Podcasts

I’ve guest starred on a number of podcasts over the years, but here are original podcasts that I host or cohost. If you love books and deep conversations about them, you may just love what we do.

If you’re looking for writing specific podcasts and con panel recordings, check out the links over at the page Writing & Writing Advice.

Resistance Reads

Literature is a conversation about the human experience. One important facet of that experience is the relationship between power and resistance. In this podcast, Matt Wellstrom and Michael Kilman explore a variety of works of literature pursing questions about the nature of power and how people live with, or fight back against systems of power. So far we’ve covered books such as 1984, V for Vendetta, The Ministry for the Future, and Passing. Our discussions are grounded in social science, history, law, philosophy, and activism.

Episodes are initially livestreamed on YouTube and we love audience questions and thoughts. A few days after the livestream, episodes go up on all your favorite platforms. Come join us at the next livestream here! or listen to the replay of past episodes here.

Special Episode: Resistance Reels Episode 1 Andor Season 1 – Resistance Reads

Welcome to Resistance Reels, the new companion show to Resistance Reads where hosts Michael Kilman and Matt Wellstrom turn their lens on film and television. This free teaser episode kicks off the show with a deep dive into Andor Season 1, focusing on the Narkina 5 prison arc, one of the most politically dense stretches of television Star Wars has ever produced. Michael and Matt break down how the Empire maintains control through spectacle, psychological manipulation, and manufactured competition, drawing on Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish, David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years, Erving Goffman's concept of the total institution, and Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. They trace the mechanics of authoritarian control from the electrified prison floors of Narkina 5 to Luthen Rael's devastating "what do I sacrifice" monologue, and close with Nemik's manifesto on the nature of freedom and resistance. If you've ever wanted a genuinely rigorous political and philosophical read on Andor, one that treats it as seriously as the show treats itself, this is it. ⚠️ Contains heavy spoilers for Andor Season 1. This episode is free to everyone. Future episodes of Resistance Reels, including our next one on Andor Season 2 and the Ghorman Massacre, along with our subscriber-only nonfiction book club on science, philosophy, and social theory, are available to Patreon members. Join us: https://www.patreon.com/ResistanceReadsPodcast
  1. Special Episode: Resistance Reels Episode 1 Andor Season 1
  2. Resistance Reads Podcast E22 The House on the Cerulean Sea
  3. Resistance Reads Podcast E21 Lord of Light
  4. Resistance Reads Podcast E20 Lovecraft Country
  5. Resistance Reads Podcast E19 Paradise Lost
  6. Resistance Reads E18 A Gentleman in Moscow
  7. Resistance Reads Podcast E17 Let the Right One In
  8. Resistance Reads Podcast E16 Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
  9. Resistance Reads Podcast: Episode 15: James by Percival Everett
  10. Resistance Reads Podcast Episode 14: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin