Lit on Fire
“Welcome to Lit on Fire — the podcast where literature meets controversy, where banned books, silenced voices, and dangerous ideas refuse to stay quiet. From classrooms to courtrooms, novels to news cycles, we explore how stories challenge power, expose injustice, and ignite social change.
Our logo — a woman bound atop a burning stack of books — isn’t just an image. It’s a warning and a promise. A warning about what happens when voices are erased… and a promise that stories, once lit, are impossible to put out.
So if you’re ready to question, to argue, to feel uncomfortable, and to think deeper — you’re in the right place. This is - Lit on Fire.
Episodes
30 episodes
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
If Fahrenheit 451 is “just” a book about censorship, why does it feel more accurate every time you open your phone? We read Ray Bradbury’s most overquoted dystopian novel as a warning about something harder to fight: a culture that willingly tr...
Circe by Madeline Miller
The myths taught us to treat Circe like a warning label: temptress, witch, monster. We’re not buying it. Tonight we step into Madeline Miller’s Circe and look at what happens when the so-called villain is finally allowed to speak in a full huma...
Erasure by Percival Everett
Erasure doesn’t ask for your polite opinions. It dares you to notice what you reward, what you excuse, and what you call “authentic” when a book is marketed as the real thing. We talk through Percival Everett’s blistering literary satire and wh...
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
A cage, forty women, and guards who never explain themselves. Then one mistake changes everything, and the real terror begins: freedom with no map, no society, and no reason built into the sky. We’re diving into Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who H...
Author Reck Well - Interview #4
A LitRPG doesn’t have to be a power fantasy to hit hard. Live from the chaos and magic of JordanCon, we sit down with author Reckwell, the voice behind Stumbling Up: The Loser’s Guide to Progression, a LitRPG comedy that swaps flawless heroes f...
S.L. Rowland - JordanCon Interview #3
Cozy fantasy looks gentle from the outside, but the best of it cuts straight to the hard stuff: grief, identity, belonging, and the quiet fear of being remembered for the wrong thing. We’re live at JordanCon 2026 talking with author S.L. Rowlan...
Ben Wolf, Ryan H Reid and Gary Furlong - JordanCon Interview #2
We’re recording from the middle of JordanCon, where the background noise is real and the best conversations are the ones you can’t script. Author Ben Wolf joins us alongside Sound Booth Theater narrators Ryan H. Reid and Gary Furlong to talk ab...
Jessica Threet (Actor/Audiobook Narrator) - JordanCon Interview #1
We’re recording live from JordanCon, surrounded by the hum of readers, creators, and pure convention chaos, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our guest is Jessica Threet, a voice actor, singer, and audiobook narrator with 500+ titles who k...
Stumbling Up by Reck Well
Nobody here is destined. Nobody is crowned. And that’s exactly why Stumbling Up by Reck Well hits so hard. We’re talking about a LitRPG story that swaps the power fantasy for something messier: three lifelong friends trying to become adventurer...
Lit on Trial 2: You Can Love The Story Without Excusing The Writer
Can you keep a beloved book on your shelf while refusing to excuse the person behind it? We step into the most uncomfortable corner of modern reading culture: the collision between great stories and flawed authors, where personal identity, harm...
Halfling Harvest and There Be Dragons Here by S.L. Rowland
Cozy fantasy sounds gentle until you realize what it’s really risking: your sense of self. We step into S.L. Rowland’s Tales of Aedrea with Halfling Harvest and There Be Dragons Here, two warm-hearted fantasies where the “high stakes” aren’t wa...
Lit on Trial 1: Is Literature Always Political?
“Stop making everything political” sounds reasonable until you ask what politics actually is. We define it as the everyday negotiation of power, identity, values, and belonging, then we test the claim that stories can ever be “just stories.” If...
Cursed Cocktails and Sword and Thistle by S.L. Rowland
Peace can look like a warm barstool, a well-made cocktail, and a quiet town by the sea. But if you’ve ever hit burnout, carried guilt for too long, or wondered who you are after the job that defined you ends, you know comfort is never just comf...
Thorns, Feathers & Bones by Anderson W. Frost
A queen buries the warrior she loves, builds a kingdom on the aftershock, and then watches him walk back into her court ten years later. That single impossible return is the spark for our deep dive into Thorns, Feathers, And Bones by Anderson W...
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Step inside a house that feeds on longing. We tackle Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House through Eleanor Vance’s eyes, asking whether the terror is truly supernatural or the slow burn of a life starved of choice. From the first “turn b...
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
A demon is easy to spot. The real horror is the smile you’re taught to trust. We crack open Grady Hendrix’s My Best Friend’s Exorcism to explore how an ’80s possession tale exposes the quieter monsters—purity panic, class snobbery, and adults w...
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
A recommendation letter shouldn’t cost half your life—unless your advisor died, went to hell, and your future depends on dragging him back. We dive into R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis with a frank look at ambition, institutional harm, and the uneasy ba...
Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark
A blade that sings. A chorus of mouths that try to drown it out. We dive into Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark and trace how horror and history intertwine to reveal the real machinery of white supremacy—from Stone Mountain’s ritual power to the pro...
Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman
What if war were a livestream with unlockable skins and an insurance plan for infinite respawns? We dive into Matt Dinniman’s Operation Bounce House and pull back the curtain on a future where corporations sell conflict as content, gamers pilot...
James by Percival Everett
Ready to question tidy endings and comfortable myths? We dive into Percival Everett’s James—a bold reimagining that shifts the center of gravity from Huck to Jim as James—and uncover how language, law, and narrative shape who gets to be seen as...
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
A charming neighbor moves in, the casseroles come out, and the danger starts where polite society refuses to look. We crack open The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires to examine how a suburban horror story exposes patriarchy, gasli...
The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova
A summons arrives without a stamp, the house grows its own defenses, and a family gathers to witness a matriarch who refuses to explain herself. We dive into Zoraida Córdova’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina to explore how magical realism be...
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
A slur on a subway platform, a sister lost, and a ghost that won’t stop knocking—our conversation digs into how Kylie Lee Baker’s Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng turns horror into a blade for truth. We trace Cora Zeng’s journey through ...
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
A color-coded empire tells its workers to love their chains, and a miner learns how deep the lie runs. We take you inside Red Rising’s brutal hierarchy to examine how propaganda, spectacle, and masculinity prop up a system that rewards obedienc...
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Ash falls, trees stand like burnt ribs, and a father tells his son to carry the fire. We dive into Cormac McCarthy’s The Road not just as a survival story, but as a sharp mirror reflecting who gets to be called human when every system fails. We...