Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
If you think banning books is stupid, so do we.
Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books and try to figure out why they were banned in the first place.
If you’re new here, don’t sweat it. You can start anywhere. We’ll get you oriented fast (and if you get confused, there’s a good chance we’re confused too).
Here’s what makes us different: we actually read the book out loud, every chapter, cover to cover, and we’ve never read it before. So you hear us stumble through the text, mispronounce names, miss obvious foreshadowing, and slowly piece together what freaks Moms for Liberty and the pudding-fingered politicians out.
Our listeners are called The Scary Book People. You’ll fit right in.
Past seasons: 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 reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. A dystopia built on pleasure instead of fear. People are engineered, drugged, and distracted into obedience, and taught to love the system that controls them. It’s funny, creepy, and way too familiar right now.
Book bans are at a 20-year high. The people doing the banning usually haven’t read the books… so we read them out loud together, and by the end you can honestly say you’ve read it too.
Nine seasons in. #1 ranked banned books comedy podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Hit follow. The book banners are idiots. Come help us prove it.
Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
Brave New World | Ch. 8 – The Boy Who Learned to Read from Pain
In this episode of Banned Camp, Jennifer and Dan unpack Chapter 8 of Brave New World, where John the Savage’s backstory finally comes to light.
Raised by his mother Linda in the Savage Reservation, John grows up between two worlds — neither accepted by the locals nor able to forget the stories his mother tells about the “civilized” one she came from.
Things to Listen For
- John’s childhood memories and his uneasy bond with Linda.
- Linda’s shame, addiction, and the brutality of motherhood in exile.
- Jennifer’s analysis of empathy as rebellion.
Banworthy to Bingeworthy
When dystopia gets too dark, balance it with these:
🎧 It’s Been a Minute from NPR — sharp, funny, and human conversations about culture, politics, and the news that shapes both.
🎧 The Last Appeal from Dateline NBC — Lester Holt investigates the story of Robert Roberson, a Texas man on death row as new evidence challenges everything.
🎧 The Jen Psaki Podcast from MSNBC — thoughtful talk that brings clarity and humor to the week’s biggest political stories.
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Rate, review, and follow us on Apple Podcasts to help other scary book people find us.
Disclaimer
Banned Camp features readings and discussions of banned books 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, but we always stay true to the author’s intent and encourage listeners to purchase the book in full.
The material used from Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is shared under these principles, with the intent of provoking thought and discussion about literature, censorship, and society. The original work remains fully owned by its copyright holders, and we strongly encourage listeners to purchase a copy here
to experience the book in its entirety.
This podcast is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Aldous Huxley, his estate, or the publishers of Brave New World. Any monetization of the podcast is separate from the copyrighted material discussed.
Topics Covered
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, John the Savage, Linda, Bernard Marx, Lenina, trauma, addiction, motherhood, empathy, memory, Shakespeare, banned books, dystopia, NPR, It’s Been a Minute, Dateline, Lester Holt, The Last Appeal, The Jen Psaki Podcast