Dec. 8, 2025
#8 Greatest Book of All Time
There is a lot to praise about Herman Melville's Moby Dick, which comes in at #8 on the History of Literature's list of 25 Greatest Books of All Time. In Episode 747, Jacke considers this tale that is so much more than a story about a whale. Eager to dive deeper into the novel? Take a listen to episodes 481 and 482, a pair of episodes in which Jacke pursues 10 essential questions regarding this literary leviathan that begins with the memorable first line:
Call me Ishmael.
Episode 823: Shakespeare with James Shapiro
In Episode 823. United States President Abraham Lincoln and his assassin John Wilkes Booth were both deeply immersed in Shakespeare's works. And yet, the conclusions they reached about how best to end tyranny — a feature of both Macbeth and Julius C…
Episode 822: Wild Thoreau with Lydia Willsky-Ciollo
Henry David Thoreau was not a traditional Christian, and yet he was a deeply, profoundly religious man. In Episode 822, Jacke talks to Lydia Willsky-Ciollo about her book Wildness: Henry David Thoreau and the Making of an American Theology, which de…
