Once a year, I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It's a cathartic annual ritual for me. What is it about this novel that has such an impact on my soul and those of other readers? Who is the man who wrote it, and what was he trying to do with this story of a father and son struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic landscape?
For answers to these questions, ... Show More
Jan 13
Money and Meaning — What Faith Traditions Teach Us About Personal Finance
We usually think of money as something very practical, concrete, and secular; we earn it, save it, spend it, and crunch the numbers behind it. But money is never just about money: it reflects our values, our priorities — and even our spiritual life.My guest today, Tom Levinson, k ... Show More
45m 20s
Jan 6
Strong, Conditioned, and Ready for Anything — How to Become a Hybrid Athlete
For decades, fitness culture has tended to break people into two categories: you’re either a strength guy or an endurance guy. You lift heavy or run far — but not both.But my guest today says you don't have to choose; you can excel at both modalities and be ready for anything.Ale ... Show More
59m 16s
Nov 2023
Jon Clinch Explores the Final Days of Ulysses S. Grant
The General and Julia is a wonderful novel, delving deeply into the final days of Ulysses S. Grant. Not many know this, but at the end of his life, Grant was financially destitute and in a race to write his memoirs before his death. He knew that if he wrote his memoirs and did it ... Show More
37m 39s
Nov 2019
YA Books for Adults + Adult Books for YA | 219
Nicole has a fantastic bookstagram account, and she particularly loves reading the Young Adult genre. So in this chat, she and Tsh talk about why so many adults like them love to read YA, along with lots of recommendations for dipping your toes into the YA waters as an adult read ... Show More
41m 8s
Feb 2022
Joseph Heller's Catch-22: A novel of twisted logic and absurd bureaucracy
"That’s some Catch, that Catch 22". It’s a novel that gave rise to a new term in the English language and gave voice to American soldiers serving in Vietnam in the 1960s. Since its publication in 1961, Catch-22, Joseph Heller’s best-selling novel, has not only come to symbolise t ... Show More
39m 36s
Dec 2023
Our Critics' Year in Reading
<p>The Times’s staff book critics — Dwight Garner, Jennifer Szalai and Alexandra Jacobs — do a lot of reading over the course of any given year, but not everything they read stays with them equally. On this week’s podcast, Gilbert Cruz chats with the critics about the books that ... Show More
37m 12s