DEATH // SENTENCE
200 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 36 ratingsA podcast about books for people who don't like books, podcasts or capitalism, but who like extreme metal.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Love Chronicles Of The Octopodes With Jesse Kohn
April 20, 2024 19:48 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MBEden sits down with the non-fictional representative of the book of webs, Jesse Kohn, to talk about the weird, beguiling, and bubbling Love Chronicles of the Octopodes by Karen An-hwei Lee! Gene editing, Emily Dickinson, internal monologue, cosmic adventures, the Moon personified, and more whirl in this unique and scintillating book! Music played - TWRP - Online (feat. Tom Cardy & Montaigne) https://twrp.bandcamp.com/track/online-feat-tom-cardy-montaigne
Termush And The Violence Of Manners
April 08, 2024 15:45 - 1 hour - 60.6 MBIn honor of the world-ending eclipse that's scheduled for today, Gareth and Eden sit down to tackle Sven Holm's Termush! The novel explores an atomic post-apocalypse and the parasitic, depraved, neurotic, and straight up weird well-to-do people who try to survive it. The two tackle ideas of middle class violence and manners, radiation and climate change, cooperation vs. selfish survival, and elite panic! Music played: Savage Oath - Blood For the King https://savageoath.bandcamp.com/track/bl...
A Primer on Utopian Philosophy - John Greenaway
April 03, 2024 18:45 - 1 hour - 126 MBErnst Bloch is probably going to be unknown to many listeners, but, according to Horror Vanguard's Jon Greenaway, he's one of the most overlooked and important philosophers of the 20th century. We talk about what Utopia means and what it can mean now that it seems further away than ever. Music by Necrot.
Kay Dick - They
March 26, 2024 21:17 - 2 hours - 233 MBWhat if nasty commoners were going around breaking all the nice people's art? What if we've been getting morality all wrong? We consider all this and more when talking about Kay Dick's rediscovered masterpiece They. Music by Sleepyime Gorilla Museum: https://sleepytimegorillamuseum1.bandcamp.com/album/of-the-last-human-being
Grace Blakeley - Vulture Capitalism
March 19, 2024 19:10 - 52 minutes - 95.7 MBWhat if everything you were taught about Neoliberalism was wrong? What if it's not a free-market free-for-all but as tightly controlled as any planned economy? Grace Blakeley joins us to discuss her new book about this, why everything is so expensive, where all the money went and what we can do about it. Music by Full of Hell.
Ian Cory of Lamniforms interview
March 17, 2024 19:25 - 1 hour - 166 MBLangdon talks to Ian Cory, former editor-in-chief of the almighty Invisible Oranges blog and now lead of genre-agnostic (but generally heavy) band Lamniforms.
Isaac Rose - The Rentier City
March 12, 2024 21:27 - 1 hour - 121 MBWe're 'mad for it' on this episode! And by 'mad for it' we mean mad about how Manchester, the city where capitalism and communism were invented, has turned into a nightmare of hotdesking 'spaces', dumb concept bars that last two weeks and towers to store insufferable yuppies. Isaac Rose is here to talk about his new book The Rentier City: Manchester And The Making Of The Neoliberal Metropolis and what has happened to this once-adequate city. Music by Genital Shame. Join our Patreon communit...
Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind And The Hopelesness Of Work
March 04, 2024 14:40 - 2 hours - 114 MBIt's a very chipper and uplifting episode, as Langdon and Eden tackle the question of revolutionary optimism, the role of hope (or lack thereof) in revolutionary politics, and the question of "doomerism". Then, they dive deep into a workplace novel unlike any other, the incisive, empathic, and deeply sad Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind. Dreams, quotas, debt, rent, and monsters mix and clash as they tear the protagonist's (and our) lives apart. Also, join us on Discord - https://discord.gg/A...
Archivist Wasp - A YA Katabasis
February 28, 2024 15:41 - 1 hour - 99.7 MBThis time around, Langdon and Eden talk about how the Internet is dead, actually, and who has killed it. Then, they stay on the topic of demise by diving into Nicole Kornher-Stace's Archivist Wasp, a weird and twisted exploration of death, the afterlife, and trying your best. Music played: Vitriol - Locked in Thine Frothing Wisdom https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/track/locked-in-thine-frothing-wisdom Chapel of Disease - A Death Though No Loss https://chapelofdisease.bandcamp.com/track/a-d...
Josie Riesman - Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and The Unmaking of America
February 21, 2024 15:16 - 1 hour - 151 MBJosie Riesman joins us to talk about her book on Vince McMahon, the head of the WWE and arguably the creator of modern wrestling, who is now undergoing a long-overdue downfall after certain allegations came to light. Music by Darkspace: https://darkspace.bandcamp.com/ I'm sure you'd like a tasty beer to go with this episode - give the cooperatively run, community-owened Lacada Brewery from Portrush, Northern Ireland a go: https://www.lacadabrewery.com/
The Science Fiction Poem - Aniara and Deep Wheel Orcadia
January 18, 2024 20:41 - 1 hour - 57.4 MBOn this solo episode, Eden kicks off a series looking at a new format for Death // Sentence - the science fiction poem! He does it by diving deep into two fine examples of the format, Aniara and Deep Wheel Orcadia, focusing on themes of language, translation, belonging, deep space, and religiosity! Music played: Ranges - The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune https://ranges.bandcamp.com/track/i-the-slings-and-arrows-of-outrageous-fortune
Kazuo Ishiguro - An Artist of the Floating World
January 15, 2024 18:15 - 1 hour - 62.2 MBThe singular entity known as Langdon/Eden records a solo episode continuing the long-promised series on Kazuo Ishiguro. This time around, they tackle "An Artist of the Floating World", Ishiguro's second novel and his attempt to tackle post-WWII Japan, masculinity, old age, honor, shame, and more! Music played: Jesus i betong by Cortex https://heartworkrecords.bandcamp.com/track/jesus-i-betong
Vajra Chandrasekera - The Saint Of Bright Doors
December 24, 2023 19:51 - 1 hour - 108 MBThis time around, Langdon and Eden explore the shadowy and religious urbanity of The Saint of Bright Doors, a fantasy book about knowledge, imperialism, and violence. But first, they talk about the shadow urbanity of the United States of America and Langdon's trans-dimensional adventures with Power Wash Simulator (yes). Music played: Pessimystic - Burnt Offering https://pessimysticofficial.bandcamp.com/track/burnt-offering Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze - Ekstasis, Enstasis, and The Fractal O...
Dan Sinykin - Big Fiction
December 12, 2023 19:34 - 1 hour - 140 MBWhy aren't books hitting like they used to? Partly it's because of how they're sold, Dan Sinykin says in Big Fiction. We talk about how everyone from Cormac McCarthy to Stephen King and the Million Little Pieces guy explains the Conglomeration Era of fiction. Music by Fawn Limbs & Nadja and Panopticon. Theme tune by Caina.
Matt McManus - The Political Right and Equality
December 06, 2023 20:22 - 1 hour - 124 MBMatt McManus is one of the most perceptive critics of the conservative movement out there, and in The Political Right and Equality: Turning Back the Tide on Egalitarian Modernity he takes them on their own terms, reading major figures from Socrates to Burke, Hegel, Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche to find what links them. Music by Rosa Faenskap and Afterbirth
Acid Horizon's Anti-Oculus: Escape, Control, and Resistance
November 28, 2023 14:25 - 1 hour - 77.4 MBOn this episode, Adam and Craig of the Acid Horizon podcast join Eden to discuss their new book, "Anti-Oculus: A Philosophy of Escape". The three dive deep into cybernetics, the blindness of the Israeli genocidal apparatus, what it means to control and be controlled, pathways of escape, and how to write good introductions to books. Music played: Exulansis - Overtures of Uprising https://bindrunerecordings.bandcamp.com/track/overtures-of-uprising
M. John Harrison's The Sunken Land Begins To Rise Again
November 20, 2023 23:03 - 1 hour - 93.6 MBLangdon and Eden sink deep into M. John Harrison's masterful, erudite, oppressive, and creepy "The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again"! The two discuss the fading landscape of England, London's dire straits, the numbing reality of the Midlands, forests, ponds, disappearing women, post-modernism, and more. But first, they critique the very current and relevant Game of Thrones and, by way of it, all of fantasy as well! Music played: Xoth - Map to the Stars, Monuments to the Ancients https://xot...
Marc Andreessen, Nick Land and Martin Heidegger
November 07, 2023 21:31 - 1 hour - 219 MBHighly aerodynamic tech investor Marc Andreessen has written a 'Techno Optimist Manifesto' that cites arch-edgelord dork Nick Land as a 'Patron Saint of Techno Optimism'. Has he read Nick Land? Sean of the Wyrd Signal podcast and I conclude no, he hasn't, and in doing so we talk about Land's ideas, Martin Heidegger, Degrowth, Dystopia and The Meg. Music by MARTHE and Nothing/Full of Hell
Bewilderment And The Book Of Webs
October 19, 2023 19:56 - 1 hour - 94.3 MBThis time around, Langdon and Eden begin by talking about literary and epistemological bewilderment before pivoting to the role of knowledge, narrative, and "neutral" understanding in the Palestinian conflict. Free Palestine! Then, continuing the theme of confusion, they tackle the wonderfully beguiling "the book of webs" by Jesse Kohn a fragmented dream journal of a book which offers an option of resistance through weird logic. Music played - Stortregn - Omega Axiom https://stortregn.ban...
Michael Moorcock and the End of Time
September 28, 2023 02:00 - 1 hour - 101 MBEden returns and is joined by his compatriot, Langdon, who is definitely not a robot! The two start off by discussing the disappearance acts of The Twin Towers, Jesus Christ, and power metal (yeah) before diving into what is arguably Michael Moorcock's weirdest iteration of the Eternal Champion cycle, The Dancers at the End of Time! Music played: Mohini Dey - First Food Then You https://mohinidey.bandcamp.com/track/first-food-then-you Sprain - Margin for Error https://sprain.bandcamp.com/t...
Isabel Waidner - Corey Fah Does Social Mobility
September 21, 2023 18:41 - 1 hour - 120 MBA writer wins a prize but the prize is a UFO and there's a spider-deer hybrid and a time-travelling playwright and- Isabel Waidner's new book is a trip, but it's not just weird for the sake of weird - there's a social critique there, which we talk about on this show, which includes new music by Ragana and Tomb Mold. Be a deer and subscribe to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence
Eliza Clark - Penance
August 07, 2023 19:58 - 1 hour - 132 MBIn 2020 Eliza Clark's debut Boy Parts absolutely blew up. Now she's back and, folks, Penance is even better - twistier, deeper, overall more toothsome than its predecessor. We talk to Eliza about fanfic, true crime, the internet and the TV adaptation of Boy Parts that we've all been hoping for. Music by Agriculture.
Graham Jones - Red Enlightenment
July 17, 2023 19:03 - 1 hour - 162 MBCommissar of Enlightenment Graham Jones joins the boys to talk about his new book Red Enlightenment, the nature of spirituality, whether communism is a religion and whether we should do a spin-off podcast about riddles and tricks. Music by Radiant Knife and Baroness.
The Cycle Begins - Elric of Melniboné
July 02, 2023 17:31 - 1 hour - 56.4 MBThat's right, this time around, Eden, Langdon and Gareth kick off D//S's series of episodes on The Eternal Champion by covering the so-bad-it's-actually-good origin story in Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock! Swords clash, vampires (maybe) do their thing, and the English are mocked several times! Music played: Tanith - Snow Tiger https://tanithnyc.bandcamp.com/track/snow-tiger
To Colonize the Fungal City - Andrew F. Sullivan's "The Marigold"
June 05, 2023 21:43 - 1 hour - 102 MBThis time around, Langdon has been colonized by The Mold™, and Eden revisits the issues of identity politics, tracking your consumption of art, and killing the spreadsheet inside our heads! Then, they're both colonized by The Wet™ while discussing Andrew F. Sullivan's excellent "The Marigold", a horror novel about the blood price we pay to cities, to capitalism, to each other, and, finally, tragically, to ourselves. Music played: Soulkeeper - Time Out of Mind https://soulkeepercult.bandcam...
Metallic Excess with David Burke
May 03, 2023 13:30 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBEden is joined by David Burke (https://twitter.com/metal_analysis), who's researching his PhD at Bath Spa University on the unifying thematics of heavy metal culture! The two discuss what makes something "so fucking metal, dude", the regressive and progressive politics of metal and excess, its ties to sword & sorcery and fantasy literature in general, Nietzsche, Georges Bataille and The Accursed Share, productive violence, and much more! Music played: Splendor by Nebulae Come Sweet https:...
Lethargic Futures with Missouri Williams' The Doloriad
April 26, 2023 15:46 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBA dreaded triumvirate episode looms on the horizon as Gareth, Langdon, and Eden dive into the brutal, incisive, and beautifully written "The Doloriad" by Missouri Williams! Under the guise of a post-apocalypse novel, Williams uses this brilliant book to critique hegemonic epistemology, explore topics like veganism and ableism, and above all deliver a host of dreadful, delightful, mysterious, and essential characters. Music by the incandescent Smoulder https://smoulder.bandcamp.com/album/vi...
The Ever-shifting Realities of PKD with Abraham Josephine Riesman
April 18, 2023 18:58 - 54 minutes - 50 MBThis time around, Eden is joined by Abraham Josephine “Josie” Riesman, NYT-bestselling authoress of True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America, and much else besides. The two dive into Philip K. Dick's legacy, investigating his positions on Judaism, his religious exegesis, what we can learn from his writings about the current (and sorry) state of American culture, our perceptions of our world around us, transness, and more! Seriously, ...
Bill Peel - Tonight It's a World We Bury: Black Metal, Red Politics
April 11, 2023 20:07 - 1 hour - 153 MBBlack metal? Isn't that the genre for nazi edgelords with all the Gene Simmons makeup? Well that's where you're wrong kiddo: Bill Peel has written the definitive guide to how it's surprisngly leftist. Music by Darkthrone and Altar of Plagues.
Brian Catling - Earwig
April 02, 2023 13:05 - 1 hour - 97.7 MBLangdon and Eden return once again to the vaulted halls of the genius-brain that was Brian Catling. This time around they cover Earwig, a cold and weird story filled with devilish revenge, body horror, killing your abusers, and cats. But first, the two take time to drive a holy stake through the hearts of fools who are trying to do transphobia, but from the left, as they discuss gender, materialism, and social relations. Music played: Trespasser - https://trespasserxvi.bandcamp.com/track/h...
Tolkien's Akallabêth and the Straight Road
March 11, 2023 18:23 - 45 minutes - 44.3 MBEden reads one page from Tolkien's Akallabêth (that's right, only one) and discusses themes of memory, myth, Platonism, religion, storytelling, Tolkien's Legendarium , politics, and more on this solo episode! Music played: vvilderness - Nemere, from the beautiful Path: https://vvilderness.bandcamp.com/track/nemere Artwork is Tar-Miriel by Tad Nasmith, please don't sue us the painting is very beautiful.
Timothy Bewes - Free Indirect (P*ssing yourself in the Skinamarink House)
February 21, 2023 19:14 - 1 hour - 138 MBIn this house... we read Free Indirect: The Novel in a Postfictional Age by Timothy Bewes with Jon Greenaway aka also known as TheLitCritGuy. What can a novel do? How can it 'think'? What does this all have to do with posting and low-budget Canadian analog horror? Music by BIG|BRAVE
Samuel R. Delany - Dhalgren
February 13, 2023 20:16 - 1 hour - 167 MBWe finally did it. We tackled 'the Ulysses of Science Fiction', all 600 pages of Samuel R. Delaney's magnum opus Dhalgren. We talk about race, sex, Deleuze, Doctor Who, and the bad compromises queer writers had to make in the seventies. Music by GEL
Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune
January 24, 2023 19:50 - 1 hour - 131 MBWhat will be your job in the Leftist Commune? M. E O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi have written the book of the evergreen Twitter question. and I'm only kind of joking. Everything for Everyone is a fictional oral history of post-revolutionary New York, taking the reader through how life could work without money, the government or even the family. Music by Fvnerals and Cremation Lily.
Eleanor Janega - The Once and Future Sex
January 11, 2023 19:49 - 1 hour - 148 MBDr. Eleanor Janega (also of the We're Not So Different podcast) joins us to discuss her book The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval On Women's Roles in Society. We discuss how Plato and Hippocrates ruined things for everyone, what the average person gets wrong about the Medieval period and what our boy Satan has to do with all of this. Music by Yokai & Kekht Ararkh and Grave Babies
K.J. Bishop - The Etched City
December 24, 2022 14:48 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBEden returns with another solo episode, this time diving into the New Weird inflected fantasy of K.J. Bishop's "The Etched City"! God-creators stalk the night, crocodiles prowl the river, gunslingers duel in the streets, and all the while the world unravels before our eyes. Just another day in Ashamoil! Music played: Agriculture - The Circle Chant https://agriculturemusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-circle-chant-3
Stepan Chapman - The Troika
December 21, 2022 22:07 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBThis episode, Langdon reports on his adjusted power levels while Eden rambles about dying alone in space. Or perhaps building a flourishing community in space? Both? You'll see (it's the first one). Then, we discuss Stepan Chapman's The Troika, potentially one of the most (if not the most) whip-lashing, weird, and exquisitely written books we've covered. Join us as the souls of three poor people mix in purgatory, leading to revelations about fish, squids, brontosaurs, sentient jeeps, human e...
Tariq Goddard - High John The Conqueror
November 30, 2022 20:09 - 1 hour - 136 MBTariq Goddard joins us to talk about his new book High John the Conqueror - part police procedural, part folk-horror fantasy. Tariq also happens to be the publisher of Repeater Books, the best leftist press in the entire world, so we have plenty to talk about, including cops, psychedelia, the South West of England and the state of publishing.
Jeffrey Ford - The Physiognomy
November 12, 2022 15:03 - 1 hour - 107 MBOn this episode of Death // Sentence, Langdon and Eden kick things off by summoning the worst version of Eden possible - Conservative Eden! He rants on and on about the whiplash reaction to Sad Puppies and the inevitable, and awful, rise of identity politics focused SFF. Then, the two discuss Jeffrey Ford's The Physiognomy, a World Fantasy Award winning, weird-ass book about corrupted cities, immortality, heaven, time travel (possibly), neurosis, paranoia, fascism, and a protagonist who real...
Phil Burton-Cartledge - Falling Down
October 27, 2022 20:09 - 1 hour - 159 MBNORMAL ISLAND RIGHT? Britain has been even more NORMAL than usual lately, so we invited Phil Burton-Cartledge on the show to talk about his book Falling Down: The Conservative Party and the Decline of Tory Britain. We cover the past, present and hopefully short future of the Tory Party, the hidden motivations of its leading figures and our shared love of White Zombie. Music by Ripped to Shreds and Lana Del Rabies.
The Putrescine/Kosmogyr Interview
October 05, 2022 03:45 - 1 hour - 132 MBHark, wary traveler: Today, Langdon ventures out alone to feast, to hunt, to kill. Also they interview a returning Trevor from Putrescine and Ivan from Kosmogyr about their recent split LP DESOLATE TIDES. All being pretty bored of standard interview shapes and topics, the results are more a conversation than drilling into what inspired them to write sick riffs. (The inspiration is that riffs are very sick and it's cool to write sick riffs.) FEATURED MUSIC: Putrescine - "The Accursed" Kosmogy...
Susanna Clarke - Piranesi
September 26, 2022 18:05 - 1 hour - 118 MBWe've got all three of the podcast's Toxic Litbros on the pod today because we want to talk about Susanna Clarke's incredible Piranesi, the long-awaited follow-up to the modern classic Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel. We talk Platonism, the Tarot, and a weird Meshuggah concert. Music by Fliege: https://dasfliege.bandcamp.com/
Alex Pheby's Malarkoi
September 03, 2022 17:46 - 1 hour - 89.1 MBThe Discourse Labyrinth has once again trapped Langdon and Eden! First, they must do battle with online """Leftists""" to defend a Marxist reading of Foucault (while stabbing the actual man repeatedly, luckily he is already dead). Then, the two dive into the maze of Platonist, reality-bending, weird fantasy that is Alex Pheby's Malarkoi! Talking dogs, gods, ideal realms, time manipulation, and general malarkey abounds. Music played: Gods of Eden - Through the Abyss https://godsofeden.bandc...
Lud-In-The-Mist - Class, Center, Periphery, and Faerie
August 01, 2022 17:33 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBTo celebrate 3,000 followers on Twitter, Eden sits down for a solo episode exploring Hope Mirrlees' "Lud-In-The-Mist", a forgotten classic of faerie metaphor. The discussion revolves around Mirrlees herself, the undertones of class in the story, and how it further explores tension between city and country, center and periphery, and more. Music played: GoGo Penguin - Wave Decay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzwlh0QagRM&ab_channel=GoGoPenguinVEVO
Elle Nash - Gag Reflex
July 27, 2022 18:38 - 1 hour - 147 MBElle Nash is back with another banger: Gag Reflex, a story of eating disorders and nu metal told in Livejournal posts and chatlogs. Along the way we discuss British Niceness, Buddhism, method acting and raves. Music by Sugar Ray and Soulfly
Moderan - Flesh-strips Toned Down
July 24, 2022 13:33 - 1 hour - 72.8 MBLangdon and Eden must first do battle with, and slay, the ancient demon known as "comps" by wielding the mighty sword of post-modern Marxism (real). Then, they tackle the unbridled, full-on, max-fury, chrome, battle-ready, forgotten, unsung masterpiece that is David R. Bunch's scathing sci-fi satire, "Moderan"! Music played: Parannoul - Beautiful World. https://parannoul.bandcamp.com/track/beautiful-world Touccan - Captain Costaud. https://ripcordrecords.bandcamp.com/track/commandant-co...
Ottessa Moshfegh - Lapvona
July 13, 2022 19:14 - 1 hour - 199 MBReturning guest Alison Rumfitt (whose book Tell Me I'm Worthless you need to read) is back to get elbow-deep in medieval pee-pee and poo-poo as we immerse ourselves in Ottessa Moshfegh's Lapvona. Is she crypto-fash? A talentless shock artist? A doo-doo obsessed genius? Just a good writer who writes good books? We discuss this and Alison's new book, Morbid Obsessions, writing about the internet and ant genders on this unmissable new episode!
Yara Rodrigues Fowler - There Are More Things
June 28, 2022 19:53 - 1 hour - 125 MBThere are more things, but how many more? Let's find out by reading Yara Rodrigues Fowler's There Are More Things, a multi-generational story of queer love and revolution. On the way we discuss London's transportation system, Brazilian politics and millenial sadgirl novels. Music by Cloud Rat and Gnoll.
Olga Ravn - The Employees
June 23, 2022 18:55 - 1 hour - 124 MBWe are escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism... Space! Unfortunately, it has been corrupted by capitalism. Olga Ravn's book The Employees spun out of a commission to write a few pages to accompany an art installation and went on to be shortlisted for an International Booker. Music by Tomb Mold and Bekor Qilish Please report to our Patreon for a mandatory waffle party: https://www.patreon.com/DeathSentence
Steve Erikson - Shadowbahn
June 17, 2022 13:28 - 1 hour - 79.1 MBIn Dakota, the twin towers reappear. Inside them Elvis' still-born brother is resurrected. Elsewhere, JFK loses the election and siblings roam the US following their father's elusive, and exhaustive, playlist for a crumbling Union. A DJ croons across the wastes. Reality buckles in the wake of music's death. John Lennon lives. It's Steve Erikson's Shadowbahn! Before that, Langdon and Eden (remember him?) also talk about how Cool and Also Good™ it is for different types of communists to be abs...