We have too many reviews and not enough interpretive criticism. At least, that’s what Nathan says, and it seems to hold water. A true critique engages your intellect and raises questions, while a review just says whether you should watch that movie/read that book/listen to that podcast.

In our second segment, we engage with Ivy Pochoda’s latest novel, Ecstasy, which itself engages with the classical play The Bacchae. We’re not saying a cult of drunken women who kill the men would solve all our problems, but maybe it’s a start.

Ecstasy by Ivy Pochoda is available now

Works cited this episode:

I Know What You Did Last Summer, dir. Jim Gillespie Return of the Jedi, dir. Richard Marquand The Empire Strikes Back, dir. Irvin KershnerFargo, dir. Joel Cohen Siskel & Ebert “Fargo Forum: Minnesota, Masculinity, Mike Yanagita, and more,” Noel Murray, Keith Phipps, Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, Matt Singer, Scott Tobias, The Dissolve “Against Interpretation,” Susan Sontag The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald “In Defense of the Traditional Review,” Richard Brody, The New Yorker Volcano, dir. Mick Jackson “It Lavas L.A.,” Richard Corliss, TIME Capital, Karl Mark The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien Wonder Valley, Ivy Pochoda Sing Her Down, Ivy Pochoda Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen The Bacchae, Euripides Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver David Copperfield, Charles Dickens Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov Liar Liar, dir. Tom Shadyac 30 Rock, created by Tina Fey