E62 - Katabasis, Spoiler Filled (Episode 2 of 3) - "She is a character (derogatory)"

About this episode

The episode dives into the themes of abuse and academic critique in the novel Katabasis.

Episode two of our Katabasis deep dive is finally here! For some reason, we start the first of our spoiler-filled episodes with a sports metaphor before grumbling about Alice and Peter as academic types with whom we are quite familiar (and spoiler alert, we don’t like them). We also consider Kuang’s construction of hell as a university–but with the pretty clear argument that salvation is definitely not a dissertation. As a bit of a content warning, Katabasis deals with abuse and suicidal ideation. Because these themes are pretty central to the novel, we won’t be able to provide specific timecodes for when it comes up in our own discussion, but wanted to make sure you know going in. Many thanks to our pinch-hitter editor, Jordan, who handled this episode! (Look at us, using another sports metaphor.) What's Sparking Joy this episode: N.Flying & Heyley Williams Episode was recorded October 19, 2025 Show Notes : ​Support us on Ko-Fi: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/sexlovelitpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ​Listen to our Joy Sparked: SLL Song Recs playlist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/playlist/50MNBI1kYKdJgxh8CzEJF1?si=d9df62854c684557⁠⁠⁠⁠ ​Check out the Under Review Podcast…

People in this episode

Host: The SLL Team

Topics covered

• Katabasis
• literature analysis
• abuse themes
• suicidal ideation
• academic critique

Keywords

• Katabasis
• Alice
• Peter
• abuse
• suicidal ideation
• literature
• academic types

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Under Review Podcast

Products: N.Flying & Heyley Williams

Books & works: Katabasis, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan

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