Is George Orwell psychic? In this emotional season finale, Christine and Jessica discuss the rise of totalitarianism and Orwell's eerily accurate predictions. In prepping for the episode, they saw firsthand how AI is already doing the very thing Orwell warned us again--erasing our past in real time. And, as they recorded on the heels of a war that ended as quickly as it began, the idea of constant war has never felt so real. You won't want to miss this discussion.

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"The Beautiful and Banned" is produced by Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller. Follow us on social media: @beautifulandbannedpod, @christinereneemiller, and @jessica_goudeau.

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Our co-producer, Rob Heath, wrote and performed our theme music. Kalin Siegwalddesigned our logo. Jillian Benedict is our amazing podcast assistant. This is A Sisters By Different Misters Production.

We will be taking the rest of the summer off to read and rest. We hope you join us in the fall for season 4 of "The Beautiful and Banned"!

Episode 9 Links:

1984 by George Orwell
A Britannica biography of Orwell
A link to an accurate story about 1984 being banned--in 1981 in Jacksonville, Florida.
A link to an inaccurate story of it being banned (the book does not, as this Am*zon affiliation site claims, maintain "its status as the most banned book of all time in America"). This is one example of many that inaccurately called 1984 the most banned book in the US.
Park MacDougald's 2016 article on Peter Thiel in The Intelligencer
The "Behind the Bastards" episodes with Ed Helms on Curtis Yarvin (Mencius Moldbug) are a great place to learn more.
Or this New Yorker profile about Yarvin.

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text to suggest books, plays, films, or guests, or just share your thoughts!

S3, E9: 1984 by George Orwell, Season Finale