Peculiar Book Club Podcast (Peculiar Book Club Podcast)

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a bonus conversation with Kate Kelly, author of the soon-to-be-released book Ordinary Equality!

To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Is there a SCIENCE for SADNESS? When twenty-five-year marriage suddenly falls apart, journalist Florence Williams expects the loss to hurt. But when she starts feeling physically sick, losing weight and sleep, she sets out in pursuit of rational explanation. She travels to the frontiers of the science of “social pain” to learn why heartbreak hurts so much―and why so much of the conventional wisdom about it is wrong.  Soon Williams finds herself on a surprising path that leads her from neurogenomic research laboratories to trying MDMA in a Portland therapist’s living room, from divorce workshops to the mountains and rivers that restore her. She tests her blood for genetic markers of grief, undergoes electrical shocks while looking at pictures of her ex, and discovers that our immune cells listen to loneliness. Searching for insight as well as personal strategies to game her way back to health, she seeks out new relationships and ventures into the wilderness in search of an extraordinary antidote: awe.  

With warmth, daring, wit, and candor, Williams offers a gripping account of grief and healing. Heartbreak is a remarkable merging of science and self-discovery that will change the way we think about loneliness, health, and what it means to fall in and out of love.  

Music for the event provided by CHARMING DISASTER! The song is "Cherry Red" and it's right up our street. Their music is available on all the major platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc.) but Bandcamp is the best (artist-friendliest) way to get it.

Episode was recorded live on March 9th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instagram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a special doubleheader.  We'll unpack assumptions about corseting with Rebecca Gibson, author of The Corsetted Skeleton, and we'll take an odyssey through our insides with Jonathan Reisman, author of The Unseen Body! In true book-club style, you will meet the authors and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode was recorded live on March 10th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a behind-the-scenes account of life with the legendary ravens with Christopher Skaife, author of The Ravenmaster! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on January 13th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Music for sketch by JuliusH from Pixabay.

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Unscientific America, we are discussing the recent dark comedy Don't Look Up.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this funny yet terrifying look at a possible natural disaster, how science fails to communicate with politicians, the media, and the public, and Adam McKay's unique style of making movies.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Whalefall, we are discussing the greatest tale of Whales ever told, the classic Moby Dick.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this classic tale of temptation, obsession, was Gregory Peck right for the role of Ahab (he didn't think so), and what are our white whales.

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How much do looks really matter? In society, whether we like it or not, how we look affects how we are treated—and even what opportunities we might have in life. A one-time New York prison commissioner, Henry Solomon, once stated that “physical defects…might conduce to crime” because a man with a poor physical appearance would have an easier time stealing a dollar than getting hired to earn one. That outlook wasn’t new then, and it hasn’t really gone away. In Zara Stone’s amazing book KILLER LOOKS, she writes that “people have instinctively understood the societal benefits of conventional beauty” as a kind of social currency. It’s literally like having money in the bank. “Beauty privilege is real,” she writes, “and it’s real uncomfortable.” By the early 1980s, cosmetic surgery was firmly established as a path to economic success. Looks were so important that a new branch of therapy was created: cosmetic behavior therapy. If that sounds strange, just wait. Imagine a program that offers cosmetic changes to inmates as a means of lowering the crime rate—that instead of teaching us to lose out biases about looks, society is pretty willing to give in to it. Do looks really affect crime rates? More likely, appearance bias instead creates a situation where a person is both less likely to have opportunities AND more likely to be accused or arrested for a crime. What does appearance bias mean for us now, or for the future? Find out on July 11th, live with Zara Stone only on the Peculiar book club!

Episode was recorded live July 11, 2024.

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No, it's not a new Batman Villain! But you will love The Puzzler anyway! The New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically goes on a rollicking journey to understand the enduring power of puzzles: why we love them, what they do to our brains, and how they can improve our world. What makes puzzles—jigsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus—so satisfying? Be it the formation of new cerebral pathways, their close link to insight and humor, or their community-building properties, they’re among the fundamental elements that make us human. Convinced that puzzles have made him a better person, A. J. Jacobs—four-time New York Times bestselling author, master of immersion journalism, and nightly crossworder—set out to determine their myriad benefits. And maybe, in the process, solve the puzzle of our very existence. Well, almost. MUSIC: This show will feature guests THE MARY LOUS! Spooky, Ukey, Sometimes Kooky RiotGhoooul from Nowhere, New Jersey. https://themarylous.bandcamp.com/ Episode was recorded live on June 15th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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Can pain… be pleasure? I was never one to experience a runner’s high, or to enjoy ‘feeling the burn’ after a workout. But are there ways—or times—when pain provides something extra, or even extraordinary? Leigh Cowart sets out to ask and to answer this very question. Sure, we might first think of masochism as something to do with sex—but it gets out of the bedroom plenty. Cowart talks about Black Plague flagellants, ballerinas dancing on broken bones, ice bathers, and competitive eaters choking down hot peppers while they cry. Why do people engage in masochism? What are the benefits and the costs? And what does masochism have to say about the human experience? Cowart gives us a fascinating, at times hilarious, exposition on something they (a science writer) chooses to experiment with as well. We follow Leigh on surprising journeys into the pain/pleasure matrix as they unravel how our minds and bodies find meaning and relief in pain. Call it a quirk in the programming. Call it sexy. Call it natural. Pain for pleasure certainly provides food for thought—and some awesome cocktail ideas, too, for that matter. And that’s not all! Also joining us will be alum Rachel Feltman, as part of our Author’s Hosting Authors events! You won’t want to miss these two as they talk about the intimate details of our pain/pleasure sensory system.

Episode was recorded live November 14, 2024.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace as we journey back to the Cretaceous period and learn how our planet and the creatures living on it were forever changed with Riley Black, author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on August 4th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book The Gilded Edge by Catherine Prendergast, we are discussing the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Join Davey Berris and his podcasting partner Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this love triangle movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of love, relationships, and living that artist lifestyle.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instagram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Remember when wasting time on Twitter and Facebook was… fun? When we thought a future of connection awaited us, with endless promise? Those hopes have not aged well, have they? Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech platforms made things easier… and then, when we weren’t looking, those easy-buttons became bricks in a prison wall. Just try leaving, they seem to say (I have left FB and then had to come back again for work, so I know this first hand). As Cory Doctorow puts it in The Internet Con, “They hold hostage the people we love, the communities that matter to us, the audiences and customers we rely on. The impossibility of staying connected to these people after you delete your account has nothing to do with technological limitations: it’s a business strategy in service to commodifying your personal life and relationships.” He says we need to take control of this mess. But how? The solution, it would seem, is “interoperability.” A really simple example is demanding that Apple make their power ports compatible with the ports that work on everything else. “Use any ink in your printer with any paper, use any socks with your shoes, anyone’s gasoline in your car, put any lightbulb in your light socket,” he tells us. The platform prison is built of deep separation, and it builds divisive-ness right into the design. Join us January 11th and talk live to Cory Doctorow about this award winning, eye-brow raising, con-busting book! But that’s not all!! We will also talk about his new SciFi novel about fear and hope for the future: The Lost Cause. Maybe we can start 2024 by taking the internet by storm.

Just imagine for a moment—you are swimming in the cold dark of the Pacific Ocean, trying to find the lost remains of your father. But you aren’t alone. There are shapes moving in the gloom, great, dark shapes. Shapes with mouths. That’s what happens to Jay Gardiner in the latest novel by award winning author (and collaborator with Guillermo del Toro) Daniel Kraus. Caught first by a giant squid, then swallowed whole by a Sperm whale, Jay has one hour to get out alive. If he can get out of his own head, first. The thing is, If you were swallowed by a whale… it would be a VERY big GULP. And you know who can tell us about gulps, right? Mary Roach. Because on tonight’s special VIP edition of Authors Hosting Authors, Mary will talk to Daniel about the ins and outs of being, well, in—and out. Because while the story might be fiction, the trial of our protagonist is based in scientific FACT. Join us for a wild night and learn the best possible escape routes out of an 80 ft, 60 ton whale. You never know when that will come in handy!

Episode was recorded live July 25, 2024.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book The Memory Thief by Lauren Aguirre, we are discussing the movie Little Fish.

Join Davey Berris and his podcasting partner Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this tragic movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of what makes a relationship, our memories or our feelings, plus how to build a future together, and why it's impossible to photograph dogs.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of medical cures that were weird, unbelievable, and sometimes outright dangerous with Lydia Kang, co-author of Quackery! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction. 

Episode recorded live on November 11th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for the fascinating tale of Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter with Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, author of Dr. Mütter's Marvels! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on May 26th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

MÜTTER MUSEUM OFFERS FIRST EVER CHILDREN’S BOOK ON THE COLLECTION – WITH CUSTOM BOOKMARK FEATURING WORLD-RENOWNED AUTHOR NEIL GAIMAN  On May 12, the Mütter Museum store will be issuing a special release of curator Anna Dhody’s book, The Mütter Museum: A Junior Guide’s Tour of America's Coolest Medical Museum, complete with a hand drawn bookmark featuring the likeness of renowned author Neil Gaiman, who is a fan of the new book and the Mütter! In addition, of the limited-edition bookmarks, 100 will be signed by Gaiman himself! The books, including these collectable bookmarks, can only be purchased through the Mütter Museum store, either online or in person, and 100% of the proceeds will go to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia’s mission to advance the cause of health while upholding the ideals and heritage of medicine.  

https://www.muttermuseumstore.org

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book We Are Not Alone, we are discussing the legendary alien encounter movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this classic Spielberg movie as we discuss parallels between alien encounters and mental health, how practical effects can be so effective and scary, and some really great trivia about this film.

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In this bonus episode of the Peculiar Book Club, suggested by Mary Roach, we got a chance to sit down with author Daniel Kraus for a preview conversation of his new book Whalefall. Don't worry, Brandy and Davey have not read the book yet, so there will be no spoilers, but you will get a great conversation about Daniel's inspirations and process for writing the book and the themes that come up often throughout his writing career.

To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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Suave and movie-star handsome, Arthur Barry charmed New York celebrities as he planned and executed some of the most brazen and lucrative heists of the 1920s. Think Cary Grant’s character was clever and slick in the Hitchcock classic To Catch a Thief ? This gentleman thief was smarter, smoother. It sounds like fiction. But it isn’t. Barry was real-life con artist who donned a tuxedo to crash the parties of the rich and famous as he planned his burglaries. Known as a “second-story man,” he could even slip in and out of bedrooms undetected as his victims slept only inches away! “I know he’s terrible, but isn’t he charming?” – wrote Robbery victim Dorothea Livermore. Barry was, shall we say, the aristocrat of crime—and a modern day Robin Hood. Well, except for the giving it to the poor part. In a span of seven years he stole diamonds, pearls and other precious gems worth almost $60 million today—in a whirlwind of roaring 20s decadence. Don your dapper attire, raise a coup cocktail glass—and join us for the latest by the brilliant Dean Jobb: A Gentleman and a Thief!

Episode was recorded live August 22, 2024.

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A.J. Jacobs learned the hard way that donning a tricorne hat and marching around Manhattan with a 1700s musket will earn you a lot of strange looks. In the wake of several controversial rulings by the Supreme Court and the on-going debate about how the Constitution should be interpreted, Jacobs set out to understand what it means to live by the Constitution.

In The Year of Living Constitutionally, A.J. Jacobs tries to get inside the minds of the Founding Fathers by living as closely as possible to the original meaning of the Constitution. He asserts his right to free speech by writing his opinions on parchment with a quill and handing them out to strangers in Times Square. He consents to quartering a soldier, as is his Third Amendment right. He turns his home into a traditional 1790s household by lighting candles instead of using electricity, boiling mutton, and—because women were not allowed to sign contracts— feebly attempting to take over his wife’s day job, which involves a lot of contract negotiations.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for the science and business of turning waste into wealth and health with Lina Zeldovich, author of The Other Dark Matter! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on November 17th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instagram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of morbid history with Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butching Art! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode recorded live on July 8th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

It's our annual HALLOWEEN show! Costume contest (see our FB for how to sign up and vote), give-aways, candy, prizes, game--and how about some circus performance? SURE! A kooky evening of music and mayhem, with guests Charming Disaster and Sarah Mack (squid facts!) Don't miss it! James Taylor is the planet’s foremost authority on sideshow. You saw James Taylorand SHOCKED AND AMAZED! on The Learning Channel’s “Sideshow: Alive on the Inside,” “The Jerry Springer Show,” “Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel,” and Fox Television’s “Fox Files.” Sword swallowers, fire eaters, regurgitators, human pin cushions, torture kings, contortionists and motordrome riders look to James Taylor’s SHOCKED AND AMAZED! With him on this FABULOUS evening is sword-swallowing wonder The Lady Aye (who has been on our show before with her book THE RED MENACE!) MUSIC: IT WOULD NOT BE HALLOWEEN WITHOUT CHARMING DISASTER, WOULD IT? No. It would not. So a new and exciting song by our favorite duo "Time Machine!"

Episode was recorded live on October 26th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace as we turn our gaze on the dynamic, resilient, and ever-changing world of the uterus, ovaries, and vagina with Rachel E. Gross, author of Vagina Obscura! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on July 14th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of curiosities from the history of medicine with Thomas Morris, author of The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode recorded live on September 9th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee, we are discussing the movie Minari.

Join Davey Berris and his podcasting partner Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this family and immigrant tale.  We'll be looking into the themes of the American Dream, what makes a real Grandma, and saving each other in a marriage.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a glimpse into an activist’s journey and continued fight for disability justice with Alice Wong, author of Year of the Tiger! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on November 10th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Heartbreak by Florence Williams, we are discussing the movie Eat Pray Love.

Join Davey Berris and his podcasting partner Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this heartbreak (maybe midlife crisis) movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of learning to live alone, ruin and transformation, and of course heartbreak.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instagram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

In this bonus episode of the Peculiar Book Club we got a chance to sit down with author Wendy Moore for a preview conversation of her new book Jack and Eve.

Jack and Eve: Two Women in Love and at War, is published by Atlantic Books in the UK. It tells the story of Vera 'Jack' Holme and Evelina Haverfield, pioneering suffragettes who became lovers. Jack was an actress who specialised in cross-dressing roles. She became official chauffeur to suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst. Eve, who was born into the British aristocracy, was an intrepid traveller who became one of the suffragettes' most active speakers and agitators. In the First World War they went to Serbia with the Scottish Women's Hospitals (SWH) voluntary organisation to provide medical aid to the Serbian Army. When Serbia was invaded they were taken prisoners of war. After being freed, they travelled to Russia with the SWH to drive ambulances right up to the firing line on the Dobruja front. They were devoted lifelong partners but also pioneers of new ways of living and loving. Jack enjoyed numerous liaisons with other women - detailed in her diaries - and especially favoured three-way relationships. But when Eve died, in Serbia soon after the war ended, Jack was devastated. Jack and Eve is a love story set against the backdrop of intense acts of bravery during the First World War.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace and our other VIPs for a night of digging up untold stories with Suzie Lennox, author of Bodysnatchers! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on March 17th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Ordinary Equality by Kate Kelly, we are discussing the movie On the Basis of Sex.

Join Davey Berris and his podcasting partner Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this legal drama, biography movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of gender equality, the anatomy of a legal drama, and the early life of the legend Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠@peculiarBC⁠), Facebook (⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠), Instagram (⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠), and Youtube (⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠)!

You know those amazing science document-aries you love so much? National Geo-graphic, Discover, Science, and History Channels? Yeah, you need to thank Dan Levitt—responsible for producing such shows as Unsolved History (2002), Great Transitions: The Origin of Birds (2015) and Naked Science (2004). That one sounds right up our street. Well, now Dan has decided to give us a new kind of scientific candy crunch: WHATS GOT INTO YOU, a book about, well, YOU. A 150-pound human body contains 60 elements, including “enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, enough chlorine to disinfect several backyard swimming pools, and enough iron to make a three-inch nail.” On the open market, our body chemicals would bring about $2,000. And.. here’s the kicker… the stuff that makes up you and me has been evolving since the Bing Bang. You are made of actual bang dust. “Carl Sagan once famously said we are made of star stuff,” Levitt writes in his introduction. “This is the improbable story of how it happened.” It’s a journey of atoms, astronomy, physics, biology, and chemistry—and you are invited! Join us to chat live with the author on April 11, only on the Peculiar Book Club! (Of COURSE there will be cocktails).

Episode was recorded live April 11, 2024.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a book club date with Carl Zimmer, author of Life’s Edge: The Search for What it Means to be Alive. In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode recorded live on July 22nd, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of Amanda Deibert's work on the new animated He-Man show, we are discussing the 80's cult classic movie Masters of the Universe.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this fantasy, superhero movie, as we look into the themes of destiny and power, plus a discussion on the whys and hows of how this movie got made.

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Welcome to the first episode of the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Bitten by Kris Newby, we are discussing the movie 28 Days Later.

Join co-host Davey Berris, as he brings in his former movie podcasting partner Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this haunting movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of infection, bioweapons' potential effect on a population, and of course, have fun with an iconic zombie movie.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instagram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Join us for the LAUNCH of RED RABBIT! Alex Grecian is the New York Times bestselling author of The Yard and its sequels The Black Country, The Devil’s Workshop, The Harvest Man, and Lost and Gone Forever, as well as the contemporary thriller The Saint of Wolves and Butchers, and the ebook The Blue Girl. He has also written multiple award-winning graphic novels, including Proof, and Rasputin. MUSICAL GUEST: The Mary Lous! Ukey, Sometimes Kooky RiotGhoooul from Nowhere, New Jersey. https://themarylous.bandcamp.com/merch

Episode was recorded live on September 28th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a rollicking, myth-busting history of sex with Rachel Feltman, author of Been There, Done That! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on October 13th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of exploring the worlds of science and fiction with author Chuck Wendig! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction. 

Episode recorded live on August 12th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book The Computer's Voice, we are discussing maybe the most iconic computer voice in cinema history with Hal 9000 and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this legendary Kubrick film and discuss man's evolution from apes, what the star child means, how this film was made, and why people in the 60's really started to dig this movie (wink, wink).

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of breaking the law with Marry Roach, author of Fuzz! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode recorded live on December 9th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Music for Sketch: Depth Of Focus by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of radioactive stories and the history of radium with Lucy Jane Santos, author of Half Lives! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode was recorded live on April 7th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for investigations, science, and jazz with Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoners Handbook! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on January 27th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Music for sketch by Guitare Improvisation on YouTube.

Tracing uranium’s past, and how it intersects with our understanding of other radioactive elements, this book aims to disentangle our attitudes and to unpick the atomic mindset. Chain Reactions looks at the fascinating, often-forgotten, stories that can be found throughout the history of the element. Ranging from glassworks to penny stocks; medicines to weapons; something to be feared to a powerful source of energy. This global history explores the scientific history of the element, but also shines a light on its cultural and social impact. By understanding our nuclear past, we can move beyond the ideological opposition to technologies and encourage a more nuanced dialogue about whether it is feasible – and desirable – to have a genuinely nuclear-powered future. Lucy Jane Santos’s upcoming book Chain Reactions: A Hopeful History of Uranium will no doubt be a “glowing” success! Lucy looks beyond the familiar narratives to explore an alternative history of uranium in a lively, accessible way. Her previous work includes Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium.

Episode was recorded live September 26, 2024.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, as a special treat for Halloween, we are discussing the iconic folk horror movie The Wicker Man.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this classic british .  We'll be looking into the themes of religion vs. temptation, being accepting of others' beliefs, and sacrificing virgins to pagan gods for a good apple harvests.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a tail of murder, fungus, and investigative journalism with Jason Dearen, author of Kill Shot! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on June 9th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

The earth is not flat. Vaccines work and they don’t make you magnetic. Global warming is real. Covid is airborne. But you will hear a great deal to the contrary, too, from vaccine and climate deniers, flat-earthers, and plenty of conspiracy theorists willing to die on the hill of their chosen belief. Why? What happened? I thought it might be interesting to do a little time travel. What if we looked a book arguing for science and the humanities to join forces and stop science misinformation… BEFORE Covid. Heck, before Twitter was much of thing, even. Before the social media monoliths we explored in Cory Doctorow’s recent work. Let’s go all the way back to 2009—when I was still a graduate student—and revisit a collaboration between a journalist and a scientists: Unscientific America. We’ll talk live to Sheril Kirschenbaum, host of SERVING UP SCIENCE on PBS, executive director of ScienceDebate, a national nonprofit that encourages politicians to address science and innovation, and director of The Energy Poll at The University of Texas at Austin. A prolific writer and scientific thinker, she brings a lot to the table when it comes to getting science on the ballot (and into the public). How has Unscientific America changed? What do we make of this new, science denying world? Bring your questions and your debate hat and let’s get political! Only on PBC.

Episode was recorded live March 14, 2024.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book What's Gotten Into You, we are discussing the 80's science fiction comedy Innerspace.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this silly yet action packed movie as we discuss believing in yourself, how wacky Martin Short can get, why pilots are just cooler then all of us, and robot arm attachments you wouldn't expect in a PG movie.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a book club date with Mary Roach, author of STIFF: the curious lives of human cadavers. In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode recorded live on June 24th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

THE BATTLE GOES ON! Ordinary Equality digs into the fascinating and little-known history of the women and queer people who have helped shape the U.S. Constitution for more than 200 years. Based on author Kate Kelly’s acclaimed podcast of the same name, Ordinary Equality recounts a story centuries in the making. From before the Constitution was even drafted to the modern day, she examines how and why constitutional equality for women and Americans of all marginalized genders has been systematically undermined for the past 100-plus years, and then calls us all to join the current movement to put it back on the table and get it across the finish line. MUSIC: a chatty little number by Cord Ravenswood, our Peculiar in the Field, talking about Hawks and Doves! Episode was recorded live on March 23rd, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠.

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Could you lose your entire memory overnight? If so--what does it mean for the rest of us? The day neurologist Jed Barash sees the baffling brain scan of a young patient with devastating amnesia marks the beginning of a quest to answer those questions. First detected in a cluster of stigmatized opioid overdose victims in Massachusetts with severe damage to the hippocampus - the brain’s memory center - this rare syndrome reveals how the tragic plight of the unfortunate few can open the door to advances in medical science. After overcoming initial skepticism that investigating the syndrome is worth the effort - and that fentanyl is the likely culprit - Barash and a growing team of dedicated doctors explore the threat that people who take opioids chronically as prescribed to treat severe pain may gradually put their memories at risk. At the same time, they begin to grasp the potential for this syndrome to shed light on the most elusive memory thief of all - Alzheimer’s disease. Through the prism of this fascinating story, Aguirre goes on to examine how researchers tease out the fundamental nature of memory and the many mysteries still to be solved. Where do memories live? Why do we forget most of what happens in a day but remember some events with stunning clarity years later? How real are our memories? And what purpose do they actually serve? MUSIC: That's right, all this memory talk means CHARMING DISASTER's "Disembodied Head" is coming your way!

Episode was recorded live on July 27th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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An abandoned English manor. A peculiar missing portrait. A cozy, deviously clever muder mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horwitz. Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism. After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history. With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…

Episode was recorded live October 24, 2024.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian, we are discussing the movie The Pale Door.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this witchy western movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of meshing genres, found family, and having a pure soul.

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“The Gilded Edge is a compelling read from start to finish. Gripping, suspenseful, cinematic. This is narrative nonfiction at its best.”—Lindsey Fitzharris, bestselling author of The Butchering Art  

No, it isn't fiction. But you will think it MUST be--sex, death, poetry, women's rights:  Nora May French and Carrie Sterling arrive at Carmel-by-the-Sea at the turn of the twentieth century with dramatically different ambitions. Nora, a stunning, brilliant, impulsive writer in her early twenties, seeks artistic recognition and Bohemian refuge among the most celebrated counterculturalists of the era. Carrie, long-suffering wife of real estate developer George Sterling, wants the opposite: a semblance of the stability she thought her advantageous marriage would offer, threatened now that her philandering husband has taken to writing poetry. I bet you can see where this is going!   

We are super excited that music for the show will be provided by our FAVORITE BAND! Charming Disaster! "Paris Green" comes from their newest endeavor: _Super Natural History_ music is available on all the major platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc.) but Bandcamp is the best (artist-friendliest) way to get it.

Episode was recorded live on February 9th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of monkeying around with Frank Spotnitz, producer of The X-Files, as we discuss Brandy's book Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode recorded live on October 28th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book A Gentleman and a Thief, we are discussing our own gentleman conman with The Music Man.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this classic Hollywood (and Broadway) musical to discuss our favorite songs, finding our someone, and seeing the good in someone else.

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Ever read The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart? I have. Several times, actually. Well, guess what book SHE is reading? “At last,” she writes, “a definitive guide to the medicinal origins of every bottle behind the bar! This is the cocktail book of the year, if not the decade.” What hallowed tome is she referring to? Folks, it’s a book so perfect for Peculiar Book Club that if it didn’t exist, I’d have to make it up: Doctors and Distillers by Camper English, the MEDICINAL history of beer, wine, spirits, and cocktails. BE STILL MY HEART. It’s true that, as a medical historian, I’ve always known alcohol was among our earliest medicines—and that it remains crucial to not a few today. But this story goes all the way back—to Egypt—and then a bit forward—to alchemists and monastic apothecaries. It takes a side road into germ theory, and then pops back out in forensics and the dangers of risky prohibition cocktails. What was alcohol meant to cure? Let’s see; wounds, worms, snakebite, malaria, scurvy, plague… Of course, we at the Peculiar Book Club feel it helps prepare you to read more weird books.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of dastardly deeds perpetrated in the name of science with Sam Kean, author of The Icepick Surgeon! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode recorded live on August 26th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a special chat with historian and broadcaster Dan Snow, host of History Hit! In true book-club style, you will meet the historian and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on March 24th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a special doubleheader.  We'll explore mythical monsters, alien encounters, and our obsession with the unexplained with Colin Dickey, author of The Unidentified, and we'll take a tour of Urban Age Cities with Annalee Newitz, author of Four Lost Cities! In true book-club style, you will meet the authors and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on April 21st, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of exploring the limits and potential of the human body with Scott Carney, author of The Wedge! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode was recorded live on February 24th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a conversation inspired by philosophy, literature, and private life, exploring the paradoxes of the bedroom with Damon Young, author of On Getting Off! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on December 15th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instagram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of The Framed Women of Ardemore House, we are doing the 2015 BBC One made-for-tv adaptation of An Inspector Calls.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as they take a deep dive into this British Thriller. We'll discuss the themes of Capitalism vs. Socialism, the ominous warning of the story, and all the twists and turns along the way.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, for a little bit of fun during the Holiday season, we are discussing the Stop Motion Animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Join Davey Berris for a solo adventure, as he takes a deep dive into this sometimes a Halloween movie, sometimes a Christmas movie, as he looks into the themes of can we change from our nature and the idea that maybe not everyone knows about Christmas and it's traditions.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a spirited tour through the supernatural history of America with Marc Hartzman author of Chasing Ghosts! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on October 27th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Regular host Brandy Schillace is out for the night, so join co-host Davey Berris for a night of disease outbreaks—how they start, how they spread with Lydia Kang, co-author of Patient Zero! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on December 16th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Let’s imagine you’re nestling down for a good nap. You’ve already been to the market for food stuffs, you have filled your larder, and you even managed to get some brand new bedding. It’s cold out, and you are definitely ready for a long winter’s nap—when suddenly, someone rudely breaks into your home. Screaming. And maybe standing on a chair. Even though you’re just a common house mouse, minding his own business in someone’s sock drawer. Yes, we think of mice and rates and other critter as “pests”—vermin—the bad guys. Are they, though? Bethany Brookshire tackles this question in PESTS: How humans create animal villains. “Pests — the mice, raccoons, and seagulls of the world — are not irritating by nature,” Brookshire begins. Rather, she explains, “they are animal winners on a planet full of loss. When your habitat is full of parking lots, brick apartment buildings, and carefully tended gardens, survival isn’t about staying sweetly in the woods and meadows. Instead, evolutionary success looks a lot like raiding our trash, nesting on our buildings, and eating our gardens down to nubs.” Nature, you see, evolves WITH us. We learned a bit about this in The Natural History of the Future last year; we make these environments; we destroy natural ones. And sometimes, the animals we like (our beloved cats, for instance) are actually little destruction machines wreaking havoc on natural fauna. What we call a pest and what we call a PET comes down to how we personally interact—but there’s so much more to the story. Join us on Jan 25th for a livestream and chat with Bethany Brookshire as she breaks down the science of our imagined foes.

Episode was recorded live on January 25th, 2024. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for an exploration of the people who have made death their life's work with Hayley Campbell, author of All the Living and the Dead! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on September 8th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Only Memories Remain by Hayden Folker | https://soundcloud.com/hayden-folker Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Surely you have questions… Weird, pressing questions. Tonight, we host our first ever AMA! You can try to stump Davey! You can inquire about my weirder exploits… we can talk movies and books and cocktails! We can talk about who we might want to join us in future! Free to all!

Ever look up at the night sky and wonder what else is really out there? Or, like me, do you watch shows like Resident Alien with Alan Tudyk and realize you might actually be the extra-terrestrial (I mean, it would SO much sense). Seriously, though, do we just laugh off the X-files and move on? Note: we did have X-files producer Frank Spotnitz on our first season). Are UFOs hogwash? We have all been prepared to say so, at one time or another. Then, After decades of cover-ups and denials, in a June 2021 report, the US government finally admitted that UFOs are real. WHAT? Little green men? Not quite! It’s exactly what hey stand for: flying things that we cannot identify. If you hope for a way to sift through the fact and fiction of outer-space possibilities… you’re in luck. I can’t think of any higher praise that being labeled “one of America’s leading connoisseurs of the bizarre” but that’s all in a day’s work for Marc Hartzmann, who returns to MBC with his latest: WE ARE NOT ALONE. Are their alien abductions really? Is Area 51 hiding something? Life might be out there—and it probably won’t be anything like we expect.

Episode was recorded live May 9, 2024.

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Grave yard. Cemetery. These are some of my favorite things! But walking through graveyards isn’t just about getting your goth on. Cemeteries tell our human history—and they tell national history, too. Take central park for instance. In 1857, it was Seneca Village, a “rare haven of Black ownership” stretching from West 82nd to 89th Streets. NY took it over, seizing it for a park. And that means part of the park is also a burial ground, and tells the story of how black people were treated even in the supposedly free north. And that’s just one little tidbit from a book that is sure to be near and dear to our Peculiar family: Over my Dead Body by Greg Melville. The chapters take us on a journey, via cemeteries, around the country, from the mass graves at Colonial Jamestown to Brooklyn’s Green-Wood cemetery, the racially segregated Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah, Ga., Hollywood Forever and even a digital graveyard, i.e., Facebook. Aptly put by the NYT, the book is a social history: “What does the act of memorializing, who is remembered and who is left out, tell us about how people lived, what they valued, and the way we live now?” Also… did I mention there are cemeteries? Join us live to chat with Greg through our YouTube livestream—I can promise you a themed cocktail! Only on the PBC.

Episode was recorded live April 25, 2024.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of Monsters and the influences and science behind them with Kathryn Harkup, author of Making the Monster! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode recorded live on October 14th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

We are THRILLED to have the multi-talented and best selling Amanda Deibert on our show! Author, screenwriter, and much more--AND her newest book, the daily guided gratitude journal, YOU ALREADY HAVE THE ANSWERS is currently available for pre-order. At PBC, we will be talking to Amanda about the world of comics and graphic novels! Amanda’s comic book writing includes multiple DC Super Hero Girls graphic novels, a story in the New York Times I #1 Bestseller Love is Love, Serving Up Justice featuring Serena Williams and Wonder Woman, Flash Facts, Wonder Woman Agent of Peace, Teen Titans Go!, Wonder Woman ’77, Batman and Harley Quinn, DC’s The Doomed and the Damned, Wonderful Women of History, and Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman, for DC Comics, Hyperspace Stories for Lucas Film/Disney/Darkhorse comics and multiple stories in John Carpenter’s Tales for A Halloween Night volumes 2, 3, 4, 5 , & 6 for Storm King Comics, Red Sonja Black, White, Red for Dynamite, Work for a Million for McClelland & Stewart and more. ANd because that isn't enough, her television work includes writing for the animated series He-Man and The Masters Of The Universe for Netflix as well as work for CBS, SyFy, OWN, PIVOT, HULU and 4 years as writer for former Vice President Al Gore’s international climate broadcast, 24 Hours of Reality. WOW~! Musical Guest: The ever weird and wonderful CORD RAVENSWOOD, who happens to be a BIG FAN!

Episode was recorded live on December 14th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a murder trial that spans multiple countries with Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on June 23rd, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for two books, the history of felines and how the dead live on through memorials with Paul Koudounaris, author of A Cat's Tale plus Memento Mori! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on October 6th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Ed Yong PROBABLY needs no introduction--but just in case: he is a Pulitzer Prize–winning science writer on the staff of The Atlantic, where he also won the George Polk Award for science reporting, among other honors. His first book, I Contain Multitudes, was a New York Times bestseller. We are SO grateful to have him with us! In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved. MUSIC: Charming Disaster, performing (appropriately, we think, "Forces of Nature" from their album Our Lady of Radium! CDs, vinyl, digital albums: https://charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com/album/our-lady-of-radium  Physical lyrics book: https://charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com/merch/our-lady-of-radium-lyrics-and-art-book Digital lyrics book: https://charmingdisaster.gumroad.com/l/ourladyofradium

Episode was recorded live on May 11th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of bloody surgery with Wendy Moore, author of The Knife Man! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode recorded live on August 12th, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a natural history of the heart with Bill Schutt, author of Pump! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on September 22nd, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace in changing the conversation on autism with Eric Garcia, author of We're Not Broken! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on August 25th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Each year nearly four million people visit #Yellowstone National Park—one of the most popular of all national parks—but few know the fascinating and complex historical context in which it was established. In late July 1871, the geologist-explorer Ferdinand Hayden led a team of scientists through a narrow canyon into Yellowstone Basin, entering one of the last unmapped places in the country. The survey’s discoveries led to the passage of the Yellowstone Act in 1872, which created the first national park in the world. Now, bestselling author Megan Kate Nelson examines the larger context of this #American moment, illuminating Hayden’s survey as a #national project meant to give Americans a sense of achievement and unity in the wake of a destructive civil war. Saving Yellowstone follows Hayden and two other protagonists in pursuit of their own agendas: Sitting Bull, a #Lakota leader who asserted his peoples’ claim to their homelands, and financier Jay Cooke, who wanted to secure his national reputation by building the Northern Pacific Railroad through the Great Northwest. Hayden, Cooke, and Sitting Bull staked their claims to Yellowstone at a critical moment in Reconstruction, when the Ulysses S. Grant Administration and the 42nd Congress were testing the reach and the purpose of federal power across the nation. MUSIC: The zany CORD RAVENSWOOD (Our Peculiar in the Field) joins us for a nice little song about YELLOWSTONE

Episode was recorded live on June 22nd, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join co-host Davey Berris for an American tale of Lipstick and its place throughout our history with Ilise S. Carter, author of The Red Menace! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on August 11th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) The Universe had a beginning, and it will have an end. Modern cosmology — the study of the nature and evolution of the cosmos itself — has allowed physicists to explain the history of the Universe from the first tiny fraction of a second until today. But what’s next? We now have the tools to extend our knowledge into the distant future and speculate about the ultimate fate of all reality. ALSO: I mean, it's KATIE MACK! Squeeeee Music for the Event is provided by our favs: Charming Disaster! Appropriately, the song will be "Days are Numbered" Their music is available on all the major platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc.) but Bandcamp is the best (artist-friendliest) way to get it.

Episode was recorded live on April 27th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠.

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Katrina Kim may be broke, the black sheep of her family, and slightly unhinged, but she isn’t a stalker. Her obsession with her co-worker, Kurt, is just one of many coping mechanisms—like her constant shape and number rituals, or the way scenes from her favorite children’s book bleed into her vision whenever she feels anxious or stressed. But when Katrina finds a cryptic message from Kurt that implies he’s aware of her surveillance, her tenuous hold on a normal life crumbles. Driven by compulsion, she enacts the most powerful ritual she has to reclaim control—a midnight visit to the Cayatoga Bridge—and arrives just in time to witness Kurt’s suicide. Before he jumps, he slams her with a devastating accusation: his death is all her fault. Horrified, Katrina combs through the clues she’s collected about Kurt over the last three years, but each revelation uncovers a menacing truth: for every moment she was watching him, he was watching her. And the past she thought she’d left behind? It’s been following her more closely than she ever could have imagined. Don’t miss this gripping thriller of a novel that explores the tenuous nature of our mental health—and might just cause us to question our own seeming realities. Live chat with author Maria Dong on Oct 10th—the perfect book for starting off the spooky season!

Episode was recorded live October 10, 2024.

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Maybe you're a fan of DOCTOR WHO. Or perhaps you were a fan of ELEVENTH HOUR with Patrick Stewart (Or Silent Witness. Or Rosemary and Thyme. Or Murder Rooms.) Perhaps thrillers are more your thing, books like KINGDOM OF BONES or BEDLAM DETECTIVE--or scifil, supernatural, graphic novels. Then YOU, my friend, are a fan of STEPHEN GALLAGHER! A novelist, screenwriter, and director with a list of books that runs right off the shelf, Stephen is also patient, kind, giving, and supportive of new writers everywhere. He is ALSO going to be on our show to talk about... well. All the things? DO NOT MISS! "This is the end! Making a public spectacle of yourselves. I couldn't have believed you could have behaved like this, either of you. Just hauling like brooligans." Genevieve, film, 1953 MUSIC provided by the marvelous CHARMING DISASTER! Don't miss "Hellebore" (from their newest endeavor, Super Natural History!)

Episode was recorded live on July 13th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons: A riveting thriller reminiscent of The Hot Zone, this true story dives into the mystery surrounding one of the most controversial and misdiagnosed conditions of our time—Lyme disease—and of Willy Burgdorfer, the man who discovered the microbe behind it, revealing his secret role in developing bug-borne biological weapons, and raising terrifying questions about the genesis of the epidemic of tick-borne diseases affecting millions of Americans today.

Episode was recorded live on January 12th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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You asked and we delivered! Pulitzer-prize winning science journalist Deborah Blum—author of The Poisoner’s Handbook—returns to PBC! This time, she comes to us as HOST! Two additional authors will be joining us, picked by Deborah herself: Amit Katwala as author of TREMORS IN THE BLOOD and Patti McCracken for ANGEL MAKERS. Where did lie detectors come from? Are they really accurate? The history isn’t just fascinating, it’s evocative—and bears an interesting connection to artificial intelligence. Everyone wants a machine that tells the truth. But chillingly, it turns out that machines can lie, too. Our next thrilling true-crime narrative takes us to a small town in Hungary. McCracken follows a trail of white powder—the colorless, odorless, deadly poison arsenic. Distributed by a wily midwife to women who needed a ‘cure’ for abusive spouses, the little vials emptied and the grave yards started filling up. What caused a group of housewives to become a murder ring? Who were these “angel-makers” and how did their crimes (at least 160 dead) go so long undiscovered?

Episode was recorded live September 12, 2024.

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From journalist and drag historian Elyssa Maxx Goodman, an intimate, evocative history of drag in New York City exploring its dynamic role, from the Jazz Age to Drag Race, in queer liberation and urban life.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of examination into the forensic training of author Judy Melinek along with her husband T.J. Mitchell, co-authors of Working Stiff! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode recorded live on September 23rd, 2021. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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For show merchandise, including T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and More, visit our shop at https://peculiarbookclubstore.com/collections/all.

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a journey through the decisions we make every day and a less stressful way forward with Timothy Caulfield author of Relax, Dammit! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on December 1st, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Doctors and Distillers, we are discussing the 80's Tom Cruise "classic" Cocktail.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this fun movie as we discuss the mindset of the 80's, does the drama of this movie hold up or is it all just the flair, and is Tom Cruise's smile sexy or creepy?

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What the Dog Knows tells the stories of cadaver dogs, drug and bomb detecting K9s, tracking and apprehension dogs—even dogs who can locate unmarked graves of Civil War soldiers and help find drowning victims more than two hundred feet below the surface of a lake. Working dogs sometimes seem magical, as they distinguish scent, cover territory, and accomplish tasks that no machine is yet capable of. With an additional chapter included in the paperback, What the Dog Knows reveals the science, the intense training, and the skilled handling that lie behind those abilities—and shows why we keep finding new uses for the wonderful noses of working dogs.  

MUSICAL GUEST: Charming Disaster! Their music is available on all the major platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc.) but Bandcamp is the best (artist-friendliest) way to get it: https://charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com/  

Tonight's song comes from their Our Lady of Radium album!      CDs, vinyl, digital albums: https://charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com/album/our-lady-of-radium      Physical lyrics book: https://charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com/merch/our-lady-of-radium-lyrics-and-art-book     Digital lyrics book: https://charmingdisaster.gumroad.com/l/ourladyofradium

Episode was recorded live on January 26th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Golem Girl by Riva Lehrer, we are discussing the movie The Bride of Frankenstein.

Join Davey Berris (unfortunately Darren couldn't make it this month, but he'll be back), for a deep dive into this classic monster movie.  We'll be looking into the themes of longing for connection and friendship, being monsters and gods, and how in 1935 they knew a thing or two about making movies.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a special doubleheader.  We'll ingest some facts  with Mary Cappello, author of Swallow, and we'll go from mouth to rear with Mary Roach, author of Gulp! In true book-club style, you will meet the authors and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.

Episode was recorded live on May 12th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

Follow us on Twitter (@peculiarBC), Facebook (facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub), Instragram (@thepeculiarbookclub), and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub)!

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book The Internet Con, we are discussing the early 2000's tech thriller Antitrust.

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this internet, tech company thriller and the themes of Big Tech, stealing IP, knowledge belonging to the people, and why Tim Robbins is smashing potato chips the whole movie.

Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

What do we sacrifice in the pursuit of #normalcy? And what becomes possible when we embrace monstrosity? Can we envision a world that sees impossible creatures? Lehrer was born with spina bifida, essentially a hole in the spine. In spina bifida patients, the spine does not fuse properly, leaving a fissure or lesion, creating an easy entry point for infections that risk going directly to the patient’s brain. Riva's parents and doctors were determined to “fix” her, sending the message over and over again that she is "broken." That she will never have a job, a romantic relationship, or an independent life. Enduring countless medical interventions, Riva tries her best to be a good girl and a good patient in the quest to be cured. Everything changes when, as an adult, Riva is invited to join a group of #artists, writers, and performers who are building Disability Culture. Their work is daring, edgy, funny, and dark—it rejects tropes that define disabled people as pathetic, frightening, or worthless. They insist that disability is an opportunity for creativity and #resistance. Emboldened, Riva asks if she can paint their portraits—inventing an intimate and collaborative process that will transform the way she sees herself, others, and the world. Each portrait story begins to transform the myths she’s been told her whole life about her body, her sexuality, and other measures of normal. This is the vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with #disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies MUSIC: Charming Disaster presents us with a single-- "Ouroboros" - alchemy, transformation, metamorphosis! Don't miss out!

Episode was recorded live on August 24th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that―the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my lap-top?" In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. MUSICAL GUEST: the marvelous Susan Hwang! ***NOTE: This show is available as a livestream for subscribers. AFTER the live show, it will be free to view on YouTube. If you are not subscribed, but would like to join the live-stream and chat with the author, please visit our Patreon page: https://patreon.com/PeculiarBookClub?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

Episode was recorded live on October 12th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Aroused by Randi Hutter Epstein, we are discussing the TV Show House. Specifically we are watching Season 1, Episode 16 "Heavy", then Season 2, Episode 13 "Skin Deep", and finally Season 3, Episode 1 "Meaning".

Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross, for a deep dive into this classic medical drama.  We'll be looking into hormonal diseases, and how each medical mystery challenges House and his team.

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What happens when racism is not a bug in the system—but in fact IS the system? And the Health System, at that. Imagine being a high-achieving person of color, courted by prestigious medical institutions, but then denied the support you needed when you got there? Fighting through burnout and the grueling pace of residency, only to wind up a cog in a bureaucracy that sees patients as broken bits on an assembly line. “With] ninety-ninth percentile MCAT and Step and Board scores as entrance keys to the profession,” writes author Anthony Chin-Quee, “we too often neglect to screen for traits that truly matter: the self-awareness and strength of character necessary to weather the devastating emotional trials that are sure to come; the humility and grace required to be an effective, collaborative, and avid lifelong learner.” Chin-Quee’s memoir, I CAN’T SAVE YOU, doesn’t just present the trauma of our medical education system, but the trauma of living and of caring in a narrative described by NPR as “messy” but provocative—an “assemblage of shifting narrative perspectives, poetry, anecdotes, and hallucinatory performance, represents the structural equivalent of a mixtape.” Guess what, y’all, it’s Medical Humanities. Yes, like that journal I happen to be the editor in chief of… and I cannot WAIT to chat live with Anthony about how we have lost—and how to regain—the human at the center of medicine. Don’t miss this livestream on Jun 27th, only on the Peculiar Book Club.

Episode was recorded live June 27, 2024.

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Join host Dr. Brandy Schillace for a night of Murder, Crime, Violence, and Phrenology with Courtney Thompson, author of An Organ of Murder! In true book-club style, you will meet the author and participate in the discussion–so come with questions! Join us, too, for the PopCult Quizzer with host Davey Berris, where science fact meets science fiction.  

Episode was recorded live on February 10th, 2022. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/.

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Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, for some Halloween fun, we are discussing the Irish Horror Comedy film Grabbers.

Join Davey Berris as he takes a deep dive into this fun monster movie. There aren't many deep themes in this movie but we will talk about did it hit the comedy and horror marks, the fun bits in the movie, and connections to some legendary horror/action movies.

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What if the world went on without us? Guess what. It will. A leading# ecologist argues that if humankind is to survive on a fragile planet, we must understand and obey its iron laws Our species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of #nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life’s overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul. When we create artificial islands of crops, dump toxic waste, or build communities, we provide new materials for old laws to shape. Life’s future flourishing is not in question. *Ours is.* Episode was recorded live on September 14th, 2023. To join future broadcasts check out our Book Club schedule at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://brandyschillace.com/peculiar/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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