The Drip

Episode 53 -- Octavia Butler's Parables (Part II): Take Root Among the Stars

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

Episode 52 -- Octavia Butler's Parables (Part I): The Future is NOW

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

Episode 51 -- Stuck In Between: Bharati Mukherjee's THE MIDDLE MAN AND OTHER STORIES

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

Episode 50 -- Defining a "Genre": Fifty Episodes of THE DRIP!

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

Episode 49 -- The Brutal Beauty of Jesmyn Ward's LET US DESCEND

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

Episode 48: The Stories We Tell/Told/Are (Never) Told -- Shannon Gibney's THE GIRL I AM, WAS, AND NEVER WILL BE

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

Episode 47 -- A Plot-Full of BLACK CAKE: Charmaine Wilkerson Serves It Up Thick

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

Episode 46 --It May Be a Man’s World, But Esi’s Got a Car: Ama Ata Aidoo’s CHANGES

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

Episode 45 -- Trains, Pains, and Barnacles: Suzette Mayr’s THE SLEEPING CAR PORTER

In this, our 45th episode, the Spoilers are back with what they thought would be a frolicking, early summer show about Baxter, a Black Canadian aspiring dentist who works as a sleeping car porter on a cross-continent train in the late 1920s (surprise! it took a while to edit!). Paced like a marathoner in a Dodge Challenger, this novel is relentless in its depiction of racialized labor in a very close environment. Not all of us loved this book, but that always makes for an interesting conversation -- and you will get nothing less here, even though you had to wait for three months. Anticipation makes things even better they say . . .

Driplet #4 -- ”It Must Be the Gas”: A Journey Inside Todd’s Broken Brain

In this special Driplet, Anita gives Todd the chance to share his narrative of injury and recovery. After suffering a hemorrhagic stroke in February of 2020, Todd had to learn to read again while teaching a literature class, living away from his partner, and dealing with the fallout of a pandemic. In this funny, but personal episode, Anita and Todd explore the challenges of illness and recovery, and what it means when an injury manifests itself as an inability to read or remember names and faces. Eventually they weigh in on the ongoing debate over science of reading vs. reading recovery teaching pedagogy -- something Todd became obsessed with shortly after he learned to read again. You won't want to miss this chance to venture inside the illogical mind of one of the spoilers . . .