Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship

The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 10 Part 1 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast

Holden Caulfield can't sleep, so he does what any reasonable teenager would do — puts on a clean shirt and heads down to the hotel nightclub alone in the middle of the night. But before he goes, he spends a few minutes thinking about his little sister Phoebe. It's the warmest, most unguarded moment in the book so far. Then he goes downstairs and tries to give all of...

The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 9 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast

Holden Caulfield arrives in New York City in the middle of the night with cash in his pocket and absolutely no one to call. He stands in a phone booth for twenty minutes going through his entire list — and comes up empty every time. What follows is one of the loneliest chapters in the book, dressed up as comedy.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books cha...

The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 8 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast

Holden Caulfield hates phonies. He's been cataloguing them for seven  chapters. So why does he spend an entire train ride lying through his  teeth to make a stranger feel good about her bully son? Chapter 8 is  where Salinger quietly reveals that Holden is more complicated — and  more kind — than anyone gives him credit for.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read ban...

Holden can't sleep. He's lying in Ackley's stinky room, torturing himself thinking about Jane and Stradlater in that car. So he does the only logical thing—packs his bags, sells his typewriter for a fraction of what it's worth, and screams "Sleep tight, ya morons!" down the hallway before disappearing into the night. He's 16 and heading to a hotel in New York City alone.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books ch...

The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 6 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast

Stradlater comes back from his date with Jane and rejects Holden's composition about his dead brother's baseball mitt. What follows is a fight that leaves Holden bloody on the floor—but he still won't stop calling Stradlater a moron. Turns out this was never really about Jane.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books chapter by chapter—we don't read ahead,...

The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 5 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast

Holden writes a homework assignment about the one thing that matters most to him—his dead brother Allie's baseball mitt, covered in poems written in green ink. We learn that when Allie died of leukemia at eleven, Holden broke every window in the garage with his bare hands, and his hand still doesn't work right. Dan and Jennifer discuss grief, terrible institutional food, an...

The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 4.2 | Banned Books Comedy Podcast

Stradlater's date is Jane Gallagher—Holden's childhood friend and crush. Holden nearly drops dead when he hears her name. He remembers everything about her: she practiced ballet in the summer heat, played checker...

The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 4.1 

Holden hangs out in the steamy bathroom while Stradlater shaves with his disgusting rusty razor (secret slob). Stradlater asks Holden to write his English composition for him—no compensation, just "be a buddy." Then Holden starts tap dancing...

Ackley barges into Holden's room and proceeds to do everything wrong: picks up personal items, clips his toenails on the floor after being asked 50 times to use the table, and laughs when Holden gets hit in the head with a tennis racket. But instead of just calling him an asshole, Holden says "I felt sort of sorry for him in a way." Then he defends Str...

Holden admits he's "the most terrific liar you ever saw," then proceeds to spend the entire chapter calling out every phony around him. Meet Ossenburger: a businessman who made his fortune streamlining death at five bucks per body, then stood in chapel telling students to think of Jesus as their buddy while he's probably asking for a few more stiffs. P...

Holden wrote a kind note at the bottom of his failing essay so Mr. Spencer wouldn't feel bad about flunking him. Spencer repaid this kindness by reading it out loud like he'd won a ping-pong match. So Holden did what any smart kid would do: shot the bull, told Spencer exactly what he wanted to hear, while his brain escaped to Central Park wondering where the ducks go when the lagoon freezes over.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast whe...

Holden Caulfield climbs a freezing hill to say goodbye to his sick 70-year-old teacher, Mr. Spencer. What does he get for his kindness? A lecture, a humiliating public reading of his failing essay, and the question "what's the matter with you?" Sometimes being polite doesn't protect you from cruelty.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books chapter by chapter—we don't read ahead, so you're discovering the story wi...

Holden Caulfield got kicked out of his fourth prep school and refuses to tell us his whole "David Copperfield kind of crap" autobiography. Instead, he stands on a freezing hill watching a football game he's not allowed to play in anymore, trying to feel some kind of goodbye before heading to see his old teacher. It's December, it's cold as hell, and Holden keeps feeling like he's disappearing every time he crosses a road.

Banned Ca...

Season 10 Book Reveal: The Catcher in the Rye | Banned Books Comedy Podcast

The votes are in, scary book people. After a nail-biting finish where Kite Runner seemed like the clear winner, Catcher in the Rye surged past overnight to claim the Season 10 spot. Dan's never read it. Jennifer's ready to find out if there's a lighthouse involved.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books chapter by chapter—we don't read a...

The season finale is here. John has retreated to his lighthouse seeking solitude, but solitude isn't what he finds. A filmmaker captures his self-flagellation and turns it into entertainment. Helicopters descend. Crowds gather demanding "the whipping stunt." And when Lenina arrives with tears in her eyes, everything falls apart. This is how Brave New World ends...  and it's not what you expect.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where...

John has finally escaped to his lighthouse—complete freedom, everything he wanted. So naturally, he spends his time making weapons, planning a garden, and whipping himself bloody every time he accidentally feels happy. When he catches himself singing while carving a bow, he punishes himself with mustard water and a knotted cord. The World State doesn't need to control him anymore. He's doing it to himself.

Banned Camp is a comedy p...

Happy New Year! Dan's sick, 2025 can go straight to hell, and we're taking a break from Brave New World to read your reviews—the good, the bad, and the "keep politics out of it" crowd who somehow missed the entire point of a banned books podcast. **VOTE NOW: We're finishing Brave New World in 2-3 episodes and YOU get to decide what we read next!** Email your vote to pod@bannedcamppodcast.com within the next few days. Your choices:...

We start the final chapter of Brave New World and John immediately decides civilization has poisoned him… so he purifies himself the old-school way. Then he heads off to a lonely lighthouse “hermitage,” where he tries to earn the right to beauty through pain, shame, and some extremely intense main character energy.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books chapter by chapter, we don't read ahead, so you're discover...

In this festive holiday episode, Jennifer and Dan celebrate Christmas Banned Camp style. The episode’s highlight is a surprise guest reading ofa special Holiday poem favorite poem. Expect a lively discussion about its meaning and political undertones.

Jennifer and Dan wish all listeners a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a restful break from the chaos of the world. They sign off with gratitude for their audience and a promise ...