1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media book Club book Club book Club. Hello, 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to cools On Media book Club, the only book club, period, 3 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: the only book club. And this week I have a 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: story seeped in the earthy sweet scent of mushrooms and garbage. 5 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: Everyone likes mushrooms and garbage, right, this is a story 6 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: but mushrooms and garbage, because today we are reading Saint 7 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: Juju by the Powerhouse Rivers. Solomon Rivers is most known 8 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: for their haunting and beautiful fantasy horror novels, but today 9 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,319 Speaker 1: we have a far future, utopian short story for you, 10 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: packed full of queer yearning dog girls and a heaping 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: portion of fungus and characters coming to terms with the 12 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: reality that violence and impression room much more difficult to 13 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: eradicate than it seems. But also and it's much more 14 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: hopeful than that makes it sound. This story, Saint Juju, 15 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: was originally published in twenty nineteen by The Verge as 16 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,759 Speaker 1: part of their series Better Worlds, which was a science 17 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: fiction series about hope, and it was released with some 18 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,559 Speaker 1: abs of frutally stunning animation of the characters by Alan 19 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: Leaster that I highly recommend checking out. All right, are 20 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 1: you ready? You'd better be ready. If you're not ready, 21 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: then you're gonna have to pause and do something else 22 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: and come back when you're ready. Are you ready for 23 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: Saint Juju? By River Solomon? The trash garden is stunning 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: in the pre dawn morn lit up beneath a bulbous 25 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: ivory moon. Two hundred acres of fungus hills stand between 26 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: us and the edge of the enclave, and the smoky 27 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: fragrance of pink toadstools waits the air with sweet earthiness. 28 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: Enid sniffs, knows, twitching buried inside of mushrooming quiskea comidente. 29 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: There are still several decades worth of trash, and though 30 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: I can't smell it, Enid can. Six foot deep fungus 31 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: covers the rotting bottles, cans, cartons, clothes, wrappers, and broken toys. 32 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: But Enid's a hound mutant. She can smell it all. 33 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: The fungus has been feasting on the refuse of the 34 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: former landfill for over one hundred years, and the scent 35 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: of the old world trash lingers for those with her 36 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: genetic mutation. Do you mind it much? I asked Enid. 37 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: The odor the fungus from the trash gardens is enough 38 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: to feed most of the world, but they seemed a 39 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: bitter sweet phenomenon for the hound mutants. I mean, I 40 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: know it doesn't stink to you, I say, but does 41 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: it remind you of the past? Enid shakes her head, 42 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: the matted bowl cut coils sweeping back and forth over 43 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: her forehead. There's a scar on her left temple, spanning 44 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: down to her left eye and across her cheek, where 45 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: she got swiped by a mountain lion that she was 46 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: trying to spring from a trap. It's the sort of 47 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: story that sounds like a tall tale, a hay geography, 48 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: a myth, the beginning of a heroine's journey. I've been 49 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 1: reading about the lives of various saints over the last 50 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: year in preparation for my oration to the Enclave, and 51 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: in another time, I think my Enid could have been 52 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: Saint Enid. To avoid the shackles of marriage to a 53 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: horrible noble, she'd commit herself to God and become a nun. 54 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: The noble would demand her chastity anyway, but she'd run 55 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: into a den of lions to escape his horseback riding soldiers. 56 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: The lions would claw her face to forming her, and 57 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: then finally the noble might give up his claims. She'd 58 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: be the patron saint of women with scars. I bite 59 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: the collar of my flannel as Enid and I walk 60 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: the fungus capped ground. Although the focus of my upcoming 61 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: oration revolves around the less savory aspects of traditional belief systems, 62 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: the parts about people like me and Enid and how 63 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: we are sin incarnate, I can see the beauty in 64 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: it too, why people did and still do devote their 65 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: lives to these religions. Enid's nose twitches again, and she 66 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: bites her bottom lip. We shouldn't have taken this route. 67 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: The other ways out of the enclave were longer, but 68 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: they didn't have the same baggage. You sure you are 69 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: right going this way? I ask? That makes Enid stop sniffing. 70 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: I'm fine, She says, yeah. I say. She nods yeah. 71 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: I know it must be hard on these grounds. I 72 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: tell her it's not. She says, must be a little bit. 73 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: I press unable to be a normal fucking person for 74 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: once in my life and let it go. Growing up, 75 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: my older brother always called me a pestering little shit, 76 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: and he's right. Ever needy I poke and poke and 77 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: poke until I poke so hard it's more of a push. 78 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: Suddenly I'm shoving folks out of my life under the 79 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: pretense of having a nice conversation. Not that Enid will 80 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: give into my prodding. I mostly talk to keep myself company. 81 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: If I'm silent, the void of half light will gobble 82 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: me up. Silence likes to feast on folks like me, 83 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: a heady, hot stew of discontent. I can't settle my 84 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: mind when left to my own devices, left alone to 85 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: think wonder, despair, I get feverish and wild. You can 86 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,359 Speaker 1: talk to me about it if you want feelings and shit. 87 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: I mean, I say, I'm good, says Enid. You sure 88 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: don't ask again, She says. Maybe it should sting, but 89 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: it doesn't. Maybe I like to poke to see where 90 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: the end of things are, and life becomes so much 91 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: easier when I do. And do you know what will 92 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: make your life a lot easier, dear listener, that's right, 93 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: it's the products and the services that support this show. 94 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:23,239 Speaker 1: And we're back skipping shoes tonight was a good idea. 95 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,799 Speaker 1: My feet sink into the flesh of the Kisa Kia 96 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: Commandente mushrooms The feedback is strange but nice, and it 97 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: gives me something to focus on other than Enid. I 98 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: can't tell if she's lying or not if she means 99 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: it when she says it doesn't hurt her to be 100 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: in this place. But maybe I can't let it go, 101 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: because how could it not. This history of the hound 102 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: mutants isn't kind, even that goddamn name. It feels wrong 103 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: to call Enid after a dog, but it's her preferred 104 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: term for folks born with pivicave pathologia. Enid eats metal, 105 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: She eats paper, she eats plastic, she eats trash. She 106 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 1: has since she was an infant. She came out the womb, 107 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 1: craving non food stuff. Her body processes it and turns 108 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: it into usable waste. In the old days, before garbage 109 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: eating fungus, pound mutants were rounded up to clear the landfills. 110 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: They sniffed and sought out trash like mutts and the 111 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: names stuck. Being here has to dredge up memories, even 112 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: if they're not her own, even if it all happened 113 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: in a time before she was born. Sometimes I feel 114 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: like that's what must be wrong with me. I'm always 115 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: seeing ghosts hearing things. I call them my figments, but 116 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: maybe they're things from long ago returning from the dead. 117 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: Creeping in Enid's face is indecipherable in the dark, but 118 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: every few moments her eyes blink for too long, or 119 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: she swallows heavily, causing her lips to move and her 120 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: throat to rise and fall. The trash garden is my 121 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: favorite place in the enclave. I offer whenever Enid's near 122 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: and uneasy. Energy springs up in my chest and I've 123 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: just got to talk and talk to get it out 124 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: of me, or it might build up pressure inside explode. 125 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,119 Speaker 1: I've always been a chatterbox, but it's worse around here. 126 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: You wouldn't believe all the hollows I've dug into, the fungus, 127 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: perfect hiding spots to nappen. I know, she says, And yeah, 128 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: I guess I've told her before I was born out here, 129 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: I say, I know, Juju, says Enid. My papa was 130 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: harvesting mushroom for supper when he felt his waters come loose. 131 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: I continue, why. It's like I'm trying to salvage something 132 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: out of this exchange, make this story worth it. But 133 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: all I'm doing is making Enid feel worse and digging 134 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: my hole deeper. He leant up against one of the 135 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: fungus hills, squatted and rested until I came. My other 136 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: Papa wasn't there. He was just waiting and waiting and 137 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,679 Speaker 1: waiting at home for Pops to come home with the mushrooms, 138 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: because he was ready to cook supper. She nods but 139 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: doesn't speak when she leaves. Is this all she'll remember 140 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: of me? The girl whose mouth was a fucking geyser, 141 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: The girl who fidgets, the girl who talks and talks 142 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: and talks to silence the voices, the images, The girl 143 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: who's turned her birth into a fairy tale. Even though 144 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 1: Enid knows the truth that my papa died out there 145 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 1: in the field and I almost did too, Born two 146 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: months early and with no hope of medical intervention. Enid 147 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: grabs my hand and squeezes tight enough to hurt, but 148 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: the pressure reins me in. It reminds me that my 149 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,199 Speaker 1: body exists. I don't know why she bothers with a 150 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: thing as untogether as me. I'll visit you whenever I can, 151 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: she says. I nod my head and smile, and it 152 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: hurts my cheeks. For how disingenuous it is. My offer 153 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: to come with still stands, she says, But she knows 154 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: I'm set on staying. The invitation is away. For her 155 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: to be nice without any threat, she'll have to suffer 156 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: the consequences of my co There's a lot I want 157 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: to show you, says Enid, stuff I think you'll love. 158 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: I've lived my whole life on the enclave, I say, 159 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:14,199 Speaker 1: I'm not as brave as you. Enid's never spent more 160 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: than a few years off and on in the enclaves, 161 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: preferring to travel in packs with others like her. She's 162 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: going back out there tonight. We'll say our goodbyes, then 163 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: walk to the edge of the enclave, and she'll step 164 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: forth into the unpredictable frontier of life outside the enclave. 165 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: Can't pretend it doesn't muck me up inside thinking about 166 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: her leaving me. But what right have I got to 167 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 1: be angry? The world out there scares me. Open road, 168 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: open field, open forest, the ruins of cities and suburbs, 169 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 1: wild animals, the same world of the old Saints. The 170 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: past is still out there, waiting for us to make 171 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: what we will of the future. In the Enclave, we 172 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: feed entirely off the fungus and foraged plants and fruit 173 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: out there. They hunt meat. They're vagabonds, chasing good weather, 174 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: good game, good land, never sitting camp for more than 175 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: four or six weeks at a time. Let's just do this, then, 176 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 1: says Enid. Together, Enid and I climb up our hill, 177 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: the tallest mushroom in the trash garden. This is where 178 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: we'll be together for the last time. We lay on 179 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: its flattened apex. She asks me again if I'm sure 180 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: I won't go with her, and I tell her the 181 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: same thing I did before. I have a life here, 182 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: I have certainty, I have kindness. After my oration, I 183 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,440 Speaker 1: can complete the coming of age. Rites twenty years old, 184 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: I'll be a full fledged adult, able to take on 185 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: more projects, more responsibility, more ways to undo the quietness 186 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: of my mind that sometimes undoes me. It's not fair 187 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: to ask me to leave Paradise. I know, I know, 188 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: she says, sitting next to me. I have a role here. 189 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: I know, she says. It's important. I know. Juju, she says, 190 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: and places her lips to mine so soft. I should 191 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 1: go with her, just for that, the way she touches me, 192 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: and I dissolve, legs parting unconsciously. They used to think 193 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: it's sin us doing what we're doing now. Putting our 194 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: mouths and our chests and our stomachs together, we writhe 195 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: shameless as dogs, tenderest, wondrous, small, aching, and needy. We 196 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: are this flesh, this pliable, weak flesh. We revel in it. 197 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 1: I press my growing up into Enids, and we rub 198 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: and rub. She draws her callous thumb along my left cheek, 199 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:42,719 Speaker 1: nail grazing the freshly buzzed sideburned skin still raw and inflamed. 200 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: My head is bald, too, black from ink to designs, 201 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: but for where my brown skin peeks through. God, you 202 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 1: feel so good, says Enid. I wish you'd come with me. 203 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: I don't understand it, but I know she means it. Please. Yes. 204 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,560 Speaker 1: Her voice rasps and splinters, and to hear it makes 205 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: my whole body despair. How is it in the moments 206 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,280 Speaker 1: preceding the final throes of fucking, one's body feels so bereft, 207 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 1: so gluttonous for contact and heat. Someone watching would think 208 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: I'd never been touched at all, for how desperately I'd 209 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,839 Speaker 1: jerk my body to Enid's until we are both spent 210 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: mad with feeling. The bet of fungus we lay on 211 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: is taller than two houses put together, and there's a 212 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,960 Speaker 1: blanket beneath and above us. I can see venus, I 213 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: can see every star. My breath seven slows yet, but 214 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 1: I don't want them to. Soon as they do, that's 215 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 1: when I'll remember Enid is leaving me. But do you 216 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: know what, dear listener, will never leave you. The dedicated 217 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: insteadfast deals on this sweet sweet products and services much 218 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: like now, crap, who's that country singer who I really like? Uh, 219 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 1: I'll be there in the morning. Oh no, this is 220 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 1: terribly embarrassing. I listen to this man all the time. 221 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:08,839 Speaker 1: Towns van ZANDT. Much like towns van ZANDT. They will 222 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: be there in the morning, these products and services. There's ads, 223 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: and we're back, Juju. Enid asks. Her voice is gentler 224 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: that I'm used to hearing it. She scratches her head, 225 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: fingers catching in the mass of short, tight curls. The 226 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: sun's coming up and her face is beautiful in the light. 227 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: She's always got a scowl on, like she's thinking deeply, 228 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: and it makes her thick eyebrows furrow. Juju come back 229 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: to me. She grabs my shoulder and jostles me a little. Sorry. 230 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: I say, don't be sorry. She says, you're thinking about 231 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: all that stuff you've been reading again. I know it's 232 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: how you do things here, but I think it's stupid 233 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: that oration everything. What's your topic again? What'd they call it? 234 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: Call us homosexual? I say, And you're still having nightmares 235 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: about everything you've read? Shrugged my shoulders. Enid doesn't know 236 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: what it's like to live in a place where you 237 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: are responsible to other people. I get the coming of 238 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: age rights, I really do. It's tradition to present a 239 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: moral argument to the enclave so that they can decide 240 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: if you're ready to handle the intense questioning of the tribunal. 241 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: They're the ones to ultimately determine if your moral reasoning 242 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: and sense of compassion is developed enough to undergo the rights. 243 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 1: Usually the topic isn't something particularly relevant to our lives now, 244 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: but was of note at a moment in history. The 245 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: past year, I've composed of triestis deconstructing several arguments that 246 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 1: called women like me sinners, degenerates. And Enid's not wrong. 247 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: It is weighed on me, but that doesn't mean it 248 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: isn't worth doing. Sun's pretty much up, says Enid. She 249 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: slips her old leather jacket back on and buttons up 250 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,040 Speaker 1: her jeans, looking even cooler now than she had when 251 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: she first come to Milkwood enclave. A gun on her back, 252 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: a crow on her shoulder, a limping coyote at her side, 253 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: Saint Enid. I start to get ready too, buttoning my 254 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: flannel up, but Enid holds out her hand. You don't 255 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 1: have to walk me to the edge. I can get 256 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: there on my own. This was our goodbye, wasn't it. 257 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: She's already walking down the mushroom hill before I can 258 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: properly respond. Wait, I say, I slip and slide, chasing 259 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: after her, feet unsteady against the dew wet fungus. I 260 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: want to go with her so bad, more than anything. 261 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: Tell me it's good out there, I call after her. 262 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: I don't even have a bag. She doesn't either, she 263 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: doesn't need one. How can I live like that without certainty? 264 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: Tell me it's as good or better than Milkwood? I demand? It. 265 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: Makes her stop, and I catch up to her at 266 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,360 Speaker 1: the bottom of the hill, about five hundred miles from here. 267 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 1: There's an enclave called the Sacred Grounds. Sometimes they hire 268 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: out howl mutants to clear out forest and make new 269 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:19,479 Speaker 1: farms in exchange for food and other items. Bored, that's wrong, 270 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: I say, sounding more scandalized than I mean too. I 271 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,200 Speaker 1: always worry Enid will think I sound too innocent, too unscathed. 272 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: She's right, isn't she. That's why I want to stay here. 273 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: I'm just hearing about all this shit now. Since Enid 274 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,640 Speaker 1: came to Milkwood half a year ago, I've never left 275 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: the six hundred acres that make up my enclave. Had 276 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: Enid never come here, I might think the world perfect 277 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: outside what I read in history books. They're not supposed 278 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: to do that. Did you try and stop them, I 279 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: asked Enid. Hiring hound mutants for eating scrap is degrading, 280 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: but clearing forest land to make farms that could get 281 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 1: someone in real trouble. The United Federations of Indigenous Nations 282 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: manages land use, and the enclaves who leased the territories 283 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: from them are expected to abide by the stipulations. No 284 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: money changes hands, but it's understood who rules. It wasn't 285 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 1: a great time for me, says Enid. I was lonely. 286 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: There were about five hundred other hound mutantes. They are 287 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: doing the same work, and it felt good to be 288 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: close to so many of my kind. Anyway, there was 289 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: this girl I was fooling around with. One night, these 290 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,239 Speaker 1: two women from the enclave discovered us, Margaret May and 291 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: Jessa I think it was they threw bleach on our 292 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,960 Speaker 1: naked bodies, on our genitals. I tried not to gasp, 293 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: as Enid speaks. Now. That got me properly vexed, and 294 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: I punched Margaret May, who seemed to be the ringleader, 295 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: and broke her nose. Blood spurted out her nostrils like 296 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: a red fire cracker. I back handed that woman Jessa too. Afterward, 297 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: I hoisted up the girl I was with, I can't 298 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: remember her name, and took her into the creek and 299 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: we washed off until we were clean and no longer 300 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: a flame. I dig my hands into the pockets my 301 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: old Jens. I don't know how I could ever reason 302 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: with people who do the kinds of things those women 303 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: did to my Enid and to her lover. What you 304 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: do next? I ask? I left all us dog girls, left, 305 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,119 Speaker 1: every single one of them, and when we left, there 306 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 1: were places to go to. Enid says, I can't stop 307 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,640 Speaker 1: shaking my head. I slapped my forehead with the heel 308 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,959 Speaker 1: of my hand over and over. But the enclaves are 309 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: no guarantee of safety, Enid says, doesn't she know? I 310 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 1: know that. Of course I fucking do. But at least 311 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,119 Speaker 1: here there was a system that tried to address it. 312 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 1: You don't think they had folks at the sacred ground 313 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: stand up and make fancy arguments. It sounded like the truth, 314 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: Enid goes on. She grabs my wrist, but I tear 315 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: it from her hands. Part of the reason I even 316 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,880 Speaker 1: told you that story is because it stood out. It's 317 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,919 Speaker 1: not common. She insists. Most places I've been to are 318 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: better than that. There's some places better than here. Perfection 319 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: isn't a reasonable demand of living things. Once upon a time, 320 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: I could imagine evil as something theoretical. I didn't like 321 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: to think of it as real and breathing and near. 322 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 1: They shouldn't have assigned you this topic, says Enid. Your 323 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: life isn't some goddamn thesis. I understand the impulse to 324 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: award adulthood based on an intellectualized notion of moral rigor, 325 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,040 Speaker 1: but it is flawed to believe it is a proper 326 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:33,159 Speaker 1: shield against wrongdoing, wrong thinking, And what is nothing? Nothing is? 327 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: I shake all over admitting it to myself. The ghosts 328 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: of other times shouldn't haunt me like they do. But 329 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 1: what does it say about humankind that for generations and 330 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:46,120 Speaker 1: generations tyranny reigned? Who am I to think we can 331 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: gird against it? Bigotry is taught. I know that, but 332 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: I wish it weren't so easily learned. I wish humans 333 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: had to fail safe against it. All this time, I've 334 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: been thinking I was afraid of life outside the enclaves 335 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: with Enid, But maybe I'm afraid of life here too, 336 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,919 Speaker 1: life everywhere. Afraid of people on what we're capable of. 337 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,159 Speaker 1: Maybe not in this time, but if it happened in another. 338 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: I want to go back in time and deliver my 339 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: oration to them. But something makes me think that make 340 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: no difference at all. My heart beats and beats lead 341 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,719 Speaker 1: in my chest. It's an exhilarating thought to know that 342 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: nothing I say could matter. If such a thing were possible, 343 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: I'd be sorely tempted to build a time machine, to 344 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,879 Speaker 1: go before people of the past and say, let us 345 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 1: Dike's fucking rut. We're all part god born raging. Let 346 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: us who wish to be soothed by this intimacy be 347 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 1: soothed by it. I don't know why I'm so raw, 348 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: so goddamn afraid you'd think my life is a tragedy 349 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: to hear me talk about my loving home, my loving 350 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: community of kinfolk. The world as I understand it is 351 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: in a state of healing. Maybe I'm too much of 352 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,560 Speaker 1: the sort who loves to pick a scab. I tear 353 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: a wat of fungus from the ground and smell it, 354 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,400 Speaker 1: seeing if I can get a whiff of stink from 355 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,400 Speaker 1: the world before the world of garbage. There's nothing left 356 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 1: of it. It just smells like food. Like in no 357 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: time at all, it will be soup simmering on the 358 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,439 Speaker 1: stove with butter and milk. I'm coming with you, I 359 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: tell Enid. Her smile in that moment is all the 360 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,720 Speaker 1: assurance that there is more good than bad in the 361 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 1: world I need. I follow her through the trash garden, 362 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: out the enclave, into the world the end. Welcome back, 363 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: dear listener. Okay, this feels like I know we say 364 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 1: that there's a lot of stories this is a quintessential 365 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: book club story because we love running stories about climate 366 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: adaptation and finding hope in a fucked up world. Hazel, 367 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 1: who helps behind the scenes, has to say about this story. 368 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: Rivers has never been an author who pulls their punches, 369 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: and I love their commitment to pulling on the frayed 370 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: edges of the utopia they've crafted to see what I furls. 371 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: There are no easy answers or politics of convenience in 372 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 1: this story, but Rivers really manages to sell me on 373 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: how that might be a source of hope. If violence 374 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: and bigotry will always exist despite our better angels, where 375 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: do our responsibilities lie? What does it mean to still 376 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: embrace joy and desire? Okay? And then what I have 377 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: to say about it? What do I have to say 378 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,880 Speaker 1: about it? Well, the way that I chose to live 379 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: my life in my twenties and early thirties is the 380 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: kind of person who's usually not the main character but 381 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 1: instead Enid right. That was much more how I chose 382 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,479 Speaker 1: to live for a very long time. So it's always 383 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: interesting to read stories that are from the perspective of 384 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:49,399 Speaker 1: talking to the vagabond, the wanderer, the In some ways, 385 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: it kind of the Manipixie dream girl, but not really, 386 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,360 Speaker 1: and I actually think queerness kind of undermines that trope anyway, 387 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,680 Speaker 1: in a good way, and so it's just always interesting 388 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: to me yet to read, especially like a loving portrayal 389 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: of that. Like I don't know if you've seen the 390 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 1: movie or read the book Foxfire, particularly like the Angelina 391 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: Julie version of this movie very influential to me in 392 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,920 Speaker 1: the nineties, and even know the more recent one from 393 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: the mid odds or the early twenty tens whatever is 394 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: much more accurate to the original book Foxfire, which I 395 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:25,399 Speaker 1: haven't read to be honest. Okay, anyway, this idea of 396 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: the hitchhiking vagabond who comes through especially kind of a 397 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,639 Speaker 1: queer one who kind of like shows everyone in the 398 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:32,719 Speaker 1: world and is like cool and has a leather jacket 399 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,439 Speaker 1: and stuff like that, Right, I like that character, and 400 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 1: I specifically like the character in this sense where the 401 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: world that the protagonist is being asked to leave isn't 402 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,439 Speaker 1: a terrible one, it's actually a perfectly nice one. And 403 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: yet like dangerous, freedom will always have an appeal even 404 00:24:54,600 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 1: in the kindest, nicest, nicest whatever utopia, there's always the 405 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: allure of dangerous freedom, and I really like that. I 406 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: also really like Enid's critique of you know, this idea 407 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,159 Speaker 1: that like you have to have a college degree in 408 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: order to be an adult. I found that really compelling 409 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: as a college dropout. And the other thing I have 410 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: to remember, Okay, so when I was living in my van, 411 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: I was traveling around. I was in New Orleans and 412 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 1: there's a bunch of street kids and we were talking 413 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,119 Speaker 1: to them. We weren't the furthest thing from street kids, 414 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: but you know, I had a band, so I was fancy. 415 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,400 Speaker 1: And at one point I was like, wait, y'all don't 416 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: have packs, because that was like the one thing like 417 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,959 Speaker 1: every street kid always as a pack. It's actually kind 418 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: of dangerous to have a pack, especially in New Orleans 419 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,239 Speaker 1: like places where you can get like really targeted by 420 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: cops for being a travel kid or like being perceived 421 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: as homeless. A big travel pack is like a big 422 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,199 Speaker 1: part of being perceived as like the wrong kind of 423 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:56,479 Speaker 1: punk by the police. But it's so really essential to 424 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:59,440 Speaker 1: have a pack with you. And so the fact that 425 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: Enid doesn't carry a pack, it reminds me of when 426 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: I was asking this, you know, train hopper woman in 427 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,880 Speaker 1: New Orleans. I was like, why don't you have a pack? 428 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 1: And she looks at me. She's day drunk, and she 429 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: goes gearless and fearless, and everyone around her starts chanting 430 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:20,080 Speaker 1: gearless and fearless. And that's what Saint Enid is. Okay. 431 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: The other thing about the Saints thing that I find 432 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: really compelling about this story the fact that it's called 433 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:32,719 Speaker 1: Saint Juju. It's saying all of us can become amazing people. 434 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,640 Speaker 1: All of us can choose to become these like iconic 435 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: and brave and interesting individuals. You know. At the beginning 436 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 1: of it, she's like, oh, Enid, Saint Enid, Like, ain't 437 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: it's the one who's like special and cool, right, But 438 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: so is Juju. So is this person who doesn't know 439 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,880 Speaker 1: how to shut up, who's socially anxious, who has lived 440 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 1: a very protected life. She's Saint Juju too. Like you 441 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: too can put on a leather jacket. You know, you 442 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: don't even have to put on all the jacket, but 443 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,400 Speaker 1: I'm using this as a symbol in this particular case. Anyway. 444 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: That's one of the things that really appealed to me 445 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: about this story. As for the author, here's their bio 446 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,160 Speaker 1: River Solomon is a writer, a lecturer, and a refugee 447 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: of the Transatlantic slave trade. Their home is in the 448 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: realm of the imaginary, where blackness, queerness, and disability become 449 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,080 Speaker 1: sites of insurgency. In addition to appearing on the Stonewall 450 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 1: Honor List and winning a Firecracker Award, Solomon's debut novel 451 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:38,160 Speaker 1: and Unkindness of Ghosts, was a finalist for a Lambda, 452 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,160 Speaker 1: a Hearst Right, and a Locus Award. Solomon's The Deep 453 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:44,960 Speaker 1: was the winner of the twenty twenty Lambda Award and 454 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: was on the short list for a Nebula, Locus, World 455 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: Fantasy and Hugo Award. Emerging out of a collaboration with 456 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 1: experimental hip hop group Clipping, fronted by David Diggs, The 457 00:27:54,720 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: Deep investigates Tony Morrison's incantation in the novel Beloved, This 458 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: is Not a Story to pass On. Solomon's third novel, Sorrowland, 459 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,959 Speaker 1: the story of a young woman's godlike metamorphosis, when the 460 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,200 Speaker 1: Stonewall and Otherwise Award, and was shortlisted for an Ignite 461 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 1: Award and Model Home. Solomon's latest novel has recently released 462 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:19,000 Speaker 1: a critical acclaim and I'm Margaret Kiljoy and you can 463 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,199 Speaker 1: find me on the internet. And Hazel writes with scripts 464 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: and scheduling and you cannot find them. And Eva does 465 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 1: our audio. And that's it for today. We will be 466 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 1: back next week with another short story. Until then, land 467 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: back pre Palestine, fuck ice, and towards a complicated utopia. 468 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: It could Happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 469 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 470 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 471 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 472 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 1: You can find sources where it Could Happen here, updated 473 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: monthly at cool zonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening, 474 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:00,200 Speaker 1: Just