Critical Readings

Episoder

• CR Episode 331: The Once and Future King, Part VII 13.07.2026 58min

  The panel discusses chapters 1–8 of The Ill-Made Knight, with special attention given to the characterisation and Freudian psychology of Lancelot, contrasting humility with narcissism, and examining the beginning of his relationship with Guenever.Continue reading
• CR Episode 330: The Once and Future King, Part VI 06.07.2026 1t 18min

  The panel reads the second half of The Queen of Air and Darkness, giving special consideration to Arthur's vision of the Round Table and total war, the need for Might to support Right against wickedness, the Aristotelian (or not) nature of the tragedy.Continue reading
• CR Episode 329: The Once and Future King, Part V 29.06.2026 1t 23min

  The panel discusses the first half of The Queen of Air and Darkness (also known as The Witch in the Wood), with particular attention both to the Freudian characterisation of Morgause and her children, and to Merlyn's 'just war' political philosophy.Continue reading
• CR Episode 328: The Once and Future King, Part IV 22.06.2026 1t 8min

  The panel discusses the concluding chapters (20–24) of The Sword in the Stone, with special attention to Arthur's martial inclinations (and what they mean for a broader society), Kay's personal failings (and fundamental goodness), and Merlin's robes.Continue reading
• CR Episode 327: The Once and Future King, Part III 15.06.2026 1t 15min

  The panel discusses chapters 14–19 of The Sword in the Stone, with special attention to White's romanticised depiction of feudalism and the historical setting of the action, and with a comparison of the pacifistic views of the geese vs. the warlike ants.Continue reading
• CR Episode 326: The Once and Future King, Part II 08.06.2026 1t 2min

  The panel reads chapters 8–13 of The Sword in the Stone, with a focus on the precise nature of Merlin's magic and the 'transformations' experienced by the Wart (but not by Kay), and a detailed examination of the episode of the Ants and their collectivism.Continue reading
• CR Episode 325: The Once and Future King, Part I 01.06.2026 1t 10min

  The panel reads the first seven chapters of The Sword in the Stone, with attention given to the modern and medieval aspects of the setting, White's own narratorial voice, the differing metaphors and parallels of characterisation, and the original sources.Continue reading
• CR Episode 324: The Poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson 25.05.2026 58min

  The panel reads three poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson—"Uriel", "Ode Inscribed to William H. Channing", and "The Snow Storm"—with special attention to the role of the poet-philosopher's transcendentalist, romanticist, and abolitionist views in the poems.Continue reading
• CR Episode 323: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V 18.05.2026 1t 8min

  The panel discusses the concluding act and scene of the play, with special attention to the linguistic wordplay and the Shakespearean critique of players, audiences, and critics alike in the both the play-within-a-play device and in Puck's epilogue.Continue reading
• CR Episode 322: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act IV 11.05.2026 53min

  The panel discusses the resolution of the love quadrangle, as Puck puts right the enchantments in order to bring Oberon's original plan to fruition, before turning to consider Titania's relationship to her husband in the wake of her own enchantment.Continue reading
• CR Episode 321: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III 04.05.2026 1t 10min

  The panel discusses the deployment of additional fairy magic, with the transformation of Bottom and the confounding of Helena, and the confusion that results when both Bottom and Helena misbelieve that they are subject of their friends' pranks.Continue reading
• CR Episode 320: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act II 27.04.2026 1t

  The panel discusses the second act and the moment in the play when the plans of the characters begin to go astray due to mischance, with special attention to the tension between Titania and Oberon, and the expanding geographical knowledge of the time.Continue reading
• CR Episode 319: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I 20.04.2026 52min

  The panel discusses the setting and form of the play, before discussing the first act and its complicated love quadrangle, with attention given to love and the threat of violence, and the characters' creation of overlapping plans that threaten to collide.Continue reading
• CR Episode 318: Paradise Regained, Book IV 13.04.2026 1t 3min

  The panel discusThe panel discusses the end of the second temptation, with Satan's exasperation and the exhaustion of his intellect, followed by his less cunning and crafty final temptation, set high atop the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, whence he falls anew.Continue reading
• CR Episode 317: Paradise Regained, Book III 06.04.2026 1t

  The panel discusses the continuation of the second temptation in the desert, with Satan's various presentations of worldly power, and the explication that acceptance of any of his 'gifts' is tantamount to acknowledging his sovereignty over the recipient.Continue reading
• CR Episode 316: Paradise Regained, Book II 30.03.2026 56min

  The panel discusses the second book, with special attention to the newest appearance of Satan, his confusion, and the difference between his first temptation (bread) and this second temptation (a feast), before shifting to his offer of worldly powers.Continue reading
• CR Episode 315: Paradise Regained, Book I 23.03.2026 1t 8min

  The panel discusses the first book of Paradise Regained, the sequel (or continuation) of Paradise Lost, with special attention paid to the particular qualities of the first temptation in the desert, and to the poet's references to the earlier poem.Continue reading
• CR Episode 314: W.H. Auden and Mediaevalism 16.03.2026 1t 9min

  The panel is joined by a special guest, the poet and author Aaron Poochigian, to discuss three medievally-inflected poems by Auden: "Lady Weeping at the Crossroads", "Ode to the Medieval Poets", and the 'Bombing Run' excerpt from "The Age of Anxiety."Continue reading
• CR Episode 313: Sense and Sensibility, Part IV 09.03.2026 1t 13min

  The panel discusses the closing chapters of the novel, with special attention to the quasi-reformation of Willoughby's character, the depths of villainy attained by Lucy Steele, the triumph of Col. Brandon, and Elinor's emotional displays: grief and joy.Continue reading
• CR Episode 312: Sense and Sensibility, Part III 02.03.2026 1t 21min

  The panel discusses chapters 30–39, with the unveiling of secrets including Edward and Lucy's engagement, and Colonel Brandon's connexion to Willoughby, and featuring a discussion of Colonel Brandon's good character and Willoughby's extravagant villainy.Continue reading