Jack has an upcoming novel called 'Audience Capture', out October 2026 through Bonfire Books! Preorder now! https://bonfirebooks.org/product/audience-capture-by-jack-cuthbertson-pre-order/

Mark Brandon Read, better known by his nom du crime 'Chopper', was an Australian celebrity criminal. His portfolio of misdeeds includes robbing drug dealers and pimps, shooting a few people, holding a county court judge hostage with a sawn-off shotgun and demanding the immediate release of a friend from prison, having his ears cut off while incarcerated, and melting people's toes with a blowtorch. Of artistic interest are the fifteen books he published during his life, selling over half a million copies, and a rap album, Interview with a Madman. Today's episode is on his first book, From the Inside: Chopper 1, a (notionally) true account of his crimes and the philosophy underpinning them, written by John Silvester and Andrew Rule on the basis of over 300 letters sent by Chopper to Silvester while Uncle Chop Chop was in Pentridge Prison.

Capitalisimo, not being an Australian, and, therefore, unqualified to talk about Chopper Read, sat this one out. I was joined by Russell Walter, a real-life friend and the man behind the Russel Walter Substack, the Chudstack Review podcast (delightful name!) and an upcoming novel which he was wanting to call Mein Kampf 2, before deciding to call it Man Against Time. I'm disappointed in him, but also know the power of forgiveness.

Russell on Substack: https://substack.com/@rwalter

Russell on YouTube: youtube.com/@russellwalter5145

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Jack has an upcoming novel called 'Audience Capture', out October 2026 through Bonfire Books! Preorder now! https://bonfirebooks.org/product/audience-capture-by-jack-cuthbertson-pre-order/

Contact: jack.bcfh@gmail.com

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bookclubfromhell

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheBookClubfromHell

Jack's Substack: jackbc.substack.com

Join our Discord (the best place to interact with us): discord.gg/ZMtDJ9Hscr

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0n7r1ZTpsUw5exoYxb4aKA/featured

X: @bookclubhell666

Jack on X: @supersquat1

Capitalisimo on X: @thecapitalisimo

Art by moog

I WILL BE READING AT PSEUDO-EVENT 3 IN NEW YORK ON SEPTEMBER 26TH! PLEASE COME ALONG AND SAY HELLO!
More information: https://redroomnyc.com/event/pseudo-event-3-private-curtain/

Sorry for the long gap between uploads here, have had a few problems in non-podcast life which meant that recording and uploading new episodes has had to (still has to) take a back seat.

Sodomy Punish'd is based on a diary found by English sailors on the island of Ascension in 1726. The story goes that these sailors found an abandoned tent on this island, in which was a diary written by a Dutch sailor. This man had been marooned on Ascension after he was found guilty of sodomy. The marooning was never meant to be a death sentence, just a way to scare the lad into enjoying vaginal sex, as ships often stopped off at Ascension to hunt sea turtles. However, this Dutch sodomite had a remarkable run of bad luck: no ships stopped by while he was marooned, and there was a drought on the island. He died, leaving behind his diary, found by sailors of the ship the James and Mary, who published it as soon as they returned to London.

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Contact: jack.bcfh@gmail.com

Jack has an upcoming novel called 'Audience Capture', out October 2026 through Bonfire Books! Preorder now! https://bonfirebooks.org/product/audience-capture-by-jack-cuthbertson-pre-order/

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bookclubfromhell

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheBookClubfromHell

Jack's Substack: jackbc.substack.com

Join our Discord (the best place to interact with us): discord.gg/ZMtDJ9Hscr

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0n7r1ZTpsUw5exoYxb4aKA/featured

X: @bookclubhell666

Jack on X: @supersquat1

Capitalisimo on X: @thecapitalisimo

Art by moog

Christian/Christine Weston Chandler is a human feedback loop. Autistic and obsessed with documenting his own life and obsessions - video games, anime, the search for a boyfriend-free girl, etc - he has uploaded countless hours of rambling autobiography onto the internet. This, in turn, has attracted a group of people dedicated to assembling and examining the output of Chris Chan. Now for the feedback loop: Chris noticed that he was getting attention, and certain followers weren't happy to be passive observers. The experience of being observed by a diffuse cloud of anonymous and pseudonymous people - some trolls, some benevolent, some neutral - led to a behavioural doom spiral ending (for now) in Chris' imprisonment and release for having sex with his demented mother (which was, naturally, documented).

Neither Capitalisimo nor I are CWC scholars. Rather than offer the thousandth account of this poor man's life, we elected to read his most consequential artistic work, the Sonichu comic book series, and analyse it as a standalone piece of literature. The result? Confusion, disorientation. I had a splitting headache after a few hours of reading.

Chris Chan's deep lore (cognitohazard): https://sonichu.com/cwcki/Main_Page

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Contact: jack.bcfh@gmail.com

Jack has an upcoming novel called 'Audience Capture', out October 2026 through Bonfire Books! Preorder now! https://bonfirebooks.org/product/audience-capture-by-jack-cuthbertson-pre-order/

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bookclubfromhell

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheBookClubfromHell

Jack's Substack: jackbc.substack.com

Join our Discord (the best place to interact with us): discord.gg/ZMtDJ9Hscr

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0n7r1ZTpsUw5exoYxb4aKA/featured

X: @bookclubhell666

Jack on X: @supersquat1

Capitalisimo on X: @thecapitalisimo

Art by moog