Literary Nomads
Join me, Steve Chisnell, as we find and lose meaning across modern and classic tales, through ancient and distant verse, atop everything in our many cultures which might be read. For teachers, students, and lovers of reading, we will discover new paths to understanding!
Utopia’s Spare Parts: Star Trek & Ishiguro
The “Hideous Bargain” moves from metaphor to the operating table.
In this episode, we let loose the bonds of metaphor in Le Guin’s “Omelas” and meet the visceral reality of clinical labor. We examine how the “Sanitization of Language” allows societies—from the United Federation of Planets to modern biotechnology markets—to rebrand human suffering as a “sacred honor” or a “net gain”.
We explore the “clinical labor” of Star Trek and Never Let Me Go. We re-story the “Redshirt” trope through the lens of necropolitics and the ethical extractions of the modern bioeconomy.
Episode 6.29 –
Uto...
The Architecture of the Dungeon: Toni Morrison and the 13th Amendment
The Omelas basement has a physical address in America: the prison-industrial complex.
This week, we use the lens of Toni Morrison’s literary criticism to interrogate the 13th Amendment and the ‘Hideous Bargain” of mass incarceration. If the basement is built into our laws, can we ever truly ‘walk away’?
We analyze Toni Morrison’s book Playing in the Dark and the prison-industrial complex through the documentary film 13th. We discuss the ‘Architecture of the Dungeon,’ and the ‘Hideous Bargain’ of American systemic racism. We discuss how ‘white silence’ sustains the Omelas basement and why dismantling the ‘Utopia Il...
Wandering Stars: Tommy Orange and the Sovereign Center
What happens to the story when the ‘object’ of our sympathy looks back and refuses the role we’ve written for them?
The allegory of the ‘Suffering Child’ is a powerful challenge, but it creates its own blind spots: it can turn a living history into a static prop. This week, we use Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars to break that Omelas mirror. We explore the ‘Sovereign Center’—a reality where trauma is not a relic in a basement, but an active, intergenerational authorship that demands a more strenuous engagement than simply ‘walking away.’
We also consider the lega...
The Bureaucracy of Erasure: Erdrich’s The Night Watchman
Your Interpretation is Colonial.
When we turn Zen into a pop-culture vibe or a totem pole into a corporate metaphor, we aren’t learning; we’re committing interpretative violence.
Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman and Simon Ortiz’s “Towards a National Indian Literature” confront the “Bureaucracy of Erasure.” We ditch the linear “vanishing Indian” myth for the Torus—a non-linear, sovereign loop of survival where the ghosts of the past still speak in the official transcripts of the present. Along the way, we learn about MMIWR (see below) and the 1953 Termination Act (House Concurrent Resolu...
Words from Nigeria 3 – Emezi’s Pet & Hunters for Truth
Akwaeke Emezi demonstrates how Nigeria’s contemporary writers turn our conceptual realities around. They offer a YA novel that doesn’t condescend, but more, one which shows that we should not “walk away” from Omelas, but perhaps “Stay and Hunt.”
This is also the final of three episodes which offers a broader look at the history and newer trends in Nigerian literature along with recommendations for reading. Part 1 discussed Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Part 2 explored Wole Soyinka’s play, The Trials of Brother Jero.
Episode 6.25 –
Words from Nigeria 3 - Emezi’s Pet...
Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero
Why have so few read Soyinka? And can we find hope through his cynical dramas?
I admit I am a victim of the myth-making around me which has made Soyinka and other African writers largely invisible. Let’s see why.
Episode 6.24 –
Words from Nigeria Pt 2: Soyinka’s Tiger & Brother Jero
African writers named in this episode and some of the most rewarding reads:
Soyinka, Wole: The Trials of Brother Jero, Kongi’s Harvest, The Lion and the Jewel, A Play of Giants Achebe, Chinua: Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God...Words from Nigeria Pt 1: Adichie and the Literary Manifesto
What sort of literature is this, anyway?
Today we introduce some approaches to Nigerian literature, offer a bevy of African writers, and explore how one of Nigeria’s most powerful authors can write her own modest letter to humanity. Also, we learn about hostile architecture from one of our listeners.
Episode 6.23 –
Words from Nigeria Pt 1: Adichie and the Literary Manifesto
African writers from this episode and some of the most rewarding reads:
Achebe, Chinua (Nigeria): Things Fall Apart, The Anthills of Savannah, Arrow of God, Hopes and Impediments Adeye...Cassandra: Uncertain Steps
And what if nobody listens?
Yes, entering our calls for justice into public space carries no small amount of anxiety. And the poster-child for being unheard, the Trojan princess and priestess Cassandra, may–if we read our mythology carefully–provide us some clues to our purpose and goals in writing as anti-epic heroes, wielding language as our weapons.
Episode 6.22 –
Cassandra: Uncertain Steps
Texts from this episode:
Aeschylus: Agamemnon Euripides: Trojan Women Schwarz, Hans: Kassandra Smale, Holly: The Cassandra Complex Wolf, Christa: CassandraComplete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/l...
Writing Back: Letters to Humanity
26 Dec 2025
Episode 6.21 –
Writing Back: Letters to Humanity
A different sort of New Year Resolution, moving us from personal improvement to public advocacy! Let’s write an essay of address, framing our passions into a perspective that would make Le Guin proud!
Texts from this episode:
Nazim Hikmet: Letters to Taranta-Babu, 1935 Aimé Césaire: Notebook of a Return to the Native Land, 1939 Walt Whitman: various poems from Leaves of Grass, 1855 Mahmoud Darwish, “Identity Card,” 1965 Chimamanda Adichie: Dear Ijeawele, 2017Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/
CHAPTERS<...
The Great Societies: Lowry’s “The Giver”
19 Dec 2025
Episode 6.20 –
The Great Societies: Lowry’s The Giver
Another thorny utopia, Lowry’s Community practices a different kind of strategy to the Hideous Bargain: ethical evasion, a too tempting strategy for all of us. Political? Yes. But also a YA fantasy vision of what some of the latest writers and thinkers believe we’re doing already.
Texts from this episode:
Lois Lowry, The Giver, 1993 Rabih Alameddine, Comforting Myths, 2024 Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, 2025Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/projec...
The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning
12 Dec 2025
Episode 6.19 –
The Great Societies, Pt 2: Metropolis & The Ways of Meaning
We finish our discussion of the silent film Metropolis and answer our question of art and politics by examining the text, context, and reader meaning-making.
Discussed in the episode:
A definition of Context: with / accompanying / outside of (traditional definitions) as a Limitation as Dialogue as Horizon as MotiveComplete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Art Against the Emperor
04:37 Intro Theme
05:12 Reading the Text: Architecture pf Exploitation
15:38 ...
Is All Art Political? The Great Societies, Pt. 1: Metropolis
5 Dec 2025
Episode 6.18 –
Is All Art Political? The Great Societies, Pt. 1: Metropolis
It seems everything is politics these days. But at least can’t we keep art pure? You know, art for art’s sake? I offer my thoughts on the topic while we examine the classic silent film, Metropolis (1927).
In the process, we discuss an indigenous protest against American Art, the nature of ideology, an opening definition of a Great Society, and the four areas of inquiry we must pursue to answer the question, “Is All Art Political...
True Horror: Le Guin, Poe, Cavarero, Bataille, and Arendt
28 Nov 2025
Episode 6.17 –
True Horror: Le Guin, Poe, Cavarero, Bataille, and Arendt
NOTE: While nothing explicit or graphic is named in this episode, it does touch upon difficult and challenging psychological topics, so it is not recommended for those sensitive to violence and war.
We finish our side trail on the implications of Poe’s horror by stepping more deeply into our own capacity to violence, reaching finally to Le Guin’s own direction: look to our modern political scene and the impulse to annihilation. From Poe’s violence...
Poe: Horror, Pathology, and the Necessity of Care
21 Nov 2025
Episode 6.16 –
Poe: Horror, Pathology, and the Necessity for Care
*NOTE: While nothing explicit or graphic is named in this episode, it does touch upon difficult and challenging psychological topics, so it is not recommended for those sensitive to violence and war.
We say Poe has influence the genre of horror, but have we really considered what that influence has revealed to us across the generations? What happens when we tell stories of a culture that has abandoned its moral foundations? In this episode, I reflect on the...
The Hideous Heart – Poe’s Aesthetic of Accountability
7 Nov 2025
Episode 6.15 –
The “Hideous Heart:” Poe’s Aesthetic of Accountability
There really isn’t that much to say about Poe, is there? He’s just creepy. But wait. What if we could explain the supposed madness in all these stories? We look at the narrators of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Imp of Perversity,” and “The Cask of Amontillado.” Along the way we consult several of his essays of the aesthetic, of literary craft, in order to understand what he may be up to.
Poe’s Works Discussed:<...
Waypoint – “The Imp of Perversity”
31 October 2025
Waypoint - “The Imp of Perversity” (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe
https://waywordsstudio.com
Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/
Another Halloween treat from Poe, a reading of this lesser-known tale which bears some comparison to “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
American pioneer of many literary traditions including the Gothic tradition, detective fiction, and science fiction, Poe was also a literary critic who well understood the goals of his art, to articulate the truth of beauty, focused on a single particular notion or idea.
Chapters
00:00 ...
Waypoint – “The Tell-Tale Heart”
28 October 2025
Waypoint - “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
https://waywordsstudio.com
Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords-podcast/
American pioneer of many literary traditions including the Gothic tradition, detective fiction, and science fiction, Poe was also a literary critic who well understood the goals of his art, to articulate the truth of beauty, focused on a single particular notion or idea. This story, a quintessential Poe classic, is perfect not only for its conception of the psychology of horror, but for our larger discussion in Le Guin’s Journ...
Literary Nomads for Teachers
10 Oct 2025
Episode 0.3 - Literary Nomads for Teachers
What is this podcast? I recommend you start here, with this introduction to Literary Nomads and get a taste of what the larger series offers!
And, to be sure I’ve sold you, we’ll offer some fresh approaches to the most-taught poem in the US, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” Listen and find out how we’re doing a different kind of reading and learning from everybody else. And you know why? “That’s just the way it is.”
Bru...
Literary Nomads for Students
3 Oct 2025
Episode 0.2 - Literary Nomads for Students
What is this podcast? I recommend you start here, with this introduction to Literary Nomads and get a taste of what the larger series offers!
And, to be sure I’ve sold you, we’re looking at one of the lamest choices for literary discussion, the much-overtaught “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost. And even though you just winced at the choice, I know that this moment is a node in the universe which cannot be altered. Now listen. And while...
Literary Nomads for Readers
26 Sept 2025
Episode 0.1 - Literary Nomads for Readers
What is this podcast? I recommend you start here, with this introduction to Literary Nomads and get a taste of what the larger series offers!
And, to be sure I’ve sold you, we’re looking at one of the lamest choices for literary discussion, the much-overtaught “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost. And if that’s not a reason for you to move on quickly . . . but wait! Here’s something you may not have considered . . .
CHAPTERS
...Le Guin – What I Carry With Me
19 Sept 2025
Episode 6.14 - Le Guin - What I Carry With Me
Now that we’ve wrestled in and with Omelas for a bit, what questions remain for us to take forward on our journey? We’re walking away from Omelas, but let’s have an idea where we’re going.
Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Re-Packing for What’s Ahead
06:28 Opening Theme
07:01 Trails and Tools
15:27 Six More Lousy Questions
16:38 1. What’s Wrong with the Andrews Family?
20:04 ...
Le Guin Part 5: Q&A
12 Sept 2025
Episode 6.13 - Le Guin Part 5: Q&A
Listeners offer their questions from narrator trust to activism to teaching controversy. I rant–or respond–back.
Important Links Mentioned:
Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8 Literary Nomads, Journey 5, “Dorian Gray and Difficult Conversations”: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-08-dorian-gray-and-difficult-conversations/Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Better a Q & R
02:04 Opening Theme
02:43 Getting Questions
04:03 Is the narrator in ‘Omelas’ unreliable?
10:45 Some examples of subverting fantasy tropes?
16:29 How do I keep...
Le Guin Part 4: The Ones Who Stay – N. K. Jemisin
5 Sept 2025
Episode 6.12 - Le Guin Part 4: The Ones Who Stay - N. K. Jemisin
Can we pull this utopia dilemma together? Or will we add even more levels of complication? When we wrestle with Le Guin, take solace knowing that others have, too, and so we enter into the dialogue of building utopia, together with its responsibilities!
As we explore today, we add Mikhail Bakhtin and George Bataille into the mix together with writers Sadoeuphemist and N. K. Jemisin!
Our Main Texts:
Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Aw...Le Guin Part 3: The Reader’s Labyrinth
29 Aug 2025
Episode 6.11 - Le Guin Part 3: The Reader’s Labyrinth
Sure, the Omelas dilemma is tough, but at least we have our narrator as ally, right? Right? Perhaps the real horror in Omelas has less to do with the child at its center.
We also discuss how the relationship between culture and the individual, narrator rhetoric, broader allegories, reader psychology, and the alienation effect.
Our Main Text:
Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ur...Le Guin 2: Architectures of Happiness
22 Aug 2025
Episode 6.10 - Le Guin 2: Architectures of Happiness
Is this story really about that suffering child? Or is it more about how we wall its suffering out, then invite it back in?
We also discuss how social complicity, blissful ignorance, binary breakdowns, and the pee privileges at Waywords Studio.
Our Main Text:
Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdfComplete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/
CHAP...
Le Guin 1: The Hideous Bargain
15 Aug 2025
Episode 6.09 - Le Guin 1: The Hideous Bargain
At last we settle in to think about Le Guin’s Omelas story and set aside some common approaches to it. The first of several parts.
We also discuss how the obvious question posed by the story may not be the place to start, and how philosopher/historian/critic Rene Girard’s scapegoat theories played a role in Le Guin’s thought.
Our Main Text:
Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who...Gardens of Imagination – Narrative Utopias
8 Aug 2025
Episode 6.08 - Gardens of Imagination - Narrative Utopias
Let’s niche down into a small sub-genre of fantasy and explore our desire for it, the classic utopia. As Le Guin’s work is utopia, understanding the genre’s tradition, functions, and roles for readers is our final essential piece prior to taking on the story directly.
Some key texts discussed in this episode:
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 1880 Lois Lowry, The Giver, 1993 Thomas More, Utopia, 1516 Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, 1888 William Morris, News from Nowhere, 1891 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland, 1915 H. G. Wells, Men Li...In Defense of Fantasy
1 Aug 2025
Episode 6.07 - In Defense of Fantasy
Riddle: What do Beowulf, Palmolive dish liquid, and Sarah Maas have in common? Hint: Ursula K. Le Guin knows!
Today we wonder at both the disdain of fantasy as genre and its enduring popularity, examine some of Le Guin’s arguments for it as literature, and take a crash course in the history of fantasy across the millennia.
Some key texts discussed in this episode:
Ancient Texts: Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey Roman Epics: The Aeneid, Africa Chanson de Geste: The Song of Roland; Be...Stephen King Meets Shel Silverstein: Formalism and Trope in Story
25 July 2025
Episode 6.06 - Stephen King Meets Shel Silverstein: Formalism and Trope in Story
What do a children’s story and horror film have in common? Maybe our Suffering Child question, with very different approaches to it. In the meantime, we break down some of the keys to understanding form, genre, trope, medium–and throw some shade of formula, cliches, and stereotypes.
Terms from today’s episode:
Formalism - A literary theory which considers structure before content in considering meaning. Some of its principles:
Texts stand alone; consider only the text, not ou...Negotiating for Space: Compromise and Flag-Planting
18 July 2025
Episode 6.05 - Negotiating for Space: Compromise and Flag-Planting
This is getting challenging. What are we to do with the Suffering Child question? And on which form of suffering do I plant my flag of resistance? Dostoevsky and Langston Hughes both offer clues.
The complete reading of Dostoevsky’s “Rebellion” in The Brothers Karamazov: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17z89hjeEz1Rl_hcx4jUdkQi1M0jzbwv2/view?usp=drive_link Langston Hughes: “Let America Be America Again” - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147907/let-america-be-america-againNew to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out wh...
Reading: “Rebellion” from Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’
11 July 2025
Episode 6.04 - Reading: “Rebellion” from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov
Still another famous writer has posed the Le Guin question, and he did it in one of Russia’s most famous novels, The Brothers Karamazov. This chapter precedes the more famous and discussed ‘The Grand Inquisitor.’ Here it is.
The Complete Reading as pdf: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17z89hjeEz1Rl_hcx4jUdkQi1M0jzbwv2/view?usp=drive_link Also mentioned: William James: “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life” - https://archive.org/details/jstor-2375309/page/n1/mode/2upNew to Literary No...
Otium and The Moral Philosopher – William James
4 July 2025
Episode 6.03 - Otium and The Moral Philosopher - William James
Le Guin leans on an essay by William James, but what does that have to do with all our garden talk? It’s about our blind spots and our privilege. Here’s James’s argument and how it sets up a pragmatic popular ethic that may be worrisome.
William James: “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life” - https://archive.org/details/jstor-2375309/page/n1/mode/2up
New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: h...
Marvell’s Garden and Ours – Otium
27 June 2025
Episode 5.18 Marvell’s Garden and Ours: Otium
Speaking of links back to Andrew Marvell’s poetry–weren’t we?–we add a new concept into our repertoire which exposes some of our misapprehensions about nature, leisure, and work. And we read Marvell’s poem “The Garden” while we think green thoughts about it.
Confused about our episode numbering? Don’t be! Since this episode is more about Andrew Marvell’s work, it appears as a Journey 5: Andrew Marvell episode, though it aired in the context of Journey 6 where the concept of otium became important to...
Vaster Than Empires – Le Guin
20 June 2025
Episode 6.02 - “Vaster Than Empires” - Le Guin
What does it mean to embrace “Other”? And how might we understand carpe diem if we truly had “world enough and time?” Le Guin shows us in her famous science fiction short story.
New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/
Listener Survey Available! Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too!
https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7Reading Ahead, Journey 6:
...Signpost – Pretty Gardens in Paint
13 June 2025
Episode 6.01 - Signpost: Pretty Gardens in Paint
Where we’ve been and where we’re going, and we take a pause in a museum gallery, too!
New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/
Listener Survey Available! Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too!
https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7Thomas Gainsborough painting: Mr. and Mrs. Andrews (1750): https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/thomas-gainsborough-mr-and-mrs-andrews
Literary Terms R...
Trailer: Journey 6
30 May 2025
Episode 6.00 - Trailer
Looking ahead at Season 6: Ursula K. Le Guin’s story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” and all the wrestling we do with dilemmas of ethics.
New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/
Listener Survey Available! Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too!
https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7Reading Ahead, Journey 6:
Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”: htt...What I Get Wrong
23 May 2025
Episode 5.17 - What I Get Wrong
We close out the journey with a needed reflection, a look at what I’ve been doing, how it fits our collective needs, and what we might see for changes ahead. I reflect on the integration of skills in language, the role of thinking skills, and why reading and interpretation cannot be about objective deliverables.
Listener Survey Available! Please let me know what you thought of the season, and get some free stuff, too!
https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7Reading Ahead, Journey 6:
Ursula K...Writing Back 2: Getting Over Our Essay Anxiety
16 May 2025
Episode 5.16 - Writing Back 2: Getting Over Our Essay Anxiety
It’s time for the end of our carpe diem journey, and we celebrate with a congratulatory essay! Hey, why so glum?
We look at what has caused all this anxiety over the ostracized essay, rant against how traditional schooling has abused it, and offer some introductory ideas on how the best essays are essential to the literary tradition. And we all get to write one now, too!
Key Terms:
Conduit metaphor - A linguistic concept, that if we can st...Bellow Seizes Our Day
9 May 2025
Episode 5.15 - Bellow Seizes Our Day
Sure we can philosophize, but what happens when we put carpe diem to the test in the modern world of capital?
We work through Saul Bellow’s approach to carpe diem, how his ironies may not all be what we expect them to be, what separates Seize the Day from other modernist American literature, and how he spins our ethical discussion on carpe diem with still more complexity. Our analysis will focus on the final mystifying scene of the novel. Oh, and we also talk about my...
Rilke and Carpe Don’t Rhyme
2 May 2025
Episode 5.14 - Rilke and Carpe Don’t Rhyme
Finding carpe diem in art and literature; abandoning “seize the day” and ending in uncertainty.
What is required of us to find the power and meaning in art? in poetry? Is it related to carpe diem? And does it give us any guidance in how to approach meaningful lives?
In a continuation of our carpe diem talk last episode, we return to Roman Krznaric, to Rainer Maria Rilke’s sonnet “Archaic Torso of Apollo,” and consider immanence, a kind of meaningfulness which “seize the day”...
