Zombie Book Club
World War Z - Book vs. Movie | Zombie Book Club #10
Wondering how the World War Z movie stacks up against the book? Tune into our Zombie Book Club podcast's 10th episode for a deep dive into the action-packed journey, the highly-motivated zombies, and the implications of the white savior trope. We also discuss our favorite stories from the book and rate it, awarding Zeds!
Join us as we touch on other aspects of zombie books and films, like the lack of female characters and the importance of incorporating diverse perspectives. You'll also get a glimpse into Dan's childhood in Greece while we shout out our truck driver writers tuning in from Texas. Plus, we discuss unique zombie survival tips and the importance of protecting oneself from zombie bites.
Don't miss this exciting episode as we explore all things related to the world of zombies, books, and movies. Thank you for joining us, and stay safe out there!
Follow our linktree for social media links, and links to all the places you can find out podcast!
https://linktr.ee/zombiebookclub
Follow our linktree for social media links, and links to all the places you can find our podcast!
https://linktr.ee/zombiebookclub
ZBC Discord Server
https://discord.com/invite/8hCSb4eg
Zombie Book Club Voicemail
(614) 699-0006
Zombie Book Club Email
ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
Our Secret Website That Isn't Finished
https://zombiebookclub.io
Our Merchandise Store (Where you can find our Evil Magic Chicken Zombie Shirts)
https://zombie-book-club.myspreadshop.com
Wondering how the World War Z movie stacks up against the book? Tune into our Zombie Book Club podcast's 10th episode for a deep dive into the action-packed journey, the highly-motivated zombies, and the implications of the white savior trope. We also discuss our favorite stories from the book and rate it, awarding Zeds!
Join us as we touch on other aspects of zombie books and films, like the lack of female characters and the importance of incorporating diverse perspectives. You'll also get a glimpse into Dan's childhood in Greece while we shout out our truck driver writers tuning in from Texas. Plus, we discuss unique zombie survival tips and the importance of protecting oneself from zombie bites.
Don't miss this exciting episode as we explore all things related to the world of zombies, books, and movies. Thank you for joining us, and stay safe out there!
Follow our linktree for social media links, and links to all the places you can find out podcast!
https://linktr.ee/zombiebookclub
Follow our linktree for social media links, and links to all the places you can find our podcast!
https://linktr.ee/zombiebookclub
ZBC Discord Server
https://discord.com/invite/8hCSb4eg
Zombie Book Club Voicemail
(614) 699-0006
Zombie Book Club Email
ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
Our Secret Website That Isn't Finished
https://zombiebookclub.io
Our Merchandise Store (Where you can find our Evil Magic Chicken Zombie Shirts)
https://zombie-book-club.myspreadshop.com
I feel like you need to change your background from your truck, Because that's just too like No.
Speaker 2:I am a truck now.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:I exist as a truck.
Speaker 1:This is your truck free zone. This is the zombie zone, not the trucker zone. Got to get rid of the truck. background Change to the explosions.
Speaker 2:I feel like the truck just takes over? Yeah, takes over my life. And now, now I'm just like I'm, i'm, i'm parked for the weekend as a person, i am parked and I'm just waiting to be started back up on Monday.
Speaker 2:Well, i hate to break it to you, but I welcome the zombie book club, the only book club, or sometimes the book is a movie but the movie isn't necessary a book of in any meaningful way. And Brad Pitt gets one scene to eat pancakes in. How did you know that in every movie Brad Pitt eats something? It's, it's like the thing that he he does, that like he looks cool doing.
Speaker 2:So, like Tom Cruise runs in every movie. Tom Hanks pees in every movie, even Captain Phillips. There's like a whole thing about him not being able to pee And he goes out and tries to pee so many times. And Brad Pitt eats, at least in one scene, and directors have tried to stop him from eating and he will hide food in the scene And when the cameras start rolling he'll just start putting food in his mouth And then just like fine, just let him eat. I guess It's wild, hi Leah.
Speaker 1:Hi, did you hear that horrifying beeping sound? I didn't. Ok, hopefully I didn't record because I accidentally set a timer instead of a stopwatch while you were talking. So if there is some horrifying beeping, I'm sorry. I'll let you run your rant about Tom or not. Tom Cruise. Brad Pitt eating. I never noticed this about Brad Pitt. I really. The first thing I noticed about Brad Pitt was in Legends of the Fall, when he was had very long, luxurious hair. I don't really notice the eating part, but I believe you.
Speaker 2:Now, you're never going to be able to unsee it. Hi, i'm Dan. I'm a writer and I'm writing a book based on the zombie apocalypse. And here we are with a zombie podcast talking about books that have been written in the zombie apocalypse?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and actors who eat pancakes, and I'm Leah and my sole purpose in life is to advance the storyline of this podcast, without having any personality or character traits, because I have a vulva And that's what people with vulvas do in pretty much every zombie film. They're just there as fillers or as people to save.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's, that's how I wrote you.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Welcome everybody. This is a special episode. This is episode 10. Yeah, i mean, i assume it is. We don't know until it goes up, but I assume this is episode 10. And we've we've made it a rule that every five episodes it's. This is the. This is the book club, part of the podcast, where we pick a book that we all agreed. We all agreed to read it. Leah, every one of us, everybody listening, everybody did. And in this, in this episode, it's World War Z, a book that almost anybody knows Like. If you say I read zombie books, most people will be like I've never read a zombie book except for World War Z.
Speaker 1:That's me, i, i qualify as that I only read World War Z, although I do think I read Max Brooks. What is it? Survival guide? Yeah, zombie survival, casually. I don't think I read the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a few times.
Speaker 1:I want cover to cover, yeah, but we've had 10 episodes or this will be our 10th episode presuming it goes out before an apocalypse actually happens And we've had people who have been watching this for a while, and we've had people listening literally from all over the world Now, which is kind of wild. So just want to say hello to our UK contingent. There's a lot of you. Yeah, somebody from Singapore is apparently listening, so hi, yeah.
Speaker 2:There's a few other countries in there too. I noticed there's at least one person from Greece listening, and little known fact. I was born in Greece, My dad was in the Navy And I was born in Athens. I was born in Athens At the Matera hospital, which is a hospital for moms Having babies. I guess It doesn't exist anymore, And neither does my birth certificate Or your dad Or my dad. He's not dead, I just I mean he might be, We don't know. I also lived. We lived in a town called neomachry, which was just outside of Athens. So if you know where that is, one person from Greece, let me, let me know. If you've been to neomachry, Tell me how my house is doing. Do you remember your house in Greece A little bit? I just I mean I remember it being like, like dimly lit inside. That's about it.
Speaker 1:I, but you were like two.
Speaker 2:So fun story. My dad fell asleep while watching me one afternoon. Probably he's probably tired, as as dads are, and I, i remember I, i guess I woke him up and he got mad at me. So I decided to climb onto the roof And I mean the houses there, all the roofs were flat, so there'd be like a little like patio area on the roof that people would hang out. I guess I just wanted to hang out on the patio, so I climbed up a ladder on the side of the house Wow, dan And got onto the roof. And then my mom came home and saw me On the roof all by myself. Were you, do you remember this?
Speaker 1:or is this a story you've been told? I've been told this. I don't remember it.
Speaker 2:Okay, i wonder if that's why my parents got divorced. Could be one of many reasons. Yeah, i think.
Speaker 1:I'd be pretty mad if my child was on the roof at like two. But we also have people tuning in from Texas, a lot of people from Texas. but, Dan, you have a theory about, about this, Well, I mean, so on on Instagram.
Speaker 2:I briefly talked to somebody who's also a truck driver listening to our podcast. Not only a truck driver, but a truck driver writer listening to our truck driver writer podcast, i think it's. I think all of the Texas listens are just him driving around Texas. So let me know if you were in Texas listening to our podcast.
Speaker 1:Is that correct? Yeah, But yeah we've had a lot of writers. What is it about? truck driver Like?
Speaker 2:is this a common thread with truck drivers? I feel like I haven't met too many that like got the writing bug but like what are you doing over the road, truck driving, and like you're kind of alone a lot Like I, it's kind of like a perfect opportunity to get some writing done sometimes And also done to just think, like I think that's part of why you like.
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know if you like being a truck driver, but part of one of the perks of being a truck driver for you is like yeah, I'm not a truck driver For you. It was time to think. So. We did want to give a shout out to the writers, The truck drivers, the truck driver writers who we know are listening. Hello, Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know. I'd like to point out that you loved to interrupt me on this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i do. I love interruption. This is also very cis, hetero male behavior.
Speaker 2:In the last episode. I edited it. I edited the episode so that I interrupted you during a time that I didn't originally interrupt you.
Speaker 1:Are you serious?
Speaker 2:Yes, Trying to find it.
Speaker 1:I guess I'm going to, just you know, go back to my role of being a one dimensional character here, so continue. What were you going to say?
Speaker 2:Well, this is how you were written.
Speaker 1:Correct, yeah, an actual sentient being here.
Speaker 2:Life update Leah, yeah, i mean, it's a bad news I have terrible news for you, Leah.
Speaker 1:We broke our hammock. I was there for that. That was terrible.
Speaker 2:Very sad. Yeah, i mean I probably needed to be on level ground and our yard is anything but level. It is. It is a mountain. Our house is a mountain. Yeah And yeah, i guess it's just too much pressure in one direction And the whole thing just kind of folded over on us when I got into it And I was like I'm going to fall. I'm pushing real close to the weight of that hammock Just by myself.
Speaker 1:I don't think that's putting it on the side of a hill. The way we did was a good idea. but rest in peace. hammock frame And we've already replaced you, thanks to Amazon. So we've got some more hammocks coming, but that is. it is very devastating. My favorite thing to do in the springtime, or really when it's not winter, and even when it's winter sometimes is hanging out in the hammock.
Speaker 2:Yeah, But you know what? that hammock was not ready for the zombie apocalypse.
Speaker 1:No, it also creaked a lot, So like it wasn't safe from a sound a sound point of view, Other zombies would definitely hear it. But on the flip side, I mean that was a devastating moment when our hammock broke, but I am happy to report to the listeners who may have cared about whether or not my toe was actually broken from Dan's safety first placement of rifles.
Speaker 2:That was very irresponsible of Julia. My toe is not broken.
Speaker 1:And the gun is in a safe place. Dan already forgot what the safe place was. I had to tell him, and I will not say it on air. But it is now in a safe place and my toe is not broken. It just hurt really badly. So I might have been being slightly melodramatic.
Speaker 2:You know, speaking of how much I am tired and just, i'm just generally despondent about being back to work doing paving And I drive. I drive what's called a flow boy. It's a semi truck, dump truck kind of situation Has like a conveyor belt in the trailer and you fill up the trailer with all kinds of shit and the conveyor belt rolls it out the back. So we're paving and it's. It's tiring, it's hot, the hours are long, i'm out on the road sometimes 14 hours a day and then I come home and I'm dead. And but one thing that I'm working on is I've I've wanted for a very long time now to grow mushrooms as a business. If, if, if any of you have looked into things like that, you know what secret handshake. Show me the secret mushroom handshake And not that one.
Speaker 2:You know the well, i did not even, but yeah you know, works killing me slowly And I feel like transitioning to starting a business where I grow and sell mushrooms. It's like it's. it goes along with my life a lot better And. I think it'll help me live longer. Yeah, That's. that's all I got for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll get back to it. We're working on a business plan and it does include cordyceps, folks, for the last of us fans. We want to know. We want to know what you think about the last of us fans. Will you eat Dan's cordyceps after watching that show? We're curious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, also right before this, i you know, because of the last of us, you know, i've been a little bit miffed about the whole My co world and like Not really knowing how that's going to affect my dreams of selling mushrooms. Turns out everybody's fear of cordyceps has actually boosted sales of cordyceps Really. Yeah, there's like it's a huge boom right now and I need to get on it. I don't know what that's.
Speaker 1:I don't know what that says about humanity, but, yeah, you've got to perfect your cordyceps growing process, but we'll get there. And my little last bit of news is that I am accidentally told my coworkers about this podcast. Didn't mean to do that. I think we were doing this icebreaker. We had a work retreat and we were doing an icebreaker where you had to, like, write something nobody knows about you on a piece of paper. And last year we did the same exact icebreaker, but that time they just have people read them aloud and you didn't know who's was who's. But this time they actually had you figure it out.
Speaker 1:And it turns out that one of my coworkers is actually who found it is a zombie fan. So shout out to you I'm not going to say your name in case you also don't want to be called out for loving zombies but then decided to tell the entire organization that I have a zombie apocalypse podcast And then, like everybody was like what is it? What's it called? And I said I'm not telling you because it's not safe for work. And if you did somehow find it, coworkers, just don't listen to the Amazon $100 challenge. Okay, that's my request to you. You'll never be able to look me in the eye again, and I want me to look at you either, so just don't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also, if you're listening to this and you know who Leah's coworkers are, don't tell her coworkers to listen to the.
Speaker 1:Amazon challenge.
Speaker 2:No, please. So for this episode, Leah, we're doing World War Z. I don't look at the title.
Speaker 1:World War Z.
Speaker 2:That's how much ADHD I've got going on is. I'm like what's the name of the thing we're doing right now?
Speaker 1:The thing that we're talking about. for weeks Trying to sort this out.
Speaker 2:So we're doing both the movie and the book and we figured we'd start with a movie.
Speaker 1:Yes, Because most of you probably watched the movie And I'm very curious how many of you actually have read the book.
Speaker 2:You know, i know many of you who are listening right now, and I know you, i know you, you watched the movie.
Speaker 1:Hey, no shame in the movie watching Yeah.
Speaker 2:But you know what? Actually, i'm hoping that this might convince a few people to read the book, because here's the thing The book and the movie are entirely different things, completely different. Yeah, so the movie it's. I would say that this is like an action thriller movie. Yeah, and it's about Brad Pitt eating pancakes.
Speaker 1:With his cute little family that he has to save Yep And then then zombies happen.
Speaker 2:I do appreciate that they don't explain why zombies happen. They just happen. They happened very rapidly, yeah, and and then first act. You know, they escape Philadelphia, they go to Newark for some reason, and then they are picked up by the UN. They live on a, they go, they go to a boat and then Brad Pitt has to go around the world try to figure out where the zombies originated from, in an effort to figure out a way to stop the zombie virus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so he goes to Korea, South Korea He goes to.
Speaker 2:Israel And then he goes to Wales, my homeland. Yeah, it's a road trip movie, so like if you've ever seen planes, trains and automobiles.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's basically the same movie. Just with super fast zombies chasing you and smashing their heads through windshield.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and that's another difference between the book and the movie. The movie has highly motivated zombies. I call them highly motivated, but they're fast. They smash their heads through windshields, they can climb up walls, they can do all kinds of crazy things And also they make really weird noises like dinosaurs. They clack their teeth. Also, something that I never really thought about until we were watching it this last time is that these zombies seem to have a high of mind.
Speaker 1:That's what I pointed out during the scene where they climb the wall together.
Speaker 2:They climb on top of each other. Yeah, I guess they would have to have their ants.
Speaker 1:That's what it looked like, i think, for those who have not watched it, i'm assuming you were listening, because you don't care about having spoilers, which are going to happen always in this show.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, spoiler alert.
Speaker 1:So Israel figures out how to build a wall. They realize that this is going to happen, so they build these ridiculously high walls. Nothing to do with the Jewish-Palestinian conflict, nothing at all. just zombies, which I feel is weird. they don't even touch on that, but anyhow.
Speaker 2:Also. The Israeli person claims they're just letting everybody in. I'm assuming that means also. Palestinians.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's a lot of it. There's a lot of problematic stuff in this movie, but anyways, the wall is exceedingly high, like I don't know, four or five stories tall.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's pretty tall.
Speaker 1:And it's thick, and, of course, the people on the inside of the wall decide to sing on loudspeakers to celebrate their survival. And the zombies create a ladder by climbing, like piling up on top of each other, so that they can get over. It's weird. Yeah, never seen any zombies do that before.
Speaker 2:I mean, I guess you could do it without them having like a hive mind. If they were just following the sound, they might just be charging towards it And they're just running up corpses at that point, Like all the zombies on the bottom, they're dead. They're crushed right.
Speaker 1:That does require some form of intelligence, though, because you think they would. Just the sound was diffused, It wasn't like from one spot And it became this weird like pointed ladder thing, instead of them all just trying to get over the wall. I don't know, i'm voting hive mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, also, when they go to Wales there's a research facility that Brad Pitt goes to And they tell him before he goes in to the side of the hospital where the zombies are. They're like try not to kill any of them, because when you do it makes the other ones a little bit aggravated.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, That does imply the hive mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Like they become more aggressive if you kill one And it's like how do they know that you killed one? It is interesting Yeah.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of weird stuff like that And then also, but it is very different from the ones in the book. The ones in the book are just slow, regular.
Speaker 2:Yeah, regular zombies Also. They can detect if somebody has a fatal disease, a chronic illness, and that's, i mean, spoiler alert, that's how they end The movie, is they give everybody meningitis, i think.
Speaker 1:Well, they give them a vaccine that has the signatures of meningitis, which makes the zombies not interested in eating them.
Speaker 2:Well, they give them meningitis and then they give them the vaccine for meningitis.
Speaker 1:I don't remember if that's quite right, something like that.
Speaker 2:We don't claim accuracy on this podcast And I mean and at that point I feel like it comes dangerously close to breaking like a zombie movie rule These are, these are gentlemen's agreements, these aren't hard written rules. But typically if you want to have a good movie, like, don't make the movie about trying to solve the zombie problem, like the idea of the zombies is that they can't be stopped. So most, most of the best movies are just about trying to adapt to the world with the zombies in it. But this movie was very much about like humans versus zombies. The zombies were the bad guys. There's no. There's no other. There's no other arc. There's no other bad guys. It's just we have to stop the zombies.
Speaker 1:Well, the uncaring unfeeling is that the UN people that don't give a shit about his family, i guess they're kind of bad.
Speaker 2:Well, i think they're, i think. I think they're. just they're put in a position where they need to have personnel that know what they're doing to fight the zombies. And if, if, brad Pitt goes missing and they think that he's dead, there's no reason to have his family on the ship anymore. They're just taking up space on an already crowded ship. So they sent him away, yeah, sent him to Nova Scotia. Fate worse than death. So my sister lives, i'm sorry. I'm sorry Your sister lives in.
Speaker 1:Nova Scotia. He came to the person that will never live into this podcast, mostly because I won't tell my family It's happening. So I for the movie specifically. I feel like we really need to talk about the racism and misogyny of the living dead. Yeah, World War Z.
Speaker 2:You know, i got to admit that for the for the most part, this is something that I've never thought about in this movie And like in the past. But now that I've, now that I'm like looking at it with like differently tuned eyes, i see it differently now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, feminism ruins everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, anti-racism.
Speaker 1:You can't unsee it. Once you like start to see it, you can't unsee it. So the first thing that like bothered me was it's actually that bothers me in general that our society does. So you know how, back in the day I think it was only a couple of years ago they started naming hurricanes after men, men's names. All hurricanes were female names. And there's the same thing, like when the one doctor was talking or the virologist was talking about the zombie virus. He's like, you know, it's like a female serial killer. First of all, how many female serial killers are there? We all know serial killer is a cis white dude. So why are we like? why is the female? Why is the virus female?
Speaker 2:Nurse Ratched Leah.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying there aren't any, i'm just saying there's a.
Speaker 2:There's a clear trend for who loves to chop bodies up, i mean we've also listened to various true crime podcasts And like it's true, like I'd say, 99 out of 100 are white men. And then there's usually like one white woman who's just who, like it's it's usually a little bit more complex than the white men who are just like I'm mean on the inside and I want to hurt people, and usually the woman serial killer is like I've been abused my whole life and now I'm damaged and I want to do the same thing to other people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a really strange narrative, but in these movies so often it's like white dudes are the heroes, women are like props to save or fuck. In this case, there's not a lot of fucking, or any fucking, in this movie.
Speaker 2:I'll give it that, as far as I know.
Speaker 1:Gonna gonna apply the Bechtel test, dan, what do you think about this movie for the Bechtel test?
Speaker 2:First of all, the Bechtel test. for anybody who doesn't know, it's a test for feminism or a lack of feminism in a movie. So what are the conditions of the Bechtel test?
Speaker 1:Basically, two women need to speak to each other in the movie, and not about another man, not about a man, about something completely different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, their own shit, yeah To each other. So yeah, never in the movie does one woman speak to another woman. in this movie, not once. And I think this is why I didn't notice it in previous viewings is because there is a strong female character who isn't like a like a sexual conquest. They're not. They're not like sexualizing this character. I forget her name, segan.
Speaker 1:You mean Segan the Israeli?
Speaker 2:soldier, yeah, the Israeli soldier Segan, and you know, and she's tough. So, like I didn't click in my head that this movie didn't have a whole lot of female characters because, like well, it has Segan, segan's in it. And his wife, Of course and two daughters And one woman in Wales who we don't even know her name.
Speaker 1:But I was reading about this. I've got to give a shout out to Dr Andrew Joseph Pagoda, who points out a really good point, which is that, while there are a few female characters that do participate in conversation with Brad Pitt, brad Pitt is always one who asks the questions And he's always in a position of saving or solving things for women. Women are like they're there And I agree Segan is the strongest female character but they're really there to save or solve for, which is annoying, and I think it's fair to not notice it right away. I didn't notice it the first time I watched the movie at all, although I think my feminist lens is certainly sharpens since then. But when you watch these things the first time around, i'm just kind of like blown away by the anxiety of I don't know millions of zombies climbing a five foot wall and then murdering everybody in their path. It's like very adrenaline inducing. So it takes a minute to be like wait a second. This is not actually a very balanced movie at all.
Speaker 2:And I would argue that there is one scene where Segan is saving Brad Pitt after the plane crash, because she basically carries him all the way to the lab. But that's it Other than that, that's it, yeah.
Speaker 1:And Brad Pitt's wife.
Speaker 1:I don't even know what her name is as an actress, which just tells you a lot too, But I've seen her in other films and she's a really great actor And I did notice that almost as I was like this is an incredible person to cast for a role and then have them say almost nothing other than Brad, don't talk about zombies in front of the children, like that's one of her longest lines. Basically I shouldn't say exactly like that, but when they're on the ship she's like don't, don't disturb the children. It's also an exceedingly white film. I love that this. Dr Pagoda says that it's a mighty whitey film, which I'm forever more.
Speaker 1:Yeah mighty whitey And I hadn't thought about it before we recorded. but now just thinking about like the fact that they never actually touched on the Israel Palestinian conflict is definitely like I think that there are some pro Israeli overtones and definitely pro colonialism, imperialism overtones, because anytime there are any scenes of like the African continent it was all of these white nations saving Africans from the virus, very much like kept that same mentality of like the job of white people is to save black people, when really what we're doing is conquering them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i mean, and also the same thing, and when they went to Korea, like it was just, it's like I'm in Korea and it's a bunch of white people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's okay because Brad Pitt saves the Latino child He does in the very beginning, so that makes all of this okay. It means Brad's a nice white guy, nice white guy.
Speaker 2:And he offers for the family to come on the helicopter, but they turn them down But like again, that's. That's the whole mighty whitey part of it is that Brad Pitt had to. It's all about Brad Pitt saving everyone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a very pro America, pro Israeli, pro white dude kind of movie.
Speaker 2:White dude saved the world Movies are They are.
Speaker 1:I just like can't wait to actually talk good things about the Walking Dead for the ways that it does not perpetuate this stuff, and hopefully we will watch some other movies that don't. please, dan, tell me there's some coming.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I mean that's the thing is that that's, this is pretty much how movies have gone for like the last 100 years. So, you know, and it's hard, it's hard to, especially since this was made in like 2012. You know, it's just like it's. It's it's something that I feel like a lot of conservatives make the argument of is just like. Like why do you have to? do you have to put somebody who's not white in a movie for it to be okay? And it's like yeah, i know that the movie is about Brad Pitt, but like they could have just they could have done more, they could have just represented the world a little bit better.
Speaker 1:Yeah the thing is that it's just such a white man lens, and I will say to all the writers that are listening you know lots of great white dudes in the world.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to say the not all white men thing here but I am going to say, if you're writing about zombies, just you know, just check your own stuff and say, like you know, is there, are there two women who talk to each other and not about a man in my, in my stuff? And if there isn't, maybe, maybe it's worth. I don't know. Considering that also without descriptions of their heaving breasts would be a personal request of mine.
Speaker 2:You know, i find you know that's. that's a challenge I found because I I don't know if you know this, leah, i'm a straight white man. I do, i'm aware, and you know they, they tell you when you're writing, write what you know. And I know about being a straight white man more than anything else.
Speaker 1:You're an expert, some might say.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it's hard because, like I've, i don't. I don't want to send the the message to people that being a straight white man is the best thing to be, but it's also what I know And I don't want to shoehorn things in. I think. I think I'm, i'm getting there, but it is difficult.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I got when I got to read some of your stuff.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to spoil any of Dan's book, but there is a really interesting female character in it And I really appreciate it, dan, that you're like read this because I just want to make sure that I'm not fucking this up, and I think that that really helps And it's I will say that because of movies like World War Z and pretty much everything else, for the majority of popular media in the United States and probably most of the world where it's been run by white people, is like this is the lens that you're used to seeing, and so it's really easy to be invisible.
Speaker 1:And I hear that it could be challenging to think about how to incorporate other voices and perspectives when you don't really know them well, and that is a hard line to figure out. But I think that if people really try, it's possible to do that like respectfully. But also I think that getting other perspectives is key to doing it well, instead of like you're imagining of what a woman's brain is like or you're imagining of what a black person's brain is like. That's where it gets problematic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So it's sexist and racist, but I mean, it's not like it's not over, it's not like they're trying to spread the message of white people are the best, everybody else is terrible. It's just a product of its time And that time, recently I feel like has changed a bit.
Speaker 1:A little bit. I mean most white supremacy and, like patriarchy, perpetuating things are not overt, especially if you are a white man, like you pointed out.
Speaker 2:I mean, it is now Not things you would have noticed.
Speaker 1:I mean, well, some people are very overt, yes, but I think like something I've realized is that, specifically like obviously I'm going to notice things that are sexist because I'm a woman, i have like started to unpack a lot of that myself. But it is harder to see racist things because I was raised to think that whiteness is the default. So it takes a lot of training and like rethinking things when that is your point of view. But I bet you that, like your average person who's not white watching World War Z, you'd be like wait a second, what's going on here? I'm going to throw that out there. I think it's also about who's watching it.
Speaker 2:So, moving on, this movie has some good zombie survival tips, you know, written by the guy who made the zombie survival guide. I would expect it to. So the thing that I thought was a very interesting thing that no other zombie movies really done, is the idea of protecting your arms and legs from zombie bites And in the very beginning in Newark, Brad Pitt duct tapes magazines to his arms and legs. I don't think he does the same for his family, though.
Speaker 1:That's a really good point. No, they're just not. That's quite an oversight, yeah.
Speaker 2:And it comes in handy because, like a slamming door shot and a zombie smashes its head through the window of the door and bites right down on that magazine and it worked. One thing I hate about zombie movies you'll see somebody that's like wearing like a thick leather jacket and a zombie will bite them in the arm. And it's like oh, i'm bitten And it's like that. That was a leather jacket, dude, i don't. I don't know if they have the, the biting force to be able to bite through that.
Speaker 1:In general. like humans, teeth are hate to break it to people who love meat. They are designed to eat vegetables and plants and they're not really good at biting. There's always been a thing I've had with zombies I'm like this is just whether it's leather or like through jeans. Also, like any kind of thicker material, they're not going to get a good hold.
Speaker 2:Yeah they might get a good pinch. They might break the skin on the inside of the pants, but like denim is tough, like there's a reason that people that do hard work in this world wear jeans.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and also like there's sometimes there's zombie bites on body parts that I'm just like there's no way like the red Like yeah, ribs are like the back of the shoulder. I'm like how, like, think about that, try and open your mouth and actually like grab someone's shoulder blade, we're just not designed to do that very well.
Speaker 2:Well, it's convenient placing, so they could hide it.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's why they do it, for the reveal.
Speaker 2:You know what? If I had bitten on the shoulder blade, I'd be embarrassed that I would also hide it. I'd be like, how did this happen?
Speaker 1:Yeah, like how does that happen? Like I can see the top of the shoulder maybe if you're like snuck up on the shoulder blade, but the middle of the shoulder blade a little weird. But regardless, magazines taped arms and legs is a good one We should. But the problem is that's also very of its time. Like do you and I have a single magazine in our house?
Speaker 2:Well, we have a lot of recycling And there's probably magazines in our recycling, because it gets like Vermont life magazine or something That's true.
Speaker 1:We should start stocking up as part of our prepper pile.
Speaker 2:Rural living periodically.
Speaker 1:My LL Bean catalog that randomly somehow comes to my house, even though I don't order anything from LL Bean.
Speaker 2:That is an interesting thing to think about when thinking about the zombie apocalypse now, Like if you wanted to do the same thing, would you be able to find magazines to duct tape to your arms?
Speaker 1:This is a slightly off topic, but I just had a moment of revelation, like because also phone books would have been useful for this.
Speaker 2:I don't remember. I mean like too thick to like you could like duct tape on.
Speaker 1:You could probably rip them in half. Well, I'm thinking like a Woodville sized phone book.
Speaker 2:You have like a home town. But yes next to be written.
Speaker 1:Sh, we're any more, but this is getting too close to them. But they have people's addresses on them, But can you imagine your address just being out there? Now you at least spend 80 bucks to get somebody's address. Yeah, like, what a trusting world it was back then.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, you know, back then you couldn't just add everybody's phone numbers and addresses and email addresses and their cell phone numbers and their alternative email addresses to a mailing list and sell it on the dark web to an information broker, who would then sell a giant list of all of your information attached to your credit card information, your social security numbers to a hacker in Russia, who would then use it to disband one cent purchases in San Francisco at a gas station. that's made up, okay.
Speaker 1:It was a different time. It was more depressing than a zombie apocalypse. Let's go back to World War Z and surviving that instead of like. How many times have our cards been stolen this year?
Speaker 2:I don't even remember, but we've had our credit cards hacked, stolen like four times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was brutal, so so back to the World of Zombies, which is a much nicer one. I really like Oh, I was going to do nine out of 10 rule.
Speaker 2:Oh well, let's do the weapon first, because I wanted to talk about the same scene with magazines. Brad Pitt also duct tapes a kitchen knife to the end of his, his hunting rifle, which it's I struggle to say it's not a terrible idea. It is a terrible idea because duct tape isn't going to hold it on there, it's going to pop off. It's probably going as soon as you try to stab a zombie with it. The duct tape is going to rip and the knife will probably bounce back at you and cut you. Oh shit, that's bad. Also, it was really cheap knife, so like that blade probably would bend if you tried to stab somebody with it.
Speaker 1:Good to know, because I absolutely would have taped a knife to the end of the rifle that we have here. The other one that I thought was sort of problematic was Sagan's. So Sagan gets her, so Brad I don't know what his name is, jerry, or something like that in the movie.
Speaker 2:Just call him Bradley.
Speaker 1:That's off. So her hand gets bitten and he cuts off her hand. And then when they're going into the the part of the building in Wales that has all of the deadly diseases that they want she picks a baseball bat for her weapon. And I'm literally just like you need two hands for a baseball bat.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I just don't know how that was like an oversight. You can't. Can you imagine using a baseball bat with one hand? Well, I could. Yeah, you could. That's true.
Speaker 2:But yeah, like it's, a baseball bat is a two handed weapon, but also there's not very many good one handed weapons that would be good for, like splattering somebody's skull open.
Speaker 1:No. I feel like an actual kitchen knife would be better, because you can like stab.
Speaker 2:I don't think a kitchen knife is a good choice. You know what If? I mean if she had a choice a hatchet or a hammer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a hammer would be good That feels swingable with a single arm. I think the key here is pick a good weapon and pick a good. Pick a good weapon for your strengths and weaknesses. Like, if you're missing a hand, probably don't go with the baseball bat.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, let's talk about the nine out of 10 rule. So, again, slightly sexist. The rule is coming from Israel, which is why they built the wall. Um, it's a good rule. I just don't like how they explained it Basically they said that like yeah, if they're evaluating a potential risk.
Speaker 1:If nine out of 10 men in the room disagree that there is no risk, it's the 10th man's responsibility to prepare for that risk, and I uh don't like there's only men in the room making the choice, but I do think that that's not the worst idea of like. If a majority of people think that there is no risk, having one person responsibility to presume that there might be one and actually repair is not a bad concept. Yeah, but that means that we should prepare for aliens landing. Maybe there already are people. Yeah, there are.
Speaker 2:I guess we do a space force now.
Speaker 1:So yeah, i mean somebody decided it was worth funding. Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's, there are people who do that. There's also people who do it that aren't paid to, so like, uh, people who are just alien enthusiasts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you know what? Thank you, alien enthusiasts. Somebody's got to, somebody's got to be prepared.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I should thank them so soon. We don't know what their plans are. It's true, it's true, um zombie survival tip Um, don't sing. No, no singing in the zombie apocalypse.
Speaker 1:Just don't yelling either.
Speaker 2:No loud noises in the army We would call that light and noise discipline. Mm, hmm, um, it's, it's, it's stressed very much when you're out in the field. Uh, the idea is, uh, you know, flashlights, lanterns, anything that could potentially give you away, that's, that's light discipline. Making any types of noise Is noise discipline in you, your discipline is to minimize those as much as possible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so don't sing on loud speakers Don't have maybe millions of people hundreds of thousands of people sing. Yeah, and then put it on a loud speaker.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the loud speaker seemed like overkill at that point, like they've got hundreds of people singing this song and then somebody's like I want to be louder.
Speaker 1:I will say, though, that, like the first, the first time I watched the movie that did terrify me. I was like what are you doing? And then, when you started to see the ant compiling of all of the zombies, it's very scary, i guess they just thought that, didn't think that that would happen.
Speaker 2:Um, and if?
Speaker 1:the nine of 10 rule, then we saw.
Speaker 2:we saw the trailers, so we knew what was coming. We knew that there's going to be zombies to tsunamis pushing over buses and crawling up walls and grabbing onto helicopters and taking them down and all kinds of crazy stuff. So we knew what was coming. They didn't know it was coming. They're just like they're zombies. They're fucking stupid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were out there celebrating impervious. It's silly And then it's like I think the other one that comes with that is the whole old adage of don't count your chickens Where they hatch. Don't celebrate too soon When you're fucking surrounded by zombies in every direction. That is not the time to be celebrating. You have not one. It's not over.
Speaker 2:Don't do it. And our last zombie survival tip is uh, inject yourself with a deadly disease, Any of them.
Speaker 1:That was wild. He literally just picked a random vial.
Speaker 2:They're watching on the on the screen. They're like not that one And he just, he just happened to pick one that wasn't so deadly, i guess.
Speaker 1:I don't, yeah, i think it was totally a Russian roulette moment, yeah, or he? really didn't know what he was doing.
Speaker 2:Didn't he read the labels? Like I don't. I mean, i got to imagine that like, even though I don't know what the Latin um naming convention is for viruses, it's got to be somewhat close, you know, you'd be able to look at something and it's like. It's like, yeah, this one's been in.
Speaker 1:Chaitis, i think. I don't know. But even if you did know that, would you know it's a good one or not. I wouldn't.
Speaker 2:I just literally just held them in his hands, like, uh, i don't know, i'll pick this one.
Speaker 1:And then there was also like he waited. I don't know how long he waited. How do you know how long it takes for your body to have enough that a zombie won't know that you are? I don't know. I'm not even sure I fully buy into the premise that that's how it, which is why I think like that's how it works, is why I agree with you, dan, that they shouldn't try and solve the zombie virus, because I don't. Zombies are dead by their definition. So why the fuck do they care if you have meningitis? Is it because they think that, like Well, they're suggesting that?
Speaker 2:the virus itself is intelligent and it doesn't. it doesn't want to have to compete for the host.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Yeah, but wouldn't meningitis? the virus die with the host, but then the zombie virus would take over. I just think I'm not convinced.
Speaker 2:I guess, if that, if that zombie, then uh bit somebody else um what would that get? that virus strain could be then mutated because it's combined with other deadly pathogens Interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's. You know what It's a it's. It is a um viral supremacist virus. It wants a pure strain.
Speaker 1:A pure host.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it wants a pure host for the purity of their strain. Yeah, sounds very accurate for this movie overall, in which case, i feel like so many more people should have been not infected by zombies, because if you go out into the world, um like nine out of 10 people are half dead that you talk to. They're like like it's like you just go ask somebody on the street like what do you got? What's wrong with you?
Speaker 1:And then they're like, ah, don't get me started The bacteria, that's true, but I guess it's like it has to be a really bad one. It was interesting. So, um, i have a question for you, dan. Yes, we haven't had a chance to do this, this particular segment, in a while. I want to know if you anything from the movie bothered you, that you think you could have done better than how it was solved for in the movie.
Speaker 2:You know, i mean, the biggest thing is I don't really like the whole using a virus to disguise yourself from the zombies. I kind of wish that this was more um in the in, in the way of like how the book did things. It wasn't about defeating the zombie virus, it was about outlasting the zombies and fighting them in a conventional war.
Speaker 2:Um so like I would have, i would have changed that ending, but also like there was some missed opportunities. Like a fan favorite part of the book, uh, is a chapter about the battle for Yonkers and this was a huge military campaign in Yonkers. Uh, that was set up by the military, um, mostly as a camera opportunity, like they wanted to show off their military power And it was kind of a statement about the military at that time, just like all flash and show.
Speaker 2:But anyways, uh, they, they did it. They fought conventionally against zombies and Yonkers. And it was all these, they, they use barrages of explosions, all of these high tech weapons like Abrams tanks, fighting positions, um guided missiles and stuff. And what they realized is that all of these explosions and conventional weapons against walking corpses, um, didn't really wipe them out, like you know. 75% of them were destroyed, but the rest of them were now, like dragging themselves on the ground, almost more dangerous because they're on the ground crawling. And uh, and these bombs, like when it, when you send out shrapnel in every direction, these aren't headshots, they're blowing off limbs, going through the torsos and stuff.
Speaker 2:Um, and conventional warfare is about, it's about defeating defeating the morale of your enemy, making them give up, like giving them no more hope that they can win, so that they retreat and give up. And that's when you win. A war is when is when their morale is depleted and zombies are not susceptible to morale victories. They don't care, they just keep coming. They're not afraid of you, they're they just, they just want to eat you And that's it.
Speaker 2:And in the battle for Yonkers, it turned. That turned the tide of that battle, because people started seeing that not only were they not afraid of the bombs being thrown at them, but uh, but their own, the their own soldiers on the front line were being affected by the fact that their attacks did not affect the hordes of zombies. And it worked in reverse and it kind of pushed them back And that story was like a fan favorite that everybody will talk about. If you go to Reddit and like read anything about World War Z, that's the thing that comes up the most. And they could have put that in the movie to show like how like that could have been a really like a huge scene, like that could have been in the trailer. You know, yeah, and they didn't. They didn't do that And I feel like if, if they did, it could have, it could have just been even like even more impactful as a film.
Speaker 1:So before we get into the film a little bit more, I'm curious how many Zeds you would give World War Zed. I honestly don't know.
Speaker 2:I don't know because I, like I would like to rank it highly because it is. Most people would agree It's a really great zombie movie, but there's things like the zombies being the bad guy. There's no. There's no underlying, there's no underlying purpose of the movie, other than there's zombies. We need to fight them, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean there's a slight sometimes if I'm actually caring about his family. But it was very shallow lead done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because nobody. Nobody cares about their family and other movies.
Speaker 1:Yeah it was pretty pretty one dimensional movie, i would agree, but but the action scenes were really good And genuinely the first time I saw it I also saw it in theaters like my adrenaline was high pretty much the entire time, so I will give it credit for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i'm going to base this on whether or not, if you took all the zombies out of the movie, would it still be a good movie? And I don't think it would be a good movie if there was no zombies in it. I think it'd be a movie about flying places, and then a movie about a plane crash, and then a movie about being in a lab.
Speaker 1:So how many Zeds does that give it? not very many One, I'll give it.
Speaker 2:Honestly, i'll give it three stars because the acting was good And with the zombies in it it was good.
Speaker 1:Three out of five Zeds got it I will give it a two to five Zeds Bear.
Speaker 2:I probably should have given it two, but yeah, i'm more generous with my stars.
Speaker 1:As demonstrated by me winning the Amazon $100 challenge, you're much more generous.
Speaker 2:Spoiler alert, if you're in listen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're not listening in order, terrible. But yeah, let's talk about the book which I this is my spoiler for the book. It's a book infinitely fucking better than the movie, And I hate that that's so stereotypical, but in this case it is absolutely true. Yeah book exceptionally better.
Speaker 2:So the book isn't about one specific person, it's. It's a it's God. What would Josh say? it is, it's not an anthology.
Speaker 1:No, because I would require multiple multiple writers. It's a novel. It's a novel, but it's a novel that's written.
Speaker 2:It's like, almost like it's like 20 or 30 short stories about the zombie apocalypse And it starts off the collection, a collection of stories.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it starts off knowing that we have already won the war against the zombies And the there's somebody the main character is the person that's going around and interviewing survivors of the zombie apocalypse, And he is going from the very beginning, like the first, the first instances of the outbreak, trying to find people that that were there for the beginning and then trying to piece together a cohesive narrative all the way to the end, where they are now, like where it started, what happened when the outbreak happened, turning the tides, defeating the zombies. And then it continues on after into like how we're rebuilding the world after the war, And even then there's still like cleaning zombies out of the ocean. There's still like millions and millions of zombies just walking around at the bottom of the ocean.
Speaker 2:That's horrifying to think about, and then frozen in the Arctic and various places where, like, people don't normally go, so like they're going out to these places to try to like get rid of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's, and it's definitely a book, unlike the movie that I think if there weren't zombies, there would still be really interesting human stories in there, interesting characters with something to say. What was your favorite story from the book, dan?
Speaker 2:I'm going to go. I'm going to go with two stories The Battle for Yonkers, because it's just it's action and it's excitement, and this book kind of like reads as like a documentary. So like having the Battle for Yonkers in there like helps you like feel the action and intensity of the zombie apocalypse, whereas many other of the chapters are just like like yeah, i rebuilt a town in Montana. Now that's where I live with my husband.
Speaker 1:I like those ones though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i mean, they all, they all tell a story, you know, and so that one's, that one's good on its own. Like you could read the Battle for Yonkers And you could just, you could just be like, yeah, that was, that was an awesome zombie story. The other one that I like was it took place in the sewers of Paris. Oh, like, because Paris has all of those underground tombs And people went underground during the zombie apocalypse And they stayed under there for a really long time And it was all about these people like kind of just like going out on patrol in the dark in the sewers trying to take out zombies that had, like, started to come into the sewers after them, and it's about them just kind of like walking around in the dark and being terrified.
Speaker 1:That's horrifying. I don't remember that one Full disclosure. I did not reread the entire book, but we did listen to some stories during our our own three day power outage Yeah, around the apocalypse dance phone, but so long ago. Yeah, i think it's really interesting because you like the ones where there is a lot of suspense, but for me the story that really stands out. For me that, i remember, is the one of the doctor who was part of the underground body part selling movement Who was at the beginning, where they're telling the origins. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And in this case, one of the origins was the story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or one of the potential origins. I think like it's clear that they don't actually know, but this doctor thinks like, or no, they do know because of the guy with the eyeball right. Do you remember the details? I know the whole lot is.
Speaker 2:So he's a doctor and they're getting black market organs from China And and he's working, like I don't even know, in South America somewhere because he's he's not he's not the most legitimate doctor in America. So he's he's gone down to the central and South America to do black market organ trans transplants And one of the organs had the virus in it And because it's because it's an organ, it's put on ice like it lays dormant inside the organ for a while and slowly infects the person as, as they've received the implant, it's pretty wild.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I really like this story because it again like with, even without zombies. there's something really interesting going on there And it reminds me of actually like it's not that far off from what humans do to each other already. I'm sure that that stuff actually does happen. One and two I don't know if, dan, have you ever seen the body worlds exhibit or the bodies exhibit?
Speaker 2:or heard about it. Is this in South Korea?
Speaker 1:No, it's a go. It travels all over. So the body worlds was the original one and it's donated. Cadavers that are put into all kinds of positions or like different parts of them, are on display. So you could have, like a body that's just the veins and the heart, all of the, that part of you, or you could have one that's just the organs that they're preserved and they're in like doing all kinds of things. They're doing like dancer moves, sports moves. There's some there's like sometimes there's like a camel, and they're animal and it's really interesting. It's a really interesting way to learn about the body. It's also a little creepy. That's the original one is body worlds, which all of those bodies are obtained And I think an ethical way which is like you can donate your body to body worlds. But then there's bodies which don't go to bodies because you want to guess where they get their cadavers from. Take a wild guess.
Speaker 2:I'm going to say Orlando.
Speaker 1:No, i wasn't like. Why Orlando That's not, that's not correct, it's near where tragic lives.
Speaker 2:Shout out to tragic Yeah he said it's a pretty sketchy neighborhood down there where he lives.
Speaker 1:I mean, maybe that's partly where they're channeled from, but no, they're all.
Speaker 1:they're all cadavers from the Chinese government that donates them to this because they're people who at the time of death, had no close next of kin or immediate family members, so they're not claimed. So a lot of them are probably prisoners, to be frank, reform prisoners, which I don't know about you, but that doesn't really feel. I know you're dead, but I still think you have a should have a right to decide what happens to your body. And what's even more creepy about it, speaking of racism, is that they'll make them look like white people, so they'll put fake blue eyes in them and like just weird, weird shit like that. So go to body worlds, don't go to bodies. But my point is is that, like that, those are the kinds of stories from the book that felt like some of the real, unseen or unseemly, seedy parts of human nature that could cause an apocalypse?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's also this story about somebody who was like a farmer bro And while the outbreak was happening, they were pushing this drug that their pharmaceutical company was developing as a cure, even though it didn't actually do anything, and it really reminded me of the whole like hydroxychloroquine situation during COVID or the horse dewormer.
Speaker 1:Ivermectin. Oh humanity, do you remember were you with me when I went into the tractor supply company, which is like a part of the story for those who don't know.
Speaker 1:And like all of the Ivermectin, i actually needed to deworm my horse. That's the thing you've got to do a few times a year. And they were off the shelves and there were signs that said this is not for human consumption. If you need it, go to the cashier and they'll get it for you. Like literally, they had to take it off the shelves of South Carolina So many people were coming in and buying it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and this was like it was. It wasn't until like a year later that we started to hear stuff like that in the news, like this was at the very beginning, Early days. This was before we were wearing face masks And my gosh, that's right. People were eating a fucking horse paste And I remember seeing it and we laughed so hard. We were just like who would? who would think that that would?
Speaker 1:do anything. I mean, ivermectin does have some uses for people, but it should be prescribed by a doctor. one and two The ones that are at the horse store are like the weight options. I think the lowest weight is 500 pounds, 300 pounds, something like that, like not. I would not know what the accurate amount is for 150 pound person, for example.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but if you were a 500 pound person then you'd be set. Yeah, just squirt it right in your mouth, make an Ivermectin smore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's another story that you love, dan, and why?
Speaker 2:You know, at the very end of the book. I don't I struggle to say that I love this story, but it was. It's. It's in the part of the book where they're talking about, like, rebuilding the world, and there's a story of a Russian woman who's part of a like a birth farm in Russia where, basically, she's like, as soon as they give birth to a baby, they're inoculated again and they're just like producing baby after baby in these farms and then being milked.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, yeah, doesn't sound at all like how we treat dairy cows.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i mean there's a little bit of a wink and a nod in there, i'm sure. But yeah, that was a pretty fucked up story and it stuck with me. Many of the stories I don't recall There was also this story about this is during the outbreak. It's a bunch of rich people, like super rich people, who all invested in this fortified mansion, basically high walls. They hired private security and it's like all these reality TV show stars that come with like their entourage is the place is stocked so that, like there's enough. There's enough food in this place to feed an army for years is how it's described, and it's all from the point of view of this private security guy. And this story is actually probably the only reason I know that they don't have running zombies in this book, because they're watching the security cameras and some of their motion sensors go off and they realize that there's a horde running towards them. They're like, oh shit, can zombies run? This is bad.
Speaker 2:This is really bad because if they can run, they can climb. And then what they realize is because they've been broadcasting all of their drama from inside this place on TV and on the on the Internet, like basically turning it into a reality TV show with all of your favorite reality TV stars. People are like it's safe there, let's all go there And everybody it's all survivors trying to get in and and and the the private security is ordered to fire on them and they're like no, we're gonna, we're gonna split, we're out of here, and all the private security takes off and leaves and basically the people who break in basically eat the rich. I like that. Yeah, it has a happy ending.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe we should think about doing. Well, i'd love to hear from folks what they think their favorite story was. If you read the book, even if it was a while ago, which one sort of stuck with you? And would it still be good with those zombies? Because that's always the test, yeah, what does the book?
Speaker 2:be good without the zombies on it. Yeah Well, with the story.
Speaker 1:I think, depending on the story, like with the Battle of Yonkers, because with the zombies I don't think so. I guess not, you know.
Speaker 2:I guess. I guess the whole book would not be that very interesting without the zombies in it.
Speaker 1:No, except for the bodies are not body snatching.
Speaker 2:the body parts thing was interesting to me, But even then it all, it all came from, it all ended in zombies, which I guess is fine. I mean, it was just that. one was just a story about like illegal organ trade And there just happened to be some karma at the end that they turned into a zombie And that doctor was an asshole.
Speaker 1:It's really interesting And I can't, you know. I was reading a little bit but I can't remember well enough to decide if it, like if the book would have would have had a feminist lens or would have been really white centered. So again, if you've read it recently and your thoughts about that, let me know. But what do you think, dan? It's hard to say.
Speaker 2:There are a lot of characters who are not American and not white and not male. There we go, so there is a wide variety of those. I think it's. I think it's written with, like, definitely with a Western lens, but one of one of the early stories is one of the first doctors to ever make contact with a zombie who's Chinese, and he tells a whole story about basically this town in China and the history of that town in China And then what it's like being a doctor in China and then going on this call and the person that he would call for advice and how that person was. So, yeah, i don't know, it's hard to say, i think.
Speaker 1:I think that the that Max Brooks put himself in a lot of people's different shoes for this, yeah, i think that's also why it's so much better than the movie, because it really does have a lot of different perspectives And it's also just a really unique take one that the zombie apocalypse ends at all and humans recover to the degree that they do, and two just all like the same The idea of multiple stories and points of views. So I would definitely give four out of five Zeds for the book. Yeah, I'd say four out of five.
Speaker 2:I don't know what five out of five would be for me. Yeah me either.
Speaker 1:I haven't read it yet.
Speaker 2:But I mean, i read it Probably, my book, your book, Yeah, definitely Dan's book. Five out of five Zeds.
Speaker 1:I mean actually it really is really good, but or at least the part that you've let me read so far is really good. I'm sure some people will disagree with me when it comes out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can't wait to see all the Amazon one star reviews.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to read them, you can read them.
Speaker 2:I'll read them and let you know or not. you know, Yeah, if just like this podcast. If you have any negative feedback for me, leave it as a five star review. And Dan, are there any survival tips?
Speaker 1:we think from the book, Oh, from the book God. So many Like the whole book is basically.
Speaker 2:I mean, they're all stories from people who survived. So do what they did. Yeah, Really good. So do what they did. Read books. Read books that help you survive.
Speaker 1:I mean it does. There's a lot more new ones in a book than this movie. I will say also somebody doesn't watch movies a lot anymore because of how much great long form television there is. It just was a reminder of how much less deep you can get in a movie sized story.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Or a television series.
Speaker 2:It's definitely hard for me to enjoy a movie these days, when, when really I just want long form content, like we're watching Better Call Saul season six now and it's just like Oh good. How would you make a movie out of this?
Speaker 1:It would be a real shame. We did get a movie recommendation from a listener. What was it, Dan?
Speaker 2:Oh, i don't know, i don't have it up. But he said that it's terrible.
Speaker 1:Really terrible I can't wait.
Speaker 2:I don't know if we is going to enjoy a terrible movie. We have a lot of terrible movies. we can watch Zombie ass toilet of the dead is on our list. Zombie ass toilet of the dead. A Japanese movie about pooping zombies, i guess, i don't know.
Speaker 1:I guess we'll find out.
Speaker 2:We do have an episode coming up called how to poop in the apocalypse, so yeah, yeah, if you want to know how to poop in the apocalypse, listen to that episode, listen to this.
Speaker 1:This is the podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is the one for you Only one of the talks about that.
Speaker 1:So is there anything else? Any final words on World War Z for yourself.
Speaker 2:I think that's it. I mean, there's so much to talk about with World War Z, World War Z, That it's. You know. I could just talk forever and I'm trying not to do that these days.
Speaker 1:We're also trying to keep this around an hour. Folks, let us know, do you like the longer episodes or can you go by the hour? We are both talkers, so it could go a lot further, but we do have a really exciting book for episode 15 that I am actually going to read, actually going to listen to it.
Speaker 2:If I'm honest, i love audible Should you read it and I be the one that's in the dark asking you questions.
Speaker 1:No, you have to listen to it on audible too, while you're driving. So this is. I did not know this existed. I forget how we found out about it.
Speaker 2:I've known for a long time.
Speaker 1:Okay, i did not know it existed because I am the casual zombie lover. Dan is the hardcore zombie lover. It's called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Graham Smith, which is basically a mashup of Austen's classic novel with a zombie apocalypse, which is why I'm super excited to read it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:I think that this has potential because the question of is it a good book without the zombies? It was already a good book, Then they added zombies, so winning combination.
Speaker 1:Yeah And like there's so the reason I'm going to just read this one clip to maybe get some folks interested in reading it with me. So Graham Smith says that the original text of the novel was well suited for use as a zombie horror story. I mean again referring to Jane Austen or Pride and Prejudice. He says you have this fiercely independent heroine, you have this dashing heroic gentleman, you have a militia camped out for seemingly no reason whatsoever nearby And people are always walking here and there and taking carriage rides here and there. It was just ripe for gore and senseless violence, from my perspective anyway.
Speaker 1:So I am super into this And then I'll read a little bit of the plot to get folks, hopefully, their whistles whetted At the ball. Mr Bingley and the eldest Bennett daughter, jane, make a connection in the midst of a chaotic zombie attack. During this time, elizabeth meets Fitzwilliam Darcy, mr Bingley's closest friend. When zombies attack, the Bennett sisters use their martial arts skills to keep the human attendees safe. I am so ready for this book, love it.
Speaker 2:So ready.
Speaker 1:The last time I read this book Pride and Prejudice, was in high school, so I definitely appreciate the incorporate. I've never read it.
Speaker 2:Wow, good for you. Well, consider my whistle wet Leah Also. I don't know if you knew this, leah, but this has also been converted into a movie as well.
Speaker 1:I saw that, so maybe we'll have to do both. I've heard it's not good Oh wow, you will just do the book.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i mean I wouldn't. I wouldn't be opposed to watching it, but we got to do it like when we are done with better call saw, i think.
Speaker 1:That is very true And, to be frank, i mean, we've got a few episodes 15 or we've got four more episodes to go before we get to this one. But, to be fair, we signed up for a podcast. That means watching and reading fucking terrible literature and movies. It's like that. Unfortunately, a lot of the genre is just bad. That's.
Speaker 2:OK, all right, so here we go. Everybody, don't forget to to give us a rate and give us a review. I think you can only do reviews on Apple podcasts, but you know what? You could also just give us five stars on Spotify. Majority of people around Spotify Weird, i know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if you found us, how have you found us? We are not doing any actual promotion. And we get a lot of like we love this podcast and like how did you discover it?
Speaker 2:Is it my dope memes? Is that?
Speaker 1:how you find us, dan Zombie, speaking of which we're on Instagram.
Speaker 2:If you don't already know?
Speaker 1:At Zombie Book Club podcast Yeah.
Speaker 2:Come say hello. Yeah, and you know, we've down in the description. We've got a whole link tree included. There is the Instagram, of course. We've also got a Discord. I have listed my Twitter, which I don't really use anymore, and also a couple other things, because we, as we do other things in the social media realm, that link tree will be updated. You can also subscribe to a link tree. I just found this out, like not long ago.
Speaker 2:I did not know that, yeah, and I can send updates about our link tree updates if you subscribe.
Speaker 1:Very exciting Yeah.
Speaker 2:I've never done it, but I could. I could if I wanted to.
Speaker 1:But in general, if you want to not become extremely depressed this summer as he sweats in his unair conditioned truck and gets diesel over his body, a review would really help. Definitely, we love interaction on Instagram and a Discord. Keep him going, friends, because he's about to actually try and fix our washing machine. It's a hard life.
Speaker 2:I'm going to do now. Not only do I not have air conditioning in my truck, but it actually blows hot air in my face Every time. if you subscribe to this podcast that you're listening to right now, it will turn off the hot air in my truck for five minutes. You wish I would so appreciate that. I actually do wish that. But thanks for listening, everybody, we'll. We'll see you in the next one And, yeah, have a good time, don't get bit.
Speaker 1:Don't get bit in a while. Crocodiles.
Speaker 2:But if you do get bit bite somebody else, Bye. Bye.