Episode 75: “It Was Capitalism All Along!” or China Miéville’s The City and The City, Part II The lads continue to admire China Miéville’s genius premise for this novel, but will the second half of the book escape the issues we’ve seen in the noir and noir-adjacent works the UMB…

The #uppermiddlebrow lads marvel at the premise and breezy writing style, but wonder if the ending lived up to the first half's potential.

@chicagoleah.bsky.social joins #Uppermiddlebrow to talk about how M3gan is the robot horror version of Amelia Bedilia, and why #Tedchiang says AI anxietes are capitalism anxieties.

Episode 74: “Our Robot Friends (and Enemies),” with Leah Jones We invite podcast buddy Leah Jones from Finding Favorites to follow up on a recommendation she made to Dukes last year: to watch the film M3gan. We thought it would be fun to talk about films and b…

Crossover! #Uppermiddlebrow joins forces with @chicagoleah.bsky.social to talk stories about robot friends, and robot enemies. We discuss M3gan, Duncan Jones' Moon, Ted Chiang's Exhalation, and lots of other stories.

uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/01/13/e...

Episode 73: “Crosshatched,” or China Mieville’s The City and the City Part I The City and the City has a wholly original premise, and the pleasure of the book comes from the dawning realization of exactly what is going on between the two adjacent cities, Besźel and Ul Quma.…

Now on #Uppermiddlebrow, China Mieville's metaphysical, scifi, Noir modern classic about two cities who are more than adjacent.

“Dashiell Hammett took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley.” -Raymond Chandler.

If you're a fan of detective noir, consider going back to the source.

#uppermiddlebrow

#dashiellhammett
#redharvest

I just got the 4th book in our ongoing #RelativisticNoir series for #uppermiddlebrow. Thanks to @lapubliclibrary.bsky.social #MarVista branch.

In which Chris Bagg and I decide to take on the purpose of literature in our podcast's remaining two minutes.

www.youtube.com/shorts/Kqgvj...

#uppermiddlebrow

Episode 66: “Russia With Love (Nesting Dolls),” or Gary Shteyngart’s Our Country Friends Part I Gary Schteyngart’s 2021 pandemic novel is overtly Chekhovian, and the lads love it. A group of friends and family gather in the Hudson valley during the 2020 pandemic leading to betrayals, love tri…

On the current #Uppermiddlebrow, we dig into Gary Shteyngart's overtly Chekhovian novel, #OurCountryFriends. And... we love it!

An amusing confusion over the word "text" leads to a discovery about the drama and authenticity of texting.

#uppermiddlebrow

youtu.be/Zuhn6fKCmkU

Episode 64: “A Cloud on a String,” or Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya Anton Chekhov’s 1897 play is in many ways even more minimalistic and sad than The Cherry Orchard. Dukes once again struggles to imagine the three dimensions of the story, while recognizing th…

Chekhov is considered by many to be in the top two playwrites. But I find the plays on the page to be difficult to immerse in. Does that make them flawed, or perfect for the theater?

We discuss on the current #Uppermiddlebrow.

Join #uppermiddlebrow for a live *virtual* draft, in which we pick our next FIVE series.

You get a vote!

Door prizes for ALL attendees!

Is this literary redneck heaven?

or...

Am I prepping for the next #Uppermiddlebrow?

Yes.

Episode 62: “To Sell or Not to Sell…Is That Really the Question?” or Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Part I The UMBers sit down with a play that Bagg has read a million times and that Dukes is visiting for the first time. The lads discuss what this work is like for a first-timer and then put on their act…

New #Uppermiddlebrow podcast! We go back to the roots of modern drama with #Chekhov's #TheCherryOrchard, a play Bagg knows VERY well, and one that is new to me.

SAVE THE DATE: Oct 10th, 5pm PDT.

These bozos will pick the next few #Uppermiddlebrow podcast series and YOU can VOTE in our first ever LISTENERS' CHOICE series.

Stay tuned for more details (or check the week before uppermiddlebrow.com)

On the current #Uppermiddlebrow Bagg and I spend a solid minute riffing on WASPY baby names, as inspired by the fictitious "Peggy and Jim Caldwell" from #TheKiteRunner.

youtube.com/shorts/ZjA5a...

Coming soon on the #Uppermiddlebrow podcast, a series on banned books, starting with #ToniMorrison's #TheBluestEye.

Digression: Black Chicago’s Influence on Everything with Arionne NettlesDigression: Arionne Nettles joins to talk about her new book We Are The Culture: Black Chicago’s Influence On Everything, as well as to recommend a couple of novels she thinks Upper Middlebrow listeners …

On the latest #Uppermiddlebrow, I talk with Arionne Nettles about her new book, and we reminisce about working on Black history stories for Curious City.

On the current #Uppermiddlebrow, Bagg and I realize we feel differently about #TomRipley.

If you like specific rigorous literary exegesis focused on the question of when an anti-hero becomes a villian AND some juvenile D-jokes, have we got the podcast for you.

#uppermiddlebrow #Thesympathizer

Episode 50: “Nothing is More Important,” or Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, Part II The Sympathizer is brought to a powerful, if occasionally puzzling conclusion, with the narrator returning to his home country for a series of misadventures. The meaning of Ho Chi Minh’s slogan “No…

Now on #UpperMiddlebrow #TheSympathizer is brought to a powerful, if occasionally puzzling conclusion, with the narrator returning to his home country for a series of misadventures. Ho Chi Minh’s slogan “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom” dances in our narrator's brain.

Yes, Major League is Better Than Bull Durham Or, Revoke My Hipster Card

Inspired by @herberthistory.bsky.social 's pick on the recent #Uppermiddlebrow Baseball movies ep, I stake out controversial ground.

In the current #Uppermiddlebrow, about #vietthanhnguyen's narrator's digression and confession to non-consensual, necrophiliac, onanistic bestiality, and Bagg makes a fair case for inclusion.

bit.ly/4agcPxQ

Episode 46: “So Long, and Thanks for All The Squid,” or Viet Than Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, Part I Viet Thanh Nguyen’s narrator tells us right off the bat that he’s a sympathizer. He can see any issue from “both sides,” he claims, a dubious virtue in the chaotic Vietnamese history following the …

New #Uppermiddlebrow ep. Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer, part I.

On the latest #uppermiddlebrow, @beamarovich.bsky.social explains why she no longer refers to theologies as "speculative fictions."

bit.ly/3T0ugeB

Novels have always been my favorite place to go looking for theologies. I had so much fun talking with my old friend @curiousdukes.bsky.social for his podcast #uppermiddlebrow. We talk about Octavia Butler, why I used to call theology “speculative fiction”, laughter as a tonic for fear, and more…

Digression: Literary Theologies with Beatrice Marovich Theologian Beatrice Marovich reacts to our discussions of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, exploring the relationship between theology and fiction. We talk about her book Sister Death: Politi…

On the current #Uppermiddlebrow, @beamarovich.bsky.social joins us to talk #Earthseed and other literary theologies, death personified, and Bill + Ted.

Episode 45: “Yelling ‘Racism’ in a ‘Post-racist’ World,” or Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, Part II The second half of The Sellout does feature a MacGuffin and resolution of sorts, although the plot is minimal compared to the satire and world building. The UMBs struggle to understand the book, bu…

#uppermiddlebrow struggles to make sense of the assemblage of brilliant prose that makes up #PaulBeatty's #TheSellout. Part 2.

On the current #uppermiddlebrow pod, we wonder if #PaulBeatty's #TheSellout is a Dickensian novel, Swiftian satire, absurdist epic poem, or something else.

Episode 44: “Faintly Dickensian?” or Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, Part I Chris and Jesse are thrown into Paul Beatty’s 2015 Man Booker Prize Winner The Sellout, because this novel seems to try to take the upper hand with its reader. Our two heroes agree that it&#8…

New #Uppermiddlebrow ep.

#PaulBeatty's 2015 satirical roller coaster, #TheSellout.

Episode 44: “Put On Your Seatbelt,” or Alexander Payne’s Sideways A rebroadcast of our Live recap and discussion of Alexander Payne’s Sideways (2004). The UMB’s admire Miles’ Saab, la costa perdida, and enjoy the rustically simple cinematography, and marvel at...

One of the greatest quartet of actors ever assembled on film encounters the most beautiful classic #saab, and some other stuff, in the wine country of the Lost Coast.

#uppermiddlebrow new ep out now!