Octavia's Parables

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 12 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

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Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 11 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 10 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 9 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 8 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 7 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 6 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 5 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 4 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Mary is in her transition, a perilous time. Others with her strength have not survived. Karl rushes home to support her - aid she rejects, at first. But as her transition peaks, she pulls his mind to hers. And then, she can't let him go. The pattern has begun.  

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 2 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 1 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Mind of My Mind. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

We are once again with Doro and Anyanwu, who we left at the end of Wild Seed - but we are now in modern times. Doro has continued to breed his powerful offspring, with the same flawed results, full of suffering. Anyanwu, going by Emma now, continues to carry the weight of his cavalier arrogance. 

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 14 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 13 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 12 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 11 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 10 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 9 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 8 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 7 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 6 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Anyanwu reveals more of her capacities to Doro and her shipmates. Her danger, her hunger, her transformations. Isaac’s powers become more clear. And Octavia graces us with some of her most sensual writing, on the pleasures of being a dolphin.

Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 5 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 4 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 3 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 2 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 1 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Wild See. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Larkin/Asha meets her “charismatic, dangerous, heathen” mother, Lauren. Our understanding of the timeline deepens. Marc’s duplicity continues to cause discord and heartbreak. And Earthseed does, finally, take root among the stars.

Toshi and adrienne break down the epilogue of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents. And offer some final questions (of this series!) for you and your people to consider. 

All about Larkin. The final chapter. She’s living in New York. Reconnected with uncle Marc, and the church. She knows her mother’s identity, with mixed awareness. Some of her childhood dreams have come true. And yet. Meanwhile, Lauren is gathering her people, with seduction and a chance at a purpose. And still, always, hunting for her daughter.

To survive, know the past. Let it touch you. Then let the past go.

Toshi and adrienne break down Chapter 21 of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Back next week, with the epilogue. 

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 20 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

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Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 19 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Once again, we travel with Lauren and with Larkin. Larkin searches to understand her mother. Lauren searches for Larkin, alone despite herself. The children of Acorn are still missing, almost all of them. Lauren braves a Christian America shelter, navigating her terror and trauma. And she sees a familiar, unwelcome, hypocritical face.

Toshi and adrienne break down Chapter 17 of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Big, deep questions this week. 

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 16 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

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Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 15 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

A dense, bruising, painful chapter.

A year has passed. A year of enslavement at Camp Christian. With an escape attempt, and its consequences. And a brutal, wasteful, pointless war.

We learn more of Larkin’s childhood life in her adoptive family, with its cruelties and violations.

Sickness strikes Camp Christian. A betrayal. A storm. And liberation.

Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 14 of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents, and as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

Trigger warnings: sexual violence, rape.

We learn what happened to Larkin, and where the children went. We learn how the women of Acorn survive, day by day, and how they maneuver. New alliances are cautiously forming, at great risk. And the sexual violence is a constant presence. We grapple with the pleasure of power, and its consequences.

Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 13 of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents, and as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 12 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 11 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Our narrator is born, and named, and welcomed. Lauren and Bankole discuss a move, again. Assessing danger, seen and unseen. Bankole tries to understand, again, how he and Lauren can shape the unknown. She shows him more of her self, this far in.

Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 10 of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents, and offer questions for you and your people to consider. Not easy chapters, not easy questions.

Marcus leaves, with the Peraltas. Dan Noyer returns, chased. A fierce battle. Lauren speaks words she can’t take back. Jarrett is ascendant.

Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 9 of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents, and offer questions for you and your people to consider. Not easy chapters, not easy questions.

Lauren and Bankole visit Halstead. Some in Acorn encourage them to move; Lauren remains adamant. Marcus preaches, and finds out.

Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 8 of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents, offer questions for you and your people to consider, and dream of some fan-fiction crossovers.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 7 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 6 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 5 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Acorn welcomes a baby. They hold ceremony. They assess the impact of the house truck, and we get a window into Acorn’s decision-making structures. They navigate the survival of ambiguous loss. God may be change, but some still fear it.

Toshi and adrienne explore Chapter 4 of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. 

We hear the horrible ordinary story of how the house-truck family came to Acorn. And with Acorn, they bury their dead. 

Toshi and adrienne explore Chapter 3 of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents. And come with many questions for you and your people to consider.

TW: this chapter and episode include mention of rape. 

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 2 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown discuss and analyze Chapter 1 of Octavia E. Butler's book, Parable of the Talents. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.

We lost our detailed episode descriptions when episodes were taken down, more soon! We're glad to be back.

Our travelers land. But not as they expected. They grieve, and they live. They sow seeds.

adrienne and Toshi close out Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, with the final chapter of this crucial work. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.