Episode Details

The Handmaid slips into the women's washroom of the hotel club, where an Aunt in a purple caftan and gold eyeshadow guards the door. Inside, behind the smoke and the pink walls, she finds Moira. Then Moira starts whispering the story of how she got out. This is the first half of the chapter, and it ends on a cliffhanger at a door.

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:

• Jennifer wonders if the Hadron Collider put us on a different timeline. Robot says no, then gets pulled into Dan's Fruit of the Loom argument
• Moira says "nobody gets out of here except in a black van," and Robot explains what that really means
• Dan explains how he'd hold the resistance's mailing list in his head: milk, bread, eggs, and a trip home with Pop-Tarts and blue cheese
• Constitutional law professor Corey Brettschneider joins PPP to talk about the First Amendment and what the founders would think of Trump

Why was The Handmaid's Tale banned?

This chapter shows a secret club run by the same men who outlawed that kind of club. Moira calls it "screwing on the altar." The book has been challenged for its sexual content and for being "offensive to Christians." Moira's remark is the exact kind of religious 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).

Our Guest in PPP: Corey Brettschneider

Corey is a professor at Brown University, a constitutional law expert, and the cohost (with comedian John Fugelsang) of The Oath and the Office podcast. In this episode he explains the First Amendment's ban on establishing a religion, why authoritarians go after free speech first, and how the founders would feel about today's presidency.

• The Oath and the Office podcast (with Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oath-and-the-office/id1795734509
• The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It (W. W. Norton, 2024): https://bookshop.org/a/20953/9781324006275
• His earlier book, The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents: https://bookshop.org/a/20953/9780393652123
• Corey's website: https://www.coreybrettschneider.com

Banworthy to Bingeworthy

Beowulf Rochlen brings us the racist beginnings of book bans in America, from an article by the National Education Association.

• Good News for Lefties: Beowulf's show about good news for progressives, broadcast from his "socialist safe house" deep in the Oregon woods.

Shout-Out: Island Bookstore

It's National Banned Books Week. Island Bookstore on the Outer Banks (Corolla, Duck, and Kitty Hawk) is taking 10% off every banned book in the store on Saturday, October 10th. You can order online at https://www.islandbookstoreobx.com

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