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Join Us This July for a Special Live Close Reads Event on the Importance (and Awesomeness) of the Mystery Genre!

Dear Close Readers,

Apr 15 • David Kern

The Current Schedule (A Working Document)

Your up-to-date solution for staying up-to-date with Close Reads

Jan 30, 2025 • David Kern

Short Story Hour: Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains"

Hey subscribers, welcome to our June short story hour!

Jun 12 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

58:26

The Feast: Thursday

Welcome back to our series on Margaret Kennedy’s The Feast! We begin by answering a couple of listener questions, before discussing the fascinating…

Jun 8 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:01:46

Monthly Mystery: Seishi Yokomizo's "The Inugami Curse"

Hello and welcome to May’s monthly mystery here at Close Reads HQ (a few days late; sorry about that!) Join in as we discuss a classic Japanese murder…

Jun 3 • Heidi White and Sean Johnson

50:37

Recent

1:11:57

The Feast: Wednesday

Welcome back to our series on Margart Kennedy’s novel.

Jun 2 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:06:02

Beowulf (the Tolkien translation): Lines 681-1389

Welcome back to our subscriber-exclusive series on Tolkien’s version of Beowulf. This week topics of conversation include the vast array of things that…

May 29 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:09:29

The Feast: Tuesday

Welcome back to another conversation about Margaret Kennedy’s The Feast. This week we begin by discussing some audience comments, then we discuss a…

May 27 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

47:31

Short Story Hour: "Foster, You're Dead!" by Philip K. Dick

Welcome to another episode of our new series on classic short stories!

May 22 • David Kern, Sean Johnson, and Heidi White

52:56

The Feast: Monday

And then it was Monday in Margaret Kennedy’s The Feast.

May 18 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:12:13

Beowulf (the Tolkien translation): Lines 1-680

Welcome to our new subscriber-exclusive series on J.R.R.

May 15 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:03:03

The Feast: Prologue-Sunday

Welcome to the first episode of a new series on Margaret Kennedy’s novel, The Feast. We discuss the book’s allegorical bent (and how it’s different than…

May 11 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:02:34

The Grapes of Wrath Q&A Episode

You have questions, we did our best to answer them.

May 6 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:04:08

Monthly Mystery: Margery Allingham's "The Tiger in the Smoke"

Hello and welcome to April’s monthly mystery here at Close Reads HQ (a few days late; sorry about that!) Join in as we discuss Margery Allingham’s most…

May 3 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:03:43

The Grapes of Wrath: To the End

So about that ending .

Apr 28 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:02:24

The Grapes of Wrath: Chapter 26

This week’s episode is dedicated entirely to the lengthy chapter 26 so we have a chance to discuss poor Casy’s complicated arc and the Christ-like…

Apr 21 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:02:39

Cocktail Time (P. G. Wodehouse)

Welcome back to the final installment of our P.

Apr 16 • David Kern and Sean Johnson

Monthly Mysteries

1:04:08

Monthly Mystery: Margery Allingham's "The Tiger in the Smoke"

Hello and welcome to April’s monthly mystery here at Close Reads HQ (a few days late; sorry about that!) Join in as we discuss Margery Allingham’s most…

May 3 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:08:16

Monthly Mystery: Agatha Christie's "Ordeal by Innocence"

Hello and welcome to March’s monthly mystery here at Close Reads HQ!

Mar 27 • David Kern, Sean Johnson, and Heidi White

1:09:18

Monthly Mystery: John Dickson Carr's "He Who Whispers"

Hello and welcome to our February monthly mystery here at Close Reads HQ!

Feb 27 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:00:32

Monthly Mystery: Josephine Tey's "Brat Farrar"

Hello and welcome to our first monthly mystery of 2026 here at Close Reads HQ!

Jan 25 • David Kern

1:03:20

Monthly Mystery: Murder in the Mill-race

Join in as we discuss this month’s mystery novel: E.C.R Loran’s story about a provincial small town with more secrets than it wants to reveal.

Dec 23, 2025 • David Kern, Sean Johnson, and Heidi White

59:01

Monthly Mystery: Epitaph for a Spy

Join in as we discuss this month’s mystery novel: Eric Ambler’s story about a regular man who is caught up in the world of international intrigue on the…

Dec 3, 2025 • David Kern, Sean Johnson, and Heidi White

1:05:51

Monthly Mystery: A Morbid Taste for Bones

Join in as we discuss this month’s mystery novel: Ellis Peter’s first book in the Brother Cadfael series, a medieval-set murder mystery in which a monk…

Nov 1, 2025 • David Kern

50:37

Monthly Mystery: "Five Little Pigs"

Join in as we discuss this month’s mystery novel: Agatha Christie’s Five Little Pigs, one of her most psychologically complicated (and nearly hard…

Sep 29, 2025 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

56:24

Monthly Mystery: The Zebra-Striped Hearse

Join in as we discuss this month’s mystery novel: Ross Macdonald’s The Zebra-Striped Hearse, a classic midcentury title from one of the kings of the…

Aug 23, 2025 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

1:11:02

Monthly Mystery: Some Buried Caesar

Join in as we discuss this month’s mystery novel: Rex Stout’s Some Buried Caesar, a 1930’s classic from one of the most popular of all American mystery…

Jul 18, 2025 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

57:29

Monthly Mystery: John Dickson Carr's "The Seat of the Scornful"

Join in as we discuss this month’s mystery novel: John Dickson Carr’s The Seat of the Scornful, a cult classic from the master of the locked room…

Jun 27, 2025 • David Kern, Sean Johnson, and Heidi White

1:00:31

Monthly Mystery: Mystery Mile

Join in as we discuss this month’s mystery novel: Margery Allingham’s Mystery Mile, a book for which we had varying degrees of affection.

May 25, 2025 • David Kern, Heidi White, and Sean Johnson

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