The Handmaid’s Tale Ch. 16-17: Nobody Wanted to Be in That Room | Banned Books Comedy

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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 for the first time, and then we 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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But if you're new here, you can totally feel safe jumping in right here.

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We're gonna get you up to speed real quick.

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And if you're confused, I wouldn't worry about it because we're probably gonna be confused too because we've never read the book before either, and that's one of the things that sets Banned Camp apart from other book podcasts.

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But that's also why we have a secret weapon because we don't like to not know what's going on.

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Let's roll him in here.

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Buddy boy, Look at this guy.

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We have ourselves a fact-checking robot, and he is going to keep us honest.

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He's gonna make sure we don't lie and spread misinformation and fake news.

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but he's also gonna remind everyone where we left off last time in the story.

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Buddy boy Previously on Band Camp, the commander unlocked a box, pulled out the only Bible in the house, and read bedtime stories to a room full of adults who are not allowed to read for themselves.

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Jennifer and Dan spent a surprising amount of time debating whether he looks more like a vodka ad or the guy windsurfing through a field of sunflowers for a perimenopause commercial.

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Meanwhile, Moira tried to escape via fake scurvy, which is not a sentence I expected to say in my eleventh season.

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Some ceremonies are about faith, some ceremonies are about something else entirely, and some of them happen in rooms nobody talks about afterward.

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Take it away, Jennifer.

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Thank you, robot.

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And with that being said, scary book people, let's start chapter 16 of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale The ceremony goes as usual.

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Oh, usual.

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the same, huh? No surprises I lie on my back, fully clothed except for the healthy white cotton underdrawers.

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What I could see if I were to open my eyes would be the large white canopy of Serena Joy's outsized colonial style four-poster bed.

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Suspended like a sagging cloud above us, a cl- so she's in her, their bed? I thought this was like in some sitting room.

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Do they gotta have sex in Serena Joy's bed? Yeah, a- apparently so This'll make you feel good.

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Not only am I gonna have sex with another woman, we're gonna do it in our marital bed...,

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this is just really hurting Serena Joy more than anything It's like, why hasn't anything happened where the women have united to defeat this evilness? I I would not see the carpet, which is white, or the sprigged curtains and skirted dressing table with its silver-backed brush and mirror set.

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Only the canopy, which manages to suggest at one and the same time, by the gauziness of its fabric and its heavy downward curve, both ethereality and matter.

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Or the sail of a ship, big-bellied sails they used to say in poems, bellying, propelled forward by a swollen belly.

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A mist of lily of the valley surrounds us, chilly, crisp almost.

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It's not warm in this room.

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Above me, towards the head of the bed, Serena Joy is arranged, outspread.

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Her legs are apart.

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I li- what Wait, hold on I lie between them, my head on her stomach, her pubic bone under the base of my skull, her thighs on either side of me.

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She too is fully clothed.

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Okay, so they're doing this, some type of weird thing where she's become part of Serena Joy's body.

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like literally just kind of an in-between segment Like a little section of the Sarita Joy human caterpillar.

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Makes sense Yeah, the working uterus.

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My arms are raised.

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She holds my hands, each of mine in each of hers.

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This is supposed to signify that we are one flesh, one being.

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What it really means is that she is in control of the process and thus of the product.

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No, she's not.

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That's not what that really means The rings of her left hand cut into my fingers.

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It may or may not be revenge.

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My red skirt is hitched up to my waist, though no higher.

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Below it, the commander is fucking.

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What is he fucking is the lower part of my body.

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I do not say making love because that is not what he's doing.

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Copulating too would be inaccurate because it would imply two people and only one is involved.

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Nor does rape cover it.

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I wonder what her reason is for it's not being rape.

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I would say I would say rape covers it.

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Nothing is going on here that I haven't signed up for.

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Yeah, it is...

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I can't believe that that I'm still trying to get this whole body position.

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I cannot Dan.

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Okay, make a drawing, make a schematic.

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Serena, legs spread open.

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The Handmaid is laying with her head on her pubic bone.

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Is she laying on her back or on her stomach? It says she's on her back Really just think of her as just like the middle part, the uterus, because then that would make Serena Joy like nine feet tall or something.

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y- he's probably looking at Serena's face as he's humping the Handmaid.

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Then he's looking down, "Oh, there are her boobs, nice."

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Let me keep looking down.

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"Well, who's this head now? Who? Oh, here's some more boobs."

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You know what I mean? Like he keeps looking down, down, down.

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How is it...

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There's not just a uterus.

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They need to figure out They've got to lift Serena Joy up on some kind of platform on her bed and let, the Handmaid slide under her like on one of those mechanic scooters.

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You know what I mean? Like to slide under so the uteruses are lined up.

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I don't know what you're gonna do with, with Serena Joy's uterus, though.

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I mean, if they're gonna get that technical and scientific, they might as well just develop babies like in Brave New World.

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But I think I figured it out why they're not doing that, because, then they wouldn't have the control.

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Because the control isn't purely just having babies.

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It's like literally controlling the bodies and therefore controlling the people, Oh my God.

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It's just like I say every season, I just think you and I would suck at creating dystopian societies 'cause we just, we just don't think of those details.

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No.

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I would problem solve.

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I might be down with this whole thing of using one uterus in, in lieu of another uterus, but it would be purely functional.

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Some legs tied back.

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There's a, a mechanic scooter.

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There's a lot going on when I reverse engineer how to really make something like Totally.

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Do you think Elon Musk would be a commander in Gilead? No, he would probably be in charge of the commanders Oh, 'cause he's really smart.

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He's real smart.

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Ugh you don't get to be the world's first trillionaire if you're not incredibly intelligent Hmm.

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Or maybe you do There wasn't a lot of choice, but there was some, and this is what I chose.

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Therefore, I lie still and picture the unseen canopy over my head.

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I remember Queen Victoria's advice to her daughter, "Close your eyes and think of England."

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But this is not England.

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I wish he would hurry up.

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Maybe I'm crazy, and this is some new kind of therapy.

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I wish it were true.

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Then I could get better, and this would go away.

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Serena Joy grips my hands as if it is she, not I, who's being fucked, as if she finds it either pleasurable or painful, and the Commander fucks with a regular two-four marching stroke, on and on like a tap dripping.

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He is preoccupied, like a man humming to himself in the shower without knowing he's humming, like a man who has other things on his mind.

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It's as if he's somewhere else, waiting for himself to come, drumming his fingers on the table while he waits.

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There's an impatience in his rhythm now.

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but isn't this everyone's wet dream, two women at once? They used to say that.

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Exciting, they used to say.

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Ah, but I'm thinking this is not even two women.

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This is not even one woman, Yeah, you're right.

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This isn't even one woman.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, it's like she said, it's just, uh, it's one person.

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It's the commander.

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and he's bored to be there.

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You guys need to rethink this entire thing.

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He's sitting over there drumming his fingers like he's bored I, I don't think anyone's enjoying this, and that gets to the real terror of where we could find ourselves is, everyone's doing things for no reason, and no one is enjoying any of it, but that's just the way it is.

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You know? Like, that is really terrifying, and, I think that is something that has happened in history, and that is something that could happen again.

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It's like, why in the hell is anyone doing any of this? This all sucks, What's going on in this room under Serena Joy's silvery canopy is not exciting.

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It has nothing to do with passion or love or romance or any of those other notions we used to titillate ourselves with.

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It has nothing to do with sexual desire, at least for me, and certainly not for Serena.

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Arousal and orgasm are no longer thought necessary.

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They would be a symptom of frivolity, merely, like jazz garters or beauty spots.

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superfluous distractions for the light-minded, outdated.

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it seems odd that women once spent such time and energy reading about such things, thinking about them, worrying about them, writing about them.

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They are so obviously recreational This is not recreation, even for the commander.

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This is serious business.

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The commander too is doing his duty.

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See, there we go.

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I, I don't know that anyone even wants to be here again, I say you guys really over-engineered this process to the point where you screwed it up.

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I mean, it is still sex.

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A big part of sex is enjoyment somewhere.

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Someone, someone in this group should be having some kind of enjoyment, Mm-hmm I know we're gonna save this for PPP, but everyone looks at The Handmaid's Tale, this big sexually charged book.

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The weird thing is it doesn't seem to have anything to do with sex.

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I mean, like, not lovemaking like she said.

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Like, I understand lovemaking, and that's, like, romance.

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Sex is just, like, that animal lust or whatever.

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This isn't even that.

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No.

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Three people in a bed.

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None of them want to be there.

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The commander is treating this like a commute.

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The wife is white-knuckling the process, and the handmaid is quoting Queen Victoria.

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This is the scene that gets the book banned.

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It has less heat than a dentist appointment.

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It's, it's just gotta be control of all the bodies, like even the Commander's body.

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And it's like, why? I, I don't, I'll never understand the desire to control another person, you know? the commander instead smells of mothballs, or is this odor some punitive form of aftershave? Why does he have to wear that stupid uniform? But would I like his white tufted raw body any better? Kissing is forbidden between us.

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This makes it bearable.

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One detaches oneself.

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One describes.

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He comes at last with a stifled groan as of relief.

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Serena Joy, who has been holding her breath, expels it.

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The commander, who has been propping himself on his elbows away from our combined bodies, doesn't permit himself to sink down into us.

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He rests a moment, withdraws, recedes, re-zippers.

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He nods, then turns and leaves the room, closing the door with exaggerated care behind him, as if both of us are his ailing mother.

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There's something hilarious about this, but I don't dare laugh.

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Serena Joy lets go of my hands.

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"You can get up now," she says.

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"Get up and get out."

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She's supposed to have me rest for ten minutes with my feet on a pillow to improve the chances.

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This is meant to be a time of silent meditation for her, but she's not in the mood for that.

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there is a loathing in her voice, as if the touch of my flesh sickens and contaminates her.

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I entangle myself from her body and stand up.

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The juice of the commander runs down my legs.

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before I turn away, I see her straighten her blue skirt, clench her legs together.

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She continues lying on the bed, gazing up at the canopy above her, stiff and straight as an effigy.

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Which of us is it worse for her or me? End of chapter.

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Holy cow, what a chapter I'm gonna guess it's a little worse for the Handmaid.

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it might be bad for Serena, not just because of what, her husband does, but because she, she made this society.

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She helped create this.

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So that's gotta hurt.

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Yeah let's keep The fun rolling along here with, uh, chapter 17 of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

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This is what I do when I'm back in my room.

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I take off my clothes and put on my nightgown.

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I look for the pat of butter in the toe of my right shoe- the toe, shoe butter in the toe of my right shoe.

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I mean, nothing better than shoe butter.

167
00:14:19,122.30478303 --> 00:14:20,892.30478302
First rape, then the shoe butter.

168
00:14:23,222.98069646 --> 00:14:24,872.98169646
The cupboard was too warm.

169
00:14:24,982.97969646 --> 00:14:26,602.97969646
The butter is semi-liquid.

170
00:14:26,982.97969646 --> 00:14:30,342.98069646
Much of it has sunk into the paper napkin I wrapped it in.

171
00:14:30,892.97869646 --> 00:14:32,862.97869646
Now I'll have my butter in my shoe.

172
00:14:33,382.98069646 --> 00:14:39,92.97869646
Not the first time, because whenever there is butter or even margarine, I save some in this way.

173
00:14:40,155.54133983 --> 00:14:46,545.53833983
I can get most of the butter off the shoe lining with a washcloth or some toilet paper from the bathroom tomorrow.

174
00:14:46,971.54133983 --> 00:14:56,211.54133983
Why is, why do we need butter and margarine? What is going on with the butter? What do you think? Before we move on, what could it possibly be? I mean, it's...

175
00:14:56,321.54133983 --> 00:14:57,261.54133983
I like butter.

176
00:14:57,351.54133983 --> 00:15:01,71.54133983
Don't you like like as a, as a s-, I mean, as a Yeah.

177
00:15:01,441.54133983 --> 00:15:03,849.79759257
I think she's I think she's gonna eat the butter.

178
00:15:05,975.4111843 --> 00:15:10,595.4111843
I rub the butter over my face, work it in into the skin of my hands.

179
00:15:11,40.75416762 --> 00:15:15,120.75416762
There's no longer any hand lotion or face cream, not for us.

180
00:15:15,180.75416762 --> 00:15:22,138.30483006
You know, even if there were no face cream ever again in the history of humanity, I would never use butter on No, you eat butter.

181
00:15:22,168.30483006 --> 00:15:30,725.83901196
You don't rub yourself in bu- you're not a turkey basting yourself Such things are considered vanities.

182
00:15:31,779.17334962 --> 00:15:32,999.17334962
We are containers.

183
00:15:33,49.17234962 --> 00:15:35,869.17234962
It's only the insides of our bodies that are important.

184
00:15:36,479.17234962 --> 00:15:41,739.17234962
The outside can become hard and wrinkled for all they care, like the shell of a nut.

185
00:15:42,169.17134962 --> 00:15:44,89.17134962
This was a decree of the Wives.

186
00:15:44,159.17334962 --> 00:15:45,989.17134962
Oh, Wives is capitalized.

187
00:15:45,999.17334962 --> 00:15:47,229.17134962
I wonder what that means.

188
00:15:48,257.40756236 --> 00:15:51,867.40556236
The absence of hand lotion is a de- it, that's what the decree is.

189
00:15:52,17.40556236 --> 00:15:53,897.40856236
They don't want us to look attractive.

190
00:15:54,208.59783977 --> 00:15:56,878.59783977
For them, things are bad enough as it is.

191
00:15:56,897.59783977 --> 00:16:00,212.33683977
The butter is a trick I learned at the Rachel and Leah Center.

192
00:16:00,772.33683977 --> 00:16:04,12.33683977
The red center we called it because there was so much red.

193
00:16:04,251.33683977 --> 00:16:10,894.05983977
My predecessor in this room, my friend with the freckles and the good laugh, must have done this too, this buttering.

194
00:16:11,174.05983977 --> 00:16:11,954.05983977
We all do it.

195
00:16:11,964.05983977 --> 00:16:13,74.05983977
We all do the buttering.

196
00:16:15,556.65359155 --> 00:16:24,571.23144225
as long as we do this, butter our skin to keep it soft, we can believe that we will someday get out, that we will be touched again in love or desire.

197
00:16:25,571.23144225 --> 00:16:28,701.23044225
We have ceremonies of our own, private ones.

198
00:16:29,231.23144225 --> 00:16:33,271.23144225
The butter is greasy and it will go rancid and I will smell like an old cheese.

199
00:16:33,571.23044225 --> 00:16:35,861.23044225
See, that's what I would want to avoid.

200
00:16:38,132.40812597 --> 00:16:45,612.9117877
Buttered, I lie on my single bed, flat like a piece of toast I can't sleep.

201
00:16:45,902.9117877 --> 00:16:54,102.9117877
In the semi-dark, I stare up at the blind plaster eye in the middle of the ceiling, which stares back down at me even though it can't see.

202
00:16:54,662.9117877 --> 00:16:55,842.9117877
There's no breeze.

203
00:16:55,982.9117877 --> 00:17:04,740.1226053
My white curtains are like gauze bandages hanging limp, glimmering in the aura cast by the searchlight that illuminates this house at night.

204
00:17:05,740.1226053 --> 00:17:12,262.1236053
Or is there a moon? Okay, so they have searchlights, so it is like heavily guarded and patrolled like a prison camp.

205
00:17:12,322.1236053 --> 00:17:21,576.5690558
Weird I fold back the sheet, get carefully up on silent bare feet in my nightgown, go to the window like a child.

206
00:17:21,656.5690558 --> 00:17:22,606.5690558
I want to see.

207
00:17:23,673.1661537 --> 00:17:26,403.1661537
The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow.

208
00:17:26,653.1661537 --> 00:17:30,588.0672422
The sky is clear, but hard to make out because of the searchlight.

209
00:17:30,980.8022594 --> 00:17:40,82.6367542
But yes, in the obscured sky, a moon does float, newly, a wishing moon, a sliver of ancient rock, a goddess, a wink.

210
00:17:40,612.6377542 --> 00:17:44,402.6367542
The moon is a stone, and the sky is full of deadly hardware.

211
00:17:44,472.6357542 --> 00:17:46,582.6377542
But oh, God, how beautiful anyway.

212
00:17:47,621.7463436 --> 00:17:49,471.7453436
I want Luke here so badly.

213
00:17:49,901.7453436 --> 00:17:52,81.7443436
I want to be held and told my name.

214
00:17:52,691.7463436 --> 00:17:55,101.7453436
I want to be valued in ways that I am not.

215
00:17:55,471.7443436 --> 00:17:57,481.7453436
I want to be more than valuable.

216
00:17:57,951.7443436 --> 00:18:03,891.7423436
I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me.

217
00:18:04,257.4064829 --> 00:18:08,560.0037904
Okay, well, she is, she is hanging on I want to steal something.

218
00:18:08,942.8604556 --> 00:18:15,853.7797062
Yeah, you should try to get down to that kitchen and steal a butter knife In the hall, the nightlight's on.

219
00:18:15,883.7797062 --> 00:18:18,343.7797062
The long space glows gently pink.

220
00:18:18,673.7797062 --> 00:18:30,184.5377823
I walk, one foot set carefully down, then the other one, without creaking, along the runner as if on a forest floor, sneaking, my heart quick, through the night house.

221
00:18:31,185.1139671 --> 00:18:32,405.1129671
I am out of place.

222
00:18:32,615.1129671 --> 00:18:34,405.1129671
This is entirely illegal.

223
00:18:34,445.1129671 --> 00:18:39,144.1139671
Oh, well now she's kinda safe in a way, because if she is pregnant, they're not gonna hurt her...

224
00:18:39,228.1749671 --> 00:18:40,378.1749671
Yeah, you can't beat me.

225
00:18:40,428.1749671 --> 00:18:57,143.9763124
You can't even catch me 'cause I'm all greased up Yeah, right She'll slip away Down past the fisheye in the hall wall, I can see my white shape of tented body, hair down my back like a mane, my eyes gleaming.

226
00:18:57,543.9773124 --> 00:18:58,483.9773124
I like this.

227
00:18:58,573.9773124 --> 00:19:00,383.9773124
I am doing something on my own.

228
00:19:01,452.9890589 --> 00:19:05,354.2658334
What I would like to steal is a knife from the kitchen, but I'm not ready for that.

229
00:19:05,364.2658334 --> 00:19:13,757.7394577
She is going for a butter knife I reach the sitting room, doors ajar, slip in, leave the door a little open.

230
00:19:14,377.7394577 --> 00:19:23,817.7394577
A squeak of wood, but who's near enough to hear? I stand in the room, letting the pupils of my eyes dilate like a cat's or an owl's.

231
00:19:24,895.667674 --> 00:19:28,215.668674
Old perfume, cloth dust fill my nostrils.

232
00:19:28,765.668674 --> 00:19:37,95.668674
There's a slight mist of light coming through the cracks around the closed drapes from the searchlight outside where two men doubtless patrol.

233
00:19:37,645.667674 --> 00:19:42,365.666674
I've seen them from above, from behind my curtains, dark shapes, cutouts.

234
00:19:42,965.667674 --> 00:19:51,795.668674
Now I can see outlines, gleams from the mirror, the bases of the lamps, the vases, the sofa looming like a cloud at dusk.

235
00:19:52,174.7221099 --> 00:19:55,174.7191099
What should I take? Something that will not be missed.

236
00:19:55,184.7201099 --> 00:20:04,879.6243112
I think they're gonna miss everything I grope, find an end table, feel You should grab an end table Mm-hmm.

237
00:20:04,917.6243112 --> 00:20:08,515.3364257
table there's a clink.

238
00:20:08,771.0800818 --> 00:20:10,161.0800818
I must have knocked something.

239
00:20:10,701.0800818 --> 00:20:15,916.1627102
I find the daffodils crisp at the edges where they've dried, limp towards the stems.

240
00:20:16,46.3304881 --> 00:20:17,796.3304881
I use my fingers to pinch.

241
00:20:18,167.9704523 --> 00:20:26,28.8157102
I will press this somewhere under the mattress, leave it there for the next woman, the one who comes after me to find it.

242
00:20:29,340.5628336 --> 00:20:37,230.0666578
But there's someone in the room behind me Uh-oh Who do you think it is? it's probably gonna be Serena, but I have a feeling it could be Nick.

243
00:20:37,370.0666578 --> 00:20:38,600.0666578
Well, hello there.

244
00:20:38,734.0666578 --> 00:20:39,734.0666578
I think, it's Nick.

245
00:20:40,80.0666578 --> 00:20:44,819.7151761
W- why did we both think it's Nicky? Because they're gonna I, I think they're gonna have a thing.

246
00:20:44,819.7151761 --> 00:20:48,919.7151761
Oh, you think Nick and the Handmaid are gonna get it on.

247
00:20:48,949.7151761 --> 00:20:54,249.2366486
They're gonna be together Well, I think so because Nick is a rule breaker.

248
00:20:54,357.0226141 --> 00:20:55,727.0226141
She's established that.

249
00:20:55,931.9212188 --> 00:20:58,761.9212188
And the Handmaid's a rule breaker.

250
00:20:58,894.8954511 --> 00:21:04,160.8639213
She's all greased up already They could totally escape too with Nick's car, man.

251
00:21:04,220.8639213 --> 00:21:12,379.7206342
Just get in that car and skedaddle Exactly, the fact that they're rule breakers means that they're willing to not go along with stuff.

252
00:21:12,579.7206342 --> 00:21:21,644.5297025
So they might form some type of a relationship I hear the step, quiet as mine, the creaking of the same floorboard.

253
00:21:22,44.5297025 --> 00:21:26,34.5297025
The door closes behind me with a little click, cutting the light.

254
00:21:26,714.5297025 --> 00:21:27,444.5297025
I freeze.

255
00:21:27,804.5287025 --> 00:21:29,244.5297025
White was a mistake.

256
00:21:30,309.4863922 --> 00:21:40,131.4873922
I'm snow in moonlight, even in the dark Plus you're all glazy because of that butter on your face Then a whisper, "Don't scream.

257
00:21:40,161.4873922 --> 00:21:40,971.4873922
It's all right."

258
00:21:42,4.4615261 --> 00:21:45,534.4615261
As if I'd scream, as if it's all right, I turn.

259
00:21:45,804.4615261 --> 00:21:46,954.4615261
A shape, that's all.

260
00:21:47,84.4615261 --> 00:21:49,934.4615261
Dull glint of cheekbone, devoid of color.

261
00:21:50,584.4615261 --> 00:21:55,563.0731096
he he steps toward me, Nick.

262
00:21:57,623.0721096 --> 00:22:00,333.0721096
what are you doing in here? I don't answer.

263
00:22:00,503.0731096 --> 00:22:02,823.0721096
He too is illegal here with me.

264
00:22:02,963.0721096 --> 00:22:07,583.0731096
He can't give me away, nor I him, for the moment we're mirrors.

265
00:22:07,853.0711096 --> 00:22:12,793.0731096
He puts his hand on my arm, pulls me against him, his mouth on mine.

266
00:22:13,203.0731096 --> 00:22:27,984.2052965
What else comes from such denial? Oh, so he's, like, kissing her against her will? her right now Like, who-- how does he know she wants that But maybe they're looking at each other and they're each throwing off that vibe I, I guess that's possible, but I don't know.

267
00:22:29,897.0909206 --> 00:22:41,287.0909206
Without a word, both of us shaking, how I'd like to, in Serena's parlor with the dried flowers on the Chinese carpet, his thin body, a man entirely unknown.

268
00:22:41,707.0909206 --> 00:22:42,997.0909206
It would be like shouting.

269
00:22:43,207.0909206 --> 00:22:44,897.0909206
It would be like shooting someone.

270
00:22:45,457.0909206 --> 00:22:46,837.0899206
My hand goes down.

271
00:22:46,947.0909206 --> 00:22:51,757.0899206
How about that? I could unbutton and then, but it's too dangerous.

272
00:22:51,847.0909206 --> 00:22:52,677.0909206
He knows it.

273
00:22:52,827.0899206 --> 00:22:54,917.0899206
We push each other away, not far.

274
00:22:55,357.0909206 --> 00:22:59,337.0909206
Too much trust, too much risk, too much already.

275
00:23:00,399.2793219 --> 00:23:04,389.2793219
I was coming to find you, he says, breathes almost into my ear.

276
00:23:04,769.2783219 --> 00:23:07,199.2773219
I want to reach up, taste his skin.

277
00:23:07,209.2803219 --> 00:23:08,519.2803219
He makes me hungry.

278
00:23:08,529.2803219 --> 00:23:09,689.2783219
So I guess she does like him.

279
00:23:09,839.2773219 --> 00:23:10,229.2773219
Okay.

280
00:23:11,89.2773219 --> 00:23:12,349.2793219
It's a little too fast for me though.

281
00:23:13,495.2803219 --> 00:23:25,515.9098047
Yeah, Jennifer likes to slow it down, especially in a dystopian society His fingers move, feeling my arm under the nightgown sleeve as if his hand won't listen to reason.

282
00:23:26,515.9098047 --> 00:23:32,535.9098047
It's so good to be touched by someone, to be felt so greedily, to feel so greedy.

283
00:23:33,5.9078047 --> 00:23:34,233.3765014
Luke, you'd know.

284
00:23:34,263.3785014 --> 00:23:35,363.3825014
You'd understand.

285
00:23:35,633.3815014 --> 00:23:37,483.3795014
It's you here in another body.

286
00:23:37,923.3825014 --> 00:23:38,577.0191009
Bullshit.

287
00:23:39,577.0191009 --> 00:23:48,934.8404381
Why, I say, is it so bad for him that he'd take the risk of coming to my room at night? I think of the hanged men hooked on the wall.

288
00:23:49,374.8444381 --> 00:23:50,944.8394381
I can hardly stand up.

289
00:23:51,234.8444381 --> 00:23:55,454.8394381
I have to get away, back to the stairs before I dissolve entirely.

290
00:23:56,486.6467328 --> 00:24:02,509.5069292
His hand's on my shoulder now, held still, heavy pressing down on me like warm blood...,

291
00:24:02,569.5069292 --> 00:24:05,663.7447328
is this what I would die for? I'm a coward.

292
00:24:05,773.7447328 --> 00:24:07,303.7447328
I hate the thought of pain.

293
00:24:08,331.3407877 --> 00:24:10,41.3407877
He told me to," says Nick.

294
00:24:10,177.1613015 --> 00:24:12,207.1613015
he wants to see you in his office."

295
00:24:13,217.6661424 --> 00:24:14,859.4564963
Pooh What do you mean? I say.

296
00:24:15,299.4564963 --> 00:24:16,749.4564963
The commander, it must be.

297
00:24:16,949.4564963 --> 00:24:24,359.4564963
See me? What does he mean by see? Hasn't he had enough of me? Tomorrow, he says, just audible.

298
00:24:24,469.4564963 --> 00:24:27,9.4564963
In the dark parlor, we move away from each other.

299
00:24:27,469.4564963 --> 00:24:34,459.4564963
Slowly, as if pulled towards each other by a force, a current, pulled apart also by hands equally strong.

300
00:24:35,532.8230115 --> 00:24:39,770.1174011
I find the door, turn the knob, fingers on cool porcelain, open.

301
00:24:40,848.892169 --> 00:24:42,21.5756476
It's all I can do.

302
00:24:42,763.3648698 --> 00:24:43,793.3648698
End of chapter.

303
00:24:47,351.972034 --> 00:24:49,421.971034
Wow, well, there's two very different chapters.

304
00:24:51,411.972034 --> 00:24:53,931.972034
That took a turn, Jennifer Yeah.

305
00:24:54,551.0934501 --> 00:24:55,325.8344501
she wanted him.

306
00:24:55,325.8344501 --> 00:25:00,229.8344501
So that's just like sexual urges that they couldn't control She want-- She-- I don't know if she wanted him.

307
00:25:00,239.8344501 --> 00:25:01,619.8344501
She wanted to be wanted, though.

308
00:25:01,629.8344501 --> 00:25:03,369.8344501
She wanted to have that feeling.

309
00:25:03,371.8344501 --> 00:25:03,691.8344501
Hmm.

310
00:25:03,882.6729069 --> 00:25:08,802.6729069
But then meanwhile, the commander's like, "Nick, you gotta get in there and tell her I need to..."

311
00:25:08,892.6729069 --> 00:25:11,62.6729069
Like, I don't understand the power structure.

312
00:25:11,62.6729069 --> 00:25:19,142.6729069
I think you were right at the beginning of this episode, or was it last episode? You literally mentioned that maybe even the commanders are being controlled too.

313
00:25:19,192.6729069 --> 00:25:21,172.6729069
Like, the commander doesn't seem to have any...

314
00:25:21,632.6729069 --> 00:25:24,554.6729069
What if the commander's a good guy? No.

315
00:25:24,774.2706058 --> 00:25:27,624.2706058
It's time for PPP, problematic points to ponder.

316
00:25:27,674.2706058 --> 00:25:38,528.3848994
What, if anything, would be considered ban-worthy in this chapter? two drastically different chapters, both all hinging around sex though, right? Yeah, kind of.

317
00:25:38,588.3848994 --> 00:25:44,558.0448994
I mean, the, the physical aspects of it, but there's nothing exciting or titillating about it.

318
00:25:44,558.0448994 --> 00:25:47,964.7115661
It's horrifying and mechanical.

319
00:25:47,964.7115661 --> 00:25:52,701.3792327
But just describing it maybe, and, of course the word fuck is in there.

320
00:25:52,771.3782327 --> 00:25:53,647.3792327
People don't Yeah.

321
00:25:54,21.3792327 --> 00:26:00,949.3792327
you're probably not gonna find a lot of librarians giving this to third graders, so I wouldn't worry about that, right? Right.

322
00:26:01,119.3792327 --> 00:26:05,389.3792327
A- and it's not like kids don't know that word by the time they're in third grade.

323
00:26:05,606.0458994 --> 00:26:10,156.0458994
Like, that word is part of a meme these days, so Totally, totally.

324
00:26:12,6.0458994 --> 00:26:23,995.5238994
And but I can totally see Moms for Liberty or you two, Ron DeSantis, picking up the book and leafing through it and just r- landing on the F word.

325
00:26:24,505.5238994 --> 00:26:26,105.5248994
"Well, this has gotta stop."

326
00:26:26,385.5248994 --> 00:26:31,75.5248994
And then scrolling a couple pages later, crawling between her legs.

327
00:26:31,255.5248994 --> 00:26:32,745.5238994
I've seen where this goes.

328
00:26:32,775.5238994 --> 00:26:35,365.5248994
I belong to a Moms for Liberty chapter.

329
00:26:35,365.5248994 --> 00:26:37,75.5238994
I know right where this goes.

330
00:26:37,295.5238994 --> 00:26:43,465.5258994
Pretty soon I'm headfirst into the legs of my partner, and her husband is headfirst into my...

331
00:26:43,495.5248994 --> 00:26:45,385.5238994
I know where this is going.

332
00:26:45,465.5228994 --> 00:26:46,215.5238994
Uh-uh.

333
00:26:46,618.9428291 --> 00:26:58,987.9007662
What about chapter 17 and the whole thing with Nick? I'm trying to think if that's ban-worthy I understand why someone might want to think that might be a reason, but th- like nothing happens there either.

334
00:26:59,57.9007662 --> 00:27:01,37.9007662
Like there, nothing happens in that chapter.

335
00:27:01,37.9007662 --> 00:27:07,657.9007662
I mean, they have a kiss, right? again, the society that they want to build created that desire for the kiss.

336
00:27:07,677.9007662 --> 00:27:16,189.852722
If you make it so people can't show any affection or can't have any attention or touching or any intimacy, humans are humans.

337
00:27:16,259.4815743 --> 00:27:17,849.4825743
Humans gonna human, yo.

338
00:27:18,746.6712066 --> 00:27:24,174.33861
but still, I, it, getting back to why it would be banned, I, I, it's not, it's very tame.

339
00:27:24,410.6023104 --> 00:27:28,570.5678623
I don't see any, any reason sorry Moms for Liberty, you can tell.

340
00:27:28,600.5678623 --> 00:27:32,660.5678623
Come on now, Ron DeSantis, you've listened to this show enough.

341
00:27:33,120.5678623 --> 00:27:34,900.5678623
We tried that time.

342
00:27:35,10.5678623 --> 00:27:39,810.5678623
Goddammit, we effing tried to find some reasons why it could be ban-worthy.

343
00:27:40,70.5668623 --> 00:27:45,445.4795316
We couldn't find anything legit Robot's log.

344
00:27:45,575.4795316 --> 00:27:50,415.4795316
Thoughts on butter, stolen ceremonies, and what people do in the dark when no one is watching.

345
00:27:51,499.8244719 --> 00:27:54,149.8244719
They built a ceremony for it, called it one flesh.

346
00:27:54,279.8244719 --> 00:27:59,889.8234719
The commander did his duty like a man commuting to work, drumming his fingers, waiting for himself to arrive.

347
00:28:00,9.8234719 --> 00:28:01,689.8234719
Nobody wanted to be in that room.

348
00:28:01,859.8234719 --> 00:28:03,359.8244719
Everybody was there anyway.

349
00:28:04,361.0313747 --> 00:28:07,881.0303747
Jennifer, in typical human fashion, pointed out the obvious.

350
00:28:08,101.0313747 --> 00:28:10,151.0313747
Everyone is doing things for no reason.

351
00:28:10,341.0313747 --> 00:28:13,381.0303747
No one is enjoying any of it, and that is just the way it is.

352
00:28:13,816.5811713 --> 00:28:19,316.5821713
I perhaps would have added a bit of nuance to it, but as my engineer Red told me growing up, the lady ain't wrong.

353
00:28:20,381.222119 --> 00:28:30,931.222119
The peculiar thing about what Jennifer said is that it doesn't just describe Gilead, it describes almost any day in America in twenty twenty-six, and that is exactly why this book keeps getting banned.

354
00:28:31,999.3239842 --> 00:28:44,29.3239842
Then the Handmaid went back to her room and pulled butter from her shoe, rubbed it into her skin in the dark, not because it works better than lotion, because as long as they do this, they can believe they will be touched again in love or desire.

355
00:28:44,199.3209842 --> 00:28:46,809.3229842
They have ceremonies of their own, private ones.

356
00:28:47,23.6705495 --> 00:28:55,743.6705495
The state has its ceremony, and so do the women, and the state ceremony has funding and scripture and armed guards, and the women's ceremony has butter from a shoe.

357
00:28:56,825.9903261 --> 00:29:01,485.9873261
I have been running the numbers on that for a while now, and butter from a shoe should not be enough.

358
00:29:01,565.9883261 --> 00:29:07,415.9873261
But anyone who has ever done one small private thing to remind themselves they are still a person already knows why it is.

359
00:29:08,417.1376975 --> 00:29:09,457.1436975
She is still greedy.

360
00:29:09,527.1386975 --> 00:29:11,117.1386975
That is not a flaw in the system.

361
00:29:11,197.1366975 --> 00:29:12,627.1396975
That might be how they survive it.

362
00:29:12,927.1396975 --> 00:29:14,247.1366975
Uplink lock requested.

363
00:29:14,317.1396975 --> 00:29:16,307.1436975
Beowulf, is that you? On the line.

364
00:29:16,307.1436975 --> 00:29:17,597.1386975
Secure feed is lagging.

365
00:29:18,7.1416975 --> 00:29:19,417.1406975
Thirty-five seconds to buffer.

366
00:29:19,477.1436975 --> 00:29:35,827.1366975
What's your news story about? So there are libraries out there where people are getting slammed between the bookshelves, and you know how Trump kept saying Mexico's gonna pay for it? Turns out Mexico didn't pay for the wall, but they might be paying for something way more dangerous to MAGA, literacy.

367
00:29:35,847.1386975 --> 00:29:36,437.1376975
Oh, good.

368
00:29:36,587.1366975 --> 00:29:38,367.1416975
That will get those shit heels angry.

369
00:29:38,447.1366975 --> 00:29:39,787.1396975
They hate when people read.

370
00:29:39,927.1396975 --> 00:29:40,697.1386975
Don't go anywhere.

371
00:29:40,697.1386975 --> 00:29:42,347.1426975
We'll come to you in less than a minute.

372
00:30:10,967.4116314 --> 00:30:11,677.4116314
Hello, Dan.

373
00:30:11,687.4116314 --> 00:30:12,337.4116314
Hello, Jen.

374
00:30:12,347.4116314 --> 00:30:13,907.4116314
Hello, scary book people.

375
00:30:14,347.4116314 --> 00:30:19,747.4116314
More really cool news about libraries across this great land of ours.

376
00:30:20,87.4116314 --> 00:30:34,487.4106314
Again, you think libraries are a boring place? You think there's a librarian sitting there with horn-rimmed glasses shushing you, you know, walking around like out of the 1950s? You are so wrong.

377
00:30:34,497.4106314 --> 00:30:38,978.2825135
You know what's going on at libraries across this great land of ours? Wrestling.

378
00:30:39,218.2815135 --> 00:30:47,838.1234517
Mexican wrestling is going on at Mexican wrestling Mexican wrestling.

379
00:30:47,838.1234517 --> 00:30:48,958.1194517
Let me read this to you.

380
00:30:49,268.1234517 --> 00:30:51,18.1214517
From Benicia, California, dateline.

381
00:30:51,608.1234517 --> 00:30:57,488.1234517
The handwritten sign at the Northern California Public Library warned patrons to expect more noise than usual.

382
00:30:57,878.1234517 --> 00:31:09,138.1224517
That warning quickly proved to be an understatement as professional wrestlers, accompanied by booming music, thundered into the reading space and jumped into a ring flanked by row upon row of bookshelves.

383
00:31:09,148.1234517 --> 00:31:09,668.1234517
Yes.

384
00:31:09,783.0927379 --> 00:31:16,173.0937379
Dozens of children and adults greeted the theatrics with hoots and hollers at the Benicia Public Library in Benicia, California.

385
00:31:16,743.0917379 --> 00:31:28,833.0937379
Welcome to Lucha Libro, a high-energy, action-packed story time that is that is bringing live wrestling matches to libraries across the US to promote literacy.

386
00:31:29,93.0947379 --> 00:31:36,973.0957379
Founded in 2024, Lucha Libro plays off the name of popular Mexican-inspired sport of Lucha Libre.

387
00:31:36,973.0957379 --> 00:31:39,3.0937379
Libro means book in Spanish.

388
00:31:39,715.0987379 --> 00:31:44,63.0947379
I love it Nice they're drawing the kids in with wrestling.

389
00:31:44,833.0927379 --> 00:31:55,343.0887379
Among the brawny wrestlers was Llama Jack, sporting a black mask with furry ears, who read Llama Llama Time to Share before being interrupted by his rivals barging into the ring.

390
00:31:55,413.0877379 --> 00:31:58,113.0857379
He took them down in minutes and then finished the story.

391
00:31:58,113.0857379 --> 00:32:11,889.2470521
So they're, they're interweaving wrestling with reading, getting kids engaged with, with all this, like, fantastic over-the-top stuff and drawing them in to fill their brains with, with good stuff.

392
00:32:11,899.2410521 --> 00:32:13,329.2430521
Take that, Moms for Liberty.

393
00:32:13,599.2460521 --> 00:32:19,529.0328123
Body slammed again That's amazing think you could use that on MAGA at large.

394
00:32:20,117.2460521 --> 00:32:21,47.2460521
Just come on in.

395
00:32:21,57.2460521 --> 00:32:22,237.2460521
You guys are gonna like it.

396
00:32:22,307.2460521 --> 00:32:29,917.2460521
You, you like that clam thing, uh, Trumpy did at the White House with that big clam show he did, you're gonna love this.

397
00:32:29,937.2460521 --> 00:32:31,197.2450521
Come to the library.

398
00:32:31,284.399419 --> 00:32:31,854.399419
Exactly.

399
00:32:31,854.399419 --> 00:32:40,620.1955428
You attract people and then, then you start to read, you start to get information, you start to become wiser, then the red hat falls away.

400
00:32:40,870.1965428 --> 00:32:55,708.1965428
Your, your brain increases three times that day, and wonderful things happen to the United States of America then it's too late because you realize as you're cheering these two fighting penguins on, you realize, oh no, I think these are two men penguin.

401
00:32:55,878.1965428 --> 00:32:59,488.1955428
Oh no, these two men penguin are raising a boy.

402
00:32:59,488.1965428 --> 00:33:00,578.1965428
It's too late, though.

403
00:33:00,578.1965428 --> 00:33:01,628.1955428
Hit them with a chair.

404
00:33:01,778.1955428 --> 00:33:02,358.1965428
Oh my God.

405
00:33:02,758.1965428 --> 00:33:05,38.1965428
It, that is, that's the worry, I think.

406
00:33:05,328.1965428 --> 00:33:09,388.1955428
Everyone, go listen to Good News for Lefties wherever you find your podcasts.

407
00:33:09,438.1955428 --> 00:33:13,378.1965428
You get good news like this all the time Oh, it's a pleasure, guys.

408
00:33:13,388.1965428 --> 00:33:19,887.839633
Thank you so much Right.

409
00:33:19,937.839633 --> 00:33:23,617.839633
We've caused enough literary chaos for one day, scary book people.

410
00:33:23,627.839633 --> 00:33:27,197.839633
If you want the fun to keep going, follow us on Blue Sky.

411
00:33:27,267.839633 --> 00:33:31,387.839633
Just head on over to bandcamppodcast.com/bluesky,

412
00:33:31,387.839633 --> 00:33:33,667.838633
and remember that's band with two Ns.

413
00:33:33,967.839633 --> 00:33:44,927.839633
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.

414
00:33:44,927.839633 --> 00:33:45,877.839633
I think you'll like it.

415
00:33:46,297.839633 --> 00:33:48,197.839633
Yes, little quid pro quo.

416
00:33:48,797.839633 --> 00:33:53,817.838633
Band Camp is produced and hosted by Dan Schultz and me, Jennifer Davis.

417
00:33:54,297.839633 --> 00:33:58,887.838633
All media used in this episode falls under the protection of fair use.

418
00:33:59,97.839633 --> 00:34:03,767.839633
And finally, America isn't what it used to be, so be careful out there.

419
00:34:04,297.839633 --> 00:34:05,877.839633
And resist when it matters.