Episode Details

Holden shows up at Mr. Antolini's swanky apartment in the middle of the night to find his old teacher in a bathrobe with a highball, his wife heading to bed, and a living room that looks like Don Draper decorated it. What starts as cocktails and small talk turns into Holden's passionate defense of a kid named Richard Kinsella who got an F for being too interesting, and ends with Antolini warning him he's heading for "a terrible, terrible fall." Then Holden accidentally says the most honest thing he's said in 24 chapters.

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's dream of never being more than three feet from a bowl of peanuts, and Jennifer's kids destroying that dream in real time
• Dan's growing paranoia about how this book is going to end, fueled entirely by 1984 trauma
• Jennifer's observation that forcing someone to stay on topic is like forcing a kid to dance a certain way
• Dan catching Holden admitting he cut classes in the same sentence he says he didn't cut classes

Why was The Catcher in the Rye banned? This chapter's most dangerous idea isn't the drinking or the late-night teacher visit. It's Holden arguing that the most interesting person in the room is the one who can't stay on topic — and that the system punishes him for it. When a book teaches teenagers that "unify and simplify" might be bad advice, people with power over curricula tend to get nervous.

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 

• Why Is This Happening? The AI Endgame — Chris Hayes digs into artificial intelligence with leading experts in this special miniseries from MS Now. If you want to understand what AI actually is, what it isn't, and where it's all headed, this is the smart conversation you've been looking for. Start listening wherever you get your podcasts.
• Love Doesn't Pay the Bills — Beowulf's wife Lisa hosts this podcast for caregivers — the parents, spouses, and family members supporting people with disabilities who rarely get the support they need themselves. Caregivers are wildly undervalued, and this show fights to change that. Find it at lovedoesntpaythebills.com or wherever you listen.
• Good News for Lefties — Beowulf's own show, broadcasting from his socialist safe house deep in the Oregon woods. Because you can't ban the truth, baby.

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