Shows / Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
Love banned books? Hate censorship? Same. Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books out loud, cover-to-cover, and try to figure out why they were banned in the first place. If you've never read them, now's your chance to hear them for the first time with us. If you have, well, you already know what's coming and this will be your chance to laugh at us as we bumble our way through and get horrified over and over again. 11 seasons in, we've gotten pretty good at figuring out what…
Episodes
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 19: The Loneliest Kid at the Bar | Banned Books Comedy
Holden heads to the Wicker Bar to meet Carl Luce, an older former student advisor from his Wooten days who knows a suspicious amount about everyone's private…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 18: The War Behind Every Page | Banned Books Comedy
Holden kills time before a bar date by going to Radio City, where he watches the Rockettes, debates whether a roller-skating comedian is a little person, and…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 17.2: The Date That Was Already Over Before It Started | Banned Books Comedy
Holden and Sally hit the ice at Rockefeller Center, where Sally rents a "little blue butttwitcher of a dress" and Holden discovers he's the worst skater on the…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye | Ch. 17: Girl Watching, Phonies, and the Love You Don’t Mean
Holden arrives early to meet Sally Hayes, watches girls in the lobby, and realizes he wants to marry her the second she walks in — even though he doesn't even…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 16.2: The Museum That Never Changes | Banned Books Podcast
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 16.2 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden goes to Central Park looking for Phoebe, helps a little girl tighten her skate, walks all…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 16.1: If a Body Catch a Body Coming Through the Rye | Banned Books Comedy
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 16.1 Holden walks through New York on a Sunday morning still haunted by the nuns, buys a record for his little sister that makes him…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 15.2: Holden Talks Romeo and Juliet with a Nun | Banned Books Podcast
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 15.2 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden finishes his conversation with the two nuns at the lunch counter, gives them ten dollars…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 15.1: Holden Meets Two Nuns at Grand Central | Banned Books Podcast
Holden finally sleeps, checks out of the hotel (while avoiding the pimp who punched him), and calls the one girl he doesn't actually want to talk to instead of…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 14: Maurice Returns and Holden Gets Hit | Banned Books Podcast
Holden Caulfield starts this chapter talking to his dead brother Allie in an empty hotel room at dawn, and it only gets heavier from there. Maurice the…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 13.2: Holden Meets a Prostitute Named Sunny | Banned Books Podcast
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 13.2 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast The prostitute finally shows up, and Holden Caulfield does the most Holden Caulfield thing…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 13.1: Holden Calls Himself Yellow | Banned Books Podcast
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 13.1 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden Caulfield walks 41 blocks back to his hotel in the freezing cold calling himself a coward…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 12: Holden's 2 AM Cab Ride & the Duck Debate | Banned Books Podcast
Holden Caulfield climbs into a late-night cab that smells like vomit and strikes up a conversation with his driver, Horwitz — who has very strong opinions…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Chapter 11: Jane Gallagher and the Checkerboard Tear | Banned Books Podcast
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 11 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden can't sleep. He's sitting in a vomit-looking chair in the hotel lobby thinking about Jane…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 10 Part 2: You Just Missed Him + Book Banning News
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 10 Part 2 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden Caulfield dances with all three women from Seattle, buys them drinks he can't really…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 10 Part 1: What Is Holden So Afraid Of? | Why Books Get Banned
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 10 Part 1 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden Caulfield can't sleep, so he does what any reasonable teenager would do — puts on a…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 9: Holden Checks Into the Edmont Hotel | Banned Books Podcast
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 9 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden Caulfield arrives in New York City in the middle of the night with cash in his pocket and…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 8: The Most Honest Liar on the Train | Banned Books Comedy
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 8 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden Caulfield hates phonies. He's been cataloguing them for seven chapters. So why does he spend…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 7: Holden Leaves Pencey in the Middle of the Night | Banned Books Podcast
Holden can't sleep. He's lying in Ackley's stinky room, torturing himself thinking about Jane and Stradlater in that car. So he does the only logical…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 6: Blood on the Floor and He Still Won't Shut Up | Banned Books Comedy
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 6 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Stradlater comes back from his date with Jane and rejects Holden's composition about his dead…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 5: The Brother He Couldn't Save | Banned Books Comedy
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 5 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Holden writes a homework assignment about the one thing that matters most to him—his dead brother…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 4.2: Caring Too Much While He Cares Too Little
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 4.2 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast Stradlater's date is Jane Gallagher—Holden's childhood friend and crush. Holden nearly drops dead…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 4.1: Friendly But Friendless | Banned Books Comedy
The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 4.1 Holden hangs out in the steamy bathroom while Stradlater shaves with his disgusting rusty razor (secret slob). Stradlater asks…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 3.2: Why Ban a Book That Shows People Are Complicated? | Why Books Get Banned
Ackley barges into Holden's room and proceeds to do everything wrong: picks up personal items, clips his toenails on the floor after being asked 50 times to…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 3.1: Holden Calls Out Phony Bastards | Banned Books Podcast
Holden admits he's "the most terrific liar you ever saw," then proceeds to spend the entire chapter calling out every phony around him. Meet Ossenburger: a…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 2.2: Holden Shoots the Bull While Thinking About Ducks | Banned Books Podcast
Holden wrote a kind note at the bottom of his failing essay so Mr. Spencer wouldn't feel bad about flunking him. Spencer repaid this kindness by reading it out…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 2: Why Do Good Kids Get Punished? | Why Books Get Banned
Holden Caulfield climbs a freezing hill to say goodbye to his sick 70-year-old teacher, Mr. Spencer. What does he get for his kindness? A lecture, a…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipThe Catcher in the Rye Ch. 1: Why Did This Depressed Teen Scare America for 21 Years?
Holden Caulfield got kicked out of his fourth prep school and refuses to tell us his whole "David Copperfield kind of crap" autobiography. Instead, he stands…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipSeason 10 Book Reveal: The Catcher in the Rye | Starts Jan 15
Season 10 Book Reveal: The Catcher in the Rye | Banned Books Comedy Podcast The votes are in, scary book people. After a nail-biting finish where Kite Runner…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 18.3: The Final Chapter - How the Book Ends | Banned Books Podcast
The season finale is here. John has retreated to his lighthouse seeking solitude, but solitude isn't what he finds. A filmmaker captures his self-flagellation…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 18.2: John’s Lighthouse Self-Punishment | Banned Books Podcast
John has finally escaped to his lighthouse—complete freedom, everything he wanted. So naturally, he spends his time making weapons, planning a garden, and…
- Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
New Year’s Special: Reviews, Rants & VOTE for What We Read Next | Banned Books Comedy
Happy New Year! Dan's sick, 2025 can go straight to hell, and we're taking a break from Brave New World to read your reviews—the good, the bad, and the "keep…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 18.1: Is Suffering the Price of Being Human? | Why Books Get Banned
We start the final chapter of Brave New World and John immediately decides civilization has poisoned him… so he purifies himself the old-school way. Then he…
- Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
2025 Banned Camp Christmas
In this festive holiday episode, Jennifer and Dan celebrate Christmas Banned Camp style. The episode’s highlight is a surprise guest reading ofa special…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 17.2: The Right to Be Unhappy | Banned Books Podcast
John and Mustapha Mond go head-to-head over the weirdest argument of all, whether a “perfect” life is worth the price of your soul, your freedom, and your…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 17.1: Why would a ’perfect’ society ban God? | Why Books Get Banned
Mustapha Mond opens his literal vault of “smut”… and it’s the Bible, William James, and a bunch of old religious philosophy that the World State treats like…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch 16.2: The Cost of Stability | Banned Books Comedy
In Chapter 16.2 of Brave New World, the World Controller finally explains the system without euphemisms. Truth is dangerous. Science has to be restrained. And…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 16.1: Why Ban Shakespeare? | Banned Books Podcast
The Controller finally steps into the room, and everything shifts. John speaks his mind, Bernard panics, and Mustafa Mond lays out the tradeoffs that built…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 15.2: John’s Revolt at the Hospital | Banned Books Podcast
John the Savage storms into the hospital and starts a one-man revolution, flinging soma into the courtyard while screaming about freedom. The Deltas lose their…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 15.1: John Confronts the Soma Mob | Banned Books Podcast
John leaves his mother’s deathbed only to walk straight into a crowd of Deltas lining up for their Soma ration. Surrounded by identical khaki-clad twins, grief…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 14.2: Linda’s Death & Savage Grief | Banned Books Podcast
John sits at his mother’s deathbed in a hospital designed to make dying as cheerful and efficient as possible. Linda drifts in and out under a haze of soma…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 14.1: When Comfort Replaces Humanity | Banned Books Comedy
In this chapter, John visits his dying mother in a 60-story hospital that looks more like a high-end spa than a place where anyone should be facing the end of…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 13.2 : Purity Culture Meets Panic | Banned Books Comedy
Lenina finally makes her move and John… absolutely implodes. What should’ve been a tender moment spirals into rage, Shakespeare, slapping, terror, and a…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 13.1: Lenina’s Meltdown and John’s Confusion | Banned Books Podcast
Lenina is quietly falling apart and John is loudly falling in love. Chapter 13.1 puts two people raised in two completely different emotional universes into…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 12.2: Bernard Spirals, Shakespeare Lands | Banned Books Podcast
Bernard’s crash back to reality continues as jealousy, insecurity, and Shakespeare all collide. John and Hemholtz bond hard over forbidden ideas, Bernard…
- Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
The America That Raised Me is Gone
Today’s episode is something different — an essay written and narrated by Jennifer. It’s about growing up believing America was the good guy, watching that…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 12.1: The Party That Broke Bernard | Banned Books Podcast
In this chapter of Brave New World, everything falls apart for Bernard. The Savage refuses to attend his party, Lenina wrestles with rejection, and the façade…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 11.2 - When Pleasure Feels Wrong | Banned Books Comedy
Death gets candy, love gets awkward, and everyone gets soma. In Chapter 11, Lenina tries to connect with John after a night of “feelies,” while Bernard basks…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 11.1 : When Grief Meets a Soulless Society | Banned Books Comedy
Linda returns to “civilization,” but comfort comes at a cost. While Bernard basks in sudden popularity, Linda disappears into her drug-induced haze...and her…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipScary Stories to Tell in the Dark — Halloween Spooktacular ft. Liz Gotauco | Banned Books Podcast
It’s our third annual Halloween special, and this year we invited librarian, author, and cosbrarian extraordinaire Liz Gotauco to read two classics from Alvin…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 10: The Mother of All Scandals | Why Books Get Banned
The Director plans to humiliate Bernard in front of thousands of workers… until his own secret explodes in public. Meanwhile, Linda makes her shocking return…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World Ch. 9: Love, Lust, and the Right to Say No | Banned Books Comedy
Lenina crashes on a Soma holiday while Bernard hatches a plan... and John breaks into her room in a lovesick spiral that’s equal parts Shakespearean and…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 8.3 – Alone, Bleeding, and Dreaming of a Better World
In this emotional finale to Chapter 8, Jennifer and Dan follow John the Savage through the painful moment that defines him. Rejected by his tribe for being…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 8.2 – John Found Shakespeare (and a Knife)
In this episode of Banned Camp, Jennifer and Dan continue Chapter 8 of Brave New World, where John discovers a tattered copy of The Complete Works of…
- Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
Bonus Catch-Up: Brave New World in Ten Minutes
hey scary book people — happy sunday. our hosting provider glitched last week, and a bunch of you didn’t get the full episode (or it cut out halfway through)…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 8 – The Boy Who Learned to Read from Pain
In this episode of Banned Camp, Jennifer and Dan unpack Chapter 8 of Brave New World, where John the Savage’s backstory finally comes to light. Raised by his…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 7.3 – Civilization Is Sterilization (and Other Lies We Tell)
In this episode of Banned Camp, Jennifer and Dan tackle Chapter 7.3 of Brave New World, where Bernard and Lenina finally meet Linda — the woman who vanished…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 7.2 – The Whipping, the Blonde, and the Big Reveal
In this episode of Banned Camp, Jennifer and Dan finish Chapter 7 of Brave New World—and things get weird fast. The reservation’s drums, dances, and whips turn…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 7.1 – Snakes, Smells, and Savage Reservations
In this episode of Banned Camp, Jennifer and Dan reach Chapter 7 of Brave New World, where Bernard and Lenina finally arrive at the Savage Reservation — and…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 6.4: Blockheads, Fences, and Fishnets
In Chapter 6.4 of Brave New World, Bernard and Lenina finally make their way toward the Savage Reservation. Along the way, they meet a blockheaded warden…
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. CensorshipBrave New World | Ch. 6.3: Who’s Really Pulling the Strings?
In Chapter 6.3 of Brave New World, Bernard gets more than he bargained for when the Director turns a routine permit request into a meltdown about secrets…