Close Reads Podcast HQ

In this week’s conversation about Shakespeare classic comedy, we discuss the famous “kill Claudio” demand from Beatrice: How it opens up the drama of the play and brings Benedick and Beatrice together. Plus, Benedick’s transformation, the true cost of love, Don Pedro the man of causes, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or...

Welcome back to another conversation about Shakespeare’s delightful comedy. This week we discuss the differences between “noting” and investigating, Dogberry the wise fool who sees but nonetheless can’t communicate clearly in contract with the characters who can communicate but don’t have vision, the question of who the play’s hero is, and much, much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode...

Welcome back to another conversation about Shakespeare’s wonderful comedy. The best bit: this week we’re joined by the one-and-only Tim McIntosh! Topics of conversation include the famous “gulling” scene, the difference between Benedick and Claudio, Don Pedro the schemer, and some more on “noting.” As always, happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subsc...

Welcome to a new series on one of Shakespeare’s most delightful and brilliant plays! In this episode, which is about act one, we discuss why it’s so beloved, the way Shakespeare’s unfurls the story while also offering complex layers of humor, whether you can tell when characters are being honest, Don Pedro’s scheming, and much more! Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discu...

It’s Q&A time. You’ve got questions; we have answers. So join in as we conclude our conversation on Hemingway’s classic novel. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

Is A Farewell to Arms pure tragedy? Is there any hope in the denouement? What should we do with Hemingway’s alternate endings? These and many other questions are the focus of this week’s episode. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

Sean calls this the happy section of the book, so in this episode we discuss the book’s conception of happiness, engage in a close reading of the scene between Frederic and an old billiards player, and contemplate the question of cynicism in this book. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.s...

After an unfortunate delay, we’re back with further conversation about Hemingway’s twentieth century classic. This week we discuss the harrowing nature of this section, the bad moral luck of the characters, the rich spiritual contemplations at the heart of the novel, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonu...

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Hemingway’s classical novel. This week we discuss the turn the book takes in book two, the nature of Hemingway’s contemplation of love, and a couple of key scenes that reveal his genius as a storyteller. As always, happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.s...

Welcome to our new series on Ernest Hemingway’s modern classic. For this first episode we chatted about Heidi’s deep love of the book, the subtly of Hemingway’s prose, the role of faith and confession in the story. whether it’s melodramatic, and much, much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cl...

This week is one part Q&A about The Princess and the Goblin, one part ask-us-anything. That means we’re discussing George McDonald’s plot devices, Irene’s grandmother, and goblins but also cooking, Shakespeare, new book releases, and the Muppets. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substac...

This week we discuss the delightful conclusion to George McDonald’s classic children’s novel, how it compares to classic fairy tales, why books like this matter more than ever, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

Over the next few weeks we’ll be discussing George Macdonald’s delightful nineteenth century children’s story, The Princess and the Goblin . In this episode we discuss its similarities to (and influence on) Lewis and Tolkien, why books like this matter more than ever, and where it’s most delightful. As always, thanks for tuning in and happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to dis...

It’s that time of year! You’ve probably seen the posts revealing the books we’ll be discussing on the show in 2026 , but now you can tune into the process of making those determinations. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

You had plenty of great questions; we did our best to answer them. So join in as we conclude our series on Emily Bronte’s classic novel. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

We’ve come to the end of Emily Bronte’s novel and so we’re here to discuss, well, how it ends. Up first: Sean’s opinion. Then we discuss the impact of the late-stage POV-shift, whether this is a ghost story, the fun-to-discuss questions at the core of the book, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epis...

Welcome back to our ongoing conversation about Emily Bronte’s novel! This week we discuss whether it’s too melodramatic, Heathcliff’s malevolence, Cathy’s kindness to pathetic Linton, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte’s novel! This week we’re discussing the degree to which the book is a love story, the strange circumstances of a particular character’s death and another character’s birth, the inevitability of the narrative (and it’s structure), and much more! Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get a...

Ten years ago, on the first ever episode of Close Reads, we discussed “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” the famous story by Flannery O’Connor. Last weekend, at our tenth anniversary party, we revisited it and we’re excited to share that discussion with you now. So whether you’ve been listening all along or whether it’s first time, thanks for tuning in and happy listening! Thanks so much to everyone wh...

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte’s classic novel. This week we discuss the roots of the characters’ various issues, Cathy’s and Heathcliff’s sense of connection to one another, the profound sense that there is nothing solid upon which the characters can stand, Nelly’s seeming disdain for Cathy, and much more! Happy listening? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss thi...

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte’s classic novel. This week we’re discussing whether the book includes either a protagonist or an antagonist, how we should interpret the narration of Nelly, who we most sympathize with, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.su...

Welcome to a new series! As we kick off our conversations on Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights , we discuss the genius of the Bronte sisters, the somewhat disorienting nature of the book’s framing device, the way Bronte creates atmosphere, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads....

As always, you had plenty of great questions about our current book and on this episode we did our best to answer a bunch of them. Thanks for tuning in to and participating in this series. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

It’s a bit late, but better late than never, right? Apologies for the delay! The upload speeds weren’t great in the English countryside. All the same, we’ve come to the end of The Great Gatsby , which means it’s time to talk about some of the most memorable passages in American literature. Join us as we dig in. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other sub...

Welcome back to our series on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, in which we discuss his best novelistic skills, including his ability to deal in subtext while also creating mood. Plus: the way the book explores the dissonance between desire and reality, whether any of these characters have any interest in (or capacity to see) higher things, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If y...