What if the very thing you desired most was also your death sentence? In our series premiere, my first guest Michael and I dive headfirst into the claustrophobic, underground world of Wool by Hugh Howey. We’re focusing on the "Holston" novella—the first 42 pages of the omnibus—where we meet a sheriff who has spent three years mourning his wife in a vertical subterranean silo. We explore the chilling reality of a society where "wanting to go outside" is the ultimate crime, punishable by being sent into the toxic wasteland to perform one final task: cleaning the sensors that provide the silo's only view of the world.

Michael and I break down the "Mystery Box" storytelling that turned Hugh Howey’s self-published story into a global phenomenon. As a long-time fan, Michael guides me—a total first-time reader—through the visceral ...