A podcast in which we discuss high-craft works of popular culture.
#UpperMiddleBrow
To say a work is “high class” or “literary” might suggest it is rarified, difficult, or unrelatable. To say a work is “low class” might suggest it is lurid, pulp, lacking in value. So, we are hear to talk about the best of the middle. Books, films, and other media that aspire to entertain, but do so with great craft and skill.
In rambling but never boring episodes, Jesse and Chris navigate the tidal waters of the upper-middle-brow, choosing pieces of work we believe to have mass market appeal but also some claim to a more rarefied air. Tag along as we see if Star Wars can clamber out of the middle class, or if we’ll offend Jennifer Egan by suggesting her work is anything but highbrow. In any case, we hope you find our discussions as interesting as we do. Welcome to the Upper-Middle Brow.
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DIGRESSION I: Pas de Joie de Neuromancer
Our friend Lindsay Lajoie saw that we were considering William Gibson’s Neuromancer on the podcast, and admitted on her Instagram that it’s one of the very few books she attempted and could get through. Lindsay joins us for a mini-sode, and we pick apart her reaction, and try to convince her it’s worth another go.
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Episode 29: “Blind Animal Panic,” or William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Part I
Dukes and Bagg return to William Gibson’s groundbreaking 1984 novel, that popularized the cyberpunk genre. The reviews are mixed. There are moments of brilliance, but does the young Gibson’s drive to “put a hook on every page” lead to more confusion than clarity?
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Episode 28: “Tales of Teachers,” with Educator Justin Reich
As students, parents, and teachers happily (or wrenchingly) return to school, we invite our resident education specialist, Justin Reich, to talk about stories with teachers. We identify many examples of bad teachers and bad teaching in fiction, and while film and TV often present sympathetic teacher protagonists, we wonder if the Great American Teacher novel…
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The Hosts
Chris and Jesse create and interrogate different kinds of content. They are writers, radio producers, and fair-to-middling surfers.
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We’re so stoked you’re here and that you are interested in engaging with us. Leave us your email for rare communiques, but also head on over to our Discord server, where the conversation never ends, or our Patreon account, where you can get more of us (for a price, of course).