Books of All Time

Mar 08 2025 29 ep. 37 mins 14

Books of All Time Podcast artwork

Books of All Time tackles classic literature in chronological order. Each month, host Rose Judson summarizes a classic work of literature in one episode and then dives into the story behind it in the second episode.
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Episode 27: The Oresteia, Part 2 - Deus Ex Machina

Mar 08 2025 39 mins

Fasting, abstaining from sex, risking the literal wrath of god - today's method actors have nothing on the pioneers of ancient Athenian drama. Following on from our episode about Aeschylus's Oresteia, this episode offers an overview of Greek tragedy and the theater - how it evolved from ritual, what actors and chorus members did on stage, and how an awful lot of the surrounding pag

Episode 26: The Oresteia, Part 1 - Torment Bred in the Race

Feb 20 2025 53 mins

Cycles of violence. Legacies handed from famous fathers to uncertain sons. The trajectory of a society moving from retribution to democracy and justice. Robert F. Kennedy probably did not have all these things in mind on April 4, 1968 when he announced the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. to a crowd in Indianapolis. But he brought them to the surface nevertheless by quoting the an

Episode 25: The Book of Isaiah, Part 2 - Wizards That Peep and Mutter

Feb 06 2025 35 mins

Looking for some divine assistance on a tough decision? Have you considered shooting some arrows? Dropping oil in water? What about sacrificing a sheep? This week's episode uses the Book of Isaiah, the first work of prophecy on our reading list, as a springboard for looking at divination, magic, and prophecy in the ancient world.Need a transcript or want to check out the references

Episode 24: The Book of Isaiah, Part 1 - A Voice in the Wilderness

Jan 22 2025 39 mins

For episode 24, we return to the Hebrew Bible. By itself, the Book of Isaiah is one of humanity's most influential works of spiritual literature. In addition to laying the foundations of Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, Isaiah has contributed dozens of phrases into our language, such as "swords into plowshares", "a little child shall lead them," and, of course, "a voice in the wi

Episode 23 – Aesop’s Fables, Part 2: The Moral of the Story

Jan 09 2025 32 mins

Snarky, satirical, scatological - how did the original Aesop's Fables wind up getting sanitized for children? This week's episode follows the thread through two thousand years of interpretation and adaptation, from Roman villas to medieval scriptoria to French drawing rooms.Want to read a transcript? Here you go! Don't forget to rate and review us on your podcast app of choice - it

Announcements: Schedule Change for Episode 23

Happy New Year! This is just a short announcement to let you all know that BoAT episode 23 will be out on January 9th. Also, we are coming to the end of the year 1 reading list! Year 2 will be out later this month. Prepare for a Greek drama overload, plus our first visit to Persia and, toward the end of the year, Rome!Thanks for sticking with us this year! We appreciate each and ev

Episode 22: Aesop's Fables, Part 1 - Slow and Steady

Dec 24 2024 34 mins

We hoped our Aesop's Fables episode would be a family-friendly romp just in time for the holidays. We could not have been more wrong. Compiled after 450 BCE, the hundreds of stories known to us as Aesop's Fables were not the children's morality tales we read today. They represent the earliest examples we have of Greek popular culture, and they started out mostly as bawdy or mean-sp

Episode 21: The Analects of Confucius, Part 2 - The Confucian World

Dec 05 2024 38 mins

He died dissatisfied and relatively obscure in 479 BCE, but Confucius, thanks to his disciples, had an afterlife for the ages. Learn how Confucianism adapted, evolved and survived for more than 2,000 years in spite of mass executions of its adherents, having to compete with Buddhism and then Christianity, and having to win over an emperor who kept peeing in Confucian scholars' hats

Episode 20: Analects of Confucius, Part 1 - When I Was 40, I Had No Delusions

Nov 21 2024 38 mins

Episode 20 expands the map of our show to eastern Asia, as we begin a two-part exploration of The Analects (Lunyu), collected sayings of the philosopher Confucius (551 - 479 BCE). He may just be the most influential educator and philosopher who ever lived. His ideas about virtue in rulers impacting the virtue of the people . . . are honestly kind of adorable in this day and age. In

Episode 19: Sappho - The Tenth Muse

Nov 12 2024 42 mins

Episode 19 is here (after Rose finally busted through her writer's block about it). This special one-off episode covers the life and remaining poetry of Sappho (c. 630-570 BCE). Known widely as a lyric poet who wrote (mostly) about same-sex love between women, Sappho, in her social context, is even more interesting. Rose walks through what's known about the woman herself, some of t