Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship
Love banned books? Hate censorship?
Same. You’re our kind of people.
Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books and try to figure out why they were banned in the first place.
Each season, we tackle a new banned book, reading it chapter by chapter and asking: What made someone clutch their pearls and scream, "BAN IT!"? (Spoiler: It’s rarely what you’d expect.) One thing is clear—the people banning these books often haven’t read them. While we uncover some eyebrow-raising moments, nothing truly justifies censorship.
Join us—and our listeners, "The Scary Book People"—as we explore the strange, hilarious, and sometimes baffling world of banned books.
Past seasons have featured classics like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and 1984 by George Orwell.
This season, we’re diving into Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It's a dystopia built on pleasure, not fear. People are engineered, drugged, and distracted into obedience, and they’re taught to love the system that controls them. It’s funny, creepy, and disturbingly familiar. And like all great banned books, it makes you question the world you're living in.
By reading these books, we ask big questions: Why are banned books important? What does “banned” mean? What does “challenged” mean? How do book bans affect students? Are book bans constitutional?
Come hang out with us and have some laughs while we dig into the drama behind banned books—you might even learn something cool along the way!
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 27 minutes
- Episodes
- 249
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 3, Sec 6: Well, That Escalated Quickly
Join Jen and Dan on the penultimate journey through 'Fahrenheit 451's' third section, as we approach the climactic finale.
After Montag's walk-and-talk with the bibliophile hobos, something game-chang…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 3, Sec 5: Shake Down Your Clinkers
Venture with Jen and Dan into another passage from 'Fahrenheit 451's' third section.
Montag discovers the ultimate "living" book club in the wilderness. Dan and Jen consider joining, but only if they …
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 3, Sec 4: From Hot Hounds to Haylofts
Jen and Dan read the next section of part 3 of Fahrenheit 451.
Montag plays hide and seek with a hound, and Dan and Jen ponder the pros and cons of asbestos weaving. Spoiler: it's mostly cons.
Follow …
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 3, Sec 3: Montag's Pit Stop: Faber's Safe Haven
Jen and Dan read the next section of part 3 of Fahrenheit 451.
Beatty's BBQ took a turn, so Montag turns up at Faber's for a quick chat on 'how to dodge dystopian authorities 101', while Jen and Dan w…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 3, Sec 2: Dystopian Drive-Thru: Montag's Close Call
Jen and Dan read the next section of part 3 of Fahrenheit 451.
After turning the heat up on Beatty, Montag dodges death by teen driver — who knew post-murder getaways would involve dodging joyriders?
F…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 3, Sec 1: From Fireman to Fugitive
Jen and Dan read the first section of part 3 of Fahrenheit 451.
Montag turns a house call into a house brawl, turning his flamethrower on everything from Beatty to that pesky Mechanical Hound. Meanwhi…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 2, Sec 4: House of Cards and Flames
Jen and Dan read the final section of part 2 of Fahrenheit 451.
Montag returns to the firehouse, earpiece in tow, turning an ordinary poker game into an undercover mission. Meanwhile, as Beatty channe…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 2, Sec 3: In Again Out Again Finnegan
Jen and Dan read the next section of part 2 of Fahrenheit 451.
Montag hijacks Mildred's party with illicit poetry, giving 'show and tell' a new twist, while Jennifer grapples with the 50s' skewed gend…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 2, Sec 2: Montag's Potential Pyro-Ploy
Jen and Dan read the next section of part 2 of Fahrenheit 451.
Montag's on a mission to save books with torn Bibles and secret earpieces. Meanwhile, Dan and Jen debate whether Jesus is more Kramer or …
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 2, Sec 1: Bible Versus Jingle: Montag's Subway Showdown
Jen and Dan read the first section of part 2 of Fahrenheit 451.
Join Montag's subway showdown with a toothpaste jingle as he tries to memorize the Bible, and tag along with Jen, who's on a mission to …
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 1, Sec 7: Vehicular Bunnyicides and Disco Biscuits
Jen and Dan read the final section of part 1 of Fahrenheit 451.
Join us as we unearth Montag's ventilator vault of books, contemplate his fireman resignation, and ask the burning question: how many bu…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 1, Sec 6: Burnt Pages and Self-Potatoes
Trigger Warning:
In this episode, we touch on a sensitive topic, specifically suicide. If you prefer to skip that part, feel free to fast forward between 33:58 and 34:34. Be well.
Jem and Dan read sec…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 1, Sec 5: Neither Cricket Nor Correct
Jen and Dan read section 5 of part 1 of Fahrenheit 451.
Discover how a dystopian world of kerosene and TV screens intertwines with Dan's 'Flex-Seal' theory in an episode of lost love and hidden books.
…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 1, Sec 4: Combustible Queries: Montag's Doubts
Jen and Dan read section 4 of part 1 of Fahrenheit 451.
Join Montag as he questions his role amid firemen's bizarre history, leading Jen to wonder if Seinfeld's wit could thrive in this dystopian soci…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 1, Sec 3: Raindrops and Robo-Dogs
Jen and Dan read section 3 of part 1 of Fahrenheit 451.
Join us as Montag navigates a reality of firemen and terminator hounds, contrasted sharply by Jen's less perilous but equally passionate distast…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 1, Sec 2: A Lozenge for Rest: Montag's Dystopia
Jen and Dan read section 2 of part 1 of Fahrenheit 451.
The absurdity of Montag's life, where 'Seashells' and pills replace real comfort, leaves Jen puzzled over Bradbury's preoccupation with plentifu…
Fahrenheit 451 | Part 1, Section 1: A Fireman, A Teen, and A Little Nuttiness
Jen and Dan read section 1 of part 1 of Fahrenheit 451.
When fireman Guy Montag meets the conversationally combustible Clarisse, he realizes that in a world where books are burned, the most dangerous …
To Kill a Mockingbird | Chapter 31 - Through Boo's Eyes: The Finale
Jen and Dan read chapter 31, the final chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Scout ushers Boo back home, seeing her world through his silent gaze. A bedtime story with Atticus illuminates an undeniable tr…
To Kill a Mockingbird | Chapter 30 - Let the Dead Bury the Dead
Jen and Dan read chapter 30 of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Boo Radley, ushered by Scout, unexpectedly listens to an argument between Atticus and Sheriff Heck. Heck puts forth Bob Ewell's demise as self-inf…
To Kill a Mockingbird | Chapter 29 - Pig Disguises and Silent Saviors
Jen and Dan read chapter 29 of To Kill a Mockingbird.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Scout's Halloween costume proves its mettle during a midnight showdown. On another note, Dan and Jen are left question…