)

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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What you're about to listen to is a completely improvised, free flowing discussion between two hosts of Mapping the Zone. This conversation was captured as a result of a STOP RECORD button not being pressed, and two literary obsessives finding themselves locked in one of the best conversations they've ever had. Side effects may include: laughter, groaning, expansion of knowledge, or scoffing at the sheer duration of time two people talked about a single subject. That being said, the hosts of the regularly scheduled programming felt that he conversation had merit and was deemed to be of interest to its listeners. Who desperately hope they were right. If they happen to have been wrong, you only have a month before the return of their regularly produced internet radio talk show.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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We are nearly finished reading and discussing Mason & Dixon and are joined by Brett Biebel, author of A Mason and Dixon Companion which is scheduled for release in 2024. Brett has been sharing his knowledge of the history behind Mason & Dixon as we have been going through the book and his insight has been invaluable. Join us as we talk about the goings-on of Part II: America.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

The Peter Schmidt article Brett mentioned can be found here: https://peterschmidt.domains.swarthmore.edu/engl52b/m-d1.html

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Films/TV: We Live In Public (2009; dir. Ondi Timoner)

Music: Satan Is Real by The Louvin Brothers

Books: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World by Haruki Murakami

“Postmodern Syllabus” (mentioned in My Dinner With Will and Kate): https://tildes.net/~books/rf7/if_you_had_to_teach_a_class_on_literature_what_books_would_you_put_on_your_syllabus

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Films: The Maltese Falcon (1941; dir. John Huston), Double Indemnity (1944; dir. Billy Wilder), Brick (2005; dir. Rian Johnson)

Music: Portishead - Dummy (1994)

Books: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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The article mentioned by Luke: “Hallowe’en? Over Already?” https://x.com/Ethelmer77/status/963687634483793920?lang=en

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Books/Authors: The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright, The Trial by Franz Kafka

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

In the newest installment of Kate's bonus episodes, she has turned away from her ordinary method of covering new voices in fiction written by women to talking about one of the authors she almost never stops mentioning on the main program. Yet she has chosen not to cover his primary work, but the less popular, technically unfinished novel that very few people read. Why does she do this? Listen to find out.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Films: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968; dir. Stanley Kubrick), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992; dir. David Lynch)

Music: The Smile - Wall of Eyes

Books: Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

As always, thanks so much for listening!

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

drum roll

These days, at least in North American reading circles, everyone has an impression of the works of Cormac McCarthy. If yours isn't already excessively positive, today's bonus episode on his second book, Outer Dark, is guaranteed to provide at least one reason to give his works a shot, or your money back. Will gives us an overview of the work, talks about why the author's popular reputation for stark horror may not be entirely fair, and dances around saying anything concrete about this murky story. Spoilers here are kept vague and thematic.

Come join us as we follow the book into the mires of atheist sin, and be sure to make it back next week for the beginning of our discussion of Vineland on 17 Nov!

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Music: Mitch Hedberg - Mitch All Together, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart - Bob Newhart, Riot Grrrl music

Books/Authors: The Shock Doctrine (2007) and No Logo (1999) by Naomi Klein, https://www.jsasoc.com/docs/Sep1101.pdf (Global Consciousness Project analysis), When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Films/TV: Office Space (1999; dir. Mike Judge)

Books: The Declaration of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow; Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig; Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace; The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright (watch the Hulu Miniseries Adaptation, as well)

Pynchon In Public Day is 08 May 2024. Feel free to send a picture to the Pynchon In Public Twitter page @pynchoninpublic

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

In this inaugural episode of Mapping the Zone, our hosts introduce themselves and discuss a few topics to provide some insight into who they are and what they love about the subject of this podcast, Thomas Pynchon. Also discussed is what listeners can expect of the show going forward and which of Pynchon's books they will discuss first.

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

In the latest Mapping the Zone bonus episode, Luke explores the world of Octavia E. Butler, with a particular emphasis on her Patternist series.

We'll be back on 12 April 2024 to begin our exploration of Bleeding Edge!

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

We've come to the end of Vineland and spend this final episode of the season discussing our overall thoughts and feelings on the book. Joining us is Seth from W.A.S.T.E. Mailing List (links below) to share his experience on his most recent readthrough of Pynchon's overlooked, underappreciated 1990 novel.

Seth's social media: https://linktr.ee/wastemailinglist

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

In Chapter 1, Oedipa Maas has returned from a tupperware party and is made aware of a potentially life-changing arrangement. We get to know a bit about Oedipa, her husband Wendell (aka "Mucho"), her recently deceased ex-boyfriend Pierce Inverarity (who is responsible for the arrangement Oedipa has become aware of), her lawyer, Roseman (who has a love/hate relationship with fictional television attorney Perry Mason), and Oedipa's sketchy-at-best therapist, Dr. Hilarius.

Join us in our discussion of The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon's 1966 novel about paranoia, the counter-culture movement of the 60's, conspiracies, underground mail networks, and Beatle-esque rock music.

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

Well, folks, the Chums have flown away, and our cartographers are stuck on ground duty. Don't feel too broken up, though! While the vertical may be abandoned for now, we'll trace and retrace Middle America alongside Merle Rideout and begin zooming in on Dally, a true heroine-to-be. Alchemy, photography, lovelornity, and more, await our kind listeners within this episode of Mapping the Zone.

Next episode: Pages 81-96 (ending on “Veikko was pouring vodka. 'Happy Fourth of July, Webb.'”)

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Films/TV: Godland (2022; dir. Hlynur Pálmason)

Books/Authors: The Public Burning by Robert Coover

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

We’re down one co-host again this week, but that won’t stop us from talking about the fascinating history of the ukulele. Not to give too much away up front, but we’ll just say that the importance of choosing the right tonewood for a uke makes all the difference. We also take a side-quest into debating the pros and cons of analog and digital synthesizers.

We also spent a bit of time talking Chapters 5 & 6 of Vineland and all the weird, wacky beauty that is contained within those pages.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Please pre-order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

There's so much food talk in this book that we could've turned this show into a food podcast dedicated to awful concoctions. Despite that, we found quite a bit of other conversational morsels to chew on regarding these chapters.

Buckle up for next week, 'cause Chapter 9 is a long one!

Please pre-order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

In this special Thanksgiving episode of Mapping the Zone, we take a look at the 1973 made-for-TV special, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. We examine the intertextual relationship between the fabled television special and Pynchon’s magnum opus, Gravity’s Rainbow—how does Charlie Brown’s journey mirror that of Slothrop? Is Lucy’s arc similar to that of Katje, or are there not enough giant octopi? Why is Linus at The White Visitation and why is Snoopy acting on behalf of Jamf? We’ll tackle these important questions in this week’s episode.

Does anyone really read these show notes? Enjoy our conversation on Chapters 3-4 of Vineland. We’ll get around to the Pynchon/Peanuts connection at some point.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Please pre-order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Listener Nick’s essay: https://lesser.work/s/002-dazzling-symmetries.html

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Films/TV: Lost Highway (1997; dir. David Lynch)

Music: Elvis Hitler - Green Haze: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4FFgxJsjqkg

Books: The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

Come one, come all, gather to hear of the tale of the Loop Garoo Kid and his travails through the Western wasteland as depicted within the covers of Ishmael Reed's second novel, Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down! Listen as our correspondent, Will, rants and raves about the depths to be found just at the surface of this gem of a book, let alone whatever great hoard of philosophies and fun might be seen beyond the surface by any so-moved to read it themselves..!

Send your eagerly-awaited copies of The Free-Lance Pallbearers to PO Box #FF00FF Fortymile, Yukon, Canada, care of Mappod Zonus.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Films/TV: Aretha Franklin “Nessun Dorma” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33sINjn9o0

Books: Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty

Pynchon In Public Day is 08 May 2024. Feel free to send a picture to the Pynchon In Public Twitter page @pynchoninpublic

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

We thought this would be a shorter episode, but once we got to discussing the goings-on in these chapters, we just kept going. We talked about the culture of reading, the buffoonery of Darby & Cope, Golems, and much more. We also had a pretty lengthy (spoiler-free) conversation about Oppenheimer and Barbie, which is featured after the discussion on the chapters, so stick around if you're interested.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thank you so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

We had quite a bit to talk about this week. The themes, plot lines, and character arcs are getting wrapped up and loose ends are starting to be tied together. Some of Pynchon’s strongest prose, funniest scenes, and thematic elements are on full display in these five chapters, so we hope we can help shine some light on something you may have missed previously or, if this is your first read, something that may not have been apparent.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

You read it right, this is part one of two episodes covering Chapters 51-55. If you’ve previously read these chapters, you’ll know why we’re doing two episodes covering them. If this is your first time through, you’ll understand. There is simply too much happening in these chapters to cover in just one episode so, after recording, we decided to cover more of it next week. For now, we’ll talk about Mason & Dixon’s prank war, Dixon being a “dog-person”, the ominous cave they encounter, and start to dive into the surreal dreamscape that make up the last three of these chapters.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thank you so much for listening! See ya next week for Part 2!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

We apologize in advance for some audio issues which presented themselves after we had finished recording. We've done our best to clean them up and make everything sound as good as possible.

Information on the guest for our Bleeding Edge wrap-up episode, as well as our next book and schedule changes for the show going forward are at the end of the discussion.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

https://vimeo.com/73716114 (Bleeding Edge trailer)

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

Have you ever wondered what's going on in the world of literature written by women? Do you want to hear a woman talk about it for potentially too long? Or perhaps not long enough? How about a debut novel written by a woman about a lesbian relationship and its untimely demise at the hands of a submarine mission gone wrong? Does that interest you? Does anyone read these show descriptions? I know I never have, and now I'm writing one.At any rate, this week, in our third bonus episode, Kate (who happens to be me) speaks about one of her favorite novels of all time, and her interest in modern books written by women as a whole.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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Needing to maintain the food and lodging situation he has been granted, the Reverend Wicks Cherrycoke tells a tale to his young nephews (and any other family members willing to listen) the story of Charles Mason and Jerimiah Dixon—their meeting and initial travels being the focus of these first five chapters. Along the way they meet a talking dog, find themselves stuck in a naval skirmish, and begin to forge a friendship that will continue to grow throughout the novel.

Thank you for joining us as we dive into Mason & Dixon and explore as many of the things this book has to offer as we can cram into a podcast.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D⁠

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

We’re back and crashing into Vineland like it was a plate-glass (or maybe safety glass) window! In this episode, we spend some time talking about the work as a whole and its place in Pynchon’s oeuvre—often maligned as “weak” (false) or “Pynchon-lite” (gross), the book has garnered something of a reputation among fans. Coming along almost two decades after Gravity’s Rainbow, Vineland certainly—albeit unfairly—had quite high expectations placed upon it. So, how do we feel about it? Why would I tell you that in the show notes? Listen and find out!

This episode opens with a general discussion on the book in general and our history with it. Our discussion of Chapters 1-2 begins at 45:38.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00111619.1990.9933800

https://newramblerreview.com/book-reviews/fiction-literature/pynchon-s-pop-fiction

Please pre-order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

A sketchy motel, a weird teenage motel manager and his mop-top bandmates, an untrustworthy child-actor turned lawyer, a can of hairspray chaotically flying around, and the early stages of paranoia settling in are all packed in this chapter into more layers than Oedipa ends up wearing during her game of strip-Botticelli. Join us in our discussion of Chapter 2 of The Crying of Lot 49.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains a discussion about sexual assault in the context of its occurrence in the chapter.

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D⁠

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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Oedipa learns about the history of W.A.S.T.E. and, as a result, realizes both the breadth of Inverarity's ownings and the desolation she has allowed herself to fall into. The search for meaning behind the symbols she has been seeing comes to a head and Oedipa attends the auction of Pierce's estate to try and see who the mysterious person with extreme interest in the stamp collection could be.

We'll be back next week with a wrap-up on The Crying of Lot 49 and to discuss the next book we'll be reading. As always, thank you for listening!

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D⁠

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We had quite a lot to discuss in these chapters, so prepare for a longer than usual episode. The brutality and senselessness of the Paxton boys (and American colonialism in general), talking watches that shapeshift into vegetables, westward expansion and the impact of capitalistic real estate, and so much more.

We invite you to share your thoughts with us about the book, these chapters, or anything else we discussed so we can bring it up in a future episode. We can be reached at any of the social media links below.

Regarding the discussion about the unique horror of the American colonists violence toward indigenous peoples as mentioned in this episode, we failed to mention another instance of this type of history which should have been brought up. The Herero and Namaqua genocide was an awful event in history which, like the atrocities brought up in Mason & Dixon and our discussion, should not be forgotten or dismissed.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Here is the link mentioned by Brett. Please be advised, it is paywalled, but the episode can be found on any of the major podcast platforms: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-woody-holton.html

As always, thank you so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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The Curse of these chapters almost got us again, but we came through (despite getting us off-schedule for a week). Kate is back to discuss her thoughts on the chapters and we dive into some areas we didn't get to last time around. Stick around after the episode (if you'd like to) for a lengthy discussion on a number of topics (including our pitch for a new Willy Wonka movie).

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thank you so much for listening! See ya next week for Chapters 56-60!

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Fully cemented into the idea of W.A.S.T.E, Oedipa has several encounters which provide her further insight into the vastness of the underground organization. A meeting with Nefastis proves he is true to his name; an unnamed man at a bar has her realize that W.A.S.T.E. may be more than what she initially thought; a drunken night wandering the streets leads to sightings of muted post horns (or were they?); and a tense scene with Dr. Hilarius plays out in his office. Chapter 5 has a lot going on and we will dive into as much of it as we can.

We’d also like to thank our editor, Conner, who we forgot to mention in the episode. Thank you, Connor, for all your help with the show!

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We're back from our brief break and ready to jump into the back half of Vineland. We get some more insight into Frenesi's past and her involvement with 24fps as well as her relationship with Brock. Speaking of, we get our first real scenes with Brock, showing just how awful he truly is.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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Did you enjoy learning about books written by women in the modern literary landscape when Kate went on a long monologue about them several months ago? Have you potentially been pining for another installment ever since you heard the final dulcet tones of her voice tell you about Julia Armfield's masterpiece? No? Well, either way, she's done it again. Except now it's about OTTESSA MOSHFEGH, everyone's favorite social-media-propagated female author (the writer of this description does not acknowledge Colleen Hoover as a viable candidate for this title). Kate (who happens to be the writer of this description) hopes that her newest monologue on women in publishing, this time made with the aid of intensive allergy medication (she thought she had a cold, turns out her body's ability to withstand pollen is just terrible), is just as entertaining as all the others.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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We didn't really have any noteworthy recommendations of other media to tie into these chapters (or the book in general) this week, but we hope you had a wonderful Pynchon In Public day on Wednesday.

Just a reminder that we are off next week, so the next episode will be out on 24 May 2024.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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David Lynch gets about as much focus on this show as Pynchon himself (especially in the Vineland episodes), so it seemed right to do a bonus episode where Cody can finally get all of his Lynch obsession out and in the wild. While the first part of the episode is a sort of overview of Lynch’s filmography, the main focus is his most recent film, 2005’s INLAND EMPIRE. It’s a beautifully strange film by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, so let Cody ramble for half an hour about it and maybe he won’t have to keep bringing it up.

If you want to watch David Lynch cook (and instruct on how to cook) quinoa, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSP-ewdJYJc

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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We’ve finished the first section of Mason & Dixon and are joined by Brett Biebel, author of A Mason and Dixon Companion (published by University of Georgia Press). Brett has been sharing his knowledge of the history behind Mason & Dixon as we have been going through the book and his insight has been invaluable. Join us as we talk about the goings-on of Part I: Latitudes and Departures, who we would cast for an M&D adaptation, Dixon’s suave ways, and so much more.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thank you so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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This is the third of our non-Pynchon related bonus episodes. Today Luke discusses Gene Wolfe and The Solar Cycle. Kate and Luke have been discussing Wolfe and Pynchon possibly influencing one another during our Mason & Dixon episodes so he felt this topic would be pertinent and interesting to Pynchon readers.

His discussion is a mixture of summary and analysis that may contain some light spoilers but does not contain any major spoilers for the 12-book series. The cohosts also discuss the best way to read Wolfe and mention various books and podcasts both complimentary and auxiliary to the series.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

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Frank Zappa at the PMRC Senate hearings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgAF8Vu8G0w

Maggie Mae Fish — Veterans After War | An Analysis of RAMBO + THE STRAIGHT STORY: https://youtu.be/HRnEjsdjtks?si=vx-3GvKgDqzNdx-0

Movie/TV recommendations: The work of David Lynch — Eraserhead (1977), Twin Peaks (1990-1991, 1992, 2017), Lost Highway (1997)

Music recommendations: Jaco Pastorius “Portrait of Tracy” (1976) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPsiuGcUniQ

Reading recommendations: David Foster Wallace “David Lynch Keeps His Head”—found in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again (1997)

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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Strap into the Puncutron, cue up your preferred accompaniment, and enjoy our discussion on the back half of Chapter 9—Thanatoids, towing conferences, and a whole lot of dense symbolism to get lost in! Make sure you stick around for some actually appetizing food discussion at Your Momma Eats and we’ll see you when we get back from our break!

As always, thanks so much for listening!

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Chapter 9 is quite expansive, both in its content and page count, so we split it into two parts. In the first half, we cover the events ending at DL and Takeshi's "encounter". So join us a we... get to the bottom of the giant footprint (among other topics of discussion) and come back next week for the thrilling conclusion of Chapter 9, in which DL, Takeshi, Prairie, Zoyd, Frenesi, and Weed Atman fight giant mecha-kaiju in a battle to save the planet!

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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Wrapped in paranoia like it was a blanket, Oedipa makes her way to a shareholder’s meeting at Yoyodyne, wherein she meets anti-Capitalist Stanley Koteks who seemingly confirms the existence of W.A.S.T.E. Oedpia goes on to return to the Scope with Metzger and Fallopian before finding her way to a retirement home where she meets Mr. Thoth, who spins a yarn that seems to connect to the secretive underground mail network Oedipa is so desperately trying to prove the existence of.

Katie (who helped get this whole thing off the ground) is joining us on this episode and will be a permanent co-host going forward and we are all excited to have her on the show with us!

Just a heads up, there are some audio drops that showed up during post-production that we didn't catch while recording, so we apologize for that. Thank you so much for listening!

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

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Zounds! It's time to take flight with those loveable scamps, The Chums of Chance and head for the extravagent World's Fair!

Join us on our journey into Pynchon's longest novel, Against the Day, and let us know if you have any questions or comments about the book!

***There is a slight audio issue that occurs during our introduction which resulted in the audio dropping out for a few seconds.***

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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We avoided getting trapped in an 11 day time-vortex, but we did get stuck on some great discussions about these chapters. Despite there not being much in terms of M&D plot, we found a lot to talk about between the tabloid talk show escapades of Chapter 59, the smoke-filled party of Chapter 58, and the epic Lambton Worm story in Chapter 60. Friend of the show and author of a forthcoming Mason & Dixon companion Brett Biebel sent us a great article which we have linked below. Stick around after the show for more of our bizarre off-topic conversation and Cody yelling at his cat.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

https://hedgehogreview.com/issues/theological-variations/articles/the-far-invisible

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British "pizza", a hipster werewolf, attempted hurdy-gurdy music, and eccentric historical figures are all present alongside critiques of capitalism, explorations of the concept of ley-lines, and some much needed backstory for Dixon. Join us this week as we discuss Chapters 21-25, the final five chapters of Part I of Mason & Dixon.

We have decided to tack on some non-Pynchon discussion we had during our recording, which can be found after our sign off. If you like the extra topics of conversation, let us know as we are exploring the possibility of doing some non-Pynchon bonus content and would like to get an idea of how much interest there would be in that.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Next week, we will cover all of Part I: Latitudes and Departures with special guest Brett Biebel.

Email: mappingthezonepod@gmail.com

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We took an extra week off due to scheduling issues, but we're back to start Part II: America

After landing in Philadelphia, Mason & Dixon are greeted with a bounty of new experiences and faces: street hawkers, founding fathers, secret societies, dreadfully lifelike wax figures. They discuss various topics with Benjamin Franklin, get high with George Washington, and witness the aforementioned Franklin’s electric performance. It was a wild five chapters and we had a great time discussing them.

We have decided to tack on some non-Pynchon discussion we had during our recording, which can be found after our sign off. If you like the extra topics of conversation, let us know as we are exploring the possibility of doing some non-Pynchon bonus content and would like to get an idea of how much interest there would be in that.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thank you so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

We're off this week, so Kate has provided a reading of John Perry Barlow's 1996 article, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace.

We will be back on 26 July 2024 to continue our read-through of Bleeding Edge.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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In this week's bonus episode, Cody discusses the metafictional, post-noir detective novel The Red Handler—simultaneously a love letter to and hilarious deconstruction of the hardboiled stories of the 30's and 40's. It's a highly entertaining and brilliantly written novel that anyone who loves hardboiled/noir novels is sure to enjoy.

Grab a copy here: https://www.openletterbooks.org/products/red-handler

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

In the first of our non-Pynchon related bonus episodes, Cody leads a discussion about video games as an under-appreciated narrative form, specifically citing the 2017 Square Enix game, NieR: Automata, and its writer/director, Yoko Taro, as a prime example of how effective it can be when done right. While there are some light spoilers about some of the plot, there is nothing discussed which will take away from anyone’s first experience with the game.For anyone who doesn’t have the time or means to play the game, consider watching this video for an excellent examination of what makes the game so special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63PzQIbTrM8&list=WL&index=6&t=1sJoin us next week for another bonus episode discussion led by Kate. As always, thank you so much for listening!Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Films/TV: Primer (2004; dir. Shane Carruth); Motherless Brooklyn (dir. Edward Norton, Jr.)

Music: Tiny Desk Unit - Live At the 9:30 Club 1980; Bad Brains - Bad Brains

Books: The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains by Nicholas Carr, Neuromancer by William Gibson, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson; Motherless Brooklyn by Johnathan Lethem; The Power Broker by Robert Caro; Amerikastudien: “Bright Days for the Black Market”: Color-Coded Crises in Contemporary U.S. Fiction and the Works of Thomas Pynchon

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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Gastronomy, astronomy, an automaton duck with a vengeance against chefs, discussions about sandwiches, the eucharist, democratic representation, beavers as a pest and food source, and so much more is crammed into these five chapters. We had a great time talking about them and hope you enjoy our conversation.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thank you so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

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Mason & Dixon’s twilight years are explored in these final chapters. We see both men find new love, spend time with family and, perhaps most importantly, with each other, before final farewells are bid. A few old friends pop up along the way, but the hardest part comes with saying goodbye, as we must, to these wonderful characters. Join us in our discussion on Chapters 74-78, which comprise the entirety of Part III: Last Transit.

Next week, we will discuss Mason & Dixon as a complete work. What we liked, what we disliked (if anything), our favorite characters, and so on. In addition to that, we will also announce the next book we’ll be covering, so be sure to stick around for that!

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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Kate and Cody took advantage of the break to spend some time talking about one of their favorite artists, David Bowie. A wildly talented artist, Bowie's influence is wider reaching than many might have known. Whether you're a longtime fan of Bowie and his discography or you've never heard any of his music (you have, you just don't know it was him), we hope you enjoy our long overdue discussion on one of the most important musicians of all time.

Links to things mentioned:

Dissonance tour performance (Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4sP1CTuIjs

David Bowie and Placebo - “Without You, I’m Nothing”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c14qMbmP9eg

Venture Bros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1X3vl8QMYk

David Bowie & Robert Smith (The Cure): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krhzq6C1EBw

Flight of the Conchords - "Bowie": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8f_XCH3zmM

Social media links:

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

The scheduling goblins kept us from being able to record our discussion on Chapters 7-8 of Vineland this week, so Kate was kind enough to record a reading of Pynchon's 1993 article, The Deadly Sins/Sloth; Nearer, My Couch, To Thee.

We'll be back next week to talk Vineland again!

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Films/TV: SLC Punk (1998; dir. James Merendino), Lost Highway (1997; dir. David Lynch), Clerks (1994; dir. Kevin Smith); We Live In Public (2009; dir. Ondi Timoner); Arrested Development (2003-2006)

Music: Third stream jazz

Books: No other books came up this week, but do check out Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson and/or The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster. Follow us on Twitter to see what we’re reading from time to time

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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While the Chums made landfall last episode, that descent wasn't even the half of it. In this week's ep, we go deeper into the world staging the Columbian Exposition, and begin acquainting ourselves with the relentless cascade of characters who populate Against the Day. You didn't think we'd be settling down for just another tale of carefree whimsy, did you?

Next episode: Pages 57-80 (ending on “...as if silver were alive, with a soul and a voice, and he’d been working for it as much as it for him.”)

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Films/TV: The Prestige (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2006),

Books/Authors: Progress In Flying Machines: Aeroplanes, October 1893 - https://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/i/Chanute/library/Prog_Aero_Oct1893.html

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mappingthezone.bsky.social

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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In the latest Mapping The Zone bonus episode off the press, we welcome listeners to an introduction to the nonfiction book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, published by Annie Dillard in 1975. As a non-plot-oriented work of narrative essay, feel free to kick off your work shoes and tune in without the looming spectre of spoilers.

Tasting notes: profound exploration of nature, contemplation of the roots of morality, river mud

Recommended pairings: social exhaustion, a long walk with a dog, unfiltered cigarettes

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Books: Meet Me In the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman; 9/11 as Mass Ritual by S.K. Bains

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montauk_Monster

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Island_Animal_Disease_Center#Controversy

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

Films/TV: Spaced (1999-2001)

Music: Selected Ambient Works Volume II by Aphex Twin; Goblin (various film scores)

Books: The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff; Falling Man by Don DeLilo

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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Visions of deceased loved ones, an island with an evil living within it which gives it a sentient quality, a secret room in a tavern wherein an unspeakable horror becomes fuel for disturbing escapades, astronomy, astrology, and a pair of talking clocks—Chapters 11-15 of Mason & Dixon is packed with all of these and more. Join us as we discuss what we liked and didn’t like in these chapters.

Next week, we will cover Chapters 16-20.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Email: mappingthezonepod@gmail.com

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Things get quite curious and with little to no delay as Oedipa begins to see the scope of Pierce's empire. With Metzger in tow, she travels to a bar in L.A. which hosts a group of electronic audio enthusiasts wherein she learns of the Peter Penguid Society (a far right political organization) and W.A.S.T.E. (an underground mail system ostensibly run by Yoyodyne employees). She and Metzger eventually travel, with The Paranoids tagging along, to an in-development piece of land owned by Pierce, eventually making their way to a performance of a mysterious play called The Courier's Tragedy, which Oedipa finds to be full of symbolism (in her paranoid mind). The chapter ends with Oedipa discussing the play with its director who dismisses Oedipa's belief that there is a deeper meaning hidden within it.

This episode omits discussion on The Courier's Tragedy, which will be specifically covered in a bonus episode (to be released before our Chapter 4 episode).

Thank you for all your support and join us next week for our discussion on Chapter 4!

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media we talked about:

YouTube: Maggie Mae Fish - The Surprising History of Hollywood Strikes: Blacklists, Labor, and the Mob - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07bwL0fiM1A

Films: Judas and the Black Messiah (2021; dir. Shaka King), Blue Velvet (1986; dir. David Lynch)

Music: Frank Zappa (listen to all of it, but start with Apostrophe or Overnite Sensation)

Books: A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch's Dune. An Oral History (Max Evry), If on a winter's night a traveler (Italo Calvino), Cryptonomicon (Neal Stephenson), Solenoid (Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter), Fem (Magda Cârneci, translated by Sean Cotter)

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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And so we’ve come to the end of the book and what a journey it has been. We look back on the five months we’ve spent covering Mason & Dixon and discuss what we liked, what we didn’t like, and read some 1-star Goodreads reviews.

We’re taking a (well-earned) break and will be back on 12 Nov 2023 to start our next book (stick around to find out what it will be!). In the meantime, we’re going to be releasing some bonus content on a weekly basis until our return.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D⁠

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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More were-creatures, please! Cody was unable to join the conversation this week, so Kate, Luke, and Will covered these chapters. The discussion covered the mystical mounds M&D examine, Eastern medicine and Spiritualism, the early settlement of America by non-indigenous people, Stig’s “true” identity, Hsi and Ho’s parallels to M&D, the Synoptic Problem, and so much more.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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In our first bonus episode, we discuss the (mostly summarized)play-within-the-book, The Courier's Tragedy. Nestled into the middle of The Crying of Lot 49, the fictitious play that Oedipa watches is a highly analyzed portion of the book. Some feel it is a Shakespeare style JFK analogue, while others consider it Pynchon intentionally misdirecting the reader's attention. We break down some of these theories in a mini-episode while we prepare for our discussion on Chapter 4.

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Instagram:⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D⁠

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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We could have spent this whole episode discussing the duck again. Instead, we talked about the darker side of American history, M&D navigating uncomfortable social situations, well-balanced bathtubs, property and marriage divisions, and, of course, everyone’s favorite duck.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thank you so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Films/TV: Archive 81(Netflix)

Music: Big L, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z

Books/Authors: Hunter S. Thompson

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

This week on Mapping the Zone, Luke leads us through a discussion of M. John Harrison's Kefahuchi Tract trilogy. The trilogy is comprised of the novels Light, Nova Swing, and Empty Space: A Haunting.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

The wheel of cheese turns, and memories are, perhaps, not an accurate representation of events. Mason recalls meeting Rebekah, encounters a cramped museum dedicated to a bizarre historical event, and we get significant insight into several of his relationships. All this, plus missing days, ghosts, and fights against the passage of time.

Next week, we will cover Chapters 21-25.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Email: mappingthezonepod@gmail.com

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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In the first of our bonus episodes while we're on break, Kate provides a reading of Pynchon's 1984 New York Times essay. Np analysis, no conversation—this is simply a recitation of the text as it was published for anyone who wants to listen to it.We'll be back next week with another bonus episode, so stay tuned!As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod⁠

Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

We are off this week, so Kate has recorded a reading of Fear and Loathing in America by Hunter S. Thompson, taken from his "Hey Rube" column for ESPN Page 2.

We will be back on 26 July 2024 to continue our read-through of Bleeding Edge.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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Mason & Dixon continue on the early stage of their journey, making their way to, and spending time in, Cape Town. While there, they encounter paranoid Dutch authorities, women who throw themselves at guests of their house for nefarious purposes, and ketjap; so much ketjap. All while they await the transit of Venus—an astronomical event which will impact all who witness it.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

Thanks, as always, for joining us! Thanks to Connor for editing our episodes!

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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One down, eight to go! With The Crying of Lot 49 complete, we discuss our views on the book as a whole and the future of the podcast.

We are taking a week off and will return with the first episode of our next book, Mason & Dixon, on 05 May 2023. We are (for now) following the group read-along from Reddit for our reading schedule, so the first episode will consist of the first five chapters. Join us as we dive into the the only "authentic" 18th century novel written in 1997.

Thank you so much for joining us in our journey through Pynchon's work!

Email: ⁠⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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Mason and Dixon have come to the end of the line and the end of Part II: America. We spent this episode talking about Cody’s theory of Mason & Dixon as stand-ins for Farina and Pynchon, Dixon taking a slave-driver to task, and the “what-if” Chapter 73. It’s been a wild ride so far, but we still have one last part of the book to discuss after this.

Order Brett Biebel's Mason & Dixon Companion: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820365831/a-mason-and-dixon-companion/

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

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If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:

Films/TV: The Thin Man; In the Toilet (fan made song)

Books/Authors: Thomas Pynchon’s Silicon Alley by Mike Godwin, The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

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We've finished another Pynchon book and convene once more to talk about Bleeding Edge; this time in its entirety. We're joined by Andrew, better known as Byron's Glowing Filament on Twitter and the creator of the Gravity's Rainbow Analysis substack (link below).

We’re taking a (well-earned) break and will be back some time in November to start Against the Day.

In the meantime, we’re going to be releasing some bonus episodes until our return, so stay tuned for those.

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.

https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezone

Andrew's Gravity’s Rainbow Analysis Substack: https://gravitysrainbow.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Email: ⁠mappingthezonepod@gmail.com⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pynchonpod

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mappingthezonepodcast/