Close Reads Podcast HQ

In this Thanksgiving week bonus episode, David goes on The Bookening podcast to discuss Flannery O'Connors "Good Country People." Remember: Subscribe, rate, review! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. 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

Join Heidi, Tim, and David as they answer listener questions about Graham Green's The Power and the Glory. Remember: subscribe, rate, review! Support us on Patreon !  To learn more about the Close Reads Podcast Network please click here.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...

Join David, Tim, and Heidi as they discuss the final chapters of Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory , focusing on whether the priest is a hero and the lieutenant is a villain, characters who have conversions, the saintly characteristics of the whiskey priest, the chiastic structure of the novel, and much more. If you like this show please remember to subscribe, rate, and review! Support us on...

Welcome back to Close Reads, where David, Heidi, and Tim are discussing Graham Greene's  The Power and the Glory . Conversation in this episode centers primarily on the image of the dying dog - including a long discussion of the nature of images and symbols in literature (how to approach them, in what ways they matter, the difference between an image and a symbol, and more). If you like this show...

Welcome back to Close Reads, where David, Heidi, and Tim are discussing Graham Greene's  The Power and the Glory . Topics of conversation on this episode include Graham Greene's opinion that these were the greatest pages he ever wrote, the pace of these chapters, the contrast between the two chapters. the whiskey priests' transformation, the lieutenant's inability to recognize the priest, the whis...

Welcome back to Close Reads, where David, Heidi, and Tim are discussing Graham Greene's  The Power and the Glory . Topics of conversation on this episode include whether the whiskey priest is noble, the various character doubles in the book, the theme of faithfulness in this section, the idea of judgment, and the concept of plausibility structures in making a revolution happen. Typical Close Reads...

Welcome back to Close Reads, where David, Heidi, and Tim are discussing Graham Greene's  The Power and the Glory . Topics of conversation include Coral Fellow's entrance into adulthood and corresponding conversion (?), the faith of the stranger priest, Padre Jose's despair, little Luis' abandonment, and more. If you like this show please remember to subscribe, rate, and review! Support us on Patre...

In this special crossover post from The Play's the Thing, a podcast dedicated to an ongoing examination and celebration of Shakespeare's entire canon, David, Angelina, and Andrew Kern discuss Act I of Much Ado About Nothing . PLEASE NOTE: To access the rest of the shows in this series make sure you have subscribed to The Play's the Thing's feed. Topics of conversation include the multiple meanings...

Welcome back to Close Reads, where David, Heidi, and Tim are kicking off a discussion of Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory . Topics of conversation include Green's deft use of subtext, the setting as character, the sadness/hopefullness of the novel, and much more. If you like this show please remember to subscribe, rate, and review! To learn more about the Close Reads Podcast Network please...

In this episode David, Angelina, and Heidi answer listener questions about Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety . Topics of conversation include the stuttering son-in-law, Larry's choice to tell this story, the role Charity's death played in the various characters crossing to safety, the Frost poem in the epigraph, and much more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a...

Welcome back to Close Reads. In this episode, David, Angelina, Heidi, and Graeme chat about the final chapter of Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety . Discussion touches on the conflict between the Mogan's and Lang, what makes the ending moving, whether the ending was unexpected, the loveliness of the final two lines, the book's ambiguity, and much more (plus, Graeme tells a story about Halloween...

Welcome back to Close Reads. In this week's episode David, Angelina, and Heidi continue their discussion of Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety. Conversations touches on the theme of ambition in the book (and in life), Larry's ongoing contemplation of "going somewhere," Sally's wise view of the world even in the midst of her suffering, and much more. Don't forget: If you like this show subscribe,...

Join David, Heidi, and Angelina as they continue their conversation about Wallace Stegner's novel, Crossing to Safety . Topics of conversation include the difference between a personal and transcendent experience with art, the bottomlessness of Great Books and Good Books, a comparison between the first chapter of part one and the first chapter of part two, and much, much more. If you like this pod...

Join David, Heidi, and Angelina, as they continue their conversation about Stegner's modern classic,  Crossing to Safety . Topics include the strange mystery of reading, the similarities between Charity and Larry, Stegner's playful approach to subverting archetypes, and much more. Click here to sign up for the Close Reads email newsletter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information....

Join David, Heidi, and Angelina, as they continue their conversation about Stegner's modern classic,  Crossing to Safety . Topics include Sally's characterization, the likability of the various characters, Charity's overbearing nature and Sid's vows to her, the archetypes in the boat scene, and much, much more. Click here to sign up for the Close Reads email newsletter. See acast.com/privacy for p...

This first episode of The Play's the Thing is a preview. For future episodes, please subscribe to The Play's the Thing's own feed. Welcome to the premier episode of The Play's the Thing, a podcast dedicated to an ongoing examination and celebration of Shakespeare's entire canon. In this episode, David Kern, Matt Bianco, and Tim McIntosh dive into act I of  King Lear , focusing primarily on scene I...

Join David, Heidi, and Angelina, as they continue their conversation about Stegner's modern classic,  Crossing to Safety . Topics include the kind of emotional responses this book elicits, what we mean when we say a book "feels well-crafted," the way Stegner plays with memory in the first person voice of the narrator, how much we should "believe" Larry's recollections, and much more. Click here to...

It's Wallace Stegner time! Join David, Heidi, Angelina, and Stegner aficionado, Graeme Pitman, as they kick off a conversation about Stegner's modern classic, Crossing to Safety . Topics include Stegner's poetic prose and unique metaphors, the way the story introduces and explores characters, Stegner's literary impact, and much more. Click here to sign up for the Close Reads email newsletter. See...

Join David Kern, Tim McIntosh, and special guest Adam Andrews (of Center for Lit) for an exploration of Shirley Jackson's harrowing short story, "The Lottery." Conversation touches on the crazy initial response the story received, the way Jackson manages to point her critique at contemporary life and not just the ancient pagans, best practices for teaching this story, why Jackson doesn't reveal th...

Join David Kern, Heidi White, and guest Jonathan Rogers for an exploration of William Faulkner's short story, "A Rose for Emily." Discussion touches on the pedagogy of teaching literature, Faulkner's customary obtuseness, the purity of the narrative of this story, what it says about Southern culture, and much, much more. Click here to sign up for the Close Reads email newsletter. See acast.com/pri...

Join David Kern, Angelina Stanford, and Heidi White, for an exploration of Susan Glaspell's short story, "A Jury of Her Peers." Topics include the possible feminist ideas in the story, the question (or non-question) of justice, how the men in the story should be read, the private vs public lives of the women in the story, and much more. Click here to sign up for the Close Reads email newsletter. S...

Join David Kern, Angelina Stanford, and Heidi White, for an exploration of Kate Chopin's short story, Desiree's Baby . Topics include the story's fairy tale nature, the way it touches on matters of race and gender, its structural genius, and much, much, much more. Click here to sign up for the Close Reads email newsletter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public...

Join David Kern, Tim McIntosh, and very special guest Jonathan Rogers (author of The Wilderking Trilogy and The  Terrible Speed of Mercy: A Spiritual Biography of Flannery O'Connor,  among other books), for a deep-dive into Ambrose Bierce's famous short story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Discussion touches on whether Bierce's "gotcha" moment is a flaw in the story, the idea of the unrelia...

Join David Kern, Heidi White, and very special guest Jonathan Rogers (author of The Wilderking Trilogy and The Terrible Speed of Mercy: A Spiritual Biography of Flannery O'Connor, among other books), for a deep-dive into Washington Irving's famous short story, "Rip Van Winkle." Topics include the place of this story in the American literary tradition, Irving's craftsmanship, the conceit/framing de...

Join David, Tim, and Heidi for some more lively discussion as they conclude their conversation about Tennessee Williams' award-winning and much-beloved play,  The Glass Menagerie . Topics of conversation include the glass unicorn, the value of tragedies, the challenges of reading a play (vs. seeing it performed), and much, much more. Plus, David explains some exciting new changes for the Close Rea...