Subtext: Conversations about Classic Books and Films
A podcast by Wes Alwan and Erin O'Luanaigh - Mondays

128 Episodes
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Spiritual Matters in Chekhov’s “The Student” and “A Medical Case”
Published: 26/04/2021 -
Art and Action in Chekhov’s “The House with the Mezzanine”
Published: 12/04/2021 -
Nipped by Love in Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog”
Published: 29/03/2021 -
Business Gets Personal in “The Godfather” (1972)
Published: 01/03/2021 -
(post)script: Post-Hall: Pimps, Pills, and Automobiles
Published: 22/02/2021 -
Love and Nostalgia in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” (1977)
Published: 15/02/2021 -
Yielding to Suggestion in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
Published: 01/02/2021 -
Clever Hopes in W. H. Auden’s “September 1, 1939”
Published: 18/01/2021 -
The “Human Position” of Suffering in W. H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts”
Published: 04/01/2021 -
Mutual Amusement in “The Awful Truth” (1937)
Published: 21/12/2020 -
Against Specialization in Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler”
Published: 07/12/2020 -
Kill Billy: Order and Innocence in Melville’s “Billy Budd”
Published: 23/11/2020 -
(post)script: Post-Gatsby
Published: 16/11/2020 -
The American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”
Published: 09/11/2020 -
Being Yourself in John Cassavetes’s “A Woman Under the Influence”
Published: 26/10/2020 -
Worrying about the Future in Mike Nichols’ “The Graduate”
Published: 05/10/2020 -
Slouching Towards Bethlehem in W.B. Yeats’ “The Second Coming”: Part 2
Published: 28/09/2020 -
Things Fall Apart in W.B. Yeats’ “The Second Coming”: Part 1
Published: 21/09/2020 -
Filial Ingratitude in in Shakespeare’s “King Lear”
Published: 14/09/2020 -
The “Intelligent Way to Approach Marriage” in Hitchcock’s Rear Window
Published: 07/09/2020
Subtext is a book club podcast for readers interested in what the greatest works of the human imagination say about life’s big questions. Each episode, philosopher Wes Alwan and poet Erin O’Luanaigh conduct a close reading of a text or film and co-write an audio essay about it in real time. It’s literary analysis, but in the best sense: we try not overly stuffy and pedantic, but rather focus on unearthing what’s most compelling about great books and movies, and how it is they can touch our lives in such a significant way.