Life on Dune isn’t a jigsaw puzzle, it’s a roiling sack of snakes. Isabel, Aidan and Gabe ponder just what makes intrigue so repulsive. Why do we want a character to come out on top? How do the characters (and the author) use information? Join us in discussing a world where water, like information, is a currency that comes at a dear price.

One is not to discuss religion and politics in polite company. Dante’s Purgatorio contains more than a dab of both, so unsurprisingly our opinions were a lot more adamant than usual. Is Purgatory possible within the parameters of the Bible? Is it an abstract construct or a physical place? Why do we read this thing anyway? Join Aidan, Gabe, and Isabel and take your stand!

Where is God? Do we owe him, or does he owe us? Percy Shelley’s Frankenstein’s Monster explores the tragedy of a fallen existence. Isabel, Aidan and Gabe weigh in on loneliness, sin, and the result of playing God. On a cheerful note, it’s Isabel’s birthday. Tune on in!

Everyone loves a good mystery--but why? And what makes Sherlock Holmes especially shine? Join Gabe, Aidan and Isabel in their attempt to solve this case!

In which Gabe and Aidan struggle to convince the singularly obtuse Isabel that Brave New World is a plausible book. What would heaven look like for you? Is pleasure possible without pain? And how does our current culture line up with Huxley’s dark prophecies? We’re excited to share the discussion with you!

The old man has lots of blood in him, and now it’s on Macbeth’s hands. Join Gabe and Isabel in welcoming Joeli as a guest on the podcast as we interpret Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. Were the prophecies binding? What is guilt? Was Macbeth a narcissist, or just proud?

Books are burning, but it’s a symptom of something deeper: a spontaneous culture-wide amnesia of mankind’s best ideas. Can it be reversed? What makes the Phoenix rise? Join Aidan, Isabel and Gabe as they follow Montag’s journey from mindless lethargy to kindled hope.

He was a strange old man who had gone 40 days without a fish, and so are we. Gabe, Aidan, and Isabel go angling in Hemmingway’s deceptively simple novella, The Old Man and the Sea. What was he fishing for? Did he withstand the sharks? Explore with us this tale of endurance and dignity. Go fishing, don’t go out too far, and dream of lions!

In which Gabe gabs and Aidan adages over Oedipus at Colonus, part 2 of Sophocles’s Theban Trilogy. Isabel interrupts in time to tackle Antigone. Does pride lead to a fall, or only obstinacy? Ought one oblige the gods, one’s leaders, or one’s self? Mull it over with us!

Join us on the Lighthouse podcast. Gabe, Isabel, and Aidan convene for the first time to discuss Oedipus Tyrannus. The first play of the Theban Trilogy, Oedipus is a tragedy of crime and denial. In a world where blind men see and seeing men are introspectively blind, is Oedipus the culprit or the victim? Are we fighting fate, or against ourselves?