Desperate Readers

This week Niko and Tatiana discuss the ultimate Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. They read the novella "The Queen of Spades" and talk about certainty, obsession, gambling, and sports betting. 

This week welcomes back to the pod Heinrich von Kleist and perhaps his most famous novella, "Michael Kohlhaas"! Niko and Tatiana discuss justice, certainty, and doubt in a story that even Kafka read with "true piety" 

This week Niko and Tatiana return to the Harlem Renaissance and discuss Langston Hughes's short story "Passing" from the collection The Ways of White Folks. They discuss identity, economic freedom, patronage, and the Kendrick-Drake feud. 

Niko and Tatiana discuss Flannery O'Connor's iconic short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" with special guest Sophie.

Spooky Season has come and gone but we're still talking about witches on the podcast. Niko and Tatiana read When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Solà, translated from its original Catalan. Each chapter of the novel is told from a different narrator to weave a story crossing generations and mountain ranges. We discuss the Pyrenees, trauma, and the relationship between nature and poetry. 

Welcome back to the pod, William Faulkner! This week, Tatiana and Niko read the short story "Barn Burning," originally published in Harper's Magazine in 1939. They discuss cycles of violence within the structures of family, history, and class, make comparisons to Juan Rulfo, and try to figure out why so many people love American Southern Gothic literature. 

A underrated classic praised by Nobel winners. Niko and Tatiana read two short stories, "The Burning Plain" and "Tell Them Not to Kill Me!", from Juan Rulfo's El llano en llamas recently translated by Douglas J. Weatherford. 

On to the Booker International Shortlist! This week Niko and Tatiana read Not a River by Selva Almada, translated from the Spanish by Annie McDermott. They talk about water, fire, eco-criticism, masculinity, and girlhood, and touch on authors like Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Juan Rulfo.

We're back!! Niko and Tatiana read the 2024 Booker International Longlist and Strega-Prize winning The House on Via Gemito by Domenico Starnone. We talk about memory, family, painting, and touch on Starnone's possible connection to the mysterious writer Elena Ferrante. 

On the last episode of our pilgrimage, we meet one of the most colorful characters in Chaucer's tale: The Wife of Bath. Niko and Tatiana discuss experience, sovereignty, and what women most desire. Drop us a DM if you think you know!