Elton Reads A Book A Week

Is Robert E. Lee the "gallant Christian knight" of your 4th-grade history textbook, or just a guy who bet his life on the side that kept him lazy and wealthy? In this episode of  Elton Reads A Book A Week , we’re dissecting Jonathan Horn’s  The Man Who Would Not Be Washington . We’re taking a sledgehammer to the "Lost Cause" myth—that strange, deeply insecure fan-fiction Southe...

"Under the watchful eyes of Bob's Stratos and Apollo..." How do you go from being dubbed "the merchant of death" to the patron saint of human achievement? In this episode of Elton Reads A Book A Week , I explore the paradoxical life of Alfred Nobel—the man who invented dynamite and then panic-bought his way into history's good graces with a massive pile of prize money....

Are we alone? In this short-isode, Elton traces the bizarre, hilarious, and occasionally unhinged history of humanity's quest for alien communication . From Frank Drake’s Equation  in 1961, a mathematical roadmap for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) , to the times before radio, when our ideas were pure fantasy: he dives into the wild ideas and scams. Like, the 19th-century s...

Get ready to dive back into the neon-soaked streets of L.A. and beyond! In this episode of Elton Reads A Book A Week , Elton takes on the ambitious crime epic Heat 2 —the novel that somehow manages to be both a prequel and a sequel to Michael Mann’s legendary 1995 film. Ever wondered what made Neil McCauley so cold or how Vincent Hanna became a "hyper-caffeinated" detective with a failing personal...

[A PREVIEW EPISODE OF THE PATREON EXCLUSIVE PODCAST "Internet Riot Master"] Join me as I venture into a story of online instigation, riotous nonsense, and a lot of lifting of things. Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but what written by A.I. does? My wife gave me the gift of an A.I. book written for me? Or about me? By me? I'm not really sure, but that doesn't mean I'...

Do you ever feel like you’re doing everything "right" for your sleep, yet you’re still waking up exhausted? We spend a third of our lives unconscious, but most of what we think we know about those hours is a mix of old wives' tales and misunderstood science. In this episode, we’re peeling back the covers on the most persistent sleep myths that are sabotaging your rest. We start with...

So, this week I decided to take a break from the heavy lifting of a full novel to look at something equally weird: why the places we live have such bizarre "official" handles. Honestly, if you actually look into where state nicknames come from, it’s rarely a group of dignified founders sitting around a table. It’s usually just a bunch of 19th-century dudes making fun of each other until...

"Under the watchful eyes of Bob's Stratos and Apollo..." This week Elton is asking the big questions: What do you do when the world ends, not with a bang, but with a sudden, awkward silence? In this special crossover event, Elton is joined by the one and only Glen Nuzzle from the Nuzzle House podcast to unpack Jonathan Lethem’s post-technological fever dream, The Arrest . Imagine the...

Is your career in a tailspin? Have you been wandering blindly from one dead-end job to the next, hoping the universe will throw you a bone? Well, great news— wealthy CEOs are here to tell you how to fix your life! In this week’s episode of Elton Reads A Book A Week , Elton dives into Fortune Zoom: Surprising Ways to Supercharge Your Career —a book where Fortune Magazine corrals its “40 Under 40” w...

Imagine you're the person that could have bought Amazon stock for $18.00 per share or maybe Microsoft at $21 per share, better still, Facebook, Coca-Cola, and Apple at their initial public offerings. Now, imagine you could have bought into any of those kinds of PHENOMENALLY profitable companies BEFORE they went public. Finally, imagine you did just that, got in on the ground floor, and still...som...

Picture this: It's the 1960s, your Welsh hometown is dying, and everyone's telling you to accept reality and move to London. Instead, you read about American libraries closing down and think, "You know what? Opportunity." So you buy crates of abandoned books, ship them to Wales, open a bookshop in an old fire station, purchase a medieval castle, and turn it into a 24-hour honor-system bookstore. T...

Brian Wilson had a gift, and a curse. His mind worked in a magically musical way, in that he could "see" whole, elaborate songs all in his head. It also allowed him to manifest those wonderful ideas in the real world, via the help of his family and friends. It would lead him to cofound a group that would change pop music forever, and have his particular genius recognized the world over a...

Elton's diving into Arthur C. Clarke's absolute acid trip of a book (okay, maybe just the ending), "2001: A Space Odyssey" – you know, the one with the soft spoken computer that murders it's crew to keep a secret? [SPOILERS] And those mysterious black rectangles that basically trolled humanity for millions of years. Here's what's happening this episode: Who was Arthur...

Join Elton as he stumbles through the lives of two women; one real, one fake. This time around Elton's irreverence locks onto "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue", a book all about cutting deals with the devil, living forever, and learning that, when cutting a deal with Satan, it's all about the details. On his hilarious journey, Elton discovers the nature of how others affect you...

Oh, those damn Democrats and their getting hacked by Russians, and putting thumbs on the scales of primaries, LOSING THE 2016 ELECTION! How did this happen? How did they get here? Where did it start? THERE'S SO MUCH DRAMA! It's crazy that they've gotten this far as a political party! Join Elton on a weird ride through former DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile's memoir "Hacks", as he tries to make sense...

Just when you thought it was safe to vote again, he's baaaccck! Yes, while we're in the midst of a second Donald Trump term, Elton read a book about the first, and whoa was it an eye opener. Join Elton as he headaches his way through how we all got here in the first place. It's going to be a bizarre journey into the heart of frustration, with a cast of ridiculous characters to help you not wish th...

This is my first ever "Short-isode", a shorter format episode that I did quickly. Please forgive me. Okay, okay, I'm behind. I tried to to reach for the sun and got burned. Luckily, I managed to get this together, so all hope is not lost. I promise I'll do better next time. Until then, this peace offering about weird taxes, and weird political promises, plus MUSIC! The next full episode about the...

Dating in the age of the internet is a weird endeavor. All of the indulgence of endless choices, and the anxiety of communicating with people rolled into one. What's a single person to do? Luckily, comedian Aziz Ansari wrote a book about it and Elton is here to talk about it. Does that help you find that special someone in this sea of misfit toys? Maybe? Elton's no "love doctor," but he is awkward...

Okay, so, I got a little overzealous with my first attempt at this trailer...and I uploaded it without making sure everything was up to snuff. So, I'm re-doing it. Not gonna lie, it's not the first time I've released prematurely, and it won't be the last, I'm sure.

God, himself, announced her birth, with a lightning bolt and a peal of thunder,...and that's just a footnote. Bette Davis would redefine what it was to be an actress, and an actor overall. She was tough, determined, and principled at a time when men laid down the law in Hollywood. When she took her stand, women were seen as little more than eye candy, and using them to make a quick buck ruled...

Buckle Up for Laughs & Feels! Elton Reads "Friends, Lovers & the Big Terrible Thing," well, "has read" and will tell you about it! This one is a doozy. Hold onto your coffee mugs, "Friends" fans, you're about to get rocked with some tragi-comedy! Elton tackles Matthew Perry's memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing," on Elton Rea...

Grumpy Genius? Hilarious Curmudgeon? You Decide! We Dissect Andy Rooney Ever wonder what goes through the mind of a 70-year-old man with a microphone? This week on Elton Reads A Book A Week , we delve into the life, career, and written word of the iconic (and sometimes infamous) Andy Rooney . Through the exploration of his book "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" we'll get to the bottom...

In this episode we explore the life and writing of a founding father of hardcore punk, Henry Rollins. A man that dove head first into his life and has become...almost everything. He's a punk rock and music legend, a movie start, writer, television host, a producer, DJ, a reporter, an interviewer, and so, so much more. We'll also delve into one of his books and along the way discover the greatest n...

Welcome to 1978! The year of Garfield, Van Halen, Lego, and a murder mobile named "Christine. In this episode humor meets horror as Elton embarks on a comedic journey through the pages of Stephen King's iconic novel, 'Christine.' Buckle up for a rollercoaster of killer laughs, and deadly driving as he explores the eerie world of a possessed car with a wicked sense of humor. Good....

Great Expectations, the story of a boy who turns into a man while being surrounded by a**holes, gets the Elton Reads A Book A Week treatment! Join Elton on a trip down Dickensian way before meeting up with a prime example of Victorian drama. It's weirder than you think. The life of Charles Dickens starts like many did in the Georgian Era of England's history...crap. He was a sickly kid fro...