Episode Details

🎉 Season 11 begins Tuesday, June 9th — we're reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Robot has been promoted to official composer.

Phoebe throws the hunting hat in Holden's face. They walk to the zoo on opposite sides of the street. They watch the sea lions, the bears, and go through a tunnel that smells like somebody took a leak. Then they get to the carousel, and something happens on a bench in the rain that might be the most important moment in the entire book.

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 half nelson strategy for handling a stubborn 10-year-old at the zoo
• Jennifer's observation about Phoebe representing Holden's inner child — and Holden choosing to sit with the parents instead of riding
• Jennifer connecting it to how she raised her own kids: "They have to learn their limits"
• Dan's prediction about Phoebe that thankfully did not come true

Why was The Catcher in the Rye banned? The shelf police have spent decades banning this book because of language and cigarettes and a prostitute in chapter 13. They never made it to the carousel. They never read the sentence where a teenager figures out that love is not the same thing as catching. Sometimes love is sitting on a bench getting soaked and letting them reach.

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).

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