The Catcher in the Rye

On May 19, 1984, an ice cream truck driver from Ohio named Michael Larson wins more than $100,000 on the CBS daytime game show Press Your Luck. How he does it is a total mystery. Is he a scammer? Is he supernaturally lucky? Or has he made his own luck? Help us reach 10k followers ...  Show more

In 1992, UFO researcher Bob Oeschler received a strange package in the mail. It contained documents, purportedly stolen from some top-secret Canadian project, alleging a vast alien cover-up. The envelope contained something else: a VHS tape. The sender – identified only as “Guard ...  Show more

From the early 20th century author Algernon Blackwood comes a chilling story of how an innocent mistake subjected a young man to an otherworldly encounter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

Today’s quote comes from the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. In a society in which books are burned and reading is criminal, is there any value to the written word? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

A convicted murderer - sentenced to life in prison - decides to start publishing children’s books, short stories, and even a memoir. The elite literary community soaks in every word and praises him for becoming a reformed man in prison. 

They even sta ...

Books are often viewed as the pinnacle of civilization; war, on the other hand, is where civilization breaks down. What happens when these two forces encounter one another? In this episode, Jacke talks to esteemed literary historian Andrew Pettegree about his new book, The Book a ...  Show more