The Classic Tales Podcast
A new era of prosperity is in the air. The crowning achievement? - The first Government Lethal Chamber is now open and ready for its first occupant. Robert W. Chambers, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to this VINTAGE episode of The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. We have so many fun titles planned for 2026, and we want you on our team to help us out. I’ll be sending a survey out at the beginning of the year with a list of potential titles for us to produce on the podcast and otherwise. We want you to help us decide! If you’re a...
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The Grand Duke’s life is in danger, and the telegraph wire has been cut. Who can carry a dispatch from the Czar across revolutionary Siberia in time to warn him? Jules Verne, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Let’s talk about ads. Now, most podcasts offer a subscription where you can pay $10 or so a month, and you get to listen to their show with no ads, and get a few bonus episodes. Here’s the thing – this largely goes to benefit the podcast platforms. The actual creators don’t get much....
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Things turn topsy-turvy when a prodigy from Princeton falls for a spirited dancer in spite of himself. F. Scott Fitzgerald, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to this VINTAGE episode of The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. We have so many fun titles planned for 2026, and we want you on our team to help us out. I’ll be sending a survey out at the beginning of the year with a list of potential titles for us to produce on the podcast and otherwise. We want you to help us decide! If you’re a subscribing member of the Audiobook Library Card,...
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When is a harmless prank not so harmless? I guess it depends on who you ask. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Do you plan on tackling some of those books you’ve always meant to get to next year? Is it time to take a whack at Ivanhoe, David Copperfield, or Plutarch’s Lives? With the Audiobook Library Card, you can sample all you want until you find the special title for that sweet spot. Unlimited downloading and streaming of the Classic Tales Library! And with your help,...
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Can Ebenezer Scrooge become convinced to change his ways? Charles Dickens, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to this VINTAGE episode of The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Did you know Charles Dickens wrote several Christmas Stories similar in length to A Christmas Carol? With the Audiobook Library Card, you can download The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens and get not only the entire reading of A Christmas Carol, but also The Chimes, A Cricket on the Hearth, The Goblins and the Gravedigger, and The Life of Our Lord. Go to or...
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How can a good deed at Christmas backfire? Agnes McClelland Daulton, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Do you plan on tackling some of those books you’ve always meant to get to next year? Is it time to take a whack at Ivanhoe, David Copperfield, or Plutarch’s Lives? With the Audiobook Library Card, you can sample all you want until you find the special title for that sweet spot. Unlimited downloading and streaming of the Classic Tales Library can be yours for even less! Go to or follow the link in...
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What message does The Ghost of Christmas Present bring Ebenezer Scrooge from beyond the grave? Charles Dickens, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to this VINTAGE episode of The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Did you know Charles Dickens wrote several Christmas Stories similar in length to A Christmas Carol? With the Audiobook Library Card, you can download The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens and get not only the entire reading of A Christmas Carol, but also The Chimes, A Cricket on the Hearth, The Goblins and the Gravedigger, and The...
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Who can lighten the friction between the folks on Blackburn Hill and those on Enderly Road? Lucy Maud Montgomery, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. This is the final week where you can get a subscription for the Audiobook Library Card for only $6.99, instead of the typical ridiculously low price of $9.99. This is your chance to lock in a monthly subscription at the lower price, saving $3 a month. Unlimited downloading and streaming of the Classic Tales Library can be yours for even less! Go to or...
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What message does The Ghost of Christmas Past bring Ebenezer Scrooge from beyond the grave? Charles Dickens, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to this VINTAGE episode of The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Did you know Charles Dickens wrote several Christmas Stories similar in length to A Christmas Carol? With the Audiobook Library Card, you can download The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens and get not only the entire reading of A Christmas Carol, but also The Chimes, A Cricket on the Hearth, The Goblins and the Gravedigger, and The Life...
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How much joy can a little girl’s dream inspire? Louisa May Alcott, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. For a limited time, you can get a subscription for the Audiobook Library Card for only $6.99, instead of the typical ridiculously low price of $9.99. This is your chance to lock in a monthly subscription at the lower price, saving $3 a month. Unlimited downloading and streaming of the Classic Tales Library can be yours for even less! Go to or follow the link in the show notes. And now, A...
info_outlineCan a movie be better than the story it’s based on? Let’s take a journey from short story to Academy Award Nominated film, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.
Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.
The Vintage Episode for the week is “The Bottle Imp”, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Be sure to check it out on Tuesday.
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Classic Tales for Children: Volume 1 is now available. It includes the new recording of Pollyanna, bundled together with Winnie-the-Pooh, The Wind in the Willows, and Alice in Wonderland. I thought of titles that would really go well together, so I pulled out all the stops. This anthology is perfect to listen to again and again. You can pick it up at classictalesaudiobooks.com by following the link in the show notes.
https://store.classictalesaudiobooks.com/classic-tales-for-children-volume-1-p366.aspx
Ok, off the top of your head, what movies are better than the books they are based on? Whenever I consider this, I tend to come back to The Wizard of Oz and Ben-Hur. I think in these two instances especially, they expanded on the original material beautifully, to fit the medium of film. It’s a transformative process, to move from story told only in print, to a story told by actors, artists, costumers, directors, set designers, stunt people, special effects artists, and all the other hundreds of people it takes to make a motion picture. I recently discovered I’m going to have to add the film Meet John Doe to my list.
Meet John Doe is a film released in 1941, directed by Frank Capra. It stars Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyk and Edward Arnold. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story, and it was ranked No. 49 in the American Film Institutes 100 years, 100 cheers list. It entered the public domain in 1969, and you can watch it for free many places on the internet, also on Amazon Prime.
The film is based on the story “A Reputation”, by Richard Connell. Connell also wrote “A Friend of Napoleon” that we’ve heard recently, and is most famous for his short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”.
So first, let’s hear the story “A Reputation”, and then look at what elements were modified and expanded on to create the acclaimed motion picture, Meet John Doe. Just a heads up – this story deals with suicide.
And now, “A Reputation”, by Richard Connell.
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