The apocalypse, a pair of neanderthal-like twins, and an army of miniaturized Chinese soldiers on Mars. These are subjects of Kurt Vonnegut's 8th novel, Slapstick , which uses a dystopian wasteland as the backdrop for Vonnegut's plea for basic human kindness. A slew of insane sci-fi elements provide the rules for this universe: gravity comes and goes like the weather, all citizens are assigned a random name and number for their middle name and the twins that serve as the protagonists of our story become geniuses the closer in proximity they become. Vonnegut uses these elements to explore dark themes like incest, drug addiction, the afterlife and human decency.

So join Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim as they dissect these themes, the plot and the famously terrible film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick .

Segments:

Plot Time! (00:40)

Kurt Blurt! (01:14:15)

VonneArt! (01:31:30)

Recurring Characters Update! (01:34:25)

Kurt Cameo! (01:37:45)

VonneWHAT! (01:38:35)

Movie Time! (01:45:45)

The Meat! (01:55:00)

Vonnegrades! (02:05:15)

Related Reading! (02:07:55)

Vonnegut News! (02:16:25)

Related Reading:

Book: Theodore Sturgeon: More Than Human

Short Story: Harlan Ellison: In Fear of K (in Strange Wine)

Book: Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Short Story: HP Lovecraft: The Outsider

Song: Frank Zappa: Bobby Brown Goes Down