Libsyn Directory

Autobiography and the Shape of the Self: Zach Simpson

Release Date: 10/16/2024

Plain Reading

We’re joined by owner of Annie Clymer, who tells us all about running a bookstore, giving old titles another chance, and the weird workings of memory. Intro and outro music: “” courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: Trapani, libreria del Corso [cropped]. image courtesy HaguardDuNord and . Want to learn more about the books—and other media!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on , , and —and show your support at ! Richard Ayoade Ceren Beilin Ceren Beilin Ceren Beilin Eula Biss Brian Blanchfield ...

Mystery Prevails: Lara Levitan

Plain Reading

Writer joins us to talk about sticking to your craft, other authors’ influence, and keeping the mystery alive. Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: Theda Bara, still from Madame Mystery [cropped]. Public domain image courtesy . Want to learn more about the books—and other media!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on , , and —and show your support at ! Wes Anderson Wes Anderson Annie Baker Jen Beagin Jen Beagin Jen Beagin Hans Blumenberg Mark Frost / David Lynch Nick Hunt Miranda July...

In Search of Another Greece: JC Boyle

Plain Reading

Classicist and reader extraordinaire JC Boyle tells us about the Greeks, Ezra Pound, Thomas Bernhard, lending out your books, and so much more! Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy [cropped]. Wm. S. Kimball & Co., 1889. CC0 1.0 image courtesy and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Want to learn more about the books—and other media!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on , , and —and show your support at ! V. C. Andrews Aristophanes Honoré de Balzac Roland...

Finding the Mean: Tim Mather

Plain Reading

tells us about bringing Aristotle into contemporary life, and about keeping a famous family tree alive. Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: Jabril ibn Bukhtishu. Aristotle instructing Alexander the Great [cropped]. image courtesy . Want to learn more about the books—and other media!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on , , and —and show your support at ! Wes Anderson Aristotle Robert Caro Anton Chekhov "" Winston Churchill "" John Cotton / Richard Mather Sebastian De Grazia ...

Exploration and Rediscovery: Caroline Turner

Plain Reading

Biologist Caroline Turner joins us to talk about the challenges and rewards of reading outside your own culture. Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: World map produced in Amsterdam, 1689 [cropped]. Public domain image courtesy . Want to learn more about the books—and other media!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on , , and —and show your support at ! J. J. Abrams / Jeffrey Liebfer / Damon Lindelof Svetlana Alexievich Svetlana Alexievich Jokha Alharthi Poul Anderson "" Isaac Asimov ...

Nature and the Strange: Matt Stansberry

Plain Reading

Nature writer and podcaster tells us about the challenges of conservation and management—and the supernatural goings-on that come with it. Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: The Squonk, illustrated by Coert Du Bois and William T. Cox [cropped]. Public domain image courtesy . Want to learn more about the books—and other media!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on , , and —and show your support at ! A. R. Ammons Rudolfo Anaya Ted Andrews John Baglow Frank Black "" James Cameron ...

Some of Them Wrote It Down: George Schmidt

Plain Reading

Chaplain, podcaster, and religion scholar joins us to talk William Blake, the support found in reading, and Star Wars galore! Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: Manny Warman, Columbia University Bicentennial panel exhibition on banned books [cropped]. Public domain image courtesy Columbia University Archives and . Want to learn more about the books—and other media!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on , , and —and show your support at ! Saul D. Alinsky Richard Attenborough James...

Stories Wherever You Find Them: Vahid Friedrich

Plain Reading

Vahid Friedrich, advisor to financial advisors, is talking to us about storytelling—in sci-fi, video games, religion, and more! Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: Cover of Science Fiction Quarterly, Nov. 1952 [cropped]. Public domain image courtesy . Want to learn more about the books—and other media!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on , , and —and show your support at ! ...

Language and Attention: Donato Loia

Plain Reading

Art historian and writer joins us today to talk about the interplay of language, music, art and more! Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: Three Girls in Yellow Straw Hats [cropped], August Macke. Public domain image courtesy . Ryan Adams Dore Ashton Ingmar Bergman David Brooks John D'Agata James Elkins James Elkins James Elkins Granta Peter Heehs Karl Ove Knausgaard Karl Ove Knausgaard Donato Loia Barry Lopez Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Nietzsche Lisa Robertson "" Lisa Robertson Leslie Stevens Henry David...

Life-Changing Books: Wendy Hustwit

Plain Reading

We’re talking to fundraising and development maven Wendy Hustwit about the books that changed your life, where to find recommendations, and reading versus application. Intro and outro music: "" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay. Episode artwork: Poster for the 1918 film Tengerparti álom [cropped]. Public domain image courtesy . Margaret Atwood Jean M. Auel Simone de Beauvoir Judy Blume Charlotte Brontë Emily Brontë Heather Cox Richardson Robert Day Brian De Palma Nawal El Saadawi George Eliot Natalie Goldberg Natalie Goldberg Nikole Hannah-Jones Liam Heneghan ...

More Episodes

Hiker, podcaster, and professor of philosophy and religious studies Zach Simpson tells us about autobiography, the way we’re shaped by reading, and the skilled misdirections of detective fiction.

Intro and outro music: "Your Love Hip Hop" courtesy Music_Unlimited on Pixabay.

Episode artwork: Saint Augustine by Philippe de Champaigne (cropped). Public domain image courtesy Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Wikimedia Commons.

Want to learn more about the books—and shows!—we talked about on this episode? Check out the list below. You can also find us on LibraryThing, Goodreads, and Mastodon—and show your support at Liberapay!

4 Non Blondes

Al-Ghazali
Deliverance from Error

Dante Alighieri
The Divine Comedy

Augustine of Hippo
The Confessions

Marcus Aurelius

Averroes

Walter Benjamin

The Book of Judges

Jorge Luis Borges

Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Roberto Calasso
Literature and the Gods