Fri, 31 January 2020
What happens when an Italian profligate makes a deal with an unusual magician? Mary Shelley today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Many, many thanks to all of our listeners and supporting members who help to keep us going. If you enjoy listening to The Classic Tales, please consider becoming a supporting member. By making a monthly donation of just $5, you’ll receive a corresponding thank-you code for an $8 discount off any audiobook order. Donate $10 a month or more, and you get a $17 discount. It’s a seriously great deal, and helps us to keep doing what we’re doing. Go now to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a member today. We’d like to thank Spotify for being a partnering sponsor. The Classic Tales Merchandise store: Today’s story begins with a quote from Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. App users can hear the entire epic poem in their special features. Do you love binging The Classic Tales Podcast? How about 36 hours of fantastic stories, curated and narrated for you? The Classic Tales Podcast, Season Five is now available for only $19.99 at our website at www.classictalesaudiobooks.com. I’ve optimized the audiobook for listening on mobile devices. Each chapter or story has customized artwork, and you can easily navigate from story to story when you want to listen again. This artwork-enriched edition of the audiobook is only available at www.classictalesaudiobooks.com -you won’t be disappointed. Today’s story is by Mary Shelley. Many of you may be familiar with the story of how Frankenstein was created. Lord Byron had rented a house in Geneva, Switzerland, along with John Polidori, and Mary and Percy Shelley. It was dark and stormy the whole time. After a while, they had a contest to see who could write the best ghost story. John Polidori wrote “The Vampyre”, which was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. And Mary Shelley wrote a short story called “Transformation”, which she later developed into the novel Frankenstein. I always felt I was missing something about the origin of Frankenstein. Knowing that it came from a short story, and was fleshed out makes more sense. That being said, it is anything but a watered down version of our favorite flat-topped monster. And now, Transformation, by Mary Shelley.
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Fri, 24 January 2020
What must Ruscha do to secure the magic word that kills when it’s uttered? Elizabeth F. Ellett, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Many, many thanks to all of our listeners and supporting members who help to keep us going. If you enjoy listening to The Classic Tales, please consider becoming a supporting member. Each week, I strive to bring you a classic selection that is relevant, well written, and entertaining. If you can’t tell, I love what I do. I love discovering so many amazing stories and sharing them with you. But to continue to do this, I need your help. By making a monthly donation of just $5, you’ll receive a corresponding thank-you code for an $8 discount off any audiobook order. Donate $10 a month or more, and you get a $17 discount. It’s a seriously great deal, and helps us to keep doing what we’re doing. Go now to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a member today. We’d like to thank Spotify for being a partnering sponsor. The Classic Tales Merchandise store: Do you love binging The Classic Tales Podcast? How about 36 hours of fantastic stories, curated and narrated for you? The Classic Tales Podcast, Season Five is now available for only $19.99 at our website at www.classictalesaudiobooks.com. I’ve optimized the audiobook for listening on mobile devices. Each chapter or story has customized artwork, and you can easily navigate from story to story when you want to listen again. The Classic Tales Podcast, Season Five -you won’t be disappointed. Today’s story is by Elizabeth Ellett. Her grandfather was a General in the Revolutionary War, and she grew up imbued with patriotic as well as religious feelings, which nourished her mind. She had a thirst for learning, and at the age of 16 was married to Dr. William H. Ellet, a Professor of Chemistry at Columbia College. In the college, she took advantage of the opportunities of education, and soon rose to prominence. She began to write for the magazines, or periodicals of the time, and the name of Mrs. Ellet became recognized in literary circles. Like George Eliot, she also gained a reputation for translating. In 1848, she published her most important work: “The Women of the American Revolution”. Today, Ellet is perhaps known best for the scandal she leaked about Edgar Allan Poe’s rumored affair with Frances Sargent Osgood when both were married to other people. Leaking this story didn’t help her at all. Poe maligned her in the press, knocked her writings, accused her of plagiarism, and even referred to her as “short and fat”. In print. Today’s story was taken from a Danish folk tale that Ellet has spiced up with lively characters and wonderful atmosphere. It’s on the short side, but delivers some wonderful chills along the way. And now, The Witch Caprusche, by Elizabeth F. Ellet. Tap here to go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a financial supporter!
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Fri, 17 January 2020
Shouts of “Murder!” yield a mind-bending mystery. Agatha Christie, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Many, many thanks to all of our listeners and supporting members who help to keep us going. If you enjoy listening to The Classic Tales, please consider becoming a supporting member. It helps support the podcast, and it’s a great way to build out your library of classics. By making a monthly donation of just $5, you’ll receive a corresponding thank-you code for an $8 discount off any audiobook order. Donate $10 a month or more, and you get a $17 discount. You win, and we get to keep going strong. Go now to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a member today. We’d like to thank Spotify for being a partnering sponsor. Do you love binging The Classic Tales Podcast? How about 36 hours of fantastic stories, curated and narrated for you? The Classic Tales Podcast, Season Five is now available for only $19.99 at our website at www.classictalesaudiobooks.com. The novels of this anthology include mystery with The Mysterious Case at Styles, featuring Hercule Poirot, adventure with The Mark of Zorro, literary romance with A Room With A View, dystopian Science Fiction with Anthem, by Ayn Rand, and fantasy with The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Andersen. Over a dozen other short stories and poems round out this outstanding collection of classics. I’ve optimized the audiobook for listening on mobile devices. Each chapter or story has customized artwork, and you can easily navigate from story to story when you want to listen again. The Classic Tales Podcast, Season Five -you won’t be disappointed. And now, The Mystery of the Blue Jar, by Agatha Christie.
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Fri, 10 January 2020
Will Latimer’s existence change dramatically when his clairvoyance is supplanted with visions of the future? George Eliot, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Many, many thanks to all of our listeners and supporting members who help to keep us going. If you enjoy listening to The Classic Tales, please consider becoming a supporting member. It helps support the podcast, and it’s a great way to build out your library of classics. By making a monthly donation of just $5, you’ll receive a corresponding thank-you code for an $8 discount off any audiobook order. Donate $10 a month or more, and you get a $17 discount. You win, and we get to keep going strong. Go now to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a member today. We’d like to thank Spotify for being a partnering sponsor. The Classic Tales Merchandise store: I am working on an initiative to make The Classic Tales audiobooks free for public schools. Thank you to everyone who has visited the website, purchased audiobooks, or recommended or reviewed us. It all goes a long way! Anything you can do to help us to grow and sustain ourselves will help us put the classics into the ears of the next generation. Thank you. And now, The Lifted Veil, Part 2 of 2, by George Eliot. Tap here to go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a financial supporter!
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Fri, 3 January 2020
Are the dreamlike musings of a sensitive intellectual truly predictive, or merely the result of an overactive imagination? George Eliot, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Many, many thanks to our 340 members who support us regularly. Each episode of The Classic Tales Podcast is initially downloaded over 10,000 times in the course of a week from the time it’s released, and we are so grateful for all of our supporters who have stepped up and helped to sustain us. 2020 marks the beginning of our 14th season, and we’d love to keep on going. If you enjoy listening to The Classic Tales, please consider becoming a supporting member. It helps support the podcast, and it’s a great way to build out your library of classics. By making a monthly donation of just $5, you’ll receive a corresponding thank-you code for an $8 discount off any audiobook order. Donate $10 a month or more, and you get a $17 discount. You win, and we get to keep going strong. Go now to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a member today. We’d like to thank Spotify for being a partnering sponsor. I am working on an initiative to make The Classic Tales audiobooks free for public schools. Thank you to everyone who has visited the website, purchased audiobooks, or recommended or reviewed us. It goes a long way! Anything you can do to help us to grow and sustain ourselves will help us put the classics into the ears of the next generation. Thank you. This week we are showcasing the amazing work of George Eliot, the pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans. A good friend of mine, Morag Kawasaki, did a recent research project showcasing the role of women in romantic and Victorian literature. George Eliot/Mary Ann Evans came up time and time again as the most important female author at this time. Some key takeaways were: women weren’t judged against the published men of the time, they were only reviewed against each other. They were also held to a much higher standard than the male writers of the time. Also, Eliot not only spoke but translated four languages: English, German, Greek and Hebrew. Henry James, when writing about her novel Middlemarch, pointed to the ‘constant presence of thought, of generalizing instinct, of brain’ and he paid passionate tribute to Eliot’s ‘intellectual vigor, her immense facility, her exemption of cerebral lassitude’”. Today’s story is about an intellectual, who, after suffering an illness, realizes he has gained the ability to read the thoughts of those around him. His name is Latimer, which means ‘one who interprets Latin’. Even this person’s name is indicative of understanding that which is hidden to most others. The command of the language, and this ability of Eliot’s to see what others don’t are elegantly evident. I hope you like it. App users can read Morag’s entire research project, The Journey of the Romantic & Victorian Female Author in their special features for this week’s episode. And now, The Lifted Veil, Part 1 of 2, by George Eliot.
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