Spearing the Classics: Recent Episodes
Paul Spears
Join novelist Paul C.K. Spears as we dissect the classics of the Western canon... and have a little fun along the way.
Grab your weird face-paint and severed pig heads, it's time for "Lord of the Flies!" Join us in dissecting how William Golding's classic builds themes of anarchy and societal collapse, and find out what's taught wrong about this book, arguably the scariest "field trip" story of all time.
For the conclusion of Season 1, we're checking out Ken Kesey's dark-comedy classic, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Explore the halls of a sanitarium through the eyes of our unreliable narrator as he fights back against the monocultural "Combine."
Strap in for a wild ride as we explore the life of Mary Shelley, creator of 'Frankenstein.' I thought Mary's life was interesting enough to merit its own episode--but be warned, there's a lot of profanity and shouting this episode. Why? Because I hate Lord Byron, that's why. Mary's husband's best friend, Byron was an abusive anorexic bully who ruined Mary's life--and may have also been a murderer! (Feel free to skip this episode if you're not interested in author biographies.)
"It's.... ALIVE!" (Fun fact, this quote never occurs in the book version.) Join us as we exhume dreadful corpses and stitch together an episode about FRANKENSTEIN, Mary Shelley's horror classic! I recorded this quite a while ago, but luckily, the finished edits are just in time for October. Watch out though, this is a long one--clocking in at an hour and twenty minutes.
"Our age calls for a new hedonism..." Join us as we explore Oscar Wilde's scandalous and very 'emo' novel about an immortal pleasure-seeker, and his questionable taste in art.
"It was a pleasure to burn." Join us as we put on our spooky dystopian firefighter hats and light a match in Ray Bradbury's famous (and only) novel, "Fahrenheit 451."
Come journey into the mind of Harper Lee as we examine "Mockingbird," the first of only two books ever written by the author. We delve into how "Mockingbird" took details from Lee's childhood, and explore whether Atticus Finch is really a good guy or not...
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE!" Join us as we hunt down the white wale that is Herman Melville's magnum opus. Learn about whales, harpooning, and the surprising level of Shakespeare stanning that went into this Western classic
Welcome to the peaceful world of nature, Henry David Thoreau, and... brutal gory anthill warfare? Come with us as we dive deep into "Walden," long considered Thoreau's masterwork and full of amazing reverence for nature... and beans.