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