A Deadman's Books

When Julius Caesar dies, he leaves in his will for his adoptive son Octavius to ascend as his heir. Caesar the August comes to Rome, but finds that there are many plots surrounding him in the world of Roman politics. John Williams's epistolary novel AUGUSTUS covers the political rise and life of Octavius Caesar the August through letters, journal entries, and memoirs from those that surrounded him...

When the Ides of March come upon them, Brutus and Cassius decide that they must take the fate of their beloved Rome into their hands. With the assassination of Julius Caesar, Rome is thrown into chaos. With seemingly no plan after they finish the killing, two sides develop between Brutus and Cassius / Marc Antony and Octavius. William Shakespeare walks us through a story of loyalty, betrayal, prid...

The Nazis are rising. They are attempting to dominate Europe through land and through culture. That includes the world of motorsport. Enter American-French heiress Lucy Schell. Her attempts to enter a "mans-world as a driver were met with stiff competition. Undeterred, Schell uses her inheritance to fund a French team to take on the Nazi propaganda machine, and defeat Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union...

John Pearson meets the love of his life, Lucy, and begins his life with her as a preacher and contractor. Unfortunately, John's weakness for women lead him to a tumultuous experience between he and Lucy, and his next wife who captures him through voodoo. This week's curation: Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston Sweat by Zora Neal Hurston Zora Neal Hurston on Zombies (link: https://ww...

Janie Crawford's grandmother has a plan for her life, and it's one that Janie doesn't agree with. After attempting to make the plan happen, she leaves her arranged marriage with Logan Killicks for the sweet talking Joe Starks. Starks takes Janie to Eatonville, Florida where Janie seems to be living her dream life. However, before long, she sees she is still in the same relationship she was before....

Janie Crawford's grandmother has a plan for her life, and it's one that Janie doesn't agree with. After attempting to make the plan happen, she leaves her arranged marriage with Logan Killicks for the sweet talking Joe Starks. Starks takes Janie to Eatonville, Florida where Janie seems to be living her dream life. However, before long, she sees she is still in the same relationship she was before....

When a stranger and his daughter are stranded, single mother Collie Wright welcomes them into her home. Little does she know that those walking up to her house will be the future half of her family, and also reveal a deep secret through an accidental murder that she has been covering up. We're asking the tough questions: What sacrifices are parents willing to make for their children? How should we...

For 25 years, a local television show captured time that defined a region. WBIR's The Heartland Series began as a way to showcase the most beautiful place in the world: The Great Smoky Mountains. However, the show evolved into much more as it expanded in documenting the culture and people of East Tennessee, the Upper Cumberland, and parts of Western North Carolina. On the heels of our fantastic in...

With the heart of an adventurer and the soul of a poet, Bill Landry climbed a ridge and found below him the heartland. Our land. A land of the principal people. A land full of storytellers, deep thinkers, and hard workers. Today, we have a very special guest. The legendary Bill Landry joins us and talks about his life of doing the Heartland Series on WBIR in Knoxville, the people he met, the lesso...

Bootlegger Marion Sylder kills a man on his way home from Atlanta back to East Tennessee. He carries the body with him back to the mountains, and dumps the body in an abandoned concrete pit. Little does he know that he end up crossing paths with the dead-man's son and becoming a mentor type figure. All the while, an old man of the mountains witnessed Sylder dump the body of the man that was murder...

When Mary leaves Bill for another man, Bill becomes bitter towards women. However, when the two cross paths fifteen years later, their love lives have taken completely opposite roads. In our first review of a short-story, we look at Langston Hughes's micro-story, Early Autumn which was first published in 1950 for The Chicago Defender. We're asking the tough questions. Is micro-fiction overlooked?...

The number four book in 2025's top 5, In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, a shepherd named Santiago has a dream interpreted and is sent on a journey to find his treasure at the Pyramids of Egypt. Before leaving, he runs into a mysterious king who tells him about omens and his Personal Legend. The story then follows the boy's expedition for that Personal Legend while teaching us along the way how to s...

It's time for thei first annual Deadman's Books awards, The Deadies. In this episode we will hand out awards to our books from 2025 in categories such as, the longest, the grossest, and the worst book of the year amongst others. We will also reveal our Top 5 reads from 2025, revealing our favorite book we read from the previous year. Live from Frankfurt, Germany, it's The 2025 Deadies! Thanks for...

Jason Crockett sits down with us as we look back over our favorite moments of the year. We are thankful for one year of podcasting, and are looking back at the many memories we have made this year. We have interviewed authors, discovered new books, and asked the tough questions. Also, we want to thank you all for listening along with us. Thanks for a great first year. We are looking forward to wha...

Today at the movies, we continue looking at A Christmas Carol through the adaptation performed by the one and only Muppets. Michael Caine stars next to Kermit the Frong, Gonzo, and Rizzo in this Christmas classic. The kids sit down and talk about their favorite parts, songs, and what message they got out of this timeless story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacob Marley was dead...and so was his partner Scrooge's heart. After denying his nephew's invitation to Christmas dinner, refusing to give to charity, and reluctantly giving his worker's Christmas Day off, Scrooge heads back to his home where his old partner is waiting for him. Marley's ghost tells him that he will be visited by three ghosts in an effort to get Ebenezer to change his ways so that...

A chase begins as The Gunslinger chases the Man in Black across a desert landscape. Seemingly the old west at first, we soon find out that this chase could be taking place in some sort of variant dimension that the Man in Black is pulling people into as a way to distract the Gunslinger from his ultimate mission: killing the Man in Black. Or is that the mission? We're asking the tough questions. Co...

In this week's episode, Jason Crockett joins us as we sit down and talk about Appalachian literature. We have curated a starter pack for you if you love Appalachia like we do. We're talking what defines Appalachia as a region, what are true trademarks of the people of Appalachia, and the harmful stereotype that has been created. We also will discuss what makes Appalachian authors so fantastic, and...

On today's bonus episode, we bring in our in-house Richard Nixon expert Dr. Russ Witcher to take us on a field trip to the past and discuss one of the key, pivotal figures from our book this week: Hogs, Horns, and Nixon Coming. We're asking the tough questions: Is today's political climate comparable to the Nixon's? What can we take from Nixon's legacy apart from Watergate and Vietnam? Where does...

In college football's centennial year of 1969, a game is chosen at the beginning of the year that will represent a celebration of the sports first 100 years. Move forward to December 6 and this game has become all that it was hoped to be as the number one and two teams in the nation would face off against each other in Fayetteville, Arkansas with none other than sitting President of the United Sta...

A group of kids are left stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. While there, the children begin to form society. In that society come contrasting ideas which leads to two dividing factors. At what point does the straw snap? Jason Crockett joins us, and we're asking the tough questions. At what point do people feel as if they have been pushed far enough? How do you keep doing what is ri...

A sudden worldwide plague strikes ending the lives of all creatures with a Y chromosome...except for two. Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand have found themselves in a post-apocalyptic world. While being the last man on Earth may seems like a dream scenario, Yorick is about to find out that there is more trouble ahead than pleasure. Jason Crockett joins us as we ask the tough questions. Can...

New York Times bestselling author Kevin Wilson sits down with us to talk about a variety of topics including his latest novel, Run for the Hills. In this episode, Kevin talks to us about the value and longevity of books, how his ideas and characters find their way to his writing, and his writing process & how the writing process could look completely different not just for each person, but als...

When the Cutter family is mysteriously murdered, a small town is shaken. The police work patiently to hunt down their murderers before eventually bringing them to justice. Truman Capote's famous true-crime novel looks back at his jailhouse interviews that he conducted to put together one of the most popular narrative-nonfiction novels of all-time, and giving birth to one of the most popular genres...

If you are not a big reader of horror, our horror expert Jason Crockett will walk you through a curated starter pack fo those interested in starting the genre. From short stories to novels and podcasts, Jason gives us the right tricks and treats this Halloween to begin your horror journey. #booktube #booktok #bookstagram #ReadersofYouTube #Bookish #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #BookRecommendati...