Please enjoy these bloopers and funny moments from the first 20 episodes of the podcast (plus the holiday special). I hope you get a chuckle or two out of them. I know they make me laugh, but I was there!

Remember, I'll be back with new episodes for the fall semester! Keep following on Twitter @whydowereadthis for updates.

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Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

Please enjoy these bloopers and funny moments from the first 20 episodes of the podcast (plus the holiday special). I hope you get a chuckle or two out of them. I know they make me laugh, but I was there!

Remember, I'll be back with new episodes for the fall semester! Keep following on Twitter @whydowereadthis for updates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

In this episode, my mother and I discuss A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. We talk about nested stories and how they affect our understanding of the outer story as well as lessons that can be learned from them. We also discuss adaptations geared toward children and how an early introduction to a story line can help a reader better comprehend the original text when they eventually come across it.

We utilized the Royal Shakespeare Company's unabridged 1968 production of the play to fully understand how the text would be performed.

Additional sources referenced include: A Vanity Fair article entitled “How Dear White People Crafts Its Hilarious Shows-Within-a-Show" by Laura Bradley and The Humor Code by Peter McGraw and Joel Warner.

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

In this episode, my mother and I discuss A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. We talk about nested stories and how they affect our understanding of the outer story as well as lessons that can be learned from them. We also discuss adaptations geared toward children and how an early introduction to a story line can help a reader better comprehend the original text when they eventually come across it.

We utilized the Royal Shakespeare Company's unabridged 1968 production of the play to fully understand how the text would be performed.

Additional sources referenced include: A Vanity Fair article entitled “How Dear White People Crafts Its Hilarious Shows-Within-a-Show" by Laura Bradley and The Humor Code by Peter McGraw and Joel Warner.

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

The final project that I assigned this semester asked students to compare one of the works of literature we read in class to pop-culture from today and it gave students the options to present their research in one of three formats: a paper, a video, or a podcast episode.

Five students who completed podcast episodes gave me their permission to share their work as part of a Why Do We Read This episode.

This episode features English 2800 student Afshara Choudhury and English 2850 students Kevin Nguyen and Yehuda Tenenbaum.

Kevin's project was a comparison of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift and the animated series South Park. Afshara's podcast was about Sanskrit poet Bhartrhari's poem As the Sun Rises and Sets and Modern Family. And Yehuda covered parallels he saw between Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler and BoJack Horseman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

The final project that I assigned this semester asked students to compare one of the works of literature we read in class to pop-culture from today and it gave students the options to present their research in one of three formats: a paper, a video, or a podcast episode.

Five students who completed podcast episodes gave me their permission to share their work as part of a Why Do We Read This episode.

This episode features English 2800 student Afshara Choudhury and English 2850 students Kevin Nguyen and Yehuda Tenenbaum.

Kevin's project was a comparison of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift and the animated series South Park. Afshara's podcast was about Sanskrit poet Bhartrhari's poem As the Sun Rises and Sets and Modern Family. And Yehuda covered parallels he saw between Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler and BoJack Horseman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

The final project that I assigned this semester asked students to compare one of the works of literature we read in class to pop-culture from today and it gave students the options to present their research in one of three formats: a paper, a video, or a podcast episode.

Five students who completed podcast episodes gave me their permission to share their work as part of a Why Do We Read This episode.

This episode features English 2800 student Daniel Carku and English 2850 student Ying Mai.

Daniel’s project was a comparison of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes and the popular anime Naruto while Ying's podcast was about Voltaire’s satirical novella Candide and another well-known anime, Demon Slayer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

The final project that I assigned this semester asked students to compare one of the works of literature we read in class to pop-culture from today and it gave students the options to present their research in one of three formats: a paper, a video, or a podcast episode.

Five students who completed podcast episodes gave me their permission to share their work as part of a Why Do We Read This episode.

This episode features English 2800 student Daniel Carku and English 2850 student Ying Mai.

Daniel’s project was a comparison of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes and the popular anime Naruto while Ying's podcast was about Voltaire’s satirical novella Candide and another well-known anime, Demon Slayer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

In this extra special episode, I welcome FOUR guests! Four of my seven sisters, Brooke Walker, Ashley Clement, Jillian Torabpour, and Kerrie Walker. Together we are "The Original Five." We discuss sisters and sister dynamics, both in real life and in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. We also consider the men and the parents in the novel and why they acted the way they did.

We utilized various editions of the novel, along with mini-series and film adaptations for our discussion.

Additional sources referenced include: A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists From Brontë to Lessing, by Elaine Showalter.

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

In this extra special episode, I welcome FOUR guests! Four of my seven sisters, Brooke Walker, Ashley Clement, Jillian Torabpour, and Kerrie Walker. Together we are "The Original Five." We discuss sisters and sister dynamics, both in real life and in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. We also consider the men and the parents in the novel and why they acted the way they did.

We utilized various editions of the novel, along with mini-series and film adaptations for our discussion.

Additional sources referenced include: A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists From Brontë to Lessing, by Elaine Showalter.

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois