About this episode

John and Ben discuss 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula K. Le Guin, exploring themes of gender, sexuality, and the author's anthropological perspective.

It's the first episode of the Spring 2026 Season, and John and Ben are blasting off to the moon of Annares to discuss "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin. We discuss this classic of science fiction with a little help from "To Read 'The Dispossessed'" by Samuel Delany. Topics of conversation include John & Ben's relationship with Le Guin's work, her anthropological lens, and portrayals of gender & sexuality in science fiction. As always, we hope you enjoy the conversation! We'll be back in two weeks with a paired episode focusing on Samuel Delany's "Trouble on Triton"!

People in this episode

Host: John Hagele

Guest: Ben

Topics covered

• science fiction
• Ursula K. Le Guin
• gender and sexuality
• anthropological lens
• literary analysis

Keywords

• The Dispossessed
• Ursula K. Le Guin
• science fiction
• gender
• sexuality
• literature
• Samuel Delany

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Dispossessed, To Read 'The Dispossessed', Trouble on Triton

More episodes of The Infinite Library

• Episode 63 - "Three Lives" by Gertrude Stein · April 22, 2026 · 2h 6m
• Episode 62 - "Dunfords Travels Everywheres" by William Melvin Kelley · April 7, 2026 · 1h 38m
• Episode 61 - "Wormwood" by Poppy Z. Brite · March 24, 2026 · 1h 43m
• Episode 60 - "My Heart is a Chainsaw" by Stephen Graham Jones · March 10, 2026 · 2h 4m
• Episode 59 - "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas (feat. Claire) · February 24, 2026 · 2h 25m
• Episode 58 - "Trouble on Triton" by Samuel R. Delany · February 10, 2026 · 2h 7m

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