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Close Reads Podcast

Close Reads Podcast

Goldberry Studios

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Close Reads is a book-club podcast for the incurable reader. Featuring David Kern, Tim McIntosh and Heidi White, alongside a couple of other occasional guests, we read Great Books and talk about them. This is a show for amateurs in the best sense. We’re book lovers, book enthusiasts. This is not an experts show and it’s barely literary analysis in the way that literary analysis is commonly understood. Instead it’s a show about experiences with literary urge. Join us!
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Top 10 Close Reads Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Close Reads Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Close Reads Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Close Reads Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Close Reads Podcast - Close Reads #34: Introducing Murder Must Advertise
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01/16/17 • 58 min

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David kick off their ongoing discussion of Dorothy Sayer's classic mystery novel, Murder Must Advertise, one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories.

Topics include: The value of mystery stories as literature, Lord Peter vs Sherlock Holmes, Dorothy Sayers biography, and Sayers' rules of mystery writing.



See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

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Close Reads Podcast - The Warden: Chapters 1-5

The Warden: Chapters 1-5

Close Reads Podcast

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01/22/24 • 66 min

Welcome to conversations on a new book, which is in a genre we seem to turn to at least once a year: a novel about (or from the perspective) of a clergyman. We’ve done books on Catholic priests, country ministers, Orthodox monks, and others. In Anthony Trollope’s The Warden, we encounter a warden that is connected to the Church of England and who is thus caught between two sides in a war of Victorian Social Justice. So join in as we kick off this series by discussing it’s representation of competing duties pitted against each other, what makes the warden a compelling protagonist, and Trollope’s approach. Happy listening!

Close Reads HQ is a community-supported endeavor. Please consider becoming a subscriber to make sure we can keep producing the content you value.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

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Close Reads Podcast - Everything Sad Is Untrue: Through page 231
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07/18/23 • 46 min

This section of Daniel Nayeri’s novel included a lot of . . . well . . . poop. So on this week’s episode David, Heidi, and Sean discuss how Nayeri manages to make that topic funny and sad and profound all at once. Plus: the book’s great respect for the narrator’s mother. As always, happy listening!

Close Reads HQ is a community-supported endeavor. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber!


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe
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Close Reads Podcast - The Diary of a Country Priest: Chapters 7-8 (Finis)
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04/10/23 • 65 min

This week Sean & Heidi discuss the priest’s last days, his four final encounters, the purpose of the diary, and the mingling of grace and suffering that pervades the novel.

JOIN US FOR “CLOSE READS ON THE ROAD” IN AUGUST, IN ATLANTA!


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe
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If you’re a longtime listener of this podcast, you know that Sean Johnson has recently joined our crew to help give Tim some time off here and there (what with Tim’s new job and growing family). Of course, Sean is a worthy contributor all in his own right. But we didn’t know that right away. At first, he was just one of many interviewees we considered (#230 to be precise). And although it took some time to get aligned on some key metrics, we feel really good about his role on our show now.

Since Sean’s been a part of things for a few months at this point, we feel like this is a good time to share a peek into his interview process, to reveal what he had to go through to make it on the show. We think you’ll appreciate this look behind the curtain and enjoy getting to know him a bit. Happy listening!


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe
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Close Reads Podcast - The Diary of a Country Priest: Q&A Episode
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04/18/23 • 65 min

Join Heidi and Sean as they answer your questions about Georges Bernanos’ novel! Thanks so much for participating in the conversation and happy listening!

Up next, we’ll be discussing Eudora Welty’s The Optimist’s Daughter, starting with parts 1 and 2.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe
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Close Reads Podcast - The Scarlet Letter: Customs House - Chapter 3
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05/22/23 • 62 min

It’s become an annual tradition to invite the one-and-only Karen Swallow Prior on the show to discuss a classic novel, and this time around it’s Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter. In this first episode of the series, we chatted about that difficult opening section, “The Customs House”; why Karen chose to include this book in her series of annotated classic novels for B&H Publishing (alongside Austen, Hardy, Conrad, Bronte, etc.); ways Hawthorne seems to be working out his connection to his family’s long and fraught history; and much more! Happy listening!

Close Reads HQ is a community-supported endeavor. To help ensure that future episodes get produced, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe
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Close Reads Podcast - The Scarlet Letter: Final Chapters
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06/20/23 • 64 min

And so we come to the end of another novel! Join David, Heidi, and Karen as they dig into the ending of Hawthorne’s novel, with special attention paid to Pearl’s role. Plus: how does the genre play into the end of the book, what do we do with Dimmsdale’s demise, and how does Hawthorne want us to respond to their plot to escape? Happy listening!


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe
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Close Reads Podcast - The Diary of a Country Priest: Chapters 1-2
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03/21/23 • 45 min

We’re on to Georges Bernanos’ contemplative novel, The Diary of a Country Priest, and in this episode David, Heidi, and Sean discuss the fascinating narrative approach Bernanos employs, what themes seem to matter most, the notion of contemplation in the book, and how to approach a book in which very little happens (on the surface).

Future schedule:

Episode 2 (March 27): Chapters 3-4Episode 3 (April 3): Chapters 5-6Episode 4 (April 10): To the endEpisode 5 (April 17): Q&A

Click here to check out the upcoming CiRCE conference referenced at the top of this episode.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe
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Close Reads Podcast - The Scarlet Letter: Q&A

The Scarlet Letter: Q&A

Close Reads Podcast

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07/03/23 • 63 min

Here we are at the end of our conversation on Hawthorne’s novel, which means it’s time to answer your questions. As always, you sent in lots of great ones and we did our best to answer as many as we could. Thanks for participating in the conversation—and thanks to Karen coming on the show these last six weeks!

Be sure to check out her forthcoming book, which you can find here.

Close Reads HQ is a community-supported endeavor. To receive bonus content please consider becoming a paid subscriber.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe
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FAQ

How many episodes does Close Reads Podcast have?

Close Reads Podcast currently has 413 episodes available.

What topics does Close Reads Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Podcasts, Books and Arts.

What is the most popular episode on Close Reads Podcast?

The episode title 'Close Reads #34: Introducing Murder Must Advertise' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Close Reads Podcast?

The average episode length on Close Reads Podcast is 71 minutes.

How often are episodes of Close Reads Podcast released?

Episodes of Close Reads Podcast are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Close Reads Podcast?

The first episode of Close Reads Podcast was released on Jan 2, 2017.

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