Critical Readings
CriticalReadings.com
Show overview
Critical Readings has been publishing since 2019, and across the 7 years since has built a catalogue of 328 episodes. That works out to roughly 390 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.
Episodes typically run an hour to ninety minutes — most land between 1h and 1h 19m — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-GB-language Arts show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 25 episodes already out so far this year. Published by CriticalReadings.com.
From the publisher
Critical Readings examines key literary texts using close reading and critical analysis, and explains these approaches in discussion. Listeners will learn about the texts themselves and about how to approach a text for critical analysis.
Latest Episodes
View all 328 episodesCR Episode 328: The Once and Future King, Part IV
CR Episode 327: The Once and Future King, Part III
CR Episode 326: The Once and Future King, Part II
CR Episode 325: The Once and Future King, Part I
CR Episode 324: The Poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson
CR Episode 323: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V
CR Episode 322: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act IV
CR Episode 321: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III
CR Episode 320: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act II
CR Episode 319: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I
CR Episode 318: Paradise Regained, Book IV
CR Episode 317: Paradise Regained, Book III
The panel discusses the continuation of the second temptation in the desert, with Satan's various presentations of worldly power, and the explication that acceptance of any of his 'gifts' is tantamount to acknowledging his sovereignty over the recipient.Continue reading
CR Episode 316: Paradise Regained, Book II
The panel discusses the second book, with special attention to the newest appearance of Satan, his confusion, and the difference between his first temptation (bread) and this second temptation (a feast), before shifting to his offer of worldly powers.Continue reading
CR Episode 315: Paradise Regained, Book I
The panel discusses the first book of Paradise Regained, the sequel (or continuation) of Paradise Lost, with special attention paid to the particular qualities of the first temptation in the desert, and to the poet's references to the earlier poem.Continue reading
CR Episode 314: W.H. Auden and Mediaevalism
The panel is joined by a special guest, the poet and author Aaron Poochigian, to discuss three medievally-inflected poems by Auden: "Lady Weeping at the Crossroads", "Ode to the Medieval Poets", and the 'Bombing Run' excerpt from "The Age of Anxiety."Continue reading
CR Episode 313: Sense and Sensibility, Part IV
The panel discusses the closing chapters of the novel, with special attention to the quasi-reformation of Willoughby's character, the depths of villainy attained by Lucy Steele, the triumph of Col. Brandon, and Elinor's emotional displays: grief and joy.Continue reading
CR Episode 312: Sense and Sensibility, Part III
The panel discusses chapters 30–39, with the unveiling of secrets including Edward and Lucy's engagement, and Colonel Brandon's connexion to Willoughby, and featuring a discussion of Colonel Brandon's good character and Willoughby's extravagant villainy.Continue reading
CR Episode 311: Sense and Sensibility, Part II
The panel discusses chapters 18–29, with a omparison of the relationship of Elinore and Edward versus that of Marianne and Willoughby, a discussion of the role of leisure or industry in happiness, and a consideration of the failures of civility on show.Continue reading
CR Episode 310: Sense and Sensibility, Part I
The panel discusses the first seventeen chapters of Sense and Sensibility, with special attention given to contemporary inheritance law, the character faults of the Dashwoods, and the opposition between Elinore's 'sense' and her family's 'sensibility'.Continue reading
CR Episode 309: The Vanity of Human Wishes
The panel discusses Dr. Johnson's imitation of the tenth satire of Juvenal, with its message of caution about advanced age and the temptations of academic life, with special attention given to the difference lying between imitation and translation.Continue reading