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PODCAST

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast

Thomas Pynchon books discussed here!

Each episode, we take a deep-dive into the book we are focusing on—we explore the references, characters, plot, and everything in between from a non-scholarly point of view. We are just four fans who love these books and can talk about them endlessly.

arts books

All Episodes

224:27

Against the Day: Ch. 30-31

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2026/03/27

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneYou can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts to get early access to our Infinite Jest series as well as any other bonus episodes/series we do down the road (or just to support us!)If you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates

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154:37

Against the Day: Ch. 29

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2026/03/13

Time: var. moments of social cavitationLocation: var. locales of New Old Mexico, esp. northernSubject: Quiselgur, El Chavalito "Frank Traverse"Concerns: - rigid and constricted manifolds - succulent flora - turnaboutRecommendations: - Continue observation - Maintain separation from subject "QR" - Apply steady pressure along lines of cleavageIf you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment,

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135:37

Infinite Jest: Eating Granola With A Large Wooden Spoon

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2026/03/08

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Interview with Michael Silverblatt: David Foster Wallace on Bookworm (1996-2006)YouTube · M.J. NichollsSep 22, 2021String Theory by David Foster WallaceAs always, thanks

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135:37

Infinite Jest: Eating Granola With A Large Wooden...

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2026/03/05

Nothing new about this episode, despite the 2.0 in the name. We had some problems with the original being Apple Podcasts exclusive, so the workaround was in changing the title (slightly).If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates

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165:25

Against the Day: Ch. 28

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2026/02/13

Before setting sail, we check in on the bouncing baby Jesse and the newlyweds who made him. Things aren't going too hot for the young family, the line between reciprocal sacrifice and foolheadedness seeming blurrier every day, and that's without getting into the vigilantism. But now they've parted ways, for the kid's own good, and as Reef eyes his duty to gallivant overseas, the crew shuffles paper in the form of talking politics.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please

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93:02

Infinite Jest: Wherein We Begin By Beginning

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2026/02/01

Thirty years ago, a monumental book was published which shook the literary world and completely revolutionized post-modern fiction. Not Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, or the first book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and it wasn't Fight Club (1996 was a pretty stacked year for media). David Foster Wallace's magnum opus, Infinite Jest was released on 01 Feb 1996 and has remained a staple in the "books you should read" discussion ever since.On this first of many episodes

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159:51

Against the Day: Chapter 27

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2026/01/30

Dally rolls into town just around the corner, readier than most to take the world by its horns, but our crew of worryworts can't help themselves from checking in. Helpful roommate Katie eases some concerns, but then again, would a girl like Dahlia end up a mock white slave without some bad influences? Between Tong wars and ghosts of her past known and unknown, it seems like our time in NYC is to be short. At least we get to see a sampling of the sideshows.If you like what we're doing and want to

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242:58

Against the Day: Chapter 26

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2026/01/16

Kit's going through it, so we get down and rough it with the poor boy. It's nice to catch up with him, gives the crew an opportunity to connect some dots, draw some prospective lines. Between the continuance of Tesla v. World, acute personal loss, and unveiling Vibratory horizons, there are plenty of anchors to hang the threads. Perhaps too many.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment,

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49:31

Best Reads of 2025

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/12/27

It's the end of the year, so we decided to talk about some books we read in 2025 that weren't Pynchon. Of course, we decided to do this after we finished recording a 4+ hour episode for Against the Day, so we were admittedly all a bit spacey. Anyway, hopefully you'll recognize some of these books or come away with some new stuff to add to your never-ending TBR pile.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to

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11:54

Coming in 2026...

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/12/12

Starting 01 February 2026, Cody and Kate will be (kinda) deep-diving into another book. What's the twist? It's not a Pynchon book (cue "shocking" sound bite). If you want to know what we're going to be covering in a monthly 10-part series within our series, give this brief explainer episode a listen!If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show

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240:40

Against the Day: Chapters 24-25

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/11/28

If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to upgrade equipment, pay hosting fees, and help make the show better.https://ko-fi.com/mappingthezoneIf you enjoyed our discussion, please check out the following media that relates to these chapters:Books: Warlock by Oakley Hall; The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hansen; Lincoln In the Bardo by George SaundersMusic: Hermanos Gutierrez

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222:31

Against the Day: Chapters 22-23

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/11/14

In hindsight, it may appear unfair to have just been gallivanting about in Europe, as we return this episode to circle the Colorado Traverses. Lake gets in too deep, while Frank scopes the surface of his enemies, and our hosts struggle to keep their guts as lust intercedes. Despite their best efforts, even fleeing the Chums' company has not freed the Mappers from the occult slings of the Outsiders. Listeners are warned of degradation in transmissions thereby.If you like what we're doing and want to

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128:37

Shadow Ticket (for real this time)

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/10/31

Quit your scratching and bleeding and put down the rosary, the cure of all your anxieties has arrived! At long last, the Mapping the Zone Review of Shadow Ticket, Spoilerful Edition, has been released, and it's packed with more hot takes and thrilling twists than any diehard fans of the storied Spoiler-free episode could have imagined. The hype is NOT TOO HIGH!If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi. Funds we receive will be used to

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68:27

Shadow Ticket: Spoiler Free review

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/10/25

It's finally here and we got to read it! Shadow Ticket, the newest (and perhaps final) novel by Thomas Pynchon is out in the wild and we are here with a spoiler-free review for those who may not have had a chance to read it as of yet.We will have a longer, more in-depth review episode out on 31 October 2025, so stay tuned for that if you wanted a more nuanced discussion of our thoughts on the novel.If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a donation on Ko-Fi

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160:00

Against the Day: Chapter 21

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/10/17

Wid'ya lookit that! It's been a hundred pages since our paths last crossed the Chums' of Chance, and here they are, in Venice. That ain't the only coincidence at hand, no, far too many'a them... Something's wrong. Still, hoping to keep with the patriotic aeronauts, and the history presented, our crew resorts to conspiratorial means of tracking the plot. Those mirrors 'n lenses had better help with that map, eh?If you like what we're doing and want to support the show, please consider making a

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109:21

Bonus Episode - One Battle After Another

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/10/03

Once in a lifetime, a moment comes around, and one has with the latest film from auteur director Paul Thomas Anderson! We take that moment to assess the film on its own merit, but not without respect to the weight of its primary credited influence, Vineland. Is Sean Penn the next Christian Bale? Just how Pynchonian has PTA gotten lately? Will anyone even need to read the old crank again, with adaptations like these? Answers to these questions, and more, await the listeners of our definitive, and

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128:29

Against the Day: Chapter 20

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/09/19

A spot of smoky rooms and heavy drapes suits us as finely as they do Lew, and somehow the more obscure the corner of history referred to by the couple-three iconoclasts he meets, the more our hosts find to discuss. There's plenty of room left in the shadows, as these dialogues reveal their purposes unorthodox even by the TWIT's standard! From the cricket...arenas...of Australia to bathtubs of Condy's fluid, it's no wonder we take a few missteps (e.g. Raimi) from the line of firm tracks this chapter

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209:06

Against the Day: Chapter 19

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/09/05

With how things have gotten so real these past few eps, it's time to see what Lew's been up to in cheery old Inglund! These chaps, Nigel and Nuisance or whatbeit, who've already brung him across the world just have not said quite enough about this infinite tetrangle! Even the demonstrably stable Grand Cohen's powerful rhetoric can not convince our thoroughly skeptic troupe of the TWIT's wisdom. And just so, what more fitting a background to divine the sources of the oncoming strife upon the

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116:48

Against the Day: Chapter 18

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/08/22

This week we wander through Jeshimon and track Reef as he rescues his father's harried remains from the just yet supernatural decay they'd have suffered in the desecrate airs of the town. Though Webb may rest his children and Mayva shall not and like them we wrestle with grief and legacy in our discussion.Those distressed by the forestalling of our chapter 19 discussion are recommended to contemplate the tetractys for fifteen minutes each morning and come back in two weeks.If you like what we're

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121:22

Against the Day: Chapters 16-17

Mapping the Zone: A Thomas Pynchon discussion podcast ·

2025/07/18

Checking in on the Traverse household, things are looking ... somber. As happy as the hosts are to all be present and accountable, the mood is somewhat dampened by the final ties breaking between Lake and her father, and where that leads Webb. Thankfully, the romantic backdrop of Nochecita cushions things a bit, even if Frank and Reef's glimpse at peace is cut short. It's not all a loss, though! We do, at least, meet a few new friends along the way to Jeshimon.If you like what we're doing and want

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