Close Reads Podcast

It’s that time of year! You’ve probably seen the posts revealing the books we’ll be discussing on the show in 2026 , but now you can tune into the process of making those determinations. 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

You had plenty of great questions; we did our best to answer them. So join in as we conclude our series on Emily Bronte’s classic novel. 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

We’ve come to the end of Emily Bronte’s novel and so we’re here to discuss, well, how it ends. Up first: Sean’s opinion. Then we discuss the impact of the late-stage POV-shift, whether this is a ghost story, the fun-to-discuss questions at the core of the book, and much more. 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

Welcome back to our ongoing conversation about Emily Bronte’s novel! This week we discuss whether it’s too melodramatic, Heathcliff’s malevolence, Cathy’s kindness to pathetic Linton, and much more. 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

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte’s novel! This week we’re discussing the degree to which the book is a love story, the strange circumstances of a particular character’s death and another character’s birth, the inevitability of the narrative (and it’s structure), and much more! 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

Ten years ago, on the first ever episode of Close Reads, we discussed “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” the famous story by Flannery O’Connor. Last weekend, at our tenth anniversary party, we revisited it and we’re excited to share that discussion with you now. So whether you’ve been listening all along or whether it’s first time, thanks for tuning in and happy listening! Thanks so much to everyone who has helped shape the show for so long, from co-hosts and guest hosts to listeners from all over the world—and, of course, Logan! We couldn’t do it without you. Cheers! 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

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte’s classic novel. This week we discuss the roots of the characters’ various issues, Cathy’s and Heathcliff’s sense of connection to one another, the profound sense that there is nothing solid upon which the characters can stand, Nelly’s seeming disdain for Cathy, and much more! 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

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte’s classic novel. This week we’re discussing whether the book includes either a protagonist or an antagonist, how we should interpret the narration of Nelly, who we most sympathize with, and much more. 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

Welcome to a new series! As we kick off our conversations on Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, we discuss the genius of the Bronte sisters, the somewhat disorienting nature of the book’s framing device, the way Bronte creates atmosphere, and much more. 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

As always, you had plenty of great questions about our current book and on this episode we did our best to answer a bunch of them. Thanks for tuning in to and participating in this series. 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

It’s a bit late, but better late than never, right? Apologies for the delay! The upload speeds weren’t great in the English countryside. All the same, we’ve come to the end of The Great Gatsby, which means it’s time to talk about some of the most memorable passages in American literature. Join us as we dig in. 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

Welcome back to our series on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, in which we discuss his best novelistic skills, including his ability to deal in subtext while also creating mood. Plus: the way the book explores the dissonance between desire and reality, whether any of these characters have any interest in (or capacity to see) higher things, and much more. 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

Welcome to a new series of episodes on another wonderful book. It’s our first re-read here on Close Reads and it’s timely, too, since The Great Gatsby just turned 100 years old! So join in as we discuss what’s made F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel last a century, what makes Nick Carraway a compelling narrator, the tragic longing at the nostalgic core of the story, and much more. 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

We’re in between books so we answered as many of your questions as we could—which is to say, this is one of those wide-ranging episodes on a variety of topics. Snack foods, book organization, novels we wish we wrote, protecting the canon, Lewis or Tolkien, and much more. Hope you enjoy! Until next time, happy reading. Up next: Chapters 1-3 of The Great Gatsby. 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

You had questions; we did our best to answer them. It’s the Piranesi Q&A episode. Happy listening! Up next: An ask-us-anything mailbag episode, then we’ll be kicking off a new series on The Great Gatsby. 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

We’ve come to the end of Susannah Clarke’s novel, which means it’s time to discuss whether the somewhat controversial ending is ultimately satisfying, different ways of interpreting the book, the way it presents it’s myriad philosophical contemplations, and much more. 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

Wikipedia rabbit holes. Peacefulness or lack thereof in the world of Piranesi. The source of human goodness and morality. Sudafed fever dreams. These and many other topics are discussed on this week’s discussion of Susannah Clarke’s novel. 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

Welcome back to our ongoing conversation on Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi. This week we’re discussing the book’s genre-bending nature, Clarke’s extremely allusive approach (from Coleridge to Lewis and others in between), whether the house of a dark place or a peaceful place, and much more. 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

Welcome to a new series! It’s time to dig into Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, a book that’s been requested many times since its release in 2020. In this episode, we’re previewing things and thinking about how to read it before discussing part 1. 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

You had questions; we did our best to answer them. It’s the final episode on O Pioneers!, and we’re sad to see it go. 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