Couple's Book Club
28 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 4 years ago - ★★★ - 4 ratingsLauren and Isaac can read and are married to each other. Sometimes they read the same book at the same time on purpose. This is that.
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Episodes
Episode 28- TekWar
May 23, 2020 00:00 - 53 minutes - 35.2 MBLauren and Isaac read the 1989 sci-fi (classic?) TekWar by the one and only William Shatner. Was there a war? Not actively! Were there robot boobs? Hardly! Was there a plot? Vaguely! Just sit back, disarm your lazgun, raise a plasglass, and listen to us be bored with ourselves but mostly this book.
Episode 27- Mindhunter
April 03, 2020 00:00 - 57 minutes - 38.3 MBLauren and Isaac are back after a bit of a hiatus to bring more talking at your earholes! We read John Douglas's "Mindhunter," which is not really like the TV show, but is definitely written by an old white guy.
Episode 26- The Amityville Horror
December 06, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 46.6 MBLauren and Isaac read the cult classic(?) "true story" of The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. Check here first for info on porcupines for your ears, demons pigs, and not scary at all books!
Episode 25- Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered
October 01, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 48.9 MBThis time, Lauren and Isaac read Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. They talk "dark impulses," get real about their own greatest junior high shames, and get bummed out about life in this late capitalist hellscape.
Episode 24- Sacred Hoops
August 09, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 41.8 MBLauren and Isaac read Phil Jackson's '90s spiritual/sport memoir classic "Sacred Hoops" AKA "Eat, Pray, Dunk." We talk religious indoctrination, cultural appropriation, and how lacking this book was on John Stockton content.
Episode 23- Midnight in America
June 07, 2019 00:00 - 46 minutes - 31 MBIn this edition of Electric Book Machine, Lauren and Isaac read Jonathan W. White's cultural history "Midnight in America: Darkness, Sleep, and Dreams During the Civil War." We talk about weird dreams, superstitions, and how psychic Abraham Lincoln probably wasn't. War is hell, but sleep deprivation might be worse!
Episode 22- The Cinderella Complex
March 14, 2019 00:00 - 50 minutes - 32 MBThe Cinderella Complex meets post-concussion syndrome in this fun little book club nugget! Lauren has a head injury but was still let down by how not completely awful this book was. Do women really fear independence, or is capitalism just a trash system? We discuss.
Episode 21- I Am Not a Serial Killer
January 11, 2019 00:00 - 51 minutes - 33.9 MBLauren and Isaac venture into the world of dark young adult fiction with Dan Wells' "I Am Not a Serial Killer" and they discuss the basis of morality, basically. It's a real corker of an episode!
Episode 20- Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man
November 27, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 47.3 MBLauren and Isaac are joined by special guest, comedian, and single lady Emily Townswick to discuss Steve Harvey's Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. This book is full of so much good advice for how to tame your local psychopath into being a decent partner. We also discuss some racially dicey terms Steve uses and make a lot of assumptions about his three marriages (allegedly). Also, check out Emily and Lauren's sketch group Ladybrain: https://www.facebook.com/ladybrain/ Shows November 30-Dec...
Episode 19- Creepy Crawling
October 16, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 47.8 MBHold onto your bell bottoms, because Professor Isaac is here to tell you all about one of his areas of expertise: Charles Manson! Lauren and Isaac read Jeffrey Melnick's "Creepy Crawling: Charles Manson and the Many Lives of America's Most Infamous Family" and engage all the most important cultural questions: Who's the worst Beach Boy? How hot were the Manson girls? Does Charles Manson fuck? (yes, obvi)
Episode 18- Without Mercy
August 30, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 53 MBThis time, Lauren and Isaac have tackled a paperback purchase from the grocery store, Without Mercy. It's about terrorism and how the laws of the United States make it difficult to stop terrorism. Isaac has maybe studied this his whole academic career and has a lot to say. Also, it was bad. You'll hear a promo from Good Nightmare podcast (http://goodnightmare.libsyn.com/). It's a delightful, creepy, Australian podcast with bite-sized episodes you should 100% check out.
Episode 17- Dead Mountain
July 16, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 46.2 MBThis time, Lauren and Isaac read Donnie Eichar's Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident. We talk Soviet sport, capitalist yetis, and so much more.
Episode 16- The Satanic Bible
June 16, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 41.6 MBLauren and Isaac picked up The Satanic Bible at a local thrift store and were definitely disappointed. These Satanists don't even believe in Satan! Come for the libertarian sex orgies, stay for the teen angst-worthy poetry, we guess.
Episode 15- The Disaster Artist
May 25, 2018 00:00 - 50 minutes - 32.2 MBLauren and Isaac read Greg Sestero's The Disaster Artist, a book about making a movie that is now also a movie. We share our favorite Tommy Wiseau anecdotes and Lauren is maybe recording from inside a small, echo-y cave. Stick around at the end when we spend several minutes discussing what it would be like to have a Satan as a landlord.
Episode 14- Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
March 30, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 59.8 MBLauren and Isaac really lay bare their relationship while examining John Gray, PhD's 1992 classic "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus." Is it mostly just reading aloud offensive, gender essential BS? Maybe! But you'll also learn more than you've ever wanted to know about the elusive Advice Bats.
Episode 13- The Master and Margarita
February 26, 2018 00:00 - 51 minutes - 36.3 MBLauren and Isaac attempt to cover Mikhail Bulgakov's twentieth century satirical(?) Stalin-era novel about the devil, a giant talking cat, Pontius Pilate, and a bunch of other people we didn't care about, but who have names that are fun to say.
Episode 12- Patriot Games
January 08, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 39.6 MBLauren and Isaac read Tom Clancy's "action" "thriller" "classic" Patriot Games this time. It's 500 pages of '80s sexist nonsense with lots of details about how different guns work. PLUS--terrorists! (white ones, mostly) Lauren says, "Fuck you, Jack Ryan." Isaac says, "Yes, you can write a novel with your dick." PLUS PLUS--the premiere of our long-awaited theme song!
Episode 11- Notorious RBG
December 14, 2017 00:00 - 50 minutes - 31.7 MBLauren and Isaac read Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik's Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A fun, light biography that exposes our hatred of the patriarchy and love of liberal "activist" judges.
Episode 10- Eat, Pray, Love
November 20, 2017 00:00 - 1 hour - 44 MBFor their 10th episode, Lauren and Isaac are joined by Minneapolis photographer and improv person Adam Iverson (https://www.instagram.com/adamiversonphotography/) to discuss Elizabeth Gilbert's bestselling spiritual travel memoir Eat, Pray, Love AKA Brown Wisdom AKA God Works Better than Therapy & Meds, I Guess. We cannot fathom why this is supposed to be inspirational, but apparently 10 million people disagree.
Episode 9- I Will Find You
November 05, 2017 00:00 - 1 hour - 40.7 MBLauren & Isaac read the masterfully ghostwritten memoirs of their hero, Detective Lt. Joe Kenda, "I Will Find You." It's full of horrific murders, deadpan quips, and general badassery. SPOILER: we love Kenda even more after reading his book.
Episode 8- The Secret
October 23, 2017 00:00 - 1 hour - 46.7 MBLauren and Isaac read Rhonda Byrne's The Secret AKA The Handbook of Pathological Magical Narcissism. We learned about how to stop thinking "fat thoughts," how sacrifice is bullshit, and that we should all be skeptical of germ theory.
Episode 7- The Golem and the Jinni
October 09, 2017 00:00 - 56 minutes - 36 MBLauren and Isaac read Helene Wecker's lovely 2013 novel The Golem and the Jinni and discuss the parts they liked and also the parts they liked even more.
Episode 6- True Believer
September 18, 2017 00:00 - 1 hour - 42.4 MBLauren and Isaac take on a "supernatural"-themed "romance" from paperback powerhouse Nicholas Sparks. SPOILER ALERT: THERE ARE NO GHOSTS.
Episode 5- The Psychopath Inside
September 03, 2017 00:00 - 1 hour - 45.5 MBLauren and Isaac talk about James Fallon's The Psychopath Inside, their shortest book and longest episode so far. Reckless speculation ensues, Lauren gets hopped up on energy drinks and vodka, and Isaac's voice cannot be properly captured by recording devices SORRY.
Episode 4- Left Behind
August 20, 2017 00:00 - 1 hour - 40.8 MBLauren & Isaac take their first listener request--Christian apocalyptic novel Left Behind. Mediocre writing leads to a lot of blaspheming.
Episode 3- The Stranger Beside Me
August 06, 2017 00:00 - 1 hour - 39.2 MBOn a rainy night in Minnesota, Lauren and Isaac discuss Ann Rule's true crime classic about her murdering ex-friend Ted Bundy, The Stranger Beside Me.
Episode 2- Fifty Shades of Grey
July 19, 2017 00:00 - 59 minutes - 36.7 MBMarried couple Lauren and Isaac tackle E. L. James's bizarrely bestselling debut novel, Fifty Shades of Grey. It's full of angst, controlling behaviors, youthful idiocy, and so, so much unappetizing sex. Spoiler alert: we were not fans.
Episode 1- Mein Kampf Volume 1
July 08, 2017 06:13 - 58 minutes - 41.5 MBMarried couple Lauren & Isaac have formed a book club--with each other. Episode 1 tackles the first volume of Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf. This is for comedy purposes, not white supremacist ones, you guys.