Pynchon Pals

Debauchery. Grotesquerie. Eschatology. Showtunes. That’s Thomas Pynchon, for ya! Next time, Gravity’s Rainbow Episodes 2.6, 2.7, and 2.8, or pp. 247-282 in the U.S. Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. Support the show and get access to monthly bonus episodes at patreon.com/pynchonpals and follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social. For the month of May’s Patreon-exclusive bonus episode we watched Hitler's Secret Weapon: The V-2 Rocket at Peenemunde (1977) (link via Archive.org), V2: Nazi Rocket a.k.a. Hitler's Space Rocket (2016) (there seems to be a couple cuts or versions of this one across streaming platforms and maybe international distributors—but here’s a link to one version on YouTube), and “V2 Assembling and Launching” (1947) (link via YouTube).Show Notes:“The Great Mouse Detective - The world's greatest criminal mind (lyrics)” via YouTube (https://youtu.be/8UQg4zb9dsA) An open-access article that very probably contains spoilers beyond where we are in the book, but which goes deep on Pynchon’s sources for the equation we talk about in this episode and others: Engelhardt, N. & Engelhardt, H., (2018) “The Momentum of Pynchon's Secret Formula: Gravity’s Rainbow’s Second Equation between Archival Sources and Fiction”, Orbit: A Journal of American Literature 6(1). (https://doi.org/10.16995/orbit.486)Songfacts interview with Devo that mentions “Whip It”’s Pynchon inspiration (https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/devo)Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, racism, misogyny.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland.

Happy Holidays from Pynchon Pals! In this episode, we stick with the Whole Sick Crew through their ups, their downs, their subsequent downs, their—wow, more downs, huh? Next time, V. Chs. 14-16.Show Notes:Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism, suicide, abortion.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social.

In this episode, we yo-yo from bohemian banality to colonialist atrocity. Awful house parties occur amidst both. Next time, V. Chs. 10-11.Show Notes:Archive.org “Report on the natives of South-west Africa and their treatment by Germany,”via the South-West Africa. Administrator’s OfficeAl Jazeera “How to pay for genocide: Namibian victims of German colonialism want a say,” by Shola LawalContent warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism, xenophobia, genocide.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social.

In this episode, we head underground and somehow spend a long time talking about Dr. Seuss books, the musical Grease, and the modern classic (?) John Cena movie Ricky Stanicky.Next time: V. Ch. 7Show Notes:Reddit: The Zug Under The Rug From There's A Wocket In My Pocket is now The Vug Under The Rug.The New York Times: 5 IN QUEENS GUILTY IN SEWER SCANDAL; CASE RAN 202 DAYS; 5 Guilty in Queens Sewer Case; 202-Day Trial Believed Record Clemente and Son Convicted With 3 Borough Employes on Laurelton Project ONE ENGINEER CLEARED 3 Could Be Fined $800,000 Each--Two-Mile Sewer Had to Be ReplacedBrooklyn Public Library: POTW: Steve Brodie Jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and Lived (Maybe?)Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, animal abuse, pedophilia, misogyny, racism, xenophobia, eugenics, suicide.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social.

In this inaugural episode, we meet the Whole Sick Crew, who would have a podcast in 2025.Next time: V. Chs. 3-4Show Notes: Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Vulture: "On the Thomas Pynchon Trail: From the Long Island of His Boyhood to the ‘Yupper West Side’ of His New Novel" by Boris KachkaContent warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, firearms, misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia