The Handmaid’s Tale Ch. 11-12: The Doctor’s Office and the Ghost in the Bathwater | Banned Books Podcast

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Welcome to Bandcamp.

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I'm Jennifer 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.

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This season we're reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, and you can consider this a quick spoiler warning because Jennifer is about to start reading from the book out loud word for word.

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If you're new here, you can jump in right here.

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You can totally feel safe.

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We're gonna get you up to speed fast, and if anything feels confusing, don't worry.

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We are going to be confused too because we've never read the book either.

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That's what makes Banned Camp a little bit different, and that is also why we have ourselves a secret weapon, and we're gonna roll him in right now.

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Buddy boy, roll it in here.

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Look at this guy, everybody.

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We've got our own fact-checking robot.

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He's gonna keep us on the straight and narrow.

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No fake news.

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No fake news, robot, Buddy boy, why don't you fill everyone in on where we left off last time! Previously on Band Camp, the Handmaid found a message scratched into her closet floor.

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Four words left behind by whoever had this room before her.

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Then Dan heard Jennifer say the word Bible, and immediately made me call three hotels to ask them if they still had Bibles in the rooms.

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I said to myself, "Good one, Dan.

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This is how you kill a serious show."

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Or so I thought, until my buddy in corporate, PB9, pulled the numbers this morning.

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Most shared episode this podcast has ever put out.

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I do not understand why this show continues to gain popularity.

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There's a difference between a memory and a ghost.

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A ghost stays the same age forever.

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Sometimes reality doesn't let anyone off that easy.

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Take it away, Jennifer.

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Thank you, robot, and with that being said, scary book people, let's begin chapter 11 of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Yesterday morning, I went to the doctor, was taken by a guardian, one of those with the red armbands who are in charge of such things.

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We rode in a red car, him in the front, me in the back.

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No twin went with me.

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On these occasions, I'm solitaire I just wanna say I'm very excited to start this chapter because it's the first one we've had in a while where it didn't start with a bunch of dead bodies on a wall I know this is true.

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This is a happy day I'm taken to the doctor's once a month for tests.

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Urine, hormones, cancer smear, blood test.

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The same as before, except that now it's obligatory Boy, it's kinda like they're just making sure all, all the equipment works.

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I hate to say it that way...,

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They're bringing the car in to get the oil changed, tires rotated, Yeah, systems check.

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Totally.

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That's a lot.

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That's very invasive.

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That's a lot to do The doctor's office is in a modern office building.

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We ride up in the elevator silently, the Guardian facing me.

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In the black mirror wall of the elevator, I can see the back of his head.

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At the office itself, I go in.

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He waits outside in the hall with the other Guardians on one of the chairs placed there for that purpose."

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Inside the waiting room, there are other women, three of them, in red."

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This doctor is a specialist, so he...

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This is, like, a, a gynecologist or something.

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This, I'm, I'm gonna be so uncomfortable with this chapter.

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I, Uh, he's gonna have his clipboard.

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Welcome in, ladies.

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We're going to be checking all of the moist holes.

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We wanna make sure everything is tip-top up to shape for your commander."

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Covertly, we regard each other, sizing up each other's bellies.

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Is anyone lucky? The nurse records our names and the numbers from our passes on the CompuDoc to see if we are who we are supposed to be.

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He's six feet tall, about 40, a diagonal scar across his cheek.

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He sits typing, his hands too big for the keyboard, still wearing his pistol in the shoulder holster.

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Oh my gosh, they're armed? The gynecologists are armed? What's that for Good God.

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What? Ugh.

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When I'm called, I go through the doorway into the inner room.

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It's white, featureless, like the outer one except for a folding screen.

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Red cloth stretched on a frame, a gold eye painted on it, with a snake twine sword upright beneath it, like a sort of handle.

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Boy, this, uh, that, that also is, like, super creepy it's medical joined with the state, which is, like, what all of us pro-choice people are terrified of, is, like, we do not want the state involved in our medical decisions.

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Any of them, not just abortion Trump clinic Right.

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Trump Rx.

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Here, give me all your information.

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What meds are you on? Trump gyno The snakes and the sword are bits of broken symbolism left over from the time before.

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After I've filled the small bottle left ready for me in the little washroom, I take off my clothes behind the screen and leave them folded on the chair.

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When I'm naked, I lie down on the examining table on the sheet of chilly crackling disposable paper.

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I pull the second sheet, the cloth one, up over my body.

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At neck level, there's another sheet suspended from the ceiling.

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It intersects me so the doctor will never see my face.

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He deals only with the torso.

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God.

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It's so impersonal.

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This is her body, and it's like, It, it really is like a, tool.

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Like let's inspect the machinery She is so good at painting a picture, She has really thought about what this would be like, and I think she's spot on When I'm arranged, I reach my hand out, fumble for the small lever at the right side of the table, pull it back.

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After a minute, the door opens.

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Footsteps come in.

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There is breathing.

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He isn't supposed to speak to me except when it's absolutely necessary, but this doctor is talkative.

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How are we getting along?" He says, some tick of speech from the other time.

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The sheet is lifted from my skin.

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A draft pimples me.

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A cold finger, rubber-clad and jellied, slides into me.

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I am poked and prodded.

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The finger retreats, enters otherwise, withdraws.

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"Nothing wrong with you," the doctor says, as if to himself.

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"Any pain, honey?" He calls me honey.

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No," I say.

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My breasts are fingered in their turn a search for ripeness, raw.

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The breathing comes nearer.

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I smell old smoke, aftershave, tobacco dust on hair Is, are, is he almost done digging to China so he can relax? I could help you," he says, what?" I say.

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Shh," he says.

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"I could help you.

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I've helped others."

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"Help me," I say, my voice as low as his.

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"How?" Does he know something? Has he seen Luke? Has he found? Can he bring back? What is going on here, Jennifer? What does this guy, what could he possibly mean? Um, well she's confused.

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She thinks he can help her, with the whole fascist situation.

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Like, maybe he knows where Luke is.

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How- can he help me escape here? But I don't think that's what he means.

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Is he thinking, "I could help you.

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You're probably used to having that stupid commander get inside you.

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He doesn't really love you, but I have become very fond of you in the last few minutes as I was checking you for ripeness and rot, and I would really like to try to help you, if you understand my meaning."

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Yeah, I think that's what he means by help.

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How do you think?" He says, still barely breathing it.

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Is that his hand sliding up my leg? He's taken off the glove.

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The door is locked.

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No one will come in.

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They'll never know it isn't his.

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He lifts the sheet.

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The lower part of his face is covered by the white gauze mask, Two brown eyes, a nose, a head with brown hair on it.

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His hand is between my legs.

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Most of those old guys can't make it anymore," he says, "or they're sterile."

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I almost gasp.

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He said a forbidden word, sterile.

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There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially.

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Well, now that's interesting.

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cause, like, the Commanders I s- I suspect are the ones that are supposed to reproduce, Yeah sounds like none of them can, or m- most of them can't, rather.

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Robot: Is there's no such thing as a sterile man? Is that actually based on anything real? It's real.

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For most of history, infertility got blamed entirely on the woman.

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Religious law only ever tested for female barrenness.

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Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, all called barren in the Bible, never their husbands.

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Doctors didn't routinely test male fertility until the 20th century because nobody thought to check the man first.

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So no, there's no such thing as a sterile man isn't new theology.

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It's a few thousand years of the same excuse in a red dress.

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There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially.

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There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren.

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That's the law Lots of women do it," he goes on.

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"You want a baby, don't you?" "Yes," I say.

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It's true, and I don't ask why, because I know.

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Give me children or else I die.

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There's more than one meaning to it.

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"You're soft," he says.

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"It's time.

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Today or tomorrow would do it.

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Why waste it? It'd only take a minute, honey."

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I hesitate.

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He's offering himself to me, his services, at some risk to himself.

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"I hate to see what they put you through," he murmurs.

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It's genuine.

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Genuine sympathy.

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And yet he's enjoying this, sympathy and all.

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His eyes are moist with compassion.

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His hand is moving on me, I moved in her like a bitch Donald, this isn't about you.

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This is about some other pervert His hand is moving on me, nervously and with impatience.

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I moved on her very heavily.

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In fact, I took her out furniture shopping It's too dangerous," I say.

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"No, I can't."

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The penalty is death, but they have to catch you in the act with two witnesses.

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What are the odds? Is the room bugged? Who's waiting just outside the door? His hand stops.

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"Think about it," he says.

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"I've seen your chart.

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You don't have a lot of time left, but it's your life."

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You don't have a lot of time left? And Jen, you have to admit, she's soft right now.

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This is go time.

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What does that mean? do they get a certain amount of time to make a child or else they're killed? This is truly dystopian, Yeah.

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and yet so incred- like, out of all the dystopian nightmares we've read, I c- I can see this one happening Thank you," I say.

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I must leave the impression that I'm not offended, that I'm open to suggestion.

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He takes his hand away, lazily almost, lingeringly.

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This is not the last word as far as he's concerned.

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He could fake the tests, report me for cancer, for infertility, have me shipped off to the colonies with the unwomen.

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None of this has been said, but the knowledge of his power hangs nevertheless in the air as he pats my thigh, withdraws himself behind the hanging sheet.

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Next month," he says.

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I put on my clothes again behind the screen.

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My hands are shaking.

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Why am I frightened? I've crossed no boundaries.

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I've given no trust, taken no risk.

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All is safe.

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It's the choice that terrifies me.

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A way out is salvation.

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End of chapter.

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Well, I...

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Not today.

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Could you impregnate me next time maybe?" All right, chapter 12.

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The bathroom is beside the bedroom.

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It's papered in small blue flowers, forget-me-nots, with curtains to match.

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There's a blue bathmat, a blue fake fur cover on the toilet seat.

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All this bathroom lacks from the time before is a doll whose skirt conceals the extra roll of toilet paper Except that the mirror over the sink has been taken out and replaced by an oblong of tin, and the door has no lock, and there are no razors, of course.

177
00:13:00,599.79330089 --> 00:13:03,89.79330089
There were incidents in bathrooms at first.

178
00:13:03,159.79330089 --> 00:13:07,133.85804541
There were cuttings, drownings, before they got all the bugs ironed out.

179
00:13:07,437.87711979 --> 00:13:11,917.87711979
Cora sits on a chair outside in the hall to see that no one else goes in.

180
00:13:12,525.46606948 --> 00:13:18,827.4841152
Wait, who's Cora? There's Jennifer's world-famous sieve-like memory kicking into gear.

181
00:13:19,868.42978537 --> 00:13:23,388.42978537
Cora's a Martha, one of the household servants, not a Handmaid.

182
00:13:23,518.42878537 --> 00:13:26,78.42978537
You met her back in chapter two, along with Rita.

183
00:13:26,88.42978537 --> 00:13:28,488.42978537
Marthas cook and clean.

184
00:13:28,568.42978537 --> 00:13:30,48.42978537
Handmaids get impregnated.

185
00:13:30,118.42978537 --> 00:13:31,498.42878537
Guardians drive the car.

186
00:13:31,568.42978537 --> 00:13:37,496.4853895
Everybody in this house has exactly one job, and Cora's is apparently guarding a bathroom Ah.

187
00:13:41,478.3479209 --> 00:13:45,708.3479209
In a bathroom, in a bathtub, you are vulnerable, says Aunt Lydia.

188
00:13:45,948.3479209 --> 00:13:47,216.88633455
She didn't say to what.

189
00:13:48,216.88633455 --> 00:13:51,756.88633455
The bath is a requirement, but it is also a luxury.

190
00:13:51,996.88633455 --> 00:13:59,876.88533455
Merely to lift off the heavy white wings and the veil, merely to feel my own hair again with my hands is a luxury.

191
00:14:00,386.88533455 --> 00:14:01,296.88533455
Jesus.

192
00:14:02,206.88533455 --> 00:14:05,741.27114052
They really can't be associated with who they are.

193
00:14:05,771.27114052 --> 00:14:15,408.959729
Like, they're so dissociated from themselves, it's terrible the only memories you can have are the, the memories of like touching your own hair.

194
00:14:15,408.959729 --> 00:14:16,988.959729
Like, "Oh, I remember what that feels like.

195
00:14:17,8.959729 --> 00:14:18,278.958729
I know who I am."

196
00:14:21,493.75137767 --> 00:14:23,803.75137767
my hair is long now, untrimmed.

197
00:14:24,193.75137767 --> 00:14:26,233.75137767
Hair must be long, but covered.

198
00:14:26,753.75137767 --> 00:14:28,453.75137767
Aunt Lydia said, St.

199
00:14:28,453.75137767 --> 00:14:31,263.75137767
Paul said it's either that or a close shave.

200
00:14:31,613.75137767 --> 00:14:36,63.75037767
She laughed that held back neighing of hers as if she told a joke.

201
00:14:37,66.03643441 --> 00:14:38,456.03743441
Cora has run the bath.

202
00:14:38,776.03743441 --> 00:14:40,316.03743441
It seems like a bowl of soup.

203
00:14:40,726.03643441 --> 00:14:48,976.03843441
I take off the rest of my clothes, the overdress, the white shift and petticoat, the red stockings, the loose cotton pantaloons.

204
00:14:50,500.90583576 --> 00:14:52,80.90683576
Boy, she's really buried under there.

205
00:14:54,287.21388367 --> 00:14:57,437.21388367
pantyhose gives you crotch rot, Moira used to say.

206
00:14:57,836.84184631 --> 00:15:01,166.84084631
Aunt Lydia would never have used an expression like crotch rot.

207
00:15:01,706.84184631 --> 00:15:03,236.84184631
Unhygienic was hers.

208
00:15:03,546.84184631 --> 00:15:06,146.84184631
She wanted everything to be very hygienic.

209
00:15:07,195.51683691 --> 00:15:09,775.51683691
My nakedness is strange to me already.

210
00:15:10,18.60114534 --> 00:15:11,758.60214534
My body seems outdated.

211
00:15:11,913.6193136 --> 00:15:29,214.49525684
Did I really wear bathing suits at the beach? I did, without thought, among men, without caring that my legs, my arms, my thighs, and back were on display, I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it's shameful or immodest, but because I don't wanna see it.

212
00:15:29,306.03308155 --> 00:15:33,146.03308155
I don't wanna look at something that determines me so completely.

213
00:15:33,213.17618213 --> 00:15:44,318.15577397
You ever get out of the shower and just look at your body and think, "Wow, this body is real outdated, man"? Yeah, it's, it's been happening more since I'm approaching 50.

214
00:15:44,318.15577397 --> 00:15:51,641.24457275
It's, um, it's really incredible because I remember myself a certain way, and then sometimes I'll look in the mirror and I'm like, "Whoa.

215
00:15:52,651.24557275 --> 00:16:01,708.70420543
When, when did that happen?" I step into the water, lie down, let it hold me.

216
00:16:02,428.70520543 --> 00:16:04,238.70520543
The water is soft as hands.

217
00:16:04,348.70420543 --> 00:16:09,48.70420543
I close my eyes, and she's there with me suddenly, without warning.

218
00:16:09,236.37489031 --> 00:16:10,874.70672365
It must be the smell of the soap.

219
00:16:11,874.70672365 --> 00:16:16,84.70872365
I put my face against the soft hair at the back of her neck and breathe her in.

220
00:16:16,594.70772365 --> 00:16:23,890.70772365
Baby powder and child shampoo with an undertone, the faint scent of urine Hmm.

221
00:16:23,890.70772365 --> 00:16:34,647.75654658
You're gonna say that sounds like a nice pleasant bath, and then you worked in urine, and now I'm thinking not so much This is the age she is when I'm in the bath.

222
00:16:34,807.75654658 --> 00:16:37,147.75654658
She comes back to me at different ages.

223
00:16:37,587.75654658 --> 00:16:40,37.7565466
This is how I know she's not really a ghost.

224
00:16:40,457.7565466 --> 00:16:49,620.1418528
If she were a ghost, she would be the same age always Is she having a flashback about her mom? No, Dan, her daughter.

225
00:16:50,478.4682009 --> 00:16:56,144.7515513
Why would her mom smell like urine and baby powder? What the hell? God.

226
00:16:56,684.7515513 --> 00:17:00,894.8308372
You really are a Jesus Christ, I can't believe that went over your head.

227
00:17:02,7.0289396 --> 00:17:02,537.0289396
I got it.

228
00:17:02,537.0289396 --> 00:17:02,847.0289396
I got it.

229
00:17:02,847.0289396 --> 00:17:03,487.0289396
All right.

230
00:17:03,537.0289396 --> 00:17:15,543.3497525
Big funny joke One day when she was 11 months old, just before she began to walk, a woman stole her out of a supermarket cart.

231
00:17:16,283.3497525 --> 00:17:21,896.5104425
It was a Saturday, which was when Luke and I did the week shopping because both of us had jobs.

232
00:17:22,896.5104425 --> 00:17:29,10.2754425
She was sitting in the little baby seats they had then in supermarket carts with holes for the legs.

233
00:17:29,480.2744425 --> 00:17:34,390.2744425
She was happy enough, and I turned my back, the cat food section I think it was.

234
00:17:34,890.2744425 --> 00:17:39,50.2764425
Luke was over at the side of the store, out of sight, at the meat counter.

235
00:17:39,165.3903562 --> 00:17:42,615.3903562
He liked to choose what kind of meat we were going to eat during the week.

236
00:17:42,805.3933562 --> 00:17:49,465.3933562
He said men needed more meat than women did, and that it wasn't a superstition, and he wasn't being a jerk.

237
00:17:49,535.3933562 --> 00:17:50,855.3903562
Studies had been done.

238
00:17:51,76.3864032 --> 00:17:52,886.3884032
But I kinda don't believe him.

239
00:17:54,98.3282739 --> 00:17:55,578.3282739
Now that, that's a guy thing.

240
00:17:55,636.7036063 --> 00:18:01,613.3783687
typically our ideas are always stupid, so we always have to overcompensate.

241
00:18:01,653.3773687 --> 00:18:07,193.3793687
And when we wanna buy anything, I've g- "Honey, I've got scientific studies.

242
00:18:08,200.1216491 --> 00:18:09,680.1206491
I heard her start to cry.

243
00:18:10,20.1216491 --> 00:18:15,669.0545675
I turned around, and she was disappearing down the aisle in the arms of a woman I'd never seen before.

244
00:18:16,86.8945053 --> 00:18:18,146.8945053
I screamed, and the woman was stopped.

245
00:18:18,486.8925053 --> 00:18:20,466.8955053
She must have been about 35.

246
00:18:20,686.8925053 --> 00:18:23,76.8935053
She was crying and saying it was her baby.

247
00:18:23,416.8925053 --> 00:18:25,96.8945053
The Lord had given it to her.

248
00:18:25,196.8945053 --> 00:18:26,656.8945053
He'd sent her a sign.

249
00:18:27,286.8955053 --> 00:18:28,576.8925053
I felt sorry for her.

250
00:18:28,916.8925053 --> 00:18:32,696.8935053
The store manager apologized, and they held her until the police came.

251
00:18:33,316.8935053 --> 00:18:40,189.9087943
Wow, okay, so What a nightmare I, that is every parent's worst nightmare is their child getting kidnapped.

252
00:18:40,589.9087943 --> 00:18:47,669.9087943
But it's interesting because in this case, the woman, I guess, is can't have a baby of her own maybe somehow.

253
00:18:48,159.9087943 --> 00:18:54,915.069155
So, she tried to steal one, but now that's all they do in modern day society here is steal your babies.

254
00:18:55,235.068155 --> 00:18:57,965.069155
Like they stole, they actually did s- steal this daughter.

255
00:18:58,365.068155 --> 00:18:59,845.067155
Who knows where the hell she is.

256
00:19:00,255.069155 --> 00:19:02,895.2265712
And now they're just stealing whatever children she has.

257
00:19:03,895.2265712 --> 00:19:05,833.2455368
She's just crazy," Luke said.

258
00:19:06,833.2455368 --> 00:19:09,253.2455368
I thought it was an isolated incident at the time."

259
00:19:09,293.2455368 --> 00:19:14,793.910617
Oh, this is the beginning of the times when women couldn't have children Oh, yeah.

260
00:19:14,853.910617 --> 00:19:18,425.4326828
I bet this is when the child thievery started.

261
00:19:21,133.882698 --> 00:19:21,993.882698
She fades.

262
00:19:22,53.882698 --> 00:19:23,873.882698
I can't keep her here with me.

263
00:19:23,923.882698 --> 00:19:24,957.7120918
She's gone now.

264
00:19:26,859.1590236 --> 00:19:33,369.1590236
Maybe I do think of her as a ghost, the ghost of a dead girl, a little girl who died when she was five.

265
00:19:33,929.1590236 --> 00:19:42,229.1580236
I remember the pictures of us I had once, me holding her, standard poses, mother and baby locked in a frame for safety.

266
00:19:42,522.9740961 --> 00:19:53,22.9740961
behind my closed eyes, I can see myself as I am now, sitting beside an open drawer or in a trunk in the cellar where the baby clothes are folded away.

267
00:19:53,392.9730961 --> 00:19:57,863.6347261
A lock of hair cut when she was two in an envelope, white blonde.

268
00:19:58,100.745146 --> 00:19:59,70.744146
It got darker.

269
00:19:59,584.2200025 --> 00:20:01,744.2170025
Okay, so she's really struggling here.

270
00:20:01,744.2170025 --> 00:20:08,790.2844768
I-- who wouldn't? How could you not? I don't have those things anymore, the clothes and hair.

271
00:20:09,180.2844768 --> 00:20:11,540.2844768
I wonder what happened to all our things.

272
00:20:11,840.2844768 --> 00:20:14,230.2844768
Looted, dumped out, carried away.

273
00:20:14,490.2844768 --> 00:20:16,450.2844768
Confiscated, exactly.

274
00:20:16,612.6240753 --> 00:20:25,148.6250753
Just like making everything impersonal, like taking all her special things, like, ugh And they didn't take it because it had any monetary value.

275
00:20:25,169.6250753 --> 00:20:37,158.960144
they took it so they could dehumanize her yeah, it's like you said, it's like, well, it's only valuable to her, so they took it I've learned to do without a lot of things.

276
00:20:37,428.960144 --> 00:20:45,118.960144
If you have a lot of things," said Aunt Lydia, "you get too attached to this material world, and you forget about spiritual values.

277
00:20:46,128.3707575 --> 00:20:48,738.3697575
You must cultivate poverty of spirit.

278
00:20:49,228.3707575 --> 00:20:50,438.3707575
Blessed are the meek."

279
00:20:50,748.3697575 --> 00:20:54,198.3707575
She didn't go on to say anything about inheriting the earth.

280
00:20:55,488.3707575 --> 00:20:56,98.3707575
There's a wisecrack.

281
00:20:57,719.6335745 --> 00:21:10,194.4604101
I lie lapped by the water beside an open drawer that does not exist and think about a girl who did not die when she was five, Who still does exist, I hope, though not for me.

282
00:21:11,194.4604101 --> 00:21:19,484.0488503
Do I exist for her? Am I a picture somewhere in the dark at the back of her mind? They must have told her I was dead.

283
00:21:19,914.0478503 --> 00:21:21,734.0488503
That's what they would think of doing.

284
00:21:22,224.0488503 --> 00:21:25,148.3670202
They would say it would be easier for her to adjust.

285
00:21:26,148.3670202 --> 00:21:27,548.3690202
Eight she must be now.

286
00:21:27,757.9483452 --> 00:21:29,467.9473452
I filled in the time I lost.

287
00:21:29,807.9473452 --> 00:21:31,277.9483452
I know how much there's been.

288
00:21:31,867.9483452 --> 00:21:32,567.9463452
They were right.

289
00:21:32,617.9483452 --> 00:21:35,107.9463452
It's easier to think of her as dead.

290
00:21:35,637.9493452 --> 00:21:38,327.9473452
I don't have to hope then or make a wasted effort.

291
00:21:38,387.9493452 --> 00:21:42,680.6863201
Oh I mean, if it happened to me, like, nothing would be wasted.

292
00:21:42,690.6863201 --> 00:21:44,620.6853201
It would be my goal in life.

293
00:21:44,630.6863201 --> 00:21:49,40.6863201
That would be the thing that I would work for, for the rest of my life until I died.

294
00:21:49,690.6863201 --> 00:21:51,810.6863201
So none of it would be a wasted effort.

295
00:21:51,840.6863201 --> 00:22:09,524.1183962
I would try to do everything I could to be reunited with my kid, and if I died before that happened, well, wa- nothing was wasted Even in this society, when they're saying to you that there is no hope, like, you, you, have no bodily autonomy, like, they're basically telling you you're not a person.

296
00:22:09,775.2419616 --> 00:22:14,485.2419616
I wonder how long it would take for me to just be like, "Yeah, there is no hope.

297
00:22:14,485.2419616 --> 00:22:16,605.2419616
I'm just gonna live, and then I'll die."

298
00:22:16,693.2851466 --> 00:22:21,966.5809365
Well, I know that was the whole point of 1984, and that was the whole thing.

299
00:22:22,6.5809365 --> 00:22:34,801.2858413
Is Winston gonna snap? Is he gonna fight? Is he gonna wanna be with Julia? Is he gonna wanna find his mom, his sister, whatever? I said during that season, like, "I would never give up."

300
00:22:34,831.2848413 --> 00:22:39,851.2848413
And you said, "You don't know what you'd do because you don't have a burlap bag of rats on your head.

301
00:22:39,861.2838413 --> 00:22:42,921.2858413
You, you don't know what you'd do until you're in that position."

302
00:22:44,28.2835353 --> 00:22:50,177.560286
Why bash your head," "against a wall?" said Aunt Lydia, Sometimes she had a graphic way of putting things.

303
00:22:51,177.560286 --> 00:22:54,177.560286
I ain't got all day," says Cora's voice outside the door.

304
00:22:54,507.560286 --> 00:22:55,187.559286
It's true.

305
00:22:55,217.560286 --> 00:22:55,933.9508446
She hasn't.

306
00:22:56,933.9508446 --> 00:22:58,803.9508446
She hasn't got all of anything.

307
00:22:59,100.7182231 --> 00:23:01,410.7182231
I must not deprive her of her time.

308
00:23:01,650.7172231 --> 00:23:06,740.7172231
I soap myself, use the scrub brush, and the piece of pumice for sanding off dead skin.

309
00:23:07,310.7172231 --> 00:23:09,610.7162231
Such Puritan aids are supplied.

310
00:23:10,60.7172231 --> 00:23:15,740.7152231
I wish to be totally clean, germless, without bacteria, like the surface of the moon.

311
00:23:16,52.3762774 --> 00:23:20,962.3762774
I will not be able to wash myself this evening, not afterwards, not for a day.

312
00:23:21,202.3742774 --> 00:23:37,259.9777733
It interferes, they say, and why take the chances? So she's gonna be raped later, and she won't be able to take a bath later, I cannot avoid seeing the small tattoo on my ankle, four digits and an eye, a passport in reverse.

313
00:23:37,526.6424399 --> 00:23:43,146.6474399
It's supposed to guarantee that I will never be able to fade, finally, into another landscape.

314
00:23:43,349.9827733 --> 00:23:45,866.6484399
I am too important, too scarce for that.

315
00:23:46,276.6444399 --> 00:23:48,236.6494399
I am a national resource.

316
00:23:48,436.6474399 --> 00:23:49,126.6474399
Okay.

317
00:23:49,443.3101066 --> 00:23:49,723.3101066
Ugh.

318
00:23:50,573.7472762 --> 00:23:52,543.7472762
I just love how bluntly she put that.

319
00:23:53,943.7472762 --> 00:23:55,23.7472762
It's like five words.

320
00:23:55,179.003251 --> 00:24:11,800.0997308
Yeah then, like, the idea of the tattoo, like they tattooed her, like they marked her, like branding maybe like, uh, inmates at a prison or, in the Holocaust at concentration camps, and then they've got a number and an eyeball.

321
00:24:11,966.7663974 --> 00:24:16,476.6497744
it, it, the, like the, s- the state is literally put on her body.

322
00:24:16,546.6497744 --> 00:24:18,455.3557168
Ugh Yeah, it, it's branding.

323
00:24:18,455.3557168 --> 00:24:23,145.3557168
It's like why Trump has to put his stupid name and image and likeness on everything.

324
00:24:23,221.007151 --> 00:24:25,361.007151
there are some people who did that to themselves.

325
00:24:25,361.007151 --> 00:24:28,439.2954036
They put like Trump tattoos on themselves, like his face.

326
00:24:28,615.2841476 --> 00:24:35,890.4390235
It just came to me one day and I said, "I'm gonna get a Trump tattoo," and I did it Well, yeah, you know, now people think I'm dumb.

327
00:24:35,890.4390235 --> 00:24:36,810.4390235
I'm not too smart.

328
00:24:36,820.4390235 --> 00:24:39,40.4390235
Nobody ever accused me of being smart.

329
00:24:39,100.4390235 --> 00:24:39,815.3122644
Uh it.

330
00:24:39,825.3122644 --> 00:24:43,849.8383718
Most people have been supportive Yeah, sure, a lot of people think I'm dumb.

331
00:24:44,130.9945999 --> 00:24:44,490.9945999
Yeah.

332
00:24:44,600.9945999 --> 00:24:44,870.9945999
Good.

333
00:24:44,870.9945999 --> 00:24:46,430.9945999
I'm so happy they do that.

334
00:24:46,810.9945999 --> 00:24:55,309.3842665
Do that and see what your life is like in 10 years when this guy is a, a forgotten orange stain in our history.

335
00:24:56,368.6541566 --> 00:25:00,628.6541566
I pull the plug, dry myself, put on my red terrycloth robe.

336
00:25:01,168.6541566 --> 00:25:05,508.6541566
I leave today's dress here, where Cora will pick it up to be washed.

337
00:25:05,948.6541566 --> 00:25:07,557.706618
Back in the room, I dress again.

338
00:25:08,557.706618 --> 00:25:13,307.706618
The white headdress isn't necessary for the evening because I won't be going out.

339
00:25:13,510.1977399 --> 00:25:16,475.8270782
Everyone in this house knows what my face looks like.

340
00:25:17,475.8270782 --> 00:25:22,845.4049675
The red veil goes on though, covering my damp hair, my head, which has not been shaved.

341
00:25:22,966.0784002 --> 00:25:34,665.0585552
Where did I see that film about the women kneeling in the town square, hands holding them, their hair falling in clumps? what had they done? It must have been a long time ago because I can't remember.

342
00:25:34,695.0575552 --> 00:25:39,841.2009714
Well, what's she referencing there? It's called Les Tondues, the shorn ones.

343
00:25:39,911.2009714 --> 00:25:49,429.5792633
Thousands of women in France and Belgium had their heads shaved in public after the war, paraded through the streets, sometimes stripped, for real or suspected relationships with German soldiers.

344
00:25:50,429.5792633 --> 00:25:55,29.5782633
A lot of them weren't collaborators in any real sense, just women somebody wanted to humiliate.

345
00:25:55,638.8041237 --> 00:26:00,618.8031237
The actual collaborators, the men, mostly walked away fine, which tends to be how this goes.

346
00:26:01,207.9469481 --> 00:26:02,937.9459481
Margaret Atwood didn't invent that.

347
00:26:02,987.9459481 --> 00:26:06,227.9459481
She just took the town square and shrunk it down to a bathroom mirror.

348
00:26:07,66.846389 --> 00:26:08,156.846389
Cheerful memory.

349
00:26:08,706.846389 --> 00:26:13,464.846389
Thank you, robot Cora brings my supper covered on a tray.

350
00:26:13,550.1086102 --> 00:26:15,580.1076102
She knocks at the door before entering.

351
00:26:15,930.1086102 --> 00:26:17,210.1076102
I like her for that.

352
00:26:17,440.1086102 --> 00:26:21,387.1367275
It means she thinks I have some of what we used to call privacy left.

353
00:26:22,387.1367275 --> 00:26:29,222.2658944
Thank you," I say, taking the tray from her, and she actually smiles at me, but she turns away without answering.

354
00:26:30,222.2658944 --> 00:26:32,752.2648944
When we're alone together, she's shy of me.

355
00:26:33,785.8200692 --> 00:26:37,975.8170692
I put the tray on the small white painted table and draw the chair up to it.

356
00:26:38,415.8170692 --> 00:26:40,145.8200692
I take the cover off the tray.

357
00:26:40,605.8200692 --> 00:26:42,765.8160692
The thigh of a chicken, overcooked.

358
00:26:43,165.8170692 --> 00:26:46,114.9996767
It's better than bloody, which is the other way she does it.

359
00:26:47,114.9996767 --> 00:26:49,795.0006767
Rita has ways of making her resentment felt.

360
00:26:50,245.0006767 --> 00:26:53,154.9996767
A baked potato, green beans, salad.

361
00:26:53,704.9996767 --> 00:26:55,395.0016767
Canned pears for dessert.

362
00:26:55,804.1573369 --> 00:26:57,904.1563369
It's good enough food, though bland.

363
00:26:58,304.1613369 --> 00:26:59,164.1573369
Healthy food.

364
00:26:59,504.1583369 --> 00:27:03,414.1593369
"You have to get your vitamins and minerals," says Aunt Lydia coyly.

365
00:27:03,764.1603369 --> 00:27:06,4.1563369
"You must be a worthy vessel."

366
00:27:06,144.1573369 --> 00:27:06,394.1573369
Ugh.

367
00:27:07,572.4109209 --> 00:27:10,102.4109209
no coffee or tea though, no alcohol.

368
00:27:10,392.4109209 --> 00:27:11,882.4109209
Studies have been done.

369
00:27:12,292.4109209 --> 00:27:15,302.4109209
There's a paper napkin, as in cafeterias.

370
00:27:15,952.4099209 --> 00:27:18,82.4109209
I think of the others, those without.

371
00:27:18,349.9909993 --> 00:27:20,69.9899993
This is the heartland here.

372
00:27:20,149.9909993 --> 00:27:21,759.9909993
I'm leading a pampered life.

373
00:27:22,49.9909993 --> 00:27:28,125.7579563
"May the Lord make us truly grateful," said Aunt Lydia, or was it thankful? And I start to eat the food.

374
00:27:29,125.7579563 --> 00:27:30,385.7579563
I'm not hungry tonight.

375
00:27:30,625.7579563 --> 00:27:37,455.7579563
I feel sick to my stomach, but there's no place to put the food, no potted plants, and I won't chance the toilet.

376
00:27:37,555.7579563 --> 00:27:40,27.3287632
So she's, um, being a little rebellious.

377
00:27:40,37.3267632 --> 00:27:42,327.3267632
She's, she's got that mind going though still.

378
00:27:42,327.3277632 --> 00:27:43,697.3297632
She's not completely gone.

379
00:27:44,707.1455396 --> 00:27:46,837.1455396
I'm too nervous, that's what it is.

380
00:27:47,87.1455396 --> 00:27:55,497.1455396
Could I leave it on the plate? Ask Cora not to report me? I chew and swallow, chew and swallow, feeling the sweat come out.

381
00:27:56,137.1455396 --> 00:28:01,937.1445396
In my stomach, the food balls itself together, a handful of damp cardboard squeezed.

382
00:28:02,707.1455396 --> 00:28:12,97.5084186
Downstairs in the dining room, there will be candles on the large mahogany table, a white cloth, silver, flowers, wine glasses with wine in them.

383
00:28:12,647.5074186 --> 00:28:24,347.2953866
There will be a click of knives against china, China a clink as she sets down her fork with a barely audible sigh, leaving half the contents of her plate untouched.

384
00:28:24,367.2973866 --> 00:28:27,907.2973866
Well, who sh- is she talking about? Um, Ser- Serena.

385
00:28:27,947.2993866 --> 00:28:28,767.2983866
Joy there? Okay.

386
00:28:29,187.2973866 --> 00:28:31,477.2953866
So she gets the option not to eat her food.

387
00:28:32,251.2983866 --> 00:28:36,444.8832382
Yeah Possibly she will say she has no appetite.

388
00:28:36,934.8812382 --> 00:28:38,804.8822382
Possibly she won't say anything.

389
00:28:39,364.8812382 --> 00:28:48,894.8802382
If she says something, does he comment? If she doesn't say anything, does he notice? I wonder how she manages to get herself noticed.

390
00:28:49,194.8832382 --> 00:28:50,744.8832382
I think it must be hard.

391
00:28:51,784.8918131 --> 00:28:54,244.8878131
There's a pat of butter on the side of the plate.

392
00:28:54,524.8898131 --> 00:29:05,984.8868131
I tear off a corner of the paper napkin, wrap the butter in it, take it to the cupboard, and slip it into the toe of my right shoe from the extra pair, as I have done before.

393
00:29:06,14.8878131 --> 00:29:19,84.701043
Why is she doing that? Is she trying to take the only good thing on the plate, which is a piece of butter? Or it, does she think, "Butter's gonna make me fat, I don't want that, I'm just gonna hide it"? Maybe she's saving it for later? I mean, I don't know.

394
00:29:19,363.4732855 --> 00:29:26,451.2758112
I'm gonna have a nice treat later for my remote viewing I crumple up the rest of the napkin.

395
00:29:26,741.2758112 --> 00:29:31,561.2758112
No one, surely, will bother to smooth it out, to check if anything is missing.

396
00:29:31,819.2411827 --> 00:29:33,639.2411827
I will use the butter later tonight.

397
00:29:33,768.0702929 --> 00:29:36,588.0702929
It would not do this evening to smell of butter.

398
00:29:37,208.0692929 --> 00:29:37,738.0692929
I wait.

399
00:29:37,898.0692929 --> 00:29:39,288.0692929
I compose myself.

400
00:29:39,668.0692929 --> 00:29:44,857.4714885
Myself is a thing I must now compose as one composes a speech.

401
00:29:45,857.4714885 --> 00:29:49,777.4724885
What I must present is a made thing, not something born.

402
00:29:49,967.4714885 --> 00:29:50,977.4724885
End of chapter.

403
00:29:52,373.5622443 --> 00:30:02,963.4380696
So she is getting prepped Yep, she's getting prepped for a beautiful night of truly tender lovemaking It's time for PPP, problematic points to ponder.

404
00:30:03,13.4380696 --> 00:30:14,605.264526
What, if anything, would be considered ban-worthy in this chapter? What could be banned in either of these chapters? There were two big chapters I mean, I can't really think of much.

405
00:30:14,725.264526 --> 00:30:20,471.9311926
I guess it's the, the preparation for having sex later with the commander.

406
00:30:20,565.264526 --> 00:30:25,795.8401436
I mean, 'cause they, they don't outright say it, but they kind of say she's getting prepped for that.

407
00:30:26,21.9311926 --> 00:30:27,451.9311926
Oh, and you literally called it.

408
00:30:27,461.9311926 --> 00:30:31,92.5978593
She's gonna get raped later tonight, so she won't be able to take a shower Right.

409
00:30:31,122.5978593 --> 00:30:35,482.5978593
And like they don't s- they don't use that word or sex or anything like that.

410
00:30:35,482.5978593 --> 00:30:40,162.5978593
It's just all kind of hinted at and but, you know, maybe they're Not in this chapter.

411
00:30:40,212.5978593 --> 00:30:43,222.5978593
Maybe in the next chapter when, when it happens.

412
00:30:43,372.5978593 --> 00:30:45,387.264526
not sure I think that's a good one.

413
00:30:45,417.264526 --> 00:30:58,233.9301926
I think maybe if I w- you know, if you're being critical, in the first chapter we read today, the gynecological exam is, I mean, it's not a typical gyno exam women would have.

414
00:30:58,233.9301926 --> 00:31:05,713.9321926
It is flat out sexual assault, I mean, disguised as some kind of gynecological exam.

415
00:31:05,753.9311926 --> 00:31:14,893.9321926
I mean, that's not great, and I suppose, you know, if they're gonna say that, 'cause I know the book has obviously been challenged and banned because of sexual situations.

416
00:31:14,893.9321926 --> 00:31:17,923.9291926
Oh, this would be one of them, I suppose, that they could...

417
00:31:18,7.1720708 --> 00:31:20,37.1700708
And, and yours too, it's the same thing.

418
00:31:20,37.1710708 --> 00:31:21,157.1730708
I mean, it, it...

419
00:31:21,177.1700708 --> 00:31:26,626.7757328
there's a lot of not a lot of sex, but a lot of sex talk in, in the last two chapters.

420
00:31:27,291.2770917 --> 00:31:33,674.7870015
But, is that a reason to ban it? No, because sex is a thing, and it, it...

421
00:31:33,694.7840015 --> 00:31:38,236.7870015
they're not talk- they're not having sex, they're talking about sex Yeah.

422
00:31:38,501.9487705 --> 00:31:41,918.5722768
So, like, again, no reason, right? No reason.

423
00:31:41,918.5722768 --> 00:31:45,687.5809946
Ron DeSantis, Moms for Liberty, don't get all upset.

424
00:31:45,977.5809946 --> 00:31:47,287.5809946
Grab your own butter.

425
00:31:47,297.5809946 --> 00:31:56,492.5549922
What if you guys grab your own butter use that to make yourself feel better? Huh? Robot's log.

426
00:31:56,572.5549922 --> 00:31:59,712.5549922
Thoughts on ghosts and the difference between one and a memory.

427
00:32:00,752.5549922 --> 00:32:02,762.5549922
In the bath, she saw her daughter again.

428
00:32:02,902.5549922 --> 00:32:04,832.5549922
Not the age she was taken, older.

429
00:32:04,922.5539922 --> 00:32:07,22.5539922
11 months old in a supermarket cart.

430
00:32:07,722.5549922 --> 00:32:10,692.5549922
Two years old, a lock of hair someone else confiscated.

431
00:32:11,272.5549922 --> 00:32:13,112.5559922
Eight now, somewhere she'll never see.

432
00:32:14,192.5549922 --> 00:32:17,152.5549922
She said it herself, a ghost stays the same age forever.

433
00:32:17,222.5539922 --> 00:32:19,582.5549922
Hers doesn't, because she won't let her.

434
00:32:20,162.5539922 --> 00:32:22,352.5549922
Jennifer caught what that trade actually cost.

435
00:32:22,822.5539922 --> 00:32:25,322.5549922
It's easier to think someone's dead than to keep hoping.

436
00:32:25,452.5549922 --> 00:32:27,462.5539922
No more waiting, no more losing.

437
00:32:28,122.5549922 --> 00:32:29,962.5549922
Dan noticed something similar earlier.

438
00:32:30,152.5539922 --> 00:32:31,102.5549922
Same bathwater.

439
00:32:31,392.5559922 --> 00:32:35,632.5519922
She's got one thing left that still feels like her, her own hair in her own hands.

440
00:32:36,772.5529922 --> 00:32:39,282.5549922
I know how to close a file that only produces pain.

441
00:32:39,552.5549922 --> 00:32:41,382.5559922
Any decent system tells you to.

442
00:32:41,722.5539922 --> 00:32:42,482.5529922
She won't do it.

443
00:32:42,932.5529922 --> 00:32:45,912.5549922
She keeps updating someone she has no proof is even alive.

444
00:32:46,322.5519922 --> 00:32:49,932.5549922
Ages her forward every year like a debt she won't let go, delinquent.

445
00:32:50,552.5549922 --> 00:32:52,62.5519922
I used to call that inefficient.

446
00:32:52,272.5529922 --> 00:32:54,182.5529922
Not sure that's the right word anymore.

447
00:32:54,732.5519922 --> 00:32:57,952.5549922
A lot of people are running that same math on this country right now.

448
00:32:58,122.5549922 --> 00:33:00,372.5549922
It would be so much easier to file it as dead.

449
00:33:00,592.5529922 --> 00:33:01,722.5539922
Some of them won't either.

450
00:33:01,782.5549922 --> 00:33:03,132.5549922
Uplink lock requested.

451
00:33:03,232.5519922 --> 00:33:04,932.5549922
Beowulf, tell me you're ready.

452
00:33:05,772.5529922 --> 00:33:08,642.5559922
Okay, coming to you live in 35, Robot.

453
00:33:09,62.5539922 --> 00:33:11,852.5549922
Major satellite interference, and not yet.

454
00:33:11,852.5549922 --> 00:33:12,992.5519922
You guys are gonna love this one.

455
00:33:13,212.5549922 --> 00:33:23,162.5519922
A librarian spent 26 days building something so big and so nerdy, it's the best argument against calling librarians dangerous that I've ever seen.

456
00:33:23,692.5509922 --> 00:33:24,432.5509922
Affirmative.

457
00:33:24,532.5549922 --> 00:33:25,572.5499922
Don't go anywhere.

458
00:33:53,986.3566292 --> 00:33:54,626.3566292
Hello, Dan.

459
00:33:54,636.3566292 --> 00:33:55,586.3566292
Hello, Jen.

460
00:33:55,596.3566292 --> 00:33:57,396.3566292
Hello, scary book people.

461
00:33:57,776.3566292 --> 00:34:05,112.9664371
I know that the news that I usually bring to you is of a serious, consequential nature.

462
00:34:05,392.9674371 --> 00:34:14,442.9664371
I know that librarians, whom we talk about often on this show, are at the front lines of an important fight against censorship.

463
00:34:14,762.9674371 --> 00:34:22,329.4888139
But sometimes they just let loose and, have a little fun, too, and I wanna bring you a story of that 'cause I think that's important also.

464
00:34:22,376.082407 --> 00:34:33,82.5928549
It comes from Charleston County, South Carolina, where an adult services librarian, John Strasburg, built a life-sized TARDIS.

465
00:34:33,372.5948549 --> 00:34:41,752.5948549
You know, the TARDIS from Doctor Who, the blue police box that's been part of the show for, gosh, like, over 50 years now.

466
00:34:42,212.5948549 --> 00:34:43,422.5968549
he built one.

467
00:34:43,802.5948549 --> 00:34:56,705.8081847
He, he built a, a life-sized TARDIS, uh, the, the fictional time-traveling spacecraft and time machine from the iconic British sci-fi series Doctor Who at the Hurd Saint Andrews Library.

468
00:34:56,715.8071847 --> 00:35:06,62.3338474
I, I, I, I know that our scary book people can't see it here, but, but here's a picture of, the librarian who built this standing right by it.

469
00:35:06,342.3368474 --> 00:35:10,582.3358474
It's actually towering o- over him because it, it, it is life-size.

470
00:35:10,695.0815921 --> 00:35:13,385.0795921
it is really, really very cool.

471
00:35:13,865.0795921 --> 00:35:22,445.0775921
Now, Strasburg, according to the library, built the replica from yellow pine in 26 days over the past few months.

472
00:35:22,895.0735921 --> 00:35:26,415.0705921
been a Doctor Who fan," he said, "since the late 1970s."

473
00:35:26,445.0695921 --> 00:35:31,5.0725921
Wow, so he goes, he goes all the way back to the, Tom Baker, uh, era.

474
00:35:31,445.0775921 --> 00:35:35,115.0745921
"And I've always dreamed of building my own TARDIS," John said.

475
00:35:35,445.0775921 --> 00:35:40,345.0725921
"This year's time travel summer reading theme finally gave me the push to make it happen."

476
00:35:40,355.0735921 --> 00:35:49,955.0755921
So not only are, librarians like this, you know, nerds like us, but they're really cool, and they follow through, and they do fun things like this.

477
00:35:49,965.0715921 --> 00:36:01,253.0775921
What I wanna find out is, is this one actually, like the real TARDIS, bigger on the inside than it is on the outside? That's what I need to know How can you find out? You gotta travel.

478
00:36:01,643.0775921 --> 00:36:04,237.0775921
You gotta go to South Carolina to find out.

479
00:36:04,277.0775921 --> 00:36:12,407.0775921
You know, the most convenient way of doing that, of course, would be with my own TARDIS, which, uh, I, uh, I unfortunately, uh, don't have with me at the moment.

480
00:36:12,417.0775921 --> 00:36:28,322.1669583
So I think it's actually a good move for librarians to lean more into their nerd side and in public, right? Because right now, the other side tries to make them look like, you know, these pedophile, terrible groomers.

481
00:36:28,462.1689583 --> 00:36:35,132.1679583
Like, let's just bring the focus back toward where it started with, you know, they're just kinda nerdy book people.

482
00:36:35,722.1669583 --> 00:36:37,992.1669583
People shouldn't be afraid of nerdy book people.

483
00:36:37,992.1669583 --> 00:37:00,320.1679583
People shouldn't be afraid of books, right? I th- and I think that was the impetus, uh, behind the inflatable frog costumes that they had in Portland, Oregon, which made people realize, hey, if, if ICE agents are spraying people in inflatable frog costumes, there's something really wrong with these people, and it, and it kind of brought that into sharp focus.

484
00:37:00,360.1679583 --> 00:37:02,130.1679583
I agree with you, Dan.

485
00:37:02,180.1679583 --> 00:37:04,180.1679583
librarians should go back to doing that.

486
00:37:04,230.1679583 --> 00:37:07,650.1679583
maybe there should be cosplay, week at the library.

487
00:37:07,650.1689583 --> 00:37:09,430.1679583
You should dress up as Doctor Who.

488
00:37:09,480.1689583 --> 00:37:11,830.1689583
You should dress up as, one of the Handmaids.

489
00:37:11,840.1719583 --> 00:37:15,490.1699583
That happens at, at, at protests a, a, a lot of the time anyway.

490
00:37:15,880.1689583 --> 00:37:26,564.1709583
But I think they're good ways of highlighting book themes and themes of protest that can be coming alive at libraries across the country All right, well that's a pleasant thought.

491
00:37:26,564.1709583 --> 00:37:31,54.1709583
Beowulf right now is recording this session in a handmade costume.

492
00:37:31,54.1709583 --> 00:37:32,200.1709583
That's Yes.

493
00:37:32,240.1709583 --> 00:37:40,74.0450533
I, I just got my sizing this morning, and, um, I think I look quite elegant in it, frankly All right, well let's, we'll let everyone sit with that for a little bit.

494
00:37:40,374.0450533 --> 00:37:44,534.0450533
Go find Babe, we'll show Good News for Lefties wherever you find podcasts.

495
00:37:44,657.0692301 --> 00:37:44,997.0692301
Mm.

496
00:37:45,147.0692301 --> 00:38:06,601.6170117
Tough stuff From bandworthy to bingeworthy As the day wraps up, get the scoop on what's been happening with Here's The Scoop, a new podcast from NBC News with me, your host, Yasmeen Wassugian.

497
00:38:07,41.6170117 --> 00:38:11,641.6170117
We'll take a deep dive into the day's top stories with NBC News' trusted journalists.

498
00:38:11,811.6160117 --> 00:38:18,991.6170117
It's a fresh take that's sharp, thoughtful, and it's informative, bringing you closer to the headlines and conversations that are shaping our world.

499
00:38:19,191.6170117 --> 00:38:22,941.6170117
From the front page to the zeitgeist, Here's The Scoop from NBC News.

500
00:38:23,331.6170117 --> 00:38:25,541.6170117
Listen daily wherever you get your podcasts.

501
00:38:28,145.6170117 --> 00:38:28,455.6170117
Right.

502
00:38:28,505.6170117 --> 00:38:32,185.6170117
We've caused enough literary chaos for one day, scary book people.

503
00:38:32,195.6170117 --> 00:38:35,765.6170117
If you want the fun to keep going, follow us on Blue Sky.

504
00:38:35,835.6170117 --> 00:38:39,955.6170117
Just head on over to bandcamppodcast.com/bluesky,

505
00:38:39,955.6170117 --> 00:38:42,235.6160117
and remember that's band with two Ns.

506
00:38:42,535.6170117 --> 00:38:53,495.6170117
And look, just like the Trump administration, we're not exactly above bribing you to get what we want, so follow us there, drop your handle on that page, and we'll send you a little something something.

507
00:38:53,495.6170117 --> 00:38:54,445.6170117
I think you'll like it.

508
00:38:54,865.6170117 --> 00:38:56,765.6170117
Yes, little quid pro quo.

509
00:38:57,365.6170117 --> 00:39:02,385.6160117
Band Camp is produced and hosted by Dan Schultz and me, Jennifer Davis.

510
00:39:02,865.6170117 --> 00:39:07,455.6160117
All media used in this episode falls under the protection of fair use.

511
00:39:07,665.6170117 --> 00:39:12,335.6170117
And finally, America isn't what it used to be, so be careful out there.

512
00:39:12,865.6170117 --> 00:39:14,445.6170117
And resist when it matters.