Subtext: Conversations about Classic Books and Films
Subtext: Conversations about Classic Books and Films

Subtext: Conversations about Classic Books and Films

Wes Alwan and Erin O'Luanaigh

Overview
Episodes

Details

Subtext is a book club podcast for readers interested in what the greatest works of the human imagination say about life’s big questions. Each episode, philosopher Wes Alwan and poet Erin O’Luanaigh conduct a close reading of a text or film and co-write an audio essay about it in real time. It’s literary analysis, but in the best sense: we try not overly stuffy and pedantic, but rather focus on unearthing what’s most compelling about great books and movies, and how it is they can touch our lives in such a significant way.

Recent Episodes

A Strange Fashion of Forsaking in the Poetry of Thomas Wyatt (Part 1)
NOV 18, 2024
A Strange Fashion of Forsaking in the Poetry of Thomas Wyatt (Part 1)
As an advisor to Henry VIII and ambassador to France and Italy, poet Thomas Wyatt was something of a professional court-surfer, practiced in riding the peaks and troughs of royal favor. Such were his verbal and diplomatic gifts that,
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52 MIN
Formal Meets Feral in “A New Leaf” (Elaine May, 1971) – Part 2
OCT 28, 2024
Formal Meets Feral in “A New Leaf” (Elaine May, 1971) – Part 2
Wes & Erin continue their discussion of the 1971 film "A New Leaf," written and directed by Elaine May.
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44 MIN
Formal Meets Feral in “A New Leaf” (Elaine May, 1971) – Part 1
OCT 21, 2024
Formal Meets Feral in “A New Leaf” (Elaine May, 1971) – Part 1
Henry Graham belongs to the most exclusive clubs, dines regularly at the most lavish restaurants, drives a Ferrari, employs a butler, and owns something called a Montrazini—in short, he capitalizes fully on his inheritance,
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45 MIN
Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 6)
OCT 14, 2024
Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 6)
Wes & Erin continue their discussion of Ancient Greece’s most notorious battle of the sexes, and Euripides' rumination on the question of whether the Athenian ideals of rationality and moderation sufficiently honor the instinctual side of human nature....
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53 MIN
Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 5)
OCT 7, 2024
Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 5)
Wes & Erin continue their discussion of Ancient Greece’s most notorious battle of the sexes, and Euripides' rumination on the question of whether the Athenian ideals of rationality and moderation sufficiently honor the instinctual side of human nature.
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38 MIN