Nudie Reads

Old age fraud is always newsworthy and in 1835 PT Barnum wrote a compelling flyer for his first ever foray into showmanship and hoaxing the public. Poor old - but not 161 years old - Joice Heth was his muse. 👵🎪🇺🇸

Plutarch’s Life of Crassus is one of the key surviving sources on Spartacus’s rebellion. Though written about 150 years after the events, and about 2000 years ago, it's a rollicking read and invaluable insight into the man who shook Rome. The story remains a powerful testament to resistance, even today. 📖✨

The 1983 New York Post headline "Headless Body in Topless Bar" remains one of journalism’s most memorable works. The New York Post sure has a knack for sensational storytelling. It’s come a long way from Alexander Hamilton! 🇺🇸💀📦👮🗞️

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is one of the most well-known stories from A Thousand and One Arabian Nights . It’s a tale of wit and cunning and it's all rather violent. Bugt it stands as proof that intelligence can triumph over brute strength. ✨🏺🔑💃

The Parable of the Fence is one of G.K. Chesterton’s most enduring ideas, perfectly, simply and shortly expressed. It reminds us that before we dismantle something, we should understand why it exists. A valuable lesson for any time, including February 2025 as President Trump and his DOGE team get to work. 🤨💡👀🔩

Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas is one of the most influential works of medieval philosophy and theology. The Order of Love and charity remains a topic of debate centuries later, now even making waves in modern US political discourse in 2025 on Twitter! ✝️🇮🇹🥰

What happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste is a mystery beloved by theorists since she was found, abandoned, in 1872. The crew gone. Even the cat. Was she a victim of foul play or just unlucky? The Captain's nephew wrote beautifully, trying to get to the bottom of it all? 🌊⛵❓

The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft is a gripping tale of weirdo cosmic horror first published in 1929. Dive into Lovecraft’s universe of the eerie and otherworldly to discover why his work continues to captivate readers to this day. 💀👺⛰👶🐐

In 1914 a bra patent was filed in the USA that managed to avoid any mention of breasts. How did Mary Jacobs Phelps pull that off? With a lot of class and some great writing. 🇺🇸🧐🍈

Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends And Influence People was published in the height of the Great Depression. It was best-seller then as now, in our internet and smart-phone age. It's lessons are practical and ageless. 🇺🇸🤝😊🥳 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Twitter / X: https://x.com/AlaskanRock Review: https://ratethispodcast.com/nudiereads

What did it take to be an admired courtier in Renaissance Italy? The same as being an influencer today. Effortless elegance. Seeming to be blessed with grace without even trying. Baldassare Castiglione captured the concept in his 1528 smash hit “The Book of Courtier” 🇮🇹 🤺💪🗣️

In Italy 1881 kids were by turns delighted and terrified by Pinocchio, a serialised story by Carlo Collodi, of the adventures of a wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy. The 1940 Disney animated film adaptation is wonderful. The original literary work remains a brilliant, darker, exploration of what it means to become a good person. 🇮🇹🧒👦 🍷👀

In the 19th century Reverend Spooner of Oxford became famous for his mis-speaking. A unique butcher of the English language he inspired Terry Jones of Monty Python fame to pen a short poem of Spoonerist delight in homage. 🇬🇧🤣

P.G Wodehouse - pronounced wood-house - introduced Bertie Wooster and his genius valet, Jeeves, to the world in the early 20th century. The adventures of the idiot British well-heeled gent and the valet who is the brains of the operation have made the world smile ever since. You can't be sad when reading Wodehouse. 🇬🇧 🍸🍹🍾

In 1823 New Yorker Clement Clarke Moore wrote one of the most famous poems of all time - Twas The Night Before Christmas. That's him. His wondrous poem of Dancer Prancer Donner and Blixem (with an "m" in the original print edition) is beloved the world over at this time of year. But it is great writing at anmy time. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all Nudie Reads listeners. You are the best....

In 1810 when Edgar Allan Poe was just a year old, German writer Heinrich von Kleist wrote a Poe-like tale that had all the Poe-type elements but not quite the panache of the American. Kleist came before Poe. Still, von Kleist's work is a vital literary building block by a great writer. 🇩🇪 👵🏰🗡🔥👻 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/...

Roald Dahl is most famous for Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, James & The Giant Peach and Matilda. But his short story collection called  Tales of the Unexpected is a classic of thriller literature. So good Alfred Hitchcock loved it. 🇬🇧🐑😵🍽✍️ Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/nudiereads Podcast: https://anchor.fm/nudi...

In 2017 US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gave a gem of a commencement speech to middle school graduates at a New Hampshire boys' school. His speech was beautifully written and the advice unusual but very wise.  🇺🇸👨‍⚖️👨‍🎓👨‍🎓👨‍🎓👨‍🎓👨‍🎓👨‍🎓 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/nudiereads Podcast: https://anchor....

Moliere is the French Shakespeare, a brilliant playwright, poet and actor of the 17th century. He was beloved by Louis XIV, the Sun King himself, and remains a genius of the French language and of the art of mocking pieties, 400 years after his birth.  🇫🇷🩺🍑🤮✍️💰 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/nudiereads Podcast: https://a...

The first recorded recipe for glass was found in 1845 in the Library at Nineveh, founded by King Ashurbanipal of Assyria around 650 BCE. In 1970 the recipe was put to the test (not including the sheep sacrifice). And it worked. It may be ancient but it's still chemistry. 🇮🇷🥂🍸🥃🍺🥛 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/nudiereads Podc...

Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" is a great galumphing bodice ripping romance novel with a terrific storyline. We have Charlotte to thank for the concept of the mad woman in the attic. Some people call it the the world's first feminist novel but don't let that put you off. 🇬🇧👒✍️‍❤️‍👂 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/nudiereads Podc...

Leonardo Da Vinci is known as a Florentine High Renaissance genius painter, sculptor, engineer and inventor. Add great writing to his skills. With his posthumous book 'A Treatise on Painting' including 'How to Compose a Battle' he cracked the code of art - teaching painting with words alone. 🇮🇹⚜️🎨👷‍♂️🐐 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagr...

The world's first travelogue is the late 13th century best seller by Marco Polo about his travels around the Asian world as a diplomat for Mongol Emperor Khubla Khan, grandson of Ghengis. He saw Xanadu and everywhere else and his "Travels" are a delight even today 🇮🇹🇨🇳🇻🇳🇮🇳🇮🇩⛵️ Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/nudiereads Podcast: h...

In 1954 "space opera" was a pejorative term applied to the literary genre of sci fi pulp fiction. It was considered low brow writing. But it takes a creative mind to explore a possible space alien future. And good writing makes the exploration fun for all. 🇺🇸👽👾🛸🚀😡 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/nudiereads Podcast: https://an...

Modern historians are indebted to him and Cicero called him 'the father of history'. Herodotus wrote his Histories over two thousand years ago and they are as exciting as any airport novel. If you love the movie "300" you'll love the original tale. 🇬🇷🇮🇷✍️𐃆🔥 Get in touch: Email: nudiereads@gmail.com Web: https://about.me/nudiereads Instagram: instagram.com/nudiereads Podcast: https://anchor.fm/nud...