Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
Love banned books? Hate censorship?
Same. You’re our kind of people.
Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books and try to figure out why they were banned in the first place.
Each season, we tackle a new banned book, reading it chapter by chapter and asking: What made someone clutch their pearls and scream, "BAN IT!"? (Spoiler: It’s rarely what you’d expect.) One thing is clear—the people banning these books often haven’t read them. While we uncover some eyebrow-raising moments, nothing truly justifies censorship.
Join us—and our listeners, "The Scary Book People"—as we explore the strange, hilarious, and sometimes baffling world of banned books.
Past seasons have featured classics like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
This season, we’re diving into 1984 by George Orwell—a dystopian warning that feels eerily real today. From thought control to banned books, its message is more relevant than ever, and that’s exactly why it remains one of the most challenged books of all time.
By reading these books, we ask big questions: Why are banned books important? What does “banned” mean? What does “challenged” mean? How do book bans affect students? Are book bans constitutional?
Come hang out with us and have some laughs while we dig into the drama behind banned books—you might even learn something cool along the way!
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
1984 | Appendix - The Last Joke Orwell Ever Told
In this episode, Jennifer and Dan tackle the appendix. No, not their appendices — Orwell’s. The “Principles of Newspeak” is often skipped, rarely understood, and strangely… hopeful?
After three failed recording attempts, they ditched the usual format and came back with something new: a deep dive into what the appendix really is, why Orwell wrote it, and how it flips the entire ending of 1984 on its head.
Was the Party defeated? Did Big Brother fall?
And what does any of this have to do with Trump-era propaganda, language control, and the death of nuance?
Banworthy to Bingeworthy:
This week, we recommend three sharp, irreverent shows that take on politics, power, and propaganda:
- Good News for Lefties – daily doses of hope and grit
- Here’s the Scoop – MSNBC’s daily dive behind the headlines
- False Positive – progressive political commentary with bite
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Disclaimer:
Banned Camp features readings and discussions of 1984 by George Orwell for the purposes of criticism, commentary, education, and entertainment, in accordance with fair use guidelines. Some passages may be lightly abridged for pacing, but we remain true to Orwell’s intent. To experience the full work, purchase a copy here. We are not affiliated with Orwell’s estate or publisher.
Topics We Discussed:
Why Orwell buried hope in the most boring place possible
What the past tense of “Newspeak was” really means
How language can erase (or restore) freedom
Trump’s “Russia hoax” and the modern death of nuance
Why remembering is the ultimate act of rebellion
The difference between stories that end… and systems that die quietl
What banned books and broken regimes have in common