Censored

Riotous: The Playboy of the Western World (1907) Part 1

February 10, 2022 04:00 - 42 minutes - 21 MB

The Playboy Riots were a notoriously rowdy series of audience protests in the Abbey Theatre. The patrons were so offended by The Playboy of the Western World their loud singing and heckling drowned out the actors. Why did this play, at this time, provoke such a reaction? Part 1 of a deep-dive with Dr Lloyd (Maedhbh) Houston into an infamous moment in Irish cultural history. Christy is swinging his loy about in a very virile way that seems to suggest his iconoclastic sexual vitality. Llo...

Rage: O'Brien 'Girls in their Married Bliss' (1964)

January 20, 2022 04:00 - 31 minutes - 15.8 MB

It is no mystery why this novel was banned: the previous two novels in The Country Girls trilogy were also blacklisted. But in this short, punchy novel, O’Brien attacked many sacred cows. No Irish tourist board would promote a pushy brass-necked woman like Baba. Kate is married to one of the worst husbands in literature. The sex scene is an extended commentary on gender, kink, sex education and homosexuality. And electric blankets. Subscribe on patreon https://www.patreon.com/censore...

Throbbing: Hull 'The Sheik' (1919)

January 06, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutes - 18.8 MB

How did a desert romance saturated with sex escape the censor’s attention? The novel, and later the film, were cultural phenomena: more than one cocktail recipe paid homage to The Sheik. It is interesting that Diana reminds the Sheik of one of his thoroughbred horses Ellen Turner Contemporary reviewers did condemn the novel for its sexual content Ellen Turner It might be torture but it is quite nice, its exquisite Aoife Bhreatnach Subscribe on patreon https://www.patreon.com/censor...

Dreadfully Common: Maugham 'Cakes and Ale' (1930)

December 16, 2021 04:00 - 32 minutes - 16.4 MB

Nothing got past the beady-eyes of the censors, who decided a book about literary celebrity was indecent. The vigilantes who policed the bookshops were equally sharp, initiating a prosecution when ‘Cakes and Ale’ was on sale openly. It’s subtitle was ‘The Skeleton in the Cupboard’ hinting that it is about a dirty shameful secret. It’s a great tease isn’t it – what is the skeleton and who’s keeping the cupboard under lock and key? Apparently, Hugh Walpole recognised himself immediately ...

Blasphemy: Moore 'The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne' (1955)

December 02, 2021 04:00 - 43 minutes - 21.9 MB

Scrutinised by two censorship boards, this novel is a moving exploration of lonely spinsterhood under patriarchal Catholicism. I’ve always been fascinated by boarding houses because they are such marginal spaces in our residential landscape. Aoife Bhreatnach Fr Quigley is one of Moore’s many critical representations of Catholic clergy. Sinéad Moynihan It’s a really bleak novel, but it’s also an interesting portrayal of Belfast before the Troubles. Sinéad Moynihan Join me on ...

Oh, James: Fleming 'Diamonds are Forever'

November 18, 2021 04:00 - 28 minutes - 14.3 MB

‘Oh, James’ is a catchphrase from the Bond films, said by hot girls in breathy, sexy voices. When the love interest says it in ‘Diamonds are Forever’, she is disappointed. A bit like me, reading this book. As critics have pointed out, the function of the Bond girl it to reflect Bond back to himself – she’s more a plot device than a character. I found novel Bond repellent for precisely the same reasons film Bond is interesting. Belsen? is there a prize for most inappropriate holo...

Dirty Foreigners: O'Brien 'The Lonely Girl' (1962)

November 04, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 17 MB

This novel is the further adventures of Caithleen and her sidekick Baba in the big city, as they search for fun, love and a free meal. A sequel to ‘The Country Girls’ (1960) it was automatically banned by a board who hated its author. · There was no such thing as a safe book. The Caithleens of Ireland – young women – were especially susceptible to notions. · Caithleen’s independent life outside her father’s control can be snuffed out at his whim. · The humour in the nov...

Obscene knowledge: Irish Family Planning Association 'Family Planning' (1976)

October 21, 2021 03:00 - 38 minutes - 19.6 MB

Information about contraception or ‘family planning’ was illegal under the censorship act but weirdly, the censors banned this booklet for being ‘indecent or obscene’. What followed was a lengthy legal battle and a dent in the authority of the mighty censor. With guest, Dr Laura Kelly. ‘The IFPA felt there was a huge need for this booklet in Ireland.’ ‘What’s distinctly Irish about this is there’s no mention of things like abortion or sexual pleasure. You get those in British and Am...

Wanton: Powys 'Mr Weston's Good Wine' (1927)

October 07, 2021 03:00 - 31 minutes - 16.1 MB

What could be indecent in a novel about God as a travelling wine salesman? Apart from the blasphemy, there are dirty deeds done under the oak tree in Folly Down village. Join me on Patreon for show notes and unexpurgated guest interviews: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod Check out my merch https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bottom wriggling: Anon 'The Memoirs of Dolly Morton' (1899)

September 23, 2021 03:00 - 37 minutes - 18.9 MB

This ‘novel’ is an odd entry on the blacklist: why would censors in 1989 ban a publication from 1899? This antique erotica reveals a lot about 19th century kinks as well as the marketing strategies of smut merchants. Pity about the nauseating amounts of racism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dirty Irish Colleens:

September 09, 2021 03:00 - 48 minutes - 24.4 MB

Part 1 of a deep dive into the early work of Edna O’Brien, whose work has infuriated people since 1960. How did The Country Girls become one of the most notorious Irish novels of the 20th century? Blacklisting made this coming-of-age novel and it’s young author wildly famous. So many myths surround The Country Girls that it’s past time to read the novel for filth and rate its rudeness. With Dr Maureen O'Connor. Join me on Patreon for show notes and unexpurgated guest interviews: https://...

Squalid Glamour: Isherwood 'Goodbye to Berlin' (1939)

August 04, 2021 10:45 - 36 minutes - 19 MB

This fine collection of stories about the Berlin’s bohemian underclass in Berlin probably annoyed the censors. If they had read it closely, the rent boys and loose women would have given them a collective coronary. Guest: Dr Jonathan Kemp Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All Cork: O'Faoláin 'Bird Alone' (1936)

July 22, 2021 03:00 - 52 minutes - 28 MB

Seán O’Faoláin’s love letter to his homeplace, Cork city, was singled out for censorship in 1936. Being blacklisted provoked his career-long critiques of the Irish state. Was this atmospheric, sometimes nostalgic novel banned because of its author or its content? Guest: Dr Paul Delaney. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Teenage Rebel: Lessing 'Martha Quest (1952)

July 08, 2021 03:00 - 38 minutes - 19.4 MB

Doris Lessing's radical politics scared the government of more than one country. This semi-autobiographical novel features an angry, impatient teenager growing up amidst the racial conflict in Africa. Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod Get your merch here https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Revolutionary: Hansen and Jensen 'The Little Red Schoolbook' (1969)

June 24, 2021 03:00 - 31 minutes - 15.8 MB

This little book was so dangerous that the French, British and South African governments joined the Irish censors in banning it. The blunt honesty about sex and drugs caused a global moral panic about childhood and innocence. Support the show with stickers or subs! Merch: https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Girls, Girls: Mead 'Coming of Age in Samoa' (1928)

June 10, 2021 03:00 - 44 minutes - 23.6 MB

When it was published in America, this popular anthropology book made its author famous. The censors ignored it for nearly 20 years, until they banned it in 1944. Maybe they finally noticed that Mead praised horny teenage girls. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod Merch: https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All the antis: Shatter 'Laura' (1989)

May 27, 2021 03:00 - 23 minutes - 11.7 MB

With unparliamentary sex and a tug-of-love legal battle, 'Laura' was a bestseller in 1989. So why on earth was it before the censors in 2013? It seemed very silly then but it appears more sinister now. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod Merch: https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phallic: Flynn 'My Wicked, Wicked Ways' (1959)

May 13, 2021 03:00 - 32 minutes - 16.4 MB

Errol Flynn embodied swashbuckling masculinity in Hollywood of the 1930s yet his dissipation killed him at 50. His memoir was marketed as salacious but how rude could it really be? Merch: http://store.censored.ie Subscribe on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A New Woman 'Helene' (1928)

April 29, 2021 03:00 - 33 minutes - 16.7 MB

Baum was a bestselling author of the 1930s who attracted the ire of the Irish censors. Helene is a romance about a struggling university student with a serious feminist message. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A New Woman: Baum 'Helene' (1928)

April 29, 2021 03:00 - 33 minutes - 16.7 MB

Baum was a bestselling author of the 1930s who attracted the ire of the Irish censors. Helene is a romance about a struggling university student with a serious feminist message. If you love Evil Literature, check out my merch: http://store.censored.ie Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mollocking: Gibbon 'Cold Comfort Farm' (1932)

April 15, 2021 03:00 - 31 minutes - 15.5 MB

How could this delicious literary parody be described as indecent? Only the Irish censors saw something nasty in a comic take on DH Lawrence and Jane Austen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fecundshite: Joyce 'Ulysses' (1922)

March 18, 2021 04:00 - 50 minutes - 24.6 MB

James Joyce went way beyond smut when he wrote Ulysses, an epic modernist masterpiece. The censorship history of Ulysses is as mind boggling as the author’s bloody-minded determination to offend. In a bizarre twist, this filthy book was never banned in Ireland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unsuitable for Irish: bold books as Gaeilge

March 11, 2021 04:00 - 40 minutes - 20.3 MB

The scrutiny of the censor was confined to the English language. But work in Irish, the other language of the state, were also censored by editors, bureaucrats and catholic reactionaries. No language was allowed to explore scandalous ‘sex feelings’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The McGahern Affair Part 2, the scandal

March 04, 2021 04:00 - 36 minutes - 18.1 MB

Outrage over banned books was rare but this scandal had it all: a persecuted artist, overbearing clerics and legal reform. The Dark (1965) was a powerful book that helped change the censorship system. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The McGahern Affair Part 1, the Book

February 25, 2021 04:00 - 42 minutes - 21 MB

When The Dark was banned in 1965, John McGahern became the focus of a censorship controversy. But what about this coming-of-age novel irked the censors? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sexual Inversion: Hall 'The Well of Loneliness' (1928)

February 18, 2021 04:00 - 35 minutes - 17.7 MB

Hall's queer text was at the centre of an English moral panic and censorship show trial. Why did the Irish censor prohibit a book that was effectively banned in Ireland anyway? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Too critical: O'Brien 'The Land of Spices' (1941)

February 11, 2021 04:00 - 41 minutes - 20.7 MB

A censor called this book ‘unwholesome’ in parliament because it mentioned ‘sodomy’. But maybe O’Brien’s pointed criticism of nationalism was the real reason it was banned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Original Sin: Spark 'The Bachelors' (1960)

February 04, 2021 04:00 - 28 minutes - 14.3 MB

An entertaining and elegant look at singledom in London that challenged censor's ideas on sex and conception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Torrid trash: Wheatley 'To the Devil a Daughter' (1953)

January 28, 2021 04:00 - 41 minutes - 20.9 MB

Wheatley was a successful popular-fiction writer who was censored five times in Ireland. This spy thriller with a dash of Satanism is stuffed with reactionary xenophobic nonsense. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hex & Sex: Smith 'Passionate Witch' (1942)

January 21, 2021 04:00 - 38 minutes - 19.3 MB

Only a truly paranoid censor would ban book this innocuous. But even barely there smut can give readers ideas... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ravishing: Anon 'The Lustful Turk' (1828)

January 14, 2021 04:00 - 30 minutes - 15.1 MB

Why on earth was antique erotica, with its hilarious genital metaphors, censored in Ireland? This titillating text was officially 'obscene' for more than one hundred years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The worst girl: Madonna 'Sex' (1992)

January 07, 2021 04:00 - 24 minutes - 12.4 MB

With nudity, leather and simulated sex of all varieties, Madonna tried to 'de-sin' sexual expression. This photographic book provoked over-reactions in Ireland, Britain, France and America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republican Love Triangle: Broderick 'The Fugitives' (1962)

December 03, 2020 04:00 - 30 minutes - 15 MB

An uncensored book that was full of sex, violence and subterfuge. How did Broderick get away with writing about gay, republican freedom-fighters? I don't know for sure, but I'm going to speculate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thick Thighs: O'Brien, 'At Swim Two Birds' (1939)

November 26, 2020 04:00 - 30 minutes - 14.8 MB

O'Brien was that rare thing: an Irish writer who was never banned in Ireland. A book that was less a plot and more a conspiracy distracted the filthy-minded censors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mass Perversion: Comfort, 'The Joy of Sex' (1972)

November 19, 2020 04:00 - 35 minutes - 17.7 MB

JoS was a bestselling sex guide that captured the spirit of the 70s sexual revolution. Although banned in Ireland, it was openly on sale. This is a complicated story of prohibited publications and outraged readers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Compulsive wanking: Roth 'Portnoy's Complaint' (1969)

November 12, 2020 04:00 - 43 minutes - 21.2 MB

Why did the Irish censors ignore this spectacularly rude book? And why is this story of a sex-obsessed Jewish man so important in the history of censorship in Australia? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Satanic Love Triangle: Mannin, 'Lucifer and the Child' (1946)

November 05, 2020 04:00 - 40 minutes - 20.5 MB

What happens when a child meets a horned man in a dark forest? A book that explores the nature of evil and decides that sex isn’t the problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Queer, with cocktails: Moore, 'Chocolates for Breakfast' (1956)

October 29, 2020 04:00 - 41 minutes - 20.5 MB

A candid, haunting novel about the coming-of-age of a teenage girl. Full of decadent sexuality that would have given the censors a fit of the vapours. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War is hell: Boell, 'And where were you, Adam?' (1951)

October 22, 2020 03:00 - 33 minutes - 16.6 MB

How did this subtle, refined war novel earn a ban? Perhaps faeces or war crimes were more offensive than barely-there sex. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unzipped!: Collins, 'The Stud' (1969)

October 15, 2020 03:00 - 31 minutes - 15.5 MB

The Stud is more silly than sexy and it's not the finest example of a bonkbuster. Why on earth would such a trashy, ridiculous book be banned when the censor ignored serious literary sex? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Perverty Stuff: Salinger, 'The Catcher in the Rye' (1951)

October 08, 2020 03:00 - 43 minutes - 22.1 MB

Holden Caulfield's swearing and sex talk has offended many since 1951. Now a modern classic, what explains the enduring appeal of this poor little rich kid story? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Such Badness: Hoult, 'There were no windows' (1944)

October 01, 2020 03:00 - 27 minutes - 13.8 MB

Hoult was banned more often than any other Irish woman writer. Only a censor's beady eye can find filth in a novel about loneliness and dementia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Voluptuous Jazzing: McKay, 'Home to Harlem' (1928)

September 24, 2020 03:00 - 25 minutes - 12.7 MB

A love letter to Harlem and its music, this book offended all kinds of people. McKay's honesty about sex was brave and inflammatory Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Low and vulgar: Cross, 'The Tailor and Ansty' (1942)

September 17, 2020 03:00 - 50 minutes - 25.2 MB

A little book of folklore that became infamous. It was debated in parliament where nationalists denounced the elderly couple who were the subject of the book. But was the bull/cow story really that rude? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Low and vulgar: Cross, 'The Tailor and Ansty' (1942)

September 17, 2020 03:00 - 50 minutes - 25.2 MB

A little book of folklore that became infamous. It was debated in parliament where nationalists denounced the elderly couple who were the subject of the book. But was the bull/cow story really that rude? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episodes