Beyond Texas with W.F. Strong

Send us Fan Mail This is an interview I had with the great author, Frederick Forsyth, back when his autobiography - The Outsider - was published a few years ago.  I've always loved this interview because he was so open and enthusiastic and charming about his life and his writing.  So I share it here on Beyond Texas knowing that many of those of you who listen to this podcast enjoy literary in...

Send us Fan Mail The Lottery is one of the absolute finest short stories produced in America in all of the 20th century.  Top ten for sure.  In this episode, I have reserved commentary and interpretations about the story until after you've heard it.  Afterwards, I provide some special background on Jackson's masterpiece, some interpretations of it, and the works it subsequently influence...

Send us Fan Mail This story takes place in the dystopian world of 2081 where a fascist regime has finally made sure everyone is equal, except for those in charge, of course.  The story is a cautionary tale that warns against the sad and dangerous outcomes that will result from the suppression of individuality and diverse human gifts.   Support the show

Send us Fan Mail I love stories about books such as The Shadow of the Wind by Zafon or The Book Thief by Zusak.  This story by Borges is a very short, short story.  It concerns a magical book that the protagonist purchases and the book develops a powerful hold on him.  It has a kind of Black Mirror vibe.   Support the show

Hills LIke White Elephants is Hemingway's most famous and most discussed short story.  And it is short.  Less than ten minutes long in audio form.  And it is a story that can be argued over with great fervor on all sides because there is so much subtle and symbolic information to support the perspectives of all sides.  Ambiguity makes the story one that will call you back to it over and over...

The Most Dangerous Game is riveting short story by Richard Connell published originally in 1924. It won an O´Henry award shortly after it was first published.  Orson Welles adapted it for broadcast on CBS radio in 1943.  It has been adapted for film several times.   Support the show

Guy de Maupassant wrote some 300 short stories in his short life.  Most he wrote within a ten year period.  This story, the Necklace, is generally considered his best known short story.   Support the show

Often listed as one of the top ten best short stories ever written in America,  The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,  by Ambrose Bierce remains, even today, a particularly haunting  story for everyone who has ever read it, or seen the Twilight Zone episode based on the story which Rod Serling aired in 1961.   Support the show

Excerpts from the extraordinarily poignant book by Nobel Prize winning Spanish author, Juan Ramón Jiménez.  I call it a children´s book for adults, but children can certainly enjoy it, too.   Like all great literature, it works on many levels.  Support the show

Jack London's To Build a Fire is often listed among the top 100 of best short stories ever written.  Now that North America and Europe are in the deep freeze of winter, it seemed to me a great time, given the natural ambiance, to share London's masterpiece.  wfstrongpodcast@gmail.com Support the show

An interview with best-selling author Daniel Brown concerning his book, now a movie, The Boys in the Boat.  This interview is ten years old but has fresh relevance given that the book is once again a best-seller, thanks to Clooney's film. In this interview Daniel shares the story of how this inspiring saga found him and how he was deeply moved by the then old men who told him,  in intimate in...

Part Two of our conversation with Lindsay Powell, an expert on classical Roman history and co-author of a book about Julius Caesar, as well as a solo author of a book about his successor, Caesar Augustus.  In this episode we talk about the events that led up to the assassination of Caesar and the general incompetence of the assassins in preparing for the power vacuum that would follow.  They did n...

A reading and brief analysis of the one of the best short stories of all time, "The Yellow Wall Paper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.   Contact:  wfstrongpodcast@gmail.com Support the show

Interview with Bill Steele,  a man National Geographic has called one of the world's leading speleologists, tells all about his 30 years of exploring the deepest cave in the Western Hemisphere, Huautla, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.   To great photos of Huautla check out peshcaving.org Support the show

Adam Shepherd arrived by bus at midnight in Charleston , SC, with only $25.00 in his pocket.  He gave himself one year to pull himself up by his bootstraps.  Relying only on his high school diploma and with no skilled labor background to claim, he had to rise up out of homelessness, get himself an apartment, furnish it, buy a car and put 2500 dollars in savings as a safety net, all  within one yea...

A good long informative chat about Julius Caesar with author, Lindsay Powell, who is an expert on Julius Caesar and  who has just released a new book on the life of the great politician and military leader.  Support the show

This is a beautiful very short story for the holidays.  The author is anonymous.   Support the show

Sharing a wonderful, now iconic short story,  by Jorge Luis Borges,  It is representative of the sort of mesmerizing short-stories that he regularly produced in the middle of the last century.   Support the show

A conversation with Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, Elad Yom-Tov, about big data and what we are learning  from it that can improve our lives in many ways.   Support the show

Part II of my interview with the incomparable Paul Craddock,  author of Spare Parts:  the story of the history of transplant surgery.   Support the show

An interview with Paul Craddock, PhD, concerning his page-turner of a best-selling book about the fascinating history of transplant surgery.   Support the show

This is Alyona's story of surviving the Russian bombing and shelling of her beloved Mariupol and her harrowing escape to safer territory.   You can write to her here:  alenarromanovaa@gmail.com wfstrongpodcast@gmail.com Support the show

The second half of Saint-Exupéry and Prevot's struggle to survive the brutal challenges of the Libyan desert after they're plane crashed there.   Support the show

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, along with his co-pilot and mechanic, Andre Prevot, crashed in the North African Desert in 1935 while trying to set an air speed record between Paris and Saigon.  They survived the crash, but barely survived the desert.  They walked 120 miles and came within hours of dying of thirst and exposure to the unrelenting sun.  This is the story, in his words, of how they survive...

An interview with former NPR reporter, Pam Fessler concerning her captivating book, Carville's Cure:  Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice.   To comment write to:  wfstrongpodcast@gmail.com Support the show