The Classic Tales Podcast
Designed to make classic literature less intimidating, The Classic Tales Podcast has been showcasing the greatest literary authors for years. Narrating with gusto, BJ Harrison performs each word of the classic texts, elevating them with character voices, sharp accents and bridled emotion. Adventure, Mystery, Horror, Humor and more - The Classic Tales Podcast has something for everybody. It really is The Cure for the Common Commute. Winner - Outstanding Podcast Host: Arts and Entertainment , Society of Voice Arts and Sciences- 2022 Winner of w3 Silver Award by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts-2022 Winner of w3 Gold Award by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts-2021 Winner of Independent Audiobook Award for "Scaramouche", by Raphael Sabatini - 2021

Why is Aksionov’s wife so worried that if he goes to the fair, that she’ll never see him again? Leo Tolstoy, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

 

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It really helps us out, and gives us a revenue stream we can count on in this crazy time. And you help to keep the podcast going strong, so that more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. Thank you so much.

App users can hear the poem “The World is Too Much With Us”, by William Wordsworth in the special features for today’s episode.

Today’s story, to me, is a great example of the kind of gap that can sometimes occur between the type of Faith that we may read in our holy works, versus what we actually encounter in reality.

In my faith growing up, we had a set of basically steps we would go through when we had wronged someone else (made a mistake, needed to repent), whatever your phrasing called it.

When we had wronged someone, we were supposed to 1) admit or confess the thing that we did to the person. 2) ask for forgiveness. 3) do all that we could to repair the wrong. 4) never do it again. On the other side, as the person wronged, you were always taught to forgive. (How often should we forgive? Jesus said 70 times 7, right?)

Now that sounds like a great system, and it surely makes for a snappy talk or lesson on Sunday, but what happens when it plays out in reality? Some things can’t be repaired like a broken toy, or returned good as new, like item stolen from the convenience store. When we start to deal with other people, we can hurt each other in ways that can’t easily be repaired. Sometimes, even though we may not want to, we may do the same thing again and again.

Tolstoy was a man of faith, and in today’s story, he demonstrates this gap between precept and personal reality, and leads us to a higher conversation of what it means to live as a person of faith.

And now, God Sees the Truth, but Waits, by Leo Tolstoy.

Tap here to go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a financial supporter!

Tap here to go to our merchandise store!

 

Direct download: CT_716_God_Sees_the_Truth.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Why won’t Tomsky’s 80-year-old grandmother share her incredible secret for gambling? Alexander Pushkin, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It really helps us out, and gives us a revenue stream we can count on in this crazy time. And you help to keep the podcast going strong, so that more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. Thank you so much.

App users can hear the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, by William Wordsworth in the special features for today’s episode.

Today we return to Russia, and Alexander Pushkin. He was born to a noble family, but by the time he came along, most of the money was gone. He is one of the great Russian luminaries, and today’s story of self-destructive greed is largely reprinted and anthologized. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky made it into an opera which premiered in St. Petersburg in 1890.

Faro, spelled in the story as f-a-r-o, is a gambling card game in which players bet on the order in which the cards will appear. Pharoah, like the Egyptian Pharoah, is said to have been the name of the king of hearts.

And now, The Queen of Spades, by Alexander Pushkin.

Tap here to go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a financial supporter!

 

Tap here to go to our merchandise store!

 

Direct download: CT_715_TheQueenofSpades.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Arséne Lupin declares it a mystery for babies. But when murder occurs on the open road, it seems everyone is stumped but him. Maurice Leblanc, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. It really helps us out, and gives us a revenue stream we can count on in this crazy time. And you help to keep the podcast going strong, so that more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. Thank you so much.

Today we are celebrating Arséne Lupin, to coordinate with the new Lupin series on Netflix. Not only do we have a lovely story today, but app users can hear “The Queen’s Necklace”, by Maurice Leblanc, in the special features portion for this week’s episode.

The Queen’s Necklace is the first episode in the Netflix series, and is the fifth chapter in The Adventures of Arséne Lupin, gentleman burglar. I love how they reference the source material so much in the show.

If I had to say the one thing that I particularly like about Lupin, is the way that he helps those people who have kind of fallen through the cracks. Folks who have been wronged, or sometimes done wrong, but your heart goes out to them. He helps them out where no one else can. There’s a kindness there. The Netflix series does a couple things to stay true to this trait, and I really, really like that.

And now, The Tragedy in the Forest of Morgues, and Arséne Lupin adventure, by Maurice Leblanc.

Tap here to go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.comand become a financial supporter!

 

Tap here to go to our merchandise store!

 

Direct download: CT_714_ForestofMorgues.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

A copyist, a tailor, and an official each demonstrate the cracks in Tsarist Russian society.  Nikolai Gogol, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. It really helps us out, and gives us a revenue stream we can count on in this crazy time. And you help to keep the podcast going strong, so that more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. Thank you so much.

App users can hear “Composed upon a Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802”, by William Wordsworth, in the special features portion for this week’s episode.

And now for something completely different.

Today’s story is from Ukranian-born author Nikolai Gogol, and it exposes the various weaknesses of life in Tsarist Russia. Akakii Akakievich is a simple poor man, who is doing everything as he should, following all the rules. Watch how his social status ebbs and flows, as the people in his life help him, or don’t.

And now, The Overcoat, by Nikolai Gogol.

Tap here to go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a financial supporter!

 

Tap here to go to our merchandise store!

 

Direct download: CT_713_TheOvercoat.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

How will St. George get rid of the dragon in the cave? For, he’s not a proper dragon at all. Instead of rampaging and marauding about, this dragon writes poetry.  Kenneth Grahame, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. It really helps us out, and gives us a revenue stream we can count on in this crazy time.. And you help to keep the podcast going strong, so that more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. Thank you so much.

App users can hear the poem “London”, by William Blake, in the special features portion for this week’s episode.

Today’s story is written by Kenneth Grahame, who also wrote The Wind in the Willows. The Reluctant Dragon first appeared as a chapter in his book Dream Days. The story takes place in the Berkshire Downs in Oxfordshire, where the author lived and where, according to legend, St. George did fight a dragon.  

And now, The Reluctant Dragon, by Kenneth Grahame.

Tap here to go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.comand become a financial supporter!

 

Tap here to go to our merchandise store!

 

Direct download: CT_712_TheReluctantDragon.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT