Crack The Book: A Beginner's Guide to Reading the Great Books

Latest Episodes:

Born in the U.S.A. Week 39: A Handful of 19th Century American Writers [REPLAY] May 05, 2026

Show notes

While we are on a break, enjoy this episode from Season 2. Season 3 starts May 19!

Week 39 of Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities Course takes on nineteenth-century American literature. To my surprise, this became one of the most enjoyable weeks so far. I went in dreading familiar names and old high-school resentments, but came out newly energized.

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (chapters 1–6) was funny, humane, and immediately engaging. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and “The Raven” used ornate language to heighten unease, while Emily Dickinson’s poems felt weightless and startlingly modern. Henry David Thoreau’s Walden was quotable and provocative, if ultimately grating, and Herman Melville surprised me most of all: Bartleby, the Scrivener lingered with quiet power, and the opening of Moby-Dick left me eager for more.

This week revealed a real shift in voice and sensibility—and changed my mind about American literature. I’m looking forward to going back and reading more, but first we need to move on to Week 40 and Russian Literature!

LINK

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes (Amazon affiliate links): https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

CONNECT

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

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LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

Everything's going to be okay. Week 25 (2): Dante's Divine Comedy, Paradiso [REPLAY] Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

While we are on a break, enjoy this episode from Season 2. Season 3 starts May 19!

My son Jack is back as we discuss Paradiso, Jack's favorite part of Dante's Divine Comedy. I absolutely love getting to chat with him again (see a couple of earlier episodes linked below). We talk about why he loves Dante in general, and Paradiso in particular. Highlights include:

Dante's bravery (or chutzpah!) in writing his poetry and scholarly works in Italian rather than Latin;
Who Dante is for (spoiler--it's for YOU), and why (the title of this episode is a big hint!);
How people of different ages see Dante in a different light;
Why a map of Heaven is really hard to draw, especially compared to Hell and Purgatory.

Jack wrote his thesis on part of the Divine Comedy, and he has a lot of experience in the classroom with Dante, so he brings a lot of his knowledge to expand on what we've been talking about for the last two weeks.

This episode forms a kind of trilogy on Crack the Book: two weeks ago we discussed Inferno, and last week my friend Lisa and I covered Purgatorio. It's my hope that these three podcasts will inspire you to pick up your own copy of the Divine Comedy and jump in.

Season 3 is coming May 19!

LINK

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

Crack the Book, Inferno Episode

Crack the Book, Purgatorio Episode

Jack's Episode About Boethius

Jack's Episode About the Odyssey

CONNECT

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes (Amazon affiliate links): https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

Fate Up Against Your Will. Week 26: Shakespeare's Hamlet, MacBeth and King Lear [REPLAY] Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

While we are on a break, enjoy this episode from Season 2. Season 3 starts May 19!

CtB Replay: Wouldn't It Be Good (To Live in Their World?). Week 30: Cervantes' Don Quixote and Moliére's Tartuffe [REPLAY] Apr 14, 2026

Show notes

While we are on a break, enjoy this episode from Season 2!

This week we pair two early-modern comedies that show how laughter can reveal truth. But first, we do a quick review of European history, looking at France, Spain, Italy and England, trying to place the things we're reading inside history. (I knew next to nothing about Spain at this time so it was really helpful for me!)

This is a replay of one of my favourite episodes, episode 32. New episodes out May 19th!

Cervantes’ Don Quixote (1605) introduces a middle-aged dreamer who decides to become a knight-errant, setting out with his baffled squire Sancho Panza to defend honor and right wrongs. The famous windmill scene is only the start of his misadventures. Quixote is absurd yet strangely noble—so devoted to his ideals that he reshapes reality around them. His neighbors burn his books, a shepherdess defends her independence, and somehow, amid the chaos, it’s all deeply human.

Molière’s Tartuffe (1664) offers lighter, sharper satire. The pious fraud Tartuffe charms his way into Orgon’s household, scheming for both wife and wealth while the women—wife, daughter, and maid—quietly outsmart him. The play’s snappy dialogue and quick pacing make it pure joy, right up until its too-neat royal ending.

Both works explore self-delusion and sincerity, showing how belief, hypocrisy, and humor can coexist. This week’s music—Spanish piano by Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados—was the perfect accompaniment: bright, bold, and unexpected.

We'll be back next week with a look at The Prince (Machiavelli) and The Social Contract (Rousseau). See you then!

LINK

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link)

CONNECT

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

Right Here, Right Now. Looking Back at Season 2–and Ahead to Season 3! Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

After a year of reading through Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities list, I’ve finally reached the end. How surprising that it doesn’t feel like an ending at all! This final episode is less about individual books and more about what the project revealed over time: how we read, how we think, and how we change.

Having finished, I genuinely believe in occasional deep projects, for a variety of reasons. I offer a wide variety of ideas for proceeding, the mechanics that make it possible. For me, that included physical books, note-taking, weekly writing. I also share how those habits shaped not just my understanding of the texts, but my ability to engage deeply with them. Along the way, I developed better reading and study skills, gained confidence, and discovered unexpected joy, patience, and even peace in sustained intellectual work.

There were highs (Aristotle, Shakespeare, poetry) and lows (a few truly painful reads, and moments of doubt about the project itself). But even the difficult parts proved valuable.

Most of all, this year confirmed something I didn’t fully believe before: reading widely and seriously can change you. Not all at once, but steadily, quietly, and for the better.

The happiest news? This isn’t an end. We are just getting started! Season Three starts May 19.

LINK

Season Three Questionnaire

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link)

CONNECT

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

Once in a Lifetime. Week 52: Stories about Humans with Didion, Butler, Wallace and O'Brien Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

***Please fill out my podcast questionnaire!! Thank You!!***

Week 52 and, somehow, the end of Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities project. We've got time to process all the emotions next week. For now, on to the readings!

This final week brings together a really cool set of 20th and 21st century works—Octavia Butler, Joan Didion, Tim O'Brien, the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, and David Foster Wallace—all circling what Gioia calls “untenable situations.” How do you find your way through a problem that seems to have no exit?

Butler’s "Bloodchild" is visceral and unsettling, asking what we owe the people we love.

Didion’s "The White Album" treats memories as snapshots, raising questions about how we make sense of a life at all.

O’Brien’s "The Things They Carried" explores both physical and emotional burdens, especially the pull of home.

The Big Book is strikingly direct: change begins with honest self-confrontation and surrender.

And Wallace—unexpectedly one of my favorites of the whole year—follows a drifting young man who stumbles into meaning, not heroism, but something smaller and real.

Together, they offer a glimpse into what it means to be a modern human. But here's a spoiler: I don't really think it's all that different than it ever was.

Come back next week for the season finale and a wrap-up of the whole project!

LINK

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link)

CONNECT

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

Welcome to the Machine. Week 51: Brave New World Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

Please answer our SHORT questionnaire!

We have a treat this week: My husband Bill read Brave New World shortly after I did, so today we discuss it together!

BNW presents a dystopian world that feels less like oppression and more like a perfectly engineered system. In this world, humans are no longer born but manufactured, sorted into castes, and conditioned for their roles. The goal is “community, identity, stability,” maintained through constant consumption, casual sex, and a drug called soma that keeps everyone comfortably numb.

When Bernard, an uneasy insider, brings John “the Savage” back from a reservation, the cracks begin to show. Raised on The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, John sees what others cannot: a world without family, love, or real freedom.

Huxley’s warns us about seduction. This is a society people don’t resist—because they’ve been trained not to want anything deeper. Which raises the real question: if everything works, what exactly have we lost?

LINK

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link)

CONNECT

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

Freeze Frame. Week 50: Susan Sontag, Walter Benjamin, and José Ortega y Gassett Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

Week 50 of Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities List brings us to three mid-20th-century thinkers wrestling with art, media, and the modern world: Susan Sontag, Walter Benjamin, and José Ortega y Gasset.

I begin with Susan Sontag’s famous essay “In Plato’s Cave” from On Photography. Writing in 1972, she asks how photography changes our relationship to memory and experience. At the time, photographs were printed objects. We saved them in albums, books, or wallets. Today we carry thousands in our pockets. If photographs once captured moments, now they seem to overwhelm them.

Walter Benjamin’s “Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” pushes this further, asking what happens to art when it can be endlessly copied. Photography and film, he argues, transform not just art but perception itself.

Finally, José Ortega y Gasset’s The Revolt of the Masses explores the rise of “mass-man”—a culture where opinions are everywhere but the pursuit of truth is optional.

Taken together, these essays were more uncomfortable than I expected: the problems of our modern media world may have been visible long before smartphones, if only we'd paid attention.

LINK

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link)

CONNECT

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

C’est Si Bon. Week 49: Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, and René Girard Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Week 49 of Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities list brings three modern French thinkers into conversation: Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, and René Girard. Unlike many earlier weeks in this project, these readings aren’t novels or unified texts—they’re philosophical excerpts that stand largely on their own. So rather than forcing a single theme, I consider how each of these writers might still be shaping the world we live in today.

Beauvoir’s The Second Sex asks why “man” is treated as the default while woman becomes the “other,” raising questions that still echo in modern debates about biology, identity, and women’s health. It even makes an appearance with an interaction I had with ChatGPT!

Foucault’s “Eye of Power” examines surveillance and the famous “Panopticon,” showing how systems of observation quietly shape behavior. This is an idea that feels spookily prescient in our world of cameras, cookies, and algorithms.

Finally, René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire and scapegoating offers a striking explanation for why humans compete, blame, and sometimes unite against a chosen victim. Spoiler: I really love Girard.

LINK

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link)

CONNECT

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

Strange Magic. Week 48: Kafka, Borges, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

For Week 48 of Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities List, I step into the strange, shimmering world of Kafka's Metamorphosis, Borges' Ficciones, and Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude.

We start with a review of myth, fantasy, fairy stories, and magic: why we need them and what purpose they can serve in our lives (aside from being really fun). Kafka’s tragic insect-turned-son is an isolated, powerless creature, unable to find even a way to communicate. Borges dazzles at a remove, writing about books that never existed and worlds that ought to. García Márquez slows us down in Macondo, Colombia, where memory, invention, and the wonder seep into ordinary life.

Together, they sketch the contours of magical realism, worlds where the bizarre is presented as normal and the universe feels just slightly tilted. It’s a genre I love, one that resists strict materialism and invites wonder back into fiction.

And for art? We look at **La Sagrada Familia**—Gaudí’s breathtaking, almost-otherworldly cathedral—an architectural reminder that the strange and the sacred often live side by side.

LINK

Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!)

My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link)

CONNECT

The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r

To read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.

Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/

LISTEN

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321

Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm