This episode dives into We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, a pioneering dystopian novel that helped define the genre. We examine the author’s life, the political context of the book, and the inner conflict of D-503 as he grapples with individuality, love, and rebellion inside a tightly controlled society.
Our discussion covers themes of authoritarianism, emotional suppression, regulated relationships, and the illusion of happiness without struggle. We also critique the novel’s writing style and narrative choices, asking how frustration, self-indulgence, and discomfort shape the reader’s understanding of power and control.
The conversation expands into contemporary concerns, including cognitive dissonance, apathy, nihilism, state violence, fascism, masculinity, economic pressure, and family planning. By unpacking We, we explore how literature helps us confront political justifications for cruelty and better understand the social realities we are living through today.
Tonight at 7pm (Denver, CO Time), I’ll be livestreaming and fielding questions about how to use Anthropology to build fictional worlds.
If you’re a writer or creative struggling with worldbuilding or, if something in your fictional world doesn’t quite fit, this is the place to bring all your questions. You can join live and ask questions in real time, or if you can’t make it, drop a question the comments ahead of time, and I’ll do my best to address them during the livestream.
• Building believable cultures and societies • Using anthropology in fantasy and science fiction • Worldbuilding through dialogue and character interaction • Power, resistance, and social systems in fiction • Avoiding shallow or stereotypical cultures • Making fictional societies feel real without exposition dumps
This livestream is about all of you. Quite of few of you have followed my work over the years, and I wanted to do something to give back. And, if people find this useful, I’d love to do a recurring thing.
And thus, a torrent of character assassination, false justifications, and endless exaggerations spew from the really real reels of the sacred boxes we carry close to our hearts.
Language is powerful.
The party seeks to unmake her, to strip her of her dignity and castigate her in a kangaroo court of delusional opinion.
Language is powerful.
So we must say, this week, Renee Good was murdered.
This. Was. Murder.
Every angle captured by cameras shows a man who wasn’t afraid as fired his firearm into an unarmed woman.
Language is powerful.
And so we must name the murderer.
Jonathon Ross Failed to follow training, Failed to follow procedure, Failed to deescalate, and his final Failure was, after firing the fatal shot into the fleeing mother, his camera on, still recording he called her, a fucking bitch.
“He was sensitive,” Vance says with his slick smile, “He was sensitive, so cut him some slack.”
There is no justification for what happened,
Unless you remember, that violence is not about solutions, it’s about consolidating power.
Renee Good’s murder happened at the crossroads.
Violence is about power.
It is about silencing dissent through coercive and corrosive means. Violence consumes the soul.
Renee Good’s murder happened at the crossroads.
Where we have sold the soul of this country. We have worshipped the great god of greed, and reveled in our luxuries, our convenience,
Always chasing the Joneses.
This week, many opened their eyes to see themselves standing at the crossroads.
Those of us who have studied our ancestors, have seen what’s happening for some time. We have seen a criminal climb his way to power, and upend the rule of law. We’ve been living in a terrible miasma of apathy and fear, crawling on our bellies face down in muck so muddy our vision was murky.
And now, this week, we have looked up. And we see the crossroads with our own eyes.
Knowing, we have crossed the threshold into fascism.
Now, no one is safe. There is no far off corner in rural America exempt from tyranny. All streets are now killing grounds, a place where rituals of blood and violence feed the belly of the tyrant so that he may grow gluttonous feasting on our freedom.
But,
We get to choose the story we tell our descendants.
We can tell them, how we stood there, blinking, hesitant, belly up with arms, eager for shackles, while some sneak around sipping the champagne of tyranny with gleeful smiles.
Or,
We can tell the tail of how, at the twilight’s last gleaming, we stood and faced one another, and we found a way to fight back.
In this episode, we dive deep into Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, unpacking its powerful exploration of colonialism, genocide, Indigenous history, and reimagined vampire lore. Through a close reading of the novel, we examine how horror becomes a vehicle for confronting historical injustice and moral accountability.
We discuss Stephen Graham Jones’ background as a Blackfeet author, the haunting moral evolution of Goodstab, and how characters like The Cat Man embody the violence and consequences of white colonialism. The novel’s unique take on vampire mythology serves as both transformation and indictment, reflecting the enduring impact of oppression on identity, memory, and culture.
Our conversation expands beyond the book to address broader themes including the colonization of America, the influence of Indigenous governance on American democracy, and the lasting harm of policies like the Dawes Act. We explore how capitalism functions as a modern extension of colonialism, the cultural costs of technological dominance, and why libraries and local journalism remain essential to informed, resilient communities.
This episode highlights how horror forces readers to confront uncomfortable truths about history, race, power, and accountability, making Buffalo Hunter Hunter both a cathartic and deeply unsettling reflection of the past and present.
The following is one of the rediscovered fragments from The Gospel of Draygon. Though lesser known than the famed Picatrix manuscript, the two documents share the same notoriety. Some scholars consider the Gospel of Draygon a composite of occult magic and arcane alchemical knowledge, while other believe it to be a hoax. Unlike the Picatrix however, we have only fragments and no complete volumes survives.
J.S. – 1981
When those left behind decayed and rotten,
By a bloodless beast, the shadow, the forgotten,
A blade you will need to cut through the darkest night
To set ablaze the forgotten and transcend its twilight
The cost to forge thine weapon is ancient indeed,
For tribes of old, would know how to succeed
And strike the blade from black glass forged in fire,
And etch the futhark in the hilt made of bone, blood, and desire
And whence from you find the materials to acquire?
In Yew is the wisdom, a sturdy root you desire.
Affix a bone from a broken thing, it’s essence made of fire,
Blood from thine own veins, will baptize thine hilt,
And the greatest of wills, removes all the guilt
And to learn the language of the land,
A journey you must undergo to truly understand,
The need for great endurance and power
Even as knowledge and stillness will bring justice to flower.
Last of all, brings light to the blade,
To anoint, in the beasts own body, under the cursed glade,
Where things alive, pulse with malice,
And the creature hides in his smoking palace
There in the heart of the place, you must strike,
And draw the sap and soul from a place, dreamlike
This fragment appears as a chapter epigraphic in Through an Endless Darkness Gleaming (Shades & Shapes in the Dark Book 2)
Original Digital Art: Inner Sanctum of the Celestial
Endings and beginnings have a way of forcing honesty.
For me, 2025 did that on every level. Personally, physically, and politically. Like many people in the United States, I could not ignore what was happening around me. That reckoning is what led to the creation of the Resistance Reads podcast. Then, in September, a cycling accident during the Denver Century resulted in reconstructive surgery on my left thumb and months of recovery. An interruption like that has a way of clarifying what truly matters.
What I returned to was simple.
My deepest commitment is to writing books, telling meaningful stories, and using anthropology to help people better understand themselves and the societies they live in.
A Refocused Direction
As a result, my work is more intentionally focused moving into 2026. This is not a dramatic change so much as a narrowing of attention toward what I do best and care about most. I want to be clear about that direction so readers know what to expect.
This site and my Substack will center on storytelling, culture, power, resistance, and transformation, especially through speculative fiction and anthropological insight.
What’s Coming This Year
Books
I will be publishing at least one book this year, possibly two. I plan to share transparent updates on drafting, revision, and release as those projects move forward. At least one audiobook will also be released. I have a big announcement about a stand alone book coming very soon, but I’m also working on Through and Endless Darkness Gleaming (Shades and Shapes in the Dark #2) and The Children of AEIS (Chronicles of the Great Migration #5).
Short Fiction
I’m currently revising several short stories. Some will be submitted to magazines and journals. Others will be shared directly with readers, with select pieces available to paid subscribers.
Paid Subscriber Content
Paid subscribers to my substack receive early access to novels, behind-the-scenes reflections on the writing process, and deeper explorations of anthropology and worldbuilding. That said, there will always be substantial free content available. I am aware of subscription fatigue (I certainly feel it myself) and want this work to remain accessible. If I could do this all for free, I would, but the more support I have, the more content I’m able to make.
This year I am launching live YouTube Q and A sessions focused on anthropology and storytelling. The first session, Ask an Anthropologist About Worldbuilding, takes place on January 13, with additional topics to follow. Future sessions will be shaped by reader and viewer interest.
Looking Ahead
If these themes resonate with you, I am glad you are here. If not, that is okay too. My goal this year is focused, meaningful creation, grounded in curiosity and care for how stories shape the world we live in.
If you are following along, I would genuinely love to know what you are most interested in exploring this year: books, anthropology, or the intersection of politics and fiction.
With curiosity, Michael Kilman
Progress updates on upcoming books will be posted on the homepage of LoridiansLaboratory.com every few months for readers who enjoy following projects as they take shape.
In this episode of Resistance Reads, we dive deep into Heavenly Tyrant, the highly anticipated sequel to Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. This is not just a book review. It is a critical conversation about power, resistance, feminism, and the political structures that shape both dystopian fiction and the real world.
We explore the novel’s political themes, pacing, and character dynamics, with particular attention to women-led resistance movements, the costs of revolution, and the myth of the benevolent dictator. Along the way, we connect Heavenly Tyrant to broader conversations in anthropology, intersectional feminism, and cultural critique, questioning popular narratives around power, violence, and social control.
This episode also tackles:
Colonial feminism and Western intervention narratives
Misconceptions in popular anthropology, including critiques of Jared Diamond and Steven Pinker
Police, state violence, and the role of force in maintaining social order
How contemporary science fiction and fantasy reflect real-world political anxieties
Character consistency and ideological tension in modern speculative fiction
If you are interested in political science fiction, feminist literature, dystopian novels, cultural criticism, or leftist media analysis, this conversation goes beyond surface-level fandom and asks harder questions about what resistance really looks like and who pays the price.
In Episode 11 we discuss the powerful themes in R.F. Kuang’s Babel and share our critique of Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein. We explore Babel’s unique magic system rooted in language and translation, the complex relationships between its characters, and the book’s sharp examination of colonialism, resistance, and identity.
We also reflect on the novel’s portrayal of betrayal, moral dilemmas, and the costs of fighting oppressive systems—considering how privilege, dignity, and collective action shape the story’s impact. Finally, we talk about why Babel resonates so strongly with modern readers and why it has the potential to be remembered as a contemporary classic.
In their 10th epsiodes, Michael and Matt take a fresh look at Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (the 1818 edition) and why this classic story still matters today. They explore the novel’s powerful themes of creation, ambition, and isolation while connecting them to modern life, the industrial revolution, AI, the Tech industry, and capitalism. They also compare the 1818 edition to the 1831 edition and how Mary Shelly’s life experiences changed some of the themes of freewill and destiny in the later version.
It’s been a minute, so I have a few pieces of news and they kind of involve most areas of my creative work, as well as a book chapter I wrote in an Anthropology book.
First up is that for the second year in a row, I will be teaching a session at the Creative Colorado Writer’s Retreat run by the incredible small press, Twenty Bellows. I have to say, I think this year has some of the most talented teachers of both poetry and prose in their line up. You can find out more about it here.
For my part, I’ll be teaching a session titled: Worldbuilding Without Info Dumping: How to Master Reader Immersion in Your Writing. My session will be on Saturday September 20th starting at 2:40 Pm.
The goal of the workshop will be to explore worldbuilding without exposition and instead looking how to build through dialogue and action so that your reader connects more deeply to your characters in the middle of the flow of the story.
But wait! There’s more!
At 11am on the second day of the writer retreat, we’re having a book fair. The book fair runs 11 am to 1 pm. I’ll have a table there if you want me to sign your books or pick up a copy of one of my 7 books. Again, there are many very talented authors at the book fair and It’s gonna be a ton of fun!
In other news, Resistances Reads Episode 8 goes live Monday September 15th at 7pm over on YouTube. And if you haven’t seen yet, we’re now on all the major podcast services. Episode 8 will cover the book, Black Empire by George S. Schuyler originally serialized in the 1930s, and is an early example of Afrofuturism. Literatura Obscura will air it’s 3rd episode this week as we discuss the book Ishamel by Daniel Quinn. It’s a novel about a telepathic gorilla who teaches a man the secrets to saving the world.
In terms of book updates, I have something to admit… I’ve been working on a secret project and it’s been distracting me from other things. But, I’m not quite ready to discuss that 8th and decidedly stand alone novel just yet. I am also working at building some of the lore right now for Shades & Shapes in the Dark universe. For those of you who read the first book that came out last may, you might suspect that it’s not really just a horror novel, but also edging into something more. In Through and Endless Darkness Dreaming (Book 2) Clarissa will discover that there’s more creatures out there, than just her own tormenter, Demon and that the world of magic is so much bigger than she realizes.
I am, also, slowly spending time in the world of The Chronicles of the Great Migration. I promise, I am still working on The Children of AEIS, and the final two other books of the series. They will get done.
One final announcement. This one is in the world of Anthropology. I recently published a chapter in the book, Exploring Digital Ethnography: From Principles to Practice. My chapter is titled: Worldbuilding as Pedagogy: Teaching Anthropology and Diversity in Contentious Classrooms. Now this is an academic volume, so while it’s not cheap, you absolutely can purchase it here. There are some great chapters in this book covering a variety of digital and interactive approaches to anthropology.
But if you just want to read my chapter… well… if you contact me, we might be able to find a way…
Loridian's Laboratory 