Critical Readings
CriticalReadings.com
Show overview
Critical Readings has been publishing since 2019, and across the 7 years since has built a catalogue of 322 episodes. That works out to roughly 380 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 3 days ago, with 19 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 322 episodesCR 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
CR Episode 308: The Hobbit, Part V
The panel discusses the closing chapters—the battles against Smaug and between the five armies, and the journey home—with special attention to the influence of great wealth, the difference between leaders amongst the Lake-men, and Bilbo's significance.Continue reading
CR Episode 307: The Hobbit, Part IV
The panel discusses the party's arrival in and departure from Lake-Town, and their arrival at and infiltration of the Lonely Mountain, with special attention to the contrast between rationalism and romanticism, particularly in the Master of Lake-Town.Continue reading
CR Episode 306: The Hobbit, Part III
The panel reads chapters 8 and 9, with special attention to the episodic structure of the narrative, the maturation of Bilbo and his rising stature amongst the dwarves, the role of hunger and darkness in creating tension, and the timeframe of events.Continue reading
CR Episode 305: The Hobbit, Part II
The panel discusses chapters 5–7, with examination of Tolkien's sources and the chronology of its composition, discussion about the different phases of the story's development, and a conversation about the chapter structure and roles of different races.Continue reading
CR Episode 304: The Hobbit, Part I
The panel discusses the first four chapters of The Hobbit with special attention to the development of the story as a text, its features connecting it to the genres of fairy tales and bedtime stories, and its careful use of narrative foreshadowing.Continue reading
CR Episode 303: Romeo and Juliet, Act V
The panel closes out Romeo and Juliet, and the year 2025, with a discussion of Friar Laurence's cowardly culpability, Romeo's impassioned importunity, Juliet's happy dagger, Paris' finest hour, and Shakespeare's interest in people of all walks of life.Continue reading