cover of episode Episode 297: No Pleasure in Meanness (Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find")

Episode 297: No Pleasure in Meanness (Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find")

2024/11/26
logo of podcast Very Bad Wizards

Very Bad Wizards

Frequently requested episodes will be transcribed first

Shownotes Transcript

David and Tamler face off with the Misfit in Flannery O’Connor’s classic short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” We sort through the biblical allusions, dark comedy, nihilism, and the possibility of grace or rebirth (but whose?). Plus why do motorists dehumanize cyclists? Is it the helmets? Sounds like a job for the insect-based "Ascent of Man" scale.

Limb, M., & Collyer, S. (2023). The effect of safety attire on perceptions of cyclist dehumanisation. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 95, 494-509.

"A Good Man is Hard to Find (short story)") [wikipedia.org]

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories) by Flannery O'Connor [amazon.com affiliate link]

(note: you can google for a .pdf of the story and you'll find some links floating around!)