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, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and 1984 by George Orwell.
This season, we’re diving into Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It's a dystopia built on pleasure, not fear. People are engineered, drugged, and distracted into obedience, and they’re taught to love the system that controls them. It’s funny, creepy, and disturbingly familiar. And like all great banned books, it makes you question the world you're living in.
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
Brave New World | Ch. 1.1: Twins, Test Tubes, and the Dystopia Next Door
In this episode of Banned Camp, Jennifer and Dan kick off Season 9 by opening the cold, clinical doors of Brave New World. Chapter 1.1 takes us into the Central London Hatchery, where humans are mass-produced in jars, scored for class, and occasionally pickled in x-rays and alcohol. Dan wonders if Elon Musk would be into this. Jennifer questions whether evolution ever had a chance. Robot’s trying to figure out how many siblings he technically has. Also, pudding fingers. Just trust us.
Things To Listen For:
- Jennifer wonders if factory-made humans come with a signing bonus
- Dan imagines giving your kid “the talk” with bullion cubes and sperm soup
- The chilling truth behind why mass-producing twins equals “social stability”
- Robot gets assigned 15,000 siblings and starts glitching
- Plus: pudding fingers, dystopian overalls, and a crash course in embryo radiation
Featured Clip:
A short segment from “Butter” by BTS (방탄소년단), written by Rob Grimaldi, Stephen Kirk, Ron Perry, Jenna Andrews, Alex Bilowitz, and RM.
Performed by BTS and distributed by HYBE LABELS.
Used under fair use for commentary and critique in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Banworthy to Bingeworthy
Big love to Good News for Lefties — Beowulf Rochlen returns with actual good news.
Also check out Here’s The Scoop from NBC — it’s a sharp daily news show clocking in under 15 minutes. And don’t miss Famous & Gravy, the podcast that reads celebrity obituaries and asks, “Would you want that life?” Smart, soulful, and weird in the best way.
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Disclaimer:
Banned Camp features readings and discussions of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley for the purpose of criticism, commentary, education, and entertainment, in accordance with fair use guidelines. Some sections may be lightly abridged for clarity and pacing. We encourage you to purchase a copy of the book here to experience it in full.
This podcast is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Aldous Huxley or his estate. Our mission is to foster literary appreciation and critical discussion within the fair use framework — because we all know what happens when people start letting governments or corporations decide what can and can’t be read.
Topics Covered:
Brave New World, genetic engineering, mass production, eugenics, class control, book bans, pig peritoneum, ICE alerts, censorship, dystopia, free speech