Low Culture Podcast: The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

In the February episode of our subscription podcast, John Doran and Luke Turner discuss Depeche Mode and the new Fargo while delving into Octavia E. Butler’s prophetic 1993 book Parable of the Sower.

John and Luke discuss Octavia E. Butler’s powerful, eerie, and terrifying 1993 novel Parable of the Sower in this episode of tQ’s Low Culture podcast. The story follows a young Black woman named Lauren Olamina as she attempts to survive the violence of a doomed and declining America while also delving into her own new belief system, Earthseed, which is centered around the idea that “Change is God.”

The novel is structured as a journal that starts in 2024, which heightens the unsettling feeling that this is a work of unsettling prophesy given its themes of social breakdown, high wage disparity, and climatic disaster.

The editors of Quietus examine the biography of this giant of science fiction and talk about how this book represents a radical new interpretation of the heroic quest narrative and coming-of-age themes.

There are quite depressing and unpleasant parts in this novel, but they are presented in a detached style that emphasizes the horror rather than magnifies it. John and Luke discuss how it compares to other dystopian or post-apocalyptic literary works and come to the conclusion that, despite all the graphic parts, the Earthseed philosophy—which is founded on the power of change—contains a feeling of hope—in love and humanity.

Luke and John also discuss contemporary cultural highlights. Luke compliments Depeche Mode on their current world tour, while John suggests that everyone watch the new fifth season of Fargo, calling it “the funniest and smartest TV I’ve seen in a long time.”

Source:
https://thequietus.com/articles/33833-octavia-e-butler-parable-of-the-sower

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