Episodes

What should we do, when should we do it, and whose direction should we take? Those three questions have plagued humanity throughout time. Where can the answers be found or are they unanswerable? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is truth? How does our perception color the facts as we observe them. Those differences how we see the world complicates this Japanese murder investigation in this renowned short story. This profound modernist fable has echoed for almost a century. Also called "In a Bamboo Grove," this 1929 short story was inspiration for the critically acclaimed 1950 Japanese film, "Rashomon." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would it be better to start life as an old man and end it as an infant? That was the question posed by Mark Twain that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to write his short story, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People dream of success. Those ambitions can often be prodigious. Rarely, however, do our future business strategies develop as quickly as do those in this story that encapsulates the economic concerns of the early 20th Century. For a full-time banker and part-time author Ellis Parker Butler was prolific writing more than 2,000 stories that were published in well over 200 magazines in the early 20th Century. His most famous story is "Pigs is Pigs" which a narrated in 2019. Hosted on Acast. See...

Prepare to be moved by one of the most unusual short stories ever written, which tells a chilling tale of the simple life and complex death of a slave-owning planter in Union-occupied Alabama during the Civil War. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This classic Mark Twain tale is a witty commentary on poverty and wealth. There is much of Twain’s personal circumstance reflected in the story, as Twain had himself recently gone from riches to bankruptcy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Falling in love is one of humanities most common events and biggest mysteries. What is it that ignites one person's passion for another. This poignant tale of surprisingly falling for someone was penned by the first woman playwright to win a Pulitzer Prize. A brilliant author author of novels, short stories and plays, Zona Gale was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prie for Drama for the stage adaptation of her novel, Miss Lulu Bett. She sold her first story at age 16 for $3. Hosted on Acast. ...

How Far We Will Go to Protect Our Property?

Literally, a Shaggy Dog Story

A Different Kind of Financial Panic

Life can deal any of us some terrible blows. In this semi-auto biographical tale we explore the life of a once wealthy merchant, Jimmy Rose Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here is a wonderfully nostalgic tale of a time when boys could enjoy a taste of freedom, share ideas, and let’s their imaginations run wild, before the responsibilities of life overrode such fancies. You're invited to get lost at the foot of "The Enchanted Bluff." Willa Cather published "The Enchanted Bluff" in "Harper's Magazine" in 1909 during a period when her writing skills were blossoming in stories about her experiences living on the Nebraska prairie. Her efforts culminated in a Pulitzer ...

In the 19th century, the United States was as diverse from region to region as were the country’s of Europe, except for the fact that we spoke some semblance of the same language. However, the language divide between proper Easern American English and that of the the inhabitants of the West could, at times be vast. Samuel Clemens was born in Florida in 1835, but it wasn’t until 27 years later that his alter ego, Mark Twain, came into being in Carson City, Nevada. He credited the many extreme ch...

In the early 19th century country a farmer is murdered in his home. While investigated, local authorities task a local women with gathering a few things for the wife who was arrested for the crime. Susan Glaspell wrote a one-act play which she adapted into "A Jury of Her Peers” It is loosely based on a murder covered while working as a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During these stressful times, forced into close quarters with those we love. we may find ourselves growing angry when a softer approach tends to me far more effective as is illustrated in this story. Mary Roberts Rinehart is yet another fine example of a talented early 20th Century authors. Known as The American Agatha Christie, she is best known for her mystery stories. A character in her 1920 play “The Bat” was the inspiration for Bob Kane’s comic book character “Batman.” Hosted on Acast. Se...

Money has the power to take us away, if only temporarily, from the due routines of life. However, there is always a price to pay for our fiscal flights of fancy and real life eventually hoists its humdrum head again. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles Dickens was a constant observer of the plight of his fellows and critical of the divisions between humanity’s strata. In this deep and poignant parable of mankind’s need to be recognized by others he arrives at the conclusion that in the end, despite our apparent differences, we are all same. Dickens wrote "Nobody’s Story" to honor those who toil in anonymity and suffer quietly. It was originally published in 1853 as part of a Volume of Christmas stories, but felt more appropriate for to...

What began as a street brawl on a winter evening in Boston, became one the biggest sparks to help ignite the American revolution. 250 years ago, on March 5th 1770, anger over the British housing troops among civilians in Massachusetts boiled over into what the British called the Incident on King Street but was referred to my early Americans as "The Boston Massacre." To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the seminal event in early American history, we present Nathaniel Hawthorne's unique narra...

A special Father's Day episode of Litreading Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the mind behind "Alice in Wonderland" comes one of the best examples of nonsense poetry. Jabberwocky tells the tale of a young knight who slays a mythical beast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Twain's humorous take on the stars of the Book of Genesis

The diary of the first woman "translated from the original source."