The Handmaid's Tale Chapter 38.2: How Moira Escaped and Where It All Went Wrong
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RSS Feed Moira finishes the story of how she got out of the Red Center. She goes from a Quaker safe house to a mail sack to a truck full of carsick chickens, and she gets within sight of a boat to freedom. The escape plan runs into a problem, and what Moira chooses next tells you everything about where this story is headed.
This episode includes AI-voiced content, including our trusty fact-checking robot, Robot.
Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books chapter by chapter. We don't read ahead, so you're discovering the story with us.
Things To Listen For:
- Dan asks why Margaret Atwood loves the Quakers so much.
- Jennifer connects the book's "sectarian roundups" to Pete Hegseth's "full armor of God" speech.
- Dan has a foolproof plan to escape across the Canadian border on foot, and a wall idea that gets out of hand.
- Jennifer asks if Russia is cooking up a plague bomb.
- Dan would take the colony and wear the dress. Jennifer would too, but Moira's route has a few perks.
- Beowulf brings a public readout of banned books in Rock Island, Illinois, and Dan has strong feelings about escape rooms.
Why was The Handmaid's Tale banned?
This chapter has Moira describing Jezebel's, a secret club run for the Commanders, where women are free to do almost anything except leave. The book has been challenged for sexual content and for being "offensive to Christians." But this chapter also shows pious men running a secret brothel while the state hunts down other faiths, which is the exact hypocrisy book banners don't want students reading about.
If this is your first episode, you're fine starting here. Our fact-checking Robot catches you up fast, then we read the next chapter (spoilers).
Banworthy to Bingeworthy
If you like what we do here, calling out the dum-dums who want to ban books, these two shows belong in your feed.
- The Oath and the Office: Law professor Corey Brettschneider and comedian John Fugelsang talk about the Constitution, free speech, freedom of the press, and what happens when a president's power runs up against your rights. They've had Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on to talk about attacks on judges and the rule of law. It's not light stuff, but it has humor in it too. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oath-and-the-office/id1795734509
- Good News for Lefties: Beowulf Rochlen's show about good news for progressives. He is also our news correspondent on Banned Camp, and this week he brings a Banned Books Week readout that is doing the one thing book banners can't stand.
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Disclaimer
Banned Camp features readings and discussions of banned books for the purpose of criticism, commentary, education, and entertainment, in accordance with fair use guidelines.
The material used from the book The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is shared under these principles, with the intent of provoking thought and discussion about literature, censorship, and societal issues. The original work remains fully owned by its copyright holders, and we strongly encourage listeners to purchase a copy here to experience the book in its entirety.
https://bookshop.org/a/20953/9780385490818
This podcast is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Margaret Atwood, her estate, or the publishers of The Handmaid's Tale. Any monetization of the podcast is separate from the copyrighted material discussed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was The Handmaid's Tale banned?
The Handmaid's Tale has been challenged or banned in American schools and libraries every single year since its publication in 1985. It was the most challenged book in the United States in 2023. It has been targeted for profanity, sexually explicit content, and content deemed "offensive to Christians." But the deeper reason is that Margaret Atwood showed what happens when a government uses religion, tradition, and "protecting families" as justification for stripping women of their rights, their names, and their autonomy. That's the part that actually scares book banners, because it looks a lot like Tuesday.
Is there a podcast that discusses The Handmaid's Tale chapter by chapter?
Yes. Banned Camp breaks down a different banned book every season, one chapter at a time, through comedy, commentary, and discussion. Neither host has read ahead, so you're discovering the story together in real time. Season 11 covers The Handmaid's Tale. Every episode mixes a short reading with reactions, a fact-checking Robot, and a look at why the book gets banned. We always encourage listeners to read along with their own copy.
Do I need to start Banned Camp from the beginning?
No. Every episode opens with Robot's recap of the previous chapter, so you can jump in anywhere. Most listeners tell us they started mid-season and went back to the beginning after they were hooked.
What are the Colonies in The Handmaid's Tale?
The Colonies are Gilead's forced-labor camps for women the regime wants gone. Some workers clean up toxic waste and radiation spills or burn bodies, and the book says they last about three years. Others farm cotton and tomatoes. Moira is shown a film about them and picks Jezebel's instead. Banned Camp reacts in Season 11.
Why do the Quakers help Moira escape in The Handmaid's Tale?
In the book, Quakers run safe houses on the Underground Female Road, a network that smuggles women out of Gilead, echoing the real Underground Railroad. Banned Camp's fact-checking Robot also explains Atwood's Puritan ancestry and the Quaker Mary Dyer, hanged in Boston in 1660.
Topics Covered:
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, Chapter Thirty-Eight, Moira, Aunt Lydia, Aunt Elizabeth, Mary Webster, Mary Dyer, Pete Hegseth, Beowulf Rochlen, Corey Brettschneider, John Fugelsang, Sheldon Whitehouse, escape and resistance, religious hypocrisy, Quakers, the Colonies, Jezebel's, hope and loss, banned books, banned books podcast, book banning, censorship, literary analysis, comedy podcast
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