Workers' Lit

Can you kill a country with hardly anyone noticing? The Trump Administration intends to try with Cuba.
In this episode we examine the criminal blockade on Cuba, and the way knowledge of it is essentially non-existent among Americans. Plus, we touch on different levels of information warfare based on class strata, Marco Rubio's plots, and...Elmo's feud with Taylor Swift??
Support the Let Cuba Live Campaign here:
https://www.letcubalive.info/
Articles quoted in this episode:
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/cuba-united-states-oil-blockade-trump-mexico-claudia-sheinbaum
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/marco-rubio-is-deliberately-blocking
Elmo v. Rocco:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgyAWij3SLk
Episode art features a political cartoon by Carlos Latuff

Gay. Gothic. Romantic. I know you’re already cheering, and you should be, because we’re covering Vincent Verga’s 1980 novel “Gaywyck.”

Why must breathy bodice rippers feature only the heteros? There’s plenty of good gay drama to be had, and gay drama Gaywyck delivers.

We discuss the genre of the gothic romance, the groundbreaking nature of Verga’s willingness to not pull punches, and the place weird queer fiction like this is situated in the narrative.

Cover art comes from the original publication of Gaywyck.

This is a really, really, REALLY cool guest.

Today we are joined by Talia Bhatt, writer and radical trans-feminist whose work covers epistemic injustice, Third World feminism, and ranked competitive breast growth (yes, she has RANGE!)

Want to know more? Just listen! She’ll explain it better than we can.

You can find info on all of Talia’s work (including her new book, “Brown/Trans/Les”) at her website below:

https://taliabhatt.com/

What's more literary than talking about one piece of literature? Talking about the very nexus from which literature flows!
Today we sat down with Dave Ring of Neon Hemlock, an independent press for speculative fiction, rad zines, and queer chapbooks.
Discussion topics range from the mission of Neon Hemlock to the state of publishing in the Age of Slop to the importance of queer art.
Links to check out the things we mention in this episode:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davering/what-elegant-stars
https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/bitten-peach
https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/cyberscion
https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/shatter-the-sun
https://www.bafflingmag.com/issue-twenty-two/crowdfund-your-new-citizen-body-a-performance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Signs_of_AI_writing

Welcome to Workers' Lit, your favorite show about the battle for narrative.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
Today we talk about our focus as a show before discussing the ongoing narrative war in our culture...on several fronts. First, we made Jen watch Hamilton, so we chat about that, which turns into a bit of a side conversation about right-wing films.
Then we get back into ICE and mass deportations. Is Trump on the back foot? Will the Democrats step up? Is the so-called "Joe Rogan Coalition" getting squeamish on MAGA? All that and more.
Finally, we acknowledge Holocaust Remembrance Day and read Bend the Arc's statement.
Read Bend the Arc's Statement Here.
Read Prem Thakker's piece in Zeteo we quote here