In this multi-layered episode, you'll find yourself becoming an expert in the first seven lines of Dante's Inferno. We'll talk a little about his biography a little, but I tried to focus on explaining the most important literary elements (aside from rhythm and rhyme, which can't be translated perfectly). You know what, this one's about Dante and hell, and the way he was basically a psychologist before Psychology... but just go listen. https://www.patreon.com/Godward?fan_landing=true

This provocative episode features a nice audio drop from Douglas Rushkoff and Duncan Trussell, as well as obscure references to 2010 articles published in the New York Times -- but the main thing is, we read chunks from Dostoevsky's (Dostoyevsky's) "Notes from Underground," and we try to figure out what's so interesting about the main character. It definitely has something to do with atheism and modernism, but there are even more subtle psychological things going on here, and this episode tries to communicate some of them. Plus, there's a funny visual joke at the end. NOTE: Sorry about the bad audio. I won't even link to the Patreon page here like I do in my other episodes.

This is a poem by Charles Baudelaire published in 1857 -- it's meant to accompany my next video, which will be on Joris-Karl Huysmans' novel, "Against Nature." Stay tuned. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDdiLgNv4J0

In this groundbreaking episode, hear about how Melville was likely what psychiatrists call "bipolar," and learn about how that allowed him to write some of the most mystical scenes in the history of literature. We'll talk about non-ordinary states of consciousness, near-death experiences, and the relationship between trauma and revelation. Hear quotes from Melville's novels "Pierre" and "Mardi," and receive upon your eardrums some of the sweetest passages from Moby-Dick that you'll ever hear read aloud on YouTube. Turn the news off. Forget what you think you know. Focus on the vastness of the whale's forehead. https://www.patreon.com/Godward?fan_landing=true