May 11, 2026
Banned Camp Season 11 Book Vote: You Pick What We Read Next | Banned Books Comedy Podcast
We're handing the show over to you. The scary book people have nominated the books they want us to read for season 11, and we've narrowed it down to five finalists. All banned. All books someone doesn't want you to read. Now it's time to vote.
Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books chapter by chapter — we don't read ahead, so you're discovering the story with us.
The Five Finalists:
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Vote now at bannedcamppodcast.com/soundoff Voting ends Sunday, May 17 at midnight. We'll announce the winning book on Tuesday, May 19.
Coming Up:
- Thursday, May 14: The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 24.2
- Tuesday, May 19: Chapter 25 begins (the penultimate chapter + season 11 book reveal)
- After we finish the book: "Catcher in the Crosshairs" — a special episode about the real-world murders connected to The Catcher in the Rye
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts to help other scary book people find us!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was The Catcher in the Rye banned? The Catcher in the Rye has been one of the most frequently challenged books in America since its publication in 1951, and was the most censored book in the U.S. from 1961 to 1982. It's been removed from schools and libraries for profanity, sexual references, and "anti-social behavior" — but the deeper reason is that Holden Caulfield gives teenagers permission to question authority, reject conformity, and say out loud that the system feels broken. That's the part that actually scares book banners.
Is there a podcast that reads The Catcher in the Rye chapter by chapter? That's us. Banned Camp reads a different banned book every season, one chapter at a time — neither host has read ahead, so you're discovering the story together in real time. Season 10 covers The Catcher in the Rye, and every episode includes the chapter reading, discussion, a fact-checking Robot, and a segment on why books get banned.
Do I need to start Banned Camp from the beginning? No. Every episode opens with Robot's recap of the previous chapter, so you can jump in anywhere. Most listeners tell us they started mid-season and went back to the beginning after they were hooked.
1
00:00:03,726.6666666667 --> 00:00:05,166.6667834918
Welcome to Band Camp.
2
00:00:05,296.6666595141 --> 00:00:06,126.6665832202
I'm Jennifer.
3
00:00:06,256.6666976611 --> 00:00:13,36.666907469
And I'm Dan, and this is the podcast where we read banned books out loud and try to figure out why they were banned in the first place.
4
00:00:16,426.64399093 --> 00:00:20,516.645097192
So this is not gonna be your typical normal Banned Camp episode.
5
00:00:20,516.645097192 --> 00:00:33,967.484685355
This'll be kind of a short one, but it's a pretty important one because we are going to tell you the final list of the books you guys nominated for us to read for the next season.
6
00:00:34,310.049083258 --> 00:00:40,397.527731102
So starting off, we've got Animal Farm by George Orwell I-- we like George Orwell.
7
00:00:40,457.527729761 --> 00:00:52,466.167379601
nineteen eighty four was a tough one for us to do, but Animal Farm is about A bunch of farm animals overthrow the humans and try running the place themselves, which we would imagine does not turn out so great.
8
00:00:52,766.166616661 --> 00:00:53,256.166387779
All right.
9
00:00:53,633.261407271 --> 00:01:00,713.261807814
All right, uh, next up we've got Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D.
10
00:01:00,813.26123561 --> 00:01:01,413.261617079
Taylor.
11
00:01:01,792.921269041 --> 00:01:02,122.921192747
Hmm.
12
00:01:02,462.921226125 --> 00:01:05,694.440497923
This is every season, this is a really hot one.
13
00:01:05,694.440497923 --> 00:01:16,104.44065051
It's a Black family in the 1930s Mississippi trying to hold onto their land, their dignity, and basically their whole life while the world keeps coming at them.
14
00:01:16,304.440733957 --> 00:01:24,894.441184568
Okay, and, uh, number three, coming here right in the middle is the perennial The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.
15
00:01:25,117.585453874 --> 00:01:26,807.585570699
A fun romp about...
16
00:01:26,867.585513479 --> 00:01:28,637.585255987
Oh, hold on, I'm reading the wrong one.
17
00:01:29,7.585618383 --> 00:01:37,892.465447864
After a religious takeover of the United States, women get shoved into a role that is, to put it mildly, not too good.
18
00:01:38,163.236424886 --> 00:01:44,832.68438024
and, uh, coming in strong at number four, we've got Kindred by Octavia E.
19
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Butler.
20
00:01:45,673.30904631 --> 00:02:01,803.30916075
A Black woman in 1976 Los Angeles keeps getting pulled back to a pre-Civil War plantation, which is a terrible time travel experience, and also, according to a ton of the scary book people who nominated it, is one of the best books ever written.
21
00:02:01,963.70141116 --> 00:02:06,746.40223736
And lastly, we've got Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
22
00:02:06,746.40223736 --> 00:02:09,673.94353962
Now this is gonna be a Netflix series, so Yeah.
23
00:02:09,673.94353962 --> 00:02:10,523.94392109
you know, that might be an...
24
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I, I'll be tempted to watch it, and I will not watch it until we know whether we're reading it or not.
25
00:02:17,223.94390201 --> 00:02:18,133.94398784
Yeah, that's right.
26
00:02:18,202.41141237 --> 00:02:22,432.41119303
Uh, this is about a group of boys who get stranded on an island with no adults.
27
00:02:22,432.41119303 --> 00:02:34,182.4121467
They try to build a society, which I bet goes as good as the time Trump was stranded in the Oval Office for the second time with his group of F-ups and no adults when they tried to build their own version of society.
28
00:02:34,652.41146006 --> 00:02:34,852.412223
Robot.
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Robot coming in with some of the sharp political commentary.
30
00:02:39,552.41107859 --> 00:02:40,892.41123118
Look at this guy.
31
00:02:41,740.59372264 --> 00:02:42,940.59448558
These are the top five.
32
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Robot, you mix them up? Yes, he's shaking his head.
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Robot mixed them up, so these are in no order, but now we want you to vote.
34
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that's right.
35
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All you gotta do is go to bandcamppodcast.com/soundoff
36
00:02:56,801.22633351 --> 00:02:59,11.22637165
to vote which one you want us to read.
37
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Voting ends Sunday, May 17th at midnight, and we will announce the winning book one week from today, Tuesday, May 19th.
38
00:03:07,385.02232134 --> 00:03:13,795.02264559
And that is when we are gonna begin the penultimate chapter of "The Catcher in the Rye," which is chapter 25.
39
00:03:14,156.0542543 --> 00:03:18,46.05459762
But first, um, this Thursday, we're gonna finish chapter 24.
40
00:03:18,466.05467391 --> 00:03:26,641.36773754
Oh, and do we want to spoil something? Do we wanna talk about our special killer episode alert, Jen? I suppose we can spill the beans, go ahead, Dan.
41
00:03:26,947.93631553 --> 00:03:27,947.93631553
a little older than you.
42
00:03:27,987.93627738 --> 00:03:37,77.81729898
In the '70s and, uh, early '80s, did you ever watch, like, those old Quinn Martin shows on TV No, I wouldn't even know what that is.
43
00:03:37,117.74677867 --> 00:03:37,677.74719829
No, I'll tell you.
44
00:03:37,677.74719829 --> 00:03:39,727.74738902
"Barnaby Jones," "Cannon."
45
00:03:40,364.53932065 --> 00:03:47,392.37001864
they're just typical, TV detective shows, but they used to have really insane titles for each episode.
46
00:03:48,102.36910311 --> 00:04:05,432.71105093
And so, like, it'd be like "Barnaby Jones," which starred Uncle Jed from "The Beverly Hillbillies," like he was a detective named Barnaby Jones, and it would be like you'd hear the cheesy '70s announcer: "Tonight on 'Barnaby Jones,' Jack be nimble, Jack be dead."
47
00:04:06,642.7122764 --> 00:04:07,162.71225732
Okay.
48
00:04:07,492.71242422 --> 00:04:08,742.71242422
always had these really weird...
49
00:04:09,12.71288198 --> 00:04:21,105.94164685
So I thought, oh, what's a good name for this special true crime episode of Band Camp we're doing all about "The Catcher in the Rye?" And that's why we want you to join us for Band Camp: The Catcher in the Crosshairs.
50
00:04:21,314.79020853 --> 00:04:36,417.95708225
about the real world murders connected to "The Catcher in the Rye," there are multiple celebrity murders that happened where literally at the crime scene, "Hey, what do you got in your pocket, Mac? What's this?" "Hey, catcher in the Rye, big fan."
51
00:04:36,609.21147823 --> 00:04:37,879.21002864
It's ridiculous.
52
00:04:37,909.21071529 --> 00:04:46,229.21231746
It is a true story, true crime, and that is coming up right after we finish reading "The Catcher in the Rye."
53
00:04:46,370.08901863 --> 00:04:49,790.08888631
All right, so make sure go to bandcamppodcast.com
54
00:04:49,790.08888631 --> 00:04:53,204.30728566
slash soundoff voting ends Sunday, May 17th at midnight.
55
00:04:53,246.88168135 --> 00:04:58,549.47426556
Oh, and real quick before we go, we found two really cool indie book stores that we wanted to tell you about.
56
00:04:58,989.47432278 --> 00:05:05,749.47455166
Honest Dog Books up in Bayfield, Wisconsin, and Phinest and the Owl out in Wilmington, Delaware.
57
00:05:06,169.47462796 --> 00:05:11,819.47424649
We'll give them a proper, uh, introduction on Thursday, but we wanted you to know about them right now.
58
00:05:12,128.10065199 --> 00:05:18,248.09958387
And we will see you on Thursday when we finish up chapter 24 of The Catcher in the Rye.
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00:05:18,518.10004164 --> 00:05:19,348.09996534
See you soon.
60
00:05:19,646.60507591 --> 00:05:22,818.30573326
and thank you, you scary book people, thank you so much for voting.
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See you on Thursday later.
00:00:03,726.6666666667 --> 00:00:05,166.6667834918
Welcome to Band Camp.
2
00:00:05,296.6666595141 --> 00:00:06,126.6665832202
I'm Jennifer.
3
00:00:06,256.6666976611 --> 00:00:13,36.666907469
And I'm Dan, and this is the podcast where we read banned books out loud and try to figure out why they were banned in the first place.
4
00:00:16,426.64399093 --> 00:00:20,516.645097192
So this is not gonna be your typical normal Banned Camp episode.
5
00:00:20,516.645097192 --> 00:00:33,967.484685355
This'll be kind of a short one, but it's a pretty important one because we are going to tell you the final list of the books you guys nominated for us to read for the next season.
6
00:00:34,310.049083258 --> 00:00:40,397.527731102
So starting off, we've got Animal Farm by George Orwell I-- we like George Orwell.
7
00:00:40,457.527729761 --> 00:00:52,466.167379601
nineteen eighty four was a tough one for us to do, but Animal Farm is about A bunch of farm animals overthrow the humans and try running the place themselves, which we would imagine does not turn out so great.
8
00:00:52,766.166616661 --> 00:00:53,256.166387779
All right.
9
00:00:53,633.261407271 --> 00:01:00,713.261807814
All right, uh, next up we've got Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D.
10
00:01:00,813.26123561 --> 00:01:01,413.261617079
Taylor.
11
00:01:01,792.921269041 --> 00:01:02,122.921192747
Hmm.
12
00:01:02,462.921226125 --> 00:01:05,694.440497923
This is every season, this is a really hot one.
13
00:01:05,694.440497923 --> 00:01:16,104.44065051
It's a Black family in the 1930s Mississippi trying to hold onto their land, their dignity, and basically their whole life while the world keeps coming at them.
14
00:01:16,304.440733957 --> 00:01:24,894.441184568
Okay, and, uh, number three, coming here right in the middle is the perennial The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.
15
00:01:25,117.585453874 --> 00:01:26,807.585570699
A fun romp about...
16
00:01:26,867.585513479 --> 00:01:28,637.585255987
Oh, hold on, I'm reading the wrong one.
17
00:01:29,7.585618383 --> 00:01:37,892.465447864
After a religious takeover of the United States, women get shoved into a role that is, to put it mildly, not too good.
18
00:01:38,163.236424886 --> 00:01:44,832.68438024
and, uh, coming in strong at number four, we've got Kindred by Octavia E.
19
00:01:44,970.63613656 --> 00:01:45,430.6361747
Butler.
20
00:01:45,673.30904631 --> 00:02:01,803.30916075
A Black woman in 1976 Los Angeles keeps getting pulled back to a pre-Civil War plantation, which is a terrible time travel experience, and also, according to a ton of the scary book people who nominated it, is one of the best books ever written.
21
00:02:01,963.70141116 --> 00:02:06,746.40223736
And lastly, we've got Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
22
00:02:06,746.40223736 --> 00:02:09,673.94353962
Now this is gonna be a Netflix series, so Yeah.
23
00:02:09,673.94353962 --> 00:02:10,523.94392109
you know, that might be an...
24
00:02:10,553.94365406 --> 00:02:16,383.94357776
I, I'll be tempted to watch it, and I will not watch it until we know whether we're reading it or not.
25
00:02:17,223.94390201 --> 00:02:18,133.94398784
Yeah, that's right.
26
00:02:18,202.41141237 --> 00:02:22,432.41119303
Uh, this is about a group of boys who get stranded on an island with no adults.
27
00:02:22,432.41119303 --> 00:02:34,182.4121467
They try to build a society, which I bet goes as good as the time Trump was stranded in the Oval Office for the second time with his group of F-ups and no adults when they tried to build their own version of society.
28
00:02:34,652.41146006 --> 00:02:34,852.412223
Robot.
29
00:02:35,592.41199412 --> 00:02:39,552.41107859
Robot coming in with some of the sharp political commentary.
30
00:02:39,552.41107859 --> 00:02:40,892.41123118
Look at this guy.
31
00:02:41,740.59372264 --> 00:02:42,940.59448558
These are the top five.
32
00:02:43,150.59738475 --> 00:02:45,890.59524852
Robot, you mix them up? Yes, he's shaking his head.
33
00:02:45,890.59524852 --> 00:02:50,441.22643841
Robot mixed them up, so these are in no order, but now we want you to vote.
34
00:02:50,441.22643841 --> 00:02:50,831.2263049
that's right.
35
00:02:50,901.22647656 --> 00:02:56,551.22633351
All you gotta do is go to bandcamppodcast.com/soundoff
36
00:02:56,801.22633351 --> 00:02:59,11.22637165
to vote which one you want us to read.
37
00:02:59,296.11936175 --> 00:03:06,912.8536563
Voting ends Sunday, May 17th at midnight, and we will announce the winning book one week from today, Tuesday, May 19th.
38
00:03:07,385.02232134 --> 00:03:13,795.02264559
And that is when we are gonna begin the penultimate chapter of "The Catcher in the Rye," which is chapter 25.
39
00:03:14,156.0542543 --> 00:03:18,46.05459762
But first, um, this Thursday, we're gonna finish chapter 24.
40
00:03:18,466.05467391 --> 00:03:26,641.36773754
Oh, and do we want to spoil something? Do we wanna talk about our special killer episode alert, Jen? I suppose we can spill the beans, go ahead, Dan.
41
00:03:26,947.93631553 --> 00:03:27,947.93631553
a little older than you.
42
00:03:27,987.93627738 --> 00:03:37,77.81729898
In the '70s and, uh, early '80s, did you ever watch, like, those old Quinn Martin shows on TV No, I wouldn't even know what that is.
43
00:03:37,117.74677867 --> 00:03:37,677.74719829
No, I'll tell you.
44
00:03:37,677.74719829 --> 00:03:39,727.74738902
"Barnaby Jones," "Cannon."
45
00:03:40,364.53932065 --> 00:03:47,392.37001864
they're just typical, TV detective shows, but they used to have really insane titles for each episode.
46
00:03:48,102.36910311 --> 00:04:05,432.71105093
And so, like, it'd be like "Barnaby Jones," which starred Uncle Jed from "The Beverly Hillbillies," like he was a detective named Barnaby Jones, and it would be like you'd hear the cheesy '70s announcer: "Tonight on 'Barnaby Jones,' Jack be nimble, Jack be dead."
47
00:04:06,642.7122764 --> 00:04:07,162.71225732
Okay.
48
00:04:07,492.71242422 --> 00:04:08,742.71242422
always had these really weird...
49
00:04:09,12.71288198 --> 00:04:21,105.94164685
So I thought, oh, what's a good name for this special true crime episode of Band Camp we're doing all about "The Catcher in the Rye?" And that's why we want you to join us for Band Camp: The Catcher in the Crosshairs.
50
00:04:21,314.79020853 --> 00:04:36,417.95708225
about the real world murders connected to "The Catcher in the Rye," there are multiple celebrity murders that happened where literally at the crime scene, "Hey, what do you got in your pocket, Mac? What's this?" "Hey, catcher in the Rye, big fan."
51
00:04:36,609.21147823 --> 00:04:37,879.21002864
It's ridiculous.
52
00:04:37,909.21071529 --> 00:04:46,229.21231746
It is a true story, true crime, and that is coming up right after we finish reading "The Catcher in the Rye."
53
00:04:46,370.08901863 --> 00:04:49,790.08888631
All right, so make sure go to bandcamppodcast.com
54
00:04:49,790.08888631 --> 00:04:53,204.30728566
slash soundoff voting ends Sunday, May 17th at midnight.
55
00:04:53,246.88168135 --> 00:04:58,549.47426556
Oh, and real quick before we go, we found two really cool indie book stores that we wanted to tell you about.
56
00:04:58,989.47432278 --> 00:05:05,749.47455166
Honest Dog Books up in Bayfield, Wisconsin, and Phinest and the Owl out in Wilmington, Delaware.
57
00:05:06,169.47462796 --> 00:05:11,819.47424649
We'll give them a proper, uh, introduction on Thursday, but we wanted you to know about them right now.
58
00:05:12,128.10065199 --> 00:05:18,248.09958387
And we will see you on Thursday when we finish up chapter 24 of The Catcher in the Rye.
59
00:05:18,518.10004164 --> 00:05:19,348.09996534
See you soon.
60
00:05:19,646.60507591 --> 00:05:22,818.30573326
and thank you, you scary book people, thank you so much for voting.
61
00:05:22,988.30580955 --> 00:05:24,458.30607658
See you on Thursday later.
