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Close Reads Podcast Close Reads is a book-club podcast for the incurable reader co-hosted by David Kern, Heidi White, Sean Johnson, and occasionally Tim McIntosh. We read good books and talk about them. This is a show for amateurs in the best sense. This is not an experts show: we’re book lovers, book enthusiasts. Our goal is have empathetic and intelligent conversations about good books.

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -1:19:04 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. In this second tribute episode to Wendell Berry, Martin Cothran and Alan Cornett join the show to share what it was like to know Berry the man, not just the great literary figure. Discussion about this episode Close Reads is a book-club podcast for the incurable reader co-hosted by David Kern, Heidi White, Sean Johnson, and occasionally Tim McIntosh. We read good books and talk about them.

Welcome to our new series on Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn! This we’re discussing its literary significance, controversial language, and the themes of race, trauma, and storytelling.

Close Reads Bonus Episodes These bonus episodes for those listeners to want to dig even deeper are primarily focused on longer novels. Want to listen these episodes on your favorite podcast app? Follow this link to learn more: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4519588148244-How-do-I-listen-to-episodes-on-my-podcast-app- These bonus episodes for those listeners to want to dig even deeper are primarily focused on longer novels. Want to listen these episodes on your favorite podcast app?

Welcome to the conclusion of our conversation on Graham Greene’s novel.

In this subscriber-exclusive episode, we explore Flannery O’Connor’s story ‘The Life You Save May Be Your Own,’ delving into its themes of grace, judgment, and human depravity. Key Topics include: The dramatic irony at the core of both the mother and Shiftlet characters The symbolism of the storm as both grace and judgment The story’s commentary on human …

Registration for the 2027 Close Reads Retreats is now open! We’ve got a maximum of 12 spots available for England and 18 spots for Boston. Click here to register for England. Click here to register for Boston. We’ll be contacting those who made it within 48 hours. Good luck! (If you have any questions please comment below or email me via david@goldberrybooks.com. Thanks!)

Close Readers, I’m thrilled to present this very special episode on Beloved with Dr. Angel Adams Parham, a professor at the University of Virginia and the co-author of The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature.

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -1:04:20 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. As we get to the end of Graham Greene’s novel it’s time to discuss such things as whether the book has a happy ending, who the villain of the book is, the spiritual underpinnings in the story (and Milly’s role therein), the madness Beatrice refers to in the final passage, and much more.

These bonus episodes for those listeners to want to dig even deeper are primarily focused on longer novels. Want to listen these episodes on your favorite podcast app? Follow this link to learn more: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4519588148244-How-do-I-listen-to-episodes-on-my-podcast-app- These bonus episodes for those listeners to want to dig even deeper are primarily focused on longer novels. Want to listen these episodes on your favorite podcast app?