Episodes

  • War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy (1869)

    War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy (1869)
    Aug 13 2025
    Set against the Napoleonic Wars, Tolstoy’s epic sweeps through aristocratic ballrooms, battlefields, and intimate family dramas. We’ll explore its vast cast, philosophical depth, and why Tolstoy insisted it wasn’t really a novel—yet it may be the greatest story ever told.

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    14 mins
  • Moby-Dick – Herman Melville (1851)

    Moby-Dick – Herman Melville (1851)
    Aug 13 2025
    It’s part adventure, part philosophical treatise, part fever dream. We’ll sail with Captain Ahab in pursuit of the legendary whale, explore Melville’s meditation on fate and obsession, and uncover how a commercial flop became one of America’s greatest novels.

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    15 mins
  • The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (1844–1846)

    The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (1844–1846)
    Aug 13 2025
    Imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Edmond Dantès escapes with a fortune and a plan for vengeance. We’ll break down this sprawling tale of betrayal, justice, and transformation, and why audiences still thrill to its slow-burn satisfaction.

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    18 mins
  • Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë (1847)

    Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë (1847)
    Aug 13 2025
    A governess with unshakable integrity, a brooding employer with a dark secret—this Gothic romance defied conventions. We’ll explore Jane’s quest for self-respect, the novel’s feminist undercurrents, and why its blend of passion and principle still resonates.

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    15 mins
  • Dracula – Bram Stoker (1897)

    Dracula – Bram Stoker (1897)
    Aug 13 2025
    Part horror, part travelogue, Dracula is a thrilling mix of gothic dread and Victorian anxieties. We’ll follow Jonathan Harker’s doomed journey, explore Stoker’s inspirations, and uncover how Dracula became the blueprint for every vampire story since.

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    14 mins
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde (1890)

    The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde (1890)
    Aug 13 2025
    Wilde’s only novel is a glittering trap of wit, decadence, and moral decay. We’ll dive into Dorian’s descent into hedonism, the portrait’s supernatural secret, and why Wilde’s dark fairytale still provokes debates about vanity, art, and the cost of pleasure.

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    14 mins
  • Frankenstein – Mary Shelley (1818)

    Frankenstein – Mary Shelley (1818)
    Aug 13 2025
    Before Dracula or zombies, there was Frankenstein. We’ll trace Shelley’s stormy writing process, the philosophical questions about creation and responsibility, and how her Gothic vision became a cautionary tale about ambition, isolation, and humanity itself.

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    23 mins
  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)
    Aug 13 2025
    Step into foggy Victorian London to join the world’s most famous detective. We’ll unpack Holmes’ razor-sharp logic, Watson’s steadfast loyalty, and how Conan Doyle’s short stories revolutionized the detective genre—while exploring a few of Holmes’ most iconic cases.

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    15 mins