“Translation — it's listening and understanding. It's trying to understand each other, trying to find some common ground, but understanding that there is a gap and that's okay, because we're all different.”
There’s this really good book about a kid in England who gets into an elite school to learn the magic that can literally change the world. There’s friendship, betrayal, enchanted objects, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance. But we’re not talking about Hogwarts - this is Oxford.
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang — might just be the most important story you’ll read this year. It’s what happens when a coming-of-age fantasy grows up — when instead of asking who gets to wield magic, it asks who built it, who profits from it, and who gets burned by it. By page 100, you'll start to hear the opening lines of Rage Against the Machine. It’s Harry Potter meets Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and so much more. Joining is longtime FrieMMd of the pod, and comic-book partner-in-crime Paresh Jha.
LEARN MORE:
BABEL (RF Kuang): goodreads.com/book/show/57945316-babel
ARTICLE (New Yorker): The Otherworldly Ambitions of R. F. Kuang - newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/25/the-otherworldly-ambitions-of-r-f-kuang
MENTIONS
SHOW: Andor (2022-25) - imdb.com/title/tt9253284/
POD: Empire S1 British East India Co) - podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/empire/id1639561921
POD: Revolutions S12 (Martian Revolution) podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revolutions/id703889772
INTERVIEW: Jon Stewart, Tony Gilroy (Andor), Mike Duncan (Revolutions Pod) - youtube.com/watch?v=SUUw-UfK64Q
CHAR: Jason Todd (Robin 2) - wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Todd
CHAR: Dick Grayson (Robin 1) - wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Grayson
AUTHOR: Ta-Nehisi Coates - ta-nehisicoates.com/
INTERVIEW: Ezra Klein + Ta Nahesi Coats - youtube.com/watch?v=UaeoDlLNnok
COMIC: Saga (2012 - ongoing) - wikipedia.org/wiki/Saga_(comics)
FILM: The Devil’s Advocate (1997) - imdb.com/title/tt0118971/
FILM: Fight Club (1999) - imdb.com/title/tt0137523/
FILM: Star Trek V (1989): “I need my pain!” - youtube.com/watch?v=9ABLYnvpAso
FILM: Equilibrium (2002):.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/
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