Off the Books

Standing on the fringes of academia offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time when one has to write their senior honors thesis. This haunting episode about the dilemma of pretension vs. passion marks the stunning 42nd show of a provocative new voice in contemporary radio: this is Off the Books.

In this tender, bittersweet radio show a young woman named T.S. discovers herself and the elusive magic of literature when she meets a nifty little invention called a microphone: a lesbian love story for the ages that bristles with the energy of youth and pretension and the eternal light of postmodernist literary theory (among other buzzwords).

No specific book today, T.S. has been reading and writing for midterms all week, and needs some chill halloween tunes to lurk and haunt to.

TS, a neurotic dj (and also a failed academic, literary critic, paramour, and writer of the great american novel), stumbles upon a hitherto under-discussed book made by an enigmatic filmmaker—a book she’s convinced will change her career trajectory and bring postmodernism back. This is Antkind, and this is Off the Books.

cover show by dj penny lane!

In her startling and singular season finale, T.S. nudges at the boundaries of fiction with inimitable wit and seductive intelligence. Venturing inside minds and landscapes that are at once recognisable and utterly strange, this episode reaffirms that so long as she’s on the air, she’ll make the world a worse place.

T.S. and her mother talk about another of her childhood favorite novels. It’s real cute, tune in.