We enter the sinister world of Macbeth - a tragedy of ambition, prophecy, guilt, and conscience. With one of the greatest lady villains of all time, this play shows the terrible cost of taking fate into your own hands, whatever it takes. While this one is dark it also does a masterful job of displaying the contrast of the light.

A boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb (yes, really!) gets dragged into a world he doesn’t believe in....and it doesn’t go well at first. Alongside his cousins, Lucy and Edmund, as well as the valiant Reepicheep, and King Caspian of Narnia, the Dawn Treader sails east into unknown waters, looking for lost friends and perhaps, the very end of the world.

And no one is the same by the end of the voyage.

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In the wonderful book, The Giver by Lois Lowry, a young male named Jonas is Eleven, about to become a Twelve. And all seems well. There's structure, there's system, and he knows the rules. But when he's chosen to be the Receiver of Memory, he learns the wonder and the cost of things that extend beyond the safety of his upbringing.

This is a powerful story about what it means to remember, to feel, and to truly live.

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A strange and charming fairy tale about a giant who keeps his heart hidden outside his body.

This tale has all the classic fairytale elements along with the bigger question of why would someone even want to keep their heart elsewhere?

What makes a man “great”—his victories or his character?

In this episode, we step into Plutarch’s account of Alexander the Great. And not just the conqueror of the known world at the time, but the complex, driven, and often contradictory actions of the man himself. From taming the wild horse Bucephalus as a boy to win after win after win in conquering tribes and nations, Alexander’s life is a story of brilliance and ambition.

Plutarch isn’t just reciting history but describing the character of the man. And in Alexander, there's a lot to discover. He led an amazing life by all accounts.

Yes, it's a book! AND one of the best movies of all time.

If you're familiar with the 1987 movie, the book has everything you love about the film but add in back story for several of the characters, including both the Spanish swordsman Inigo and the rhyming giant, Fezzik.

This one has something for everyone with true love, adventure, sword play, intrigue, pirates, revenge, a wedding, and even some tongue in cheek sarcasm provided by William Goldman who abridged the original story, among other things.

You can find all our content, including short stories, on our Patreon here: https://patreon.com/goodstoriespodcast

Unexpected and wonderful characters with immense impact on the lives of those around them. We're happy to be celebrating Tolkien Reading Day, discussing some of the best unlikely heroes in the work of JRR Tolkien. If you're already a Tolkien fan or want to learn more about why so many people love the works of Tolkien so deeply, join us!

In this episode, we trace the extraordinary true story of St. Patrick — from Roman Britain to slavery in Ireland, from lonely shepherd to bold missionary bishop. Captured at sixteen, Patrick spent six years tending sheep, where his hardship became the backdrop for deep faith in a loving God. Years later and after a miraculous escape, he could have stayed safely at home.

He didn’t.

Instead, he returned to the very people who enslaved him and not with revenge, but with the Gospel.

This is the story of the man who became the Apostle to the Irish.

This one's for the parents out there, trying to their best to raise good kids.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside-down house, smells faintly of sugar cookies, and has an earnest love of children. When parents are at their wits’ end, she offers up creative (and often hilarious) cures for kid problems like "I thought you said"ers or "won't go to bed" or "won't take a bath."

This warm and sweet children's classic by Betty MacDonald reminds us that kids grow best with a whole lot of love, some natural consequences, and a good sense of humor.

Continuing the stories of the Norse gods and mythology from the Younger Edda by Snorri Sturluson. In this episode, we meet Bragi — the Mead-Tongued Bard, the word-smith of Valhalla, the keeper of the poetry-mead’s flame.

Here we learn the story behind the kennings — why gold is “Ægir’s fire,” why the sea is the “whale-road,” why poetry itself is “Odin’s stolen mead.” This is more than a list of clever nicknames.

The Skáldskaparmál tells the stories behind the kennings of the gods and the earth and everything in it.