Good content, but bad sound

I love to read and often have trouble finding a friend to discuss them with. Lit Century gives me insight I don’t have and makes reading for me so rich. Thank you - pls keep this up!

Can someone please get Catherine Nichols some coaching how to deliver even just one (1!) sentence where she does not stumble all over herself. I thought the podcast was buffering then I figured out Catherine was excessively pausing and stumbling all over herself. It is painful. She either is unprepared or lacks any confidence to have the conviction to say anything without excessive contemplation. A podcast is an auditory medium. This woman is not geared for it. Fortunately her co-host, Sandra Newman, can speak fluidly. Please get a coach to help Cathrine learn how to speak.

Informed, thoughtful, accessible, articulate, and stimulating!!! That’s how I would describe the episode on “What is it like to be a bat?”, and I’m definitely going to be listening to the rest of the episodes. I’ve read Catherine Nichols’ articles in the past and they are wonderful and muscular. In my insomnia I have also been pondering the question of why materialism is perhaps the philosophy of power now like Nichols proposes and my own theory is that as capital became ascendant and labor weak, it co opted that sexy sexy “this is the sad , real state of the world so let’s rise up!” into “this is the sad, real state of the world and you can’t change it, chump!” seeing as it was an easy and strong argument to make in the absence of an opponent really. They kind of won and are happy to crow about that lived world. And I think it remains persuasive to the layperson. Big government having only possibly emerged again after 50 or so years. Anyways if that even makes sense this is just conjecture and I am no expert, just an avid reader. Thanks for the great listen, and you’ve got a fan in me!

I listened to Lit Century Podcast this morning during my workout, and it made my morning exercise routine a pleasure. I exercised my body *and* my brain by listening to two brilliant people discussing the novel Nightwood (1936). I’ve never read Nightwood, and you’d think that would make me feel a bit disconnected, but instead it was like having Sandra Newman (author of The Heavens) and Catherine Nichols (novelist, essayist) read a book FOR me and help me understand it in a way I never would have done on my own. This podcast makes me feel lucky. I get to eavesdrop on careful readers, original thinkers, and spectacular writers in the best possible book club. When Newman reads a passage aloud, it comes to life. When Nichols thinks out loud about people, relationships, and the world, we all get smarter. The two of them together? Magnificent. If you wonder where to find true excellence in the world, look here and subscribe.

The articulate hosts of this tight new podcast that gets into one book for every year of the 20th century are really on point. The first show got into 1936 and a book we all should know. I just subscribed and look forward to more.