Eight million people showed up, and many on the internet called it pointless. We don't buy the nihilism; but we also don't pretend a permitted Saturday rally is the same thing as disrupting power. This episode, we dig into what No Kings actually does well (making dissent visible, connecting you to neighbors and organizations, being the tip of a much larger iceberg), and what it doesn't do on its own. We talk Montgomery bus boycott logic, general strike groundwork, mutual aid, and how movements win by targeting pocketbooks and prestige. Paperwork is the unsexy engine of real organizing.

Then Dan takes us to Granby, Colorado, and the story of Marvin Heemeyer; a welder who spent 18 months secretly armoring a bulldozer in a shed, then spent two hours demolishing 13 buildings before dying alone in a basement. It's a story about how local capital weaponizes the law, what happens when every legal avenue closes, and why the internet's folk hero version of KillDozer conveniently strips out the part where the people who cheered for it would have sided with the Docheffs in todays political landscape.

Links Info

No Kings / Protest Organizing

• NoKings.org — find or host events, training resources: https://www.nokings.org
• Mobilize with No Kings — volunteer and event finder: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/
• Indivisible (lead No Kings organizer): https://indivisible.org
• 50501 Movement (coined "No Kings"): https://www.fiftyfifty.one/
• MoveOn: https://front.moveon.org
• ACLU: https://www.aclu.org

Nonviolent Resistance Research

• Erica Chenoweth's 3.5% Rule explainer — Harvard Kennedy School: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/advocacy-social-movements/35-rule-understanding-what-makes-protest
• Why Civil Resistance Works (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011) — Columbia University Press
• Crowd Counting Consortium: https://ash.harvard.edu/programs/crowd-counting-consortium/

KillDozer / Marvin Heemeyer

• Wikipedia — Marvin Heemeyer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

Alice B. Sullivan is back, and this time she brought the apocalypse with her. We're celebrating the release of Tomorrow Never Came, Book 2 in her Aftermath series, and digging into everything that makes it tick; the virus science behind goners and vectors, infected animals that will haunt your nightmares, and get into the messy, beautiful question at the heart of this book: how far do you bend your morals before you don't recognize yourself anymore?

We also pull back the curtain on Alice's wildly fun Facebook "choose your own adventure" apocalypse, what it's like to write fast and and how reader expectations (and the occasional one-star review) shape the way we talk about genre fiction. If you love post-apocalyptic thrillers, slow-burn relationships, lesbian zombie novels, and dogs that never die under any circumstance; this one's for you.

Guest & Relevant Links

Alice B. Sullivan — Contact & Socials

• Website: https://alicebsullivan.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliceBSullivan01
• Newsletter: https://alicebsullivan.com/newsletter-signup/

Alice's Books — Amazon

• Tomorrow Never Came (Aftermath #2): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRKHX4Z2
• Yesterday's Gone (Aftermath #1): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CK75RB5S
• Full Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Alice-B.-Sullivan/author/B09BX4BRR7

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

The heart of this bonus episode is writing craft and writer mental health. Dan breaks down why it wasn’t “writer’s block” so much as an emotional block, what it feels like to stare at the page and produce nothing but an ellipsis, and how he rebuilt momentum with a routine, a weekly word-count goal, and permission to skip ahead to the scenes that actually matter. We also swap notes on writing books that help, revision realities, and the long game of finishing a zombie novel without hating what you make.

We talk about coping in a nonstop political news cycle, why social media can turn into both therapy and trauma, and how roasting trolls on Threads becomes a pressure release when everything feels unreal. We also highlight a creator we’ve been following who baits bad-faith DMs into accidental lessons on history and feminism.

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

Fifteen years after its release, Zone One by Colson Whitehead hits differently. We dig into the novel's fractured, nonlinear structure; where corporate-funded sweeper crews reclaim a zombie-plagued Manhattan, and unpack why Whitehead uses the apocalypse not as an ending, but as a mirror. From skels and stragglers to Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, we explore how the book blurs the line between the living and the already dehumanized, and what it means that most of our book club didn't even finish it.

We talk about the racist hidden meaning buried in Mark Spitz's nickname, the novel's unflinching critique of capitalism and "post-racial" mythmaking published during Obama's first term, and why the scariest thing in the book isn't zombies; it's everyone rushing to rebuild the exact world that made people disposable in the first place. If catastrophe forces a reset, shouldn't we be building toward something better?

Colson Whitehead

• Official site: colsonwhitehead.com

Zone One — relevant links

• Interview Magazine interview (source used in episode): interviewmagazine.com/culture/colson-whitehead-zone-one
• Zone One on Goodreads: goodreads.com
• GradeSaver study guide: gradesaver.com/zone-one

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

We invited zombie author Sarah Lyons Fleming back to Zombie Book Club to tackle the most skipped-over survival problem in the genre: waste management. From bucket toilet setups and compost toilets to venting methane and humanure composting, Sarah brings the same practical, prepper-brained logic she builds into her fiction; because a believable survivor community has to solve what comes in and what goes out.

We critique the worst toilet solutions in zombie TV, shout out the books that actually get it right, and put Sarah through a gauntlet of Poo-Pocalypse scenarios; including being trapped in a public bathroom with zombies and a very urgent biological need. Whether you're a writer, a zombie fan, or just someone who has finally started appreciating modern plumbing, this one will change how you look at every post-apocalyptic story you've ever loved.

👤 Guest Contact & Links — Sarah Lyons Fleming

• Website: sarahlyonsfleming.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/SarahLyonsFleming
• Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/stores/author/B00DXFM03O
• Audible: audible.com/author/Sarah-Lyons-Fleming/B00DXFM03O

🔗 Links Relevant to Topics Discussed

• History of TV Bathrooms (EW/CNN): ew.com/tv/watch-evolution-of-tv-bathrooms-cnn-history-sitcom/
• Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead trailer: imdb.com/video/embed/vi571654937/
• Zombie Poop Recipe (Instructables): instructables.com/ZOMBIE-POOP/
• Reddit thread — Do Zombies Poop? (r/thewalkingdead): reddit.com/r/thewalkingdead/comments/137mkv/do_zombies_poop/
• The Zombie Poop Song: youtube.com/watch?v=cRtmc7hCMQ8
• Sarah's book series in order: bookseriesinorder.com/sarah-lyons-fleming/

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

Meta just patented an AI that keeps your social media account posting, liking, and DMing after you die, and we have questions. A lot of them. We dig into the Necro Feed™ and what it really means when a corporation trains a language model on your entire digital life, then deploys it to simulate you indefinitely; with your family, your followers, and anyone willing to engage. We trace the booming grief tech industry (death bots, ghost bots, etc) from its more sincere corner cases to the obvious business incentive hiding in plain sight: more engagement, more data, more 'active users', and who exactly profits when your grief never gets to reach its conclusion.

Then we get real. Why are we still on Facebook, and what would it actually take to leave? We walk through our own tangled reasons for staying; local groups, family, the diner that only updates its hours on its page — and map out realistic exit strategies: Patreon, newsletters, owning your own corner of the internet. We share hard-won lessons from moving audiences across platforms, why it's always harder than it looks, and why your voice (in life and in death) should belong to you, not an algorithm designed to monetize your memory.



Relevant Links

Meta Patent & Coverage

• Business Insider — Meta AI/LLM bot patent: https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-granted-patent-for-ai-llm-bot-dead-paused-accounts-2026-2
• Malwarebytes — Legal analysis of the patent: https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/ai/2026/02/meta-patents-ai-that-could-keep-you-posting-from-beyond-the-grave
• Reddit thread (r/technology): https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1r6n7es/meta_patents_ai_that_takes_over_a_dead_persons/

Previous Zombie Book Club Episodes Referenced

• Ep. 13 — Billionaire Bunkers: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124392/episodes/13186425
• Ep. 27 — Mark Zuckerberg is building a $270M bunker to escape the ZombdeerPocalypse: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124392/episodes/14304244

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

What if the zombie apocalypse looked like a group hug? Pluribus imagines a world where 99.9% of humanity has joined a blissful, all-knowing hive mind, and only 13 people are left to decide whether individuality is worth fighting for. We're joined by media scholar and Texas Tech professor Dr. David D. Perlmutter to unpack why this "happy horde" story is more unsettling than any brain-eater we've encountered: from the alien signal and government hubris that started it all, to the strikingly different choices made by survivors like Carol, Manousos, Koumba, and Kusimayu; each a window into what humans value when civilization quietly dissolves around them.

Together we dig into the show's deeper provocations: Is the hive a form of colonization? A euthanasia of the species dressed up as harmony? And why does the collective feel so uncomfortably like AI; endlessly accommodating, hungry for prompts, incapable of genuine creation? Whether Pluribus qualifies as a zombie narrative at all turns out to be one of its sharpest questions. By the end, we're not asking how to survive the apocalypse, we're asking whether a life without art, love, risk, and the friction of being yourself is a life worth saving.

Guest Contact & Relevant Links

Dr. David D. Perlmutter

• Website: davidperlmutter-research.com
• Texas Tech Faculty Page: depts.ttu.edu/comc/faculty/dperlmutter

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

Dia VanGunten joins us to crack open Pink Zombie Rose, her decade in the making magical realism series where zombies don't eat brains; they walk off the job, listen to trees, and fall in love. Structured like a tarot deck, Pink Zombie Rose: Major Arcana is a rhizomatic, genre-defying mashup of queer love stories, Cotard's delusion, anti-capitalist rage, and prose so alive it hurts. Dia reads from "Sweetest Kill", a glitter factory that sells sentiment while poisoning the earth, and we dig into the real history behind the fiction: enclosures, anatomy theaters, and the radical power of simply putting your hands in your pockets and stopping.

We also get into the making of Major Arcana and its collaboration with illustrator Beppi, the confrontational magic of writing in second person, what the Detroit auto industry has to do with the undead, and Dia's upcoming comic project Little Gores.

Guest Links

Dia VanGunten

• Website: diavangunten.com
• Instagram: @pinkzombierose
• BlueSky: @pinkzombierose
• Linktree (all links): linktr.ee/diavangunten

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com