I listened to the book first, then read each chapter followed by the corresponding episode of Octavia's Parables podcast. The total experience was great. First, the reading by Robin Miles was impeccable, just like her reading of N.K. Jemisin work. The book itself was so thrilling, terrifying, and full of historical inversions and fascinating and flawed characters. The podcast is skillfully hosted by Toshi Reagon and adrienne maree brown. Their podcast "summarizes the storyline, places it in a strategic context for those intending to change the world, and provides questions to help bring Butler's ideas to life." I also read this after reading Ursula K. Le Guin's The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction which gave me a few other "thinking" tools while reading this.