Radio Read Along: Recent Episodes
The CenterForLit Podcast Network
A podcast for the whole family featuring word for word readings of classic stories and great books for all ages.
The CenterForLit crew wraps up Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage with a discussion of our reactions to the story, Western tropes, and the novel’s strange ending. We also announce the next title for the Radio Read Along podcast!
The wait is over! Radio Read Along is back, and this time we’re taking it easy with a little lite reading for the summer. Adam Andrews is reading Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey, a good old western romp that scholars point to as the origin of Western genre fiction.
As we wrap up Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the CenterForLit crew discusses the question of the story’s protagonist, unreliable narrators, and the relationship of the three story frames. We also reveal our next Radio Read Along title!
In which Victor, with questionable judgment, gives himself that which he denied the monster…
In which Frankenstein’s creature works up the courage to make himself known to the De Lacey family…
Now that we’re halfway through Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the CenterForLit crew paused to discuss what we’ve read thus far. Topics include the influence of Romanticism in the story, Byronic heroes, the problem of first person narratives, and the age old question: who is the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein or his creature?
In which Victor Frankenstein recovers just in time for the miserable party to really get started…
Now that Wendy and the boys are safely home with their mother, the CenterForLit crew is back to discuss J.M. Barrie’s brilliant novel. We discuss Peter Pan’s depiction of childhood, the difference between the novel and later portrayals of the story, and its place in the golden era of children’s literature. And if you stick around until the end, we also announce our next Radio Read Along selection!
In which Wendy makes the lost boys homesick for a mother and Hook breaks the rules of pirate warfare…
A strange figure haunts the Darling household. Who is this Peter Pan? And what does he want with Wendy, John, and Michael?
We are at the end of another Radio Read Along series, which means it’s time for the CenterForLit crew to sit down and talk about Robert Louis Stevenson’s strange tale! Topics include common misreadings of the story, the way Jekyll and Hyde are remembered in common culture, and the possible theological implications of the conversation Stevenson is trying to have.
In which a strange voice coming from Jekyll’s laboratory leads to a disturbing commotion…
In which Dr. Jekyll appears to improve upon Hyde’s absence. That is, until Dr. Lanyon falls strangely ill and reports the terrible shock he has had to Utterson…
In which Hyde’s crimes escalate and Utterson becomes more and more worried about his friend Jekyll’s health and well being…
When Utterson notices a mysterious figure lurking around his old friend Dr. Jekyll, he decides to investigate…
Our time with Poirot has drawn to a close, but this wouldn’t be CenterForLit without a rousing literary discussion before we lay this book aside! In this episode the crew geeks out about the artistic merits of detective fiction, Agatha Christie’s unique influence on the genre, and the surprising themes lurking beneath the surface of this pleasure read.
Referenced Works:
– BiblioFiles #36: Mystery Fiction (and Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express)
– Murder on the Orient Express, Curtain, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
– Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol
– The Mary Westmacott Novels
Poirot discovers more evidence, Hastings jumps to more hasty conclusions – we’re getting to the good part, folks…
In which Poirot begins the search for the murderer from scratch, enlisting the help of Hastings and beginning a beautiful invesitgative friendship…
In which Poirot shocks everyone with an announcement concerning the case’s primary suspect…
In which Poirot launches his investigation and makes several shocking discoveries about the secrets of Styles…
When a dead body turns up at Styles, it’s time to fetch the Belgian detective and turn on our little gray cells…
On medical leave in the midst of World War I, our narrator Hastings is invited by a childhood friend to spend his holiday at Styles manor house. The quirky bunch of folks he meets there can only mean one thing…we are in an Agatha Christie mystery.
We’ve finally made it to the very end of our Great Expectations journey! In this last discussion we look back on Pip’s development, relish his relationship to Joe, and discuss why Dickens’ editor had him change Pip’s ending with Estella. And, if you wait until the end of the episode, you won’t want to miss the announcement of what our next Radio Read Along title will be!
In which Emily reads the ending Dickens originally wrote for Great Expectations before his editor made him change it…
In which Pip falls desperately ill and reaps the consequences of his poor financial decisions…
In which Pip cares for Magwitch while awaiting his trial, but not without carving out time to “take a walk” with Wemmick…
In which Pip makes his rendezvous on the marshes and prepares to ferry Magwitch out of the country...
In which Pip hunts for more information about Estella's parentage while preparing for Magwitch's escape...
We're taking one last break in the story to discuss Chapters 41-50 of Great Expectations! So much has finally been revealed in this section. We talk through all the implications of these major plot points and, among other things, we consider the imagery of Miss Havisham's last scene, we look at the intentionality of Dickens' structure, and we consider Pip's love for Estella in terms of Dante's for Beatrice. The end of the novel may be approaching, but the meaty conversations are just beginning!
In which Pip and Herbert conference about how to handle Pip's new arrival, and coax Magwitch into telling his story...
The big reveal is here! For our latest discussion of Dickens' Great Expectations,the CenterForLit crew gets to throw around the first big climax and discuss all the implications it has for the themes we've been tracking. From here on out the ball will be rolling down hill and the conversation is sure to be juicy! But, of course, we still take time to revel in all the glories of the Aged P.