In this episode, we’re talking about Dostoevsky’s The Idiot — a story that feels surprisingly modern for a 19th-century novel. Prince Myshkin shows up in a world driven by ego, greed, and power plays, trying to live with total honesty and kindness. Sound familiar? We explore how his struggle fits right into today’s age of social media, moral gray zones, and endless noise — and what it really means to stay good when the world calls you naïve.

Additional sources for this episode:

• https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-idiot/themes
• https://anunexpectedjournal.com/beauty-in-tragedy-the-idiot-dostoevsky-and-eucatastrophe/
• https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/idiot-analysis-major-characters
• https://hesse.projects.gss.ucsb.edu/works/idiot.pdf

This time, we’re unpacking The Handmaid’s Tale — the story that somehow feels both decades old and eerily current. From red cloaks to resistance, we’re talking about what Margaret Atwood’s world says about power, control, and how close fiction can hit to home. Tune in as we connect Gilead’s chilling rules to the headlines and conversations shaping today’s world.

Additional sources for this episode:

• https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/h/the-handmaids-tale/critical-essays/literary-analysis-of-the-handmaids-tale
• https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/handmaids-tale-analysis-major-characters
• https://central.edu/writing-anthology/2019/06/03/the-art-of-becoming-ordinary-an-analysis-of-the-handmaids-tale/
• https://pmt.physicsandmathstutor.com/download/English-Literature/A-level/Notes/AQA/The-Handmaid's-Tale/Overview%20and%20Key%20Scenes.pdf
• https://www.matrix.edu.au/the-handmaids-tale-text-analysis-year-11-english-advanced/
• https://www.studienet.dk/the-handmaids-tale/analysis

In this episode, we dive into Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice — a haunting tale of beauty, obsession, and the dangerous pursuit of perfection. What happens when art collides with desire, and admiration turns into fixation? More than a century later, its reflections on vanity, fame, and yearning feel strangely familiar in an age of social media and self-curation. Join us as we explore why this story still mirrors the fever of modern life.

Additional sources for this episode:

• https://literariness.org/2022/10/10/analysis-of-thomas-manns-death-in-venice/
• https://campuspress.yale.edu/modernismlab/death-in-venice/
• https://www.litcharts.com/lit/death-in-venice
• https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/death-venice-analysis-setting
• https://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/books/Death-in-Venice.html
• https://imagesofvenice.com/death-in-venice-by-thomas-mann/
• https://lareviewofbooks.org/blog/essays/desire-disease-thomas-manns-death-venice/