Latest Escapism Podcast Episodes
Bel Canto By Ann Patchett with bonus aria performed by Mary Ann Claros
Reality Raincheck - April 30, 2024 21:13 - 1 hourOn the plots surface, Bel Canto details a hostage situation that takes place at an embassy in Peru. But when one delves deeper, it is a meditation on the healing and uniting power of art, specifically that of opera to bring people of completely different cultures and languages together to apprec...
Zion Earth Zen Sky: A Memoir, with author Dr. Charles Inouye
Reality Raincheck - March 30, 2024 18:01 - 2 hoursJoin us for this book club chat as we interview author Dr. Charles Inouye about his beautiful memoir, Zion Earth Zen Sky. He details the experiences from his life as a child growing up in rural Sigurd, Utah. As Japanese-Americans, his family eventually settled there after his parents met at an i...
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot with guest John Bennion
Reality Raincheck - February 29, 2024 20:13 - 1 hourGeorge Eliot, who's actual name is Mary Ann Evans, was one of the best Victorian authors to have emerged from England. Join us in this book club chat with author John Bennion, and former BYU professor of the British novel. While this novel has slow beginnings, the pace quickens and provides such...
Bonus Episode: A selection of poems by Mary Oliver with guest Jessie Scoville
Reality Raincheck - January 31, 2024 20:41 - 1 hourIf you want a glimpse into beautiful nature poetry, look no further than the poems of Mary Oliver. She was considered to be one of America's finest poets, winning the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Her poems, and the reading of them, connect you more closely to the natural world and...
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Reality Raincheck - December 31, 2023 04:19 - 1 hourEowyn Ivey’s debut novel The Snow Child is a beautiful journey into the imagination and the wilds of Alaska. Incorporating the Russian fairytale, the Snow Maiden, Ivey breaths new life into an old tale, and lets live the idea that hope (along with a child) can spring from even the most harsh an...
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson with guest Dr. Carl Sederholm
Reality Raincheck - November 30, 2023 23:43 - 1 hourIf you're curious about the origin story of the haunted house, look no further than Shirley Jackson's classic horror novel, The Haunting of Hill House. We are joined for this book club chat by horror professor, Dr. Carl Sederholm, who recently published a chapter in a work about Shirley Jackson....
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Reality Raincheck - November 02, 2023 01:02 - 1 hourBarbara Kingsolver's best selling novel The Poisonwood Bible is a masterful historical fiction about the Price family. While their story is fictional, the backdrop and historical events of the narrative are an accurate depiction of life in the Congo. It's an eye-opening tale told from the perspe...
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen with guest John Bennion
Reality Raincheck - October 01, 2023 03:41 - 1 hourJoin us for this book club chat about Austen's first novel Sense and Sensibility. Former BYU professor and author, John Bennion, will discuss the merits of the book and Austen's growth as a novelist as she improved upon her craft in subsequent books. The film adaptation of the book as written by...
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
Reality Raincheck - August 30, 2023 18:17 - 1 hourJoanna Quinn's debut novel, The Whalebone Theatre, is historical fiction at its finest. We are transported to southern England off the coast of Dorset, where we meet three unlikely heroes--Cristabel, Flossie, and Digby. They are siblings who grow up against the backdrop of the second world war. ...
All Things New by Fiona and Terryl Givens with guest Fiona Givens
Reality Raincheck - August 01, 2023 02:45 - 1 hourThis conversation with author, mother, grandmother, scholar, and kind soul Fiona Givens, was healing. If you have not read the books she co-authored with her husband, Terryl Givens, you are missing out on some beautiful and poetic explorations of theology within the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat...
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
Reality Raincheck - June 30, 2023 22:34 - 1 hourJoin us in our book club chat as we discuss Jonathan Haidt's work of social psychology, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided By Religion and Politics. Whether you find yourself politically on the left, right, or in-between, we could all benefit from a little application of empathy for...
Silence By Shusaku Endo with guest Van Gessel
Reality Raincheck - May 31, 2023 21:48 - 1 hourJoin us as we discuss Shusaku Endo's novel of historical fiction Silence, where he confronts the age old question of "Where is God during human suffering?" Van Gessel, our guest and translator of many of Endo's novels, joins us to clarify some of the discrepancies in the original translation, as...
How to have fun adventures with Sarah Cole
Reality Raincheck - April 28, 2023 22:13 - 35 minutesSarah Cole joins me in this interview about the great escape of creating adventures. Find and follow her on instagram at hatgirladventures for some refreshing ways of getting out of the daily grind, and seeing the things around you that you never knew were always there. Dust off your favorite ha...
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Reality Raincheck - March 31, 2023 13:34 - 1 hourI can't sufficiently sum up what this book accomplishes, but sufficeth to say that Dame Antonia Byatt won the Booker prize (England's most prestigious award for literature) because her book is masterfull in its telling. It is at once a romance and a mystery, modern and victorian, and a book that...
The Great Escape of Music
Reality Raincheck - March 01, 2023 03:37 - 24 minutesIf you find yourself in a quaundry over how to best appreciate music, join me as I discuss some creative ideas for playlists, and how to surround yourself with the music that you had forgotten you always loved. We have such amazing access to mood-enhancing music in so many genres. When was the l...
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Reality Raincheck - January 31, 2023 17:07 - 1 hourJoin us for this book club chat about Alexandre Dumas classic adventure tale of revenge, The Count of Monte Cristo. It is clear why this book has withstood the test of time, and is so widely recogized as great french literature. But if you don't have time to give it a read, give this podcast a l...
The Box of Delights by John Masefield
Reality Raincheck - December 20, 2022 02:52 - 43 minutesWe loved reading and discussing this Christmas classic, The Box of Delights. Author, John Masefield transports us to the wintery british world of the 1930's, where Kay and his young friends have many fanciful and sometimes dangerous adventures together. If you've ever wanted to enter the world o...
Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
Reality Raincheck - November 30, 2022 20:12 - 49 minutesJoin us as we discuss Ray Bradbury's coming of age story Something Wicked This Way Comes. Bradbury uses the backdrop of a small town in Illinois with a traveling carnival that entices two teenagers with all of its attractions and curiosities. The carnival will ultimately imprison you in your own...
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Reality Raincheck - October 31, 2022 02:36 - 1 hourJoin us for this book club chat as we discuss the guilded age of New York, and the american author who shed so much light on the time, Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence illuminates the rigid societal norms of pre-WWI New York, and the contraints that we make on our hearts, for better or worse,...
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
Reality Raincheck - September 29, 2022 18:04 - 58 minutesWe thoroughly loved reading and discussing this exciting travel narrative, The Salt Path. Raynor Winn has captured a beautiful and harrowing memoir about homelessness and surival. She redefines home as the relationships that mean the most, and the walking paths that keep you moving forward. It i...
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Reality Raincheck - August 31, 2022 19:29 - 1 hourBotanist Robin Wall Kimmerer weaves a beautiful story, rich with both scientific and native american culture. She tells the story of our relationship to the earth and what we can learn from indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the wisdom of plants. If you're looking for a book that will ...
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Reality Raincheck - July 15, 2022 04:51 - 1 hourIn Maggie O'Farrell's novel, Hamnet, we are transported to the life of Agnes (Anne) Shakespeare. Though little is known historically about Shakespeares life, so much can be gleaned from what is known. O'Farrell has captured beautifully the grief that comes from loving and then losing a child. Th...
A House Full of Females by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Reality Raincheck - May 30, 2022 23:45 - 1 hourHarvard Professor and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, is an extraordinary American Historian. She has woven together a work that is by far the most comprehensive of its kind. Ulrich uses first hand accounts to build a personal look into the women and men who practiced plura...
Lovely War by Julie Berry
Reality Raincheck - April 30, 2022 22:16 - 43 minutesJoin us for this discussion of Julie Berry's young adult novel Lovely War. A romance that takes place during WWI as told by the gods of olympus. Highly readable, and highly serendipidous that I was able to find the recording of this podcast! I thought it was lost forever. Enjoy.
The Joys of Schadenfreudes and how to get through hard things
Reality Raincheck - March 30, 2022 19:03 - 31 minutesHaving a spouse deploy is hard. Having him deploy for 11 months straight is even harder. Having him away while managing to keep healthy and alive your three young children is nigh impossible. Join me for a tell-all as I detail the comical crucible that has been my life for the last several month...
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
Reality Raincheck - January 31, 2022 21:13 - 1 hourIn this book club chat, we discuss Ted Chiang's compilation of short stories titled Exhalation. Although a sci-fi writer, his ability to focus on the human element is what makes the stories readable, memorable, and very fun to discuss. Come with us to consider how we capture memories, whether w...
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
Reality Raincheck - December 31, 2021 05:04 - 1 hourThis book is a beautiful memoir that takes us on a journey through the cold months of the year. If you're looking for some ideas about how to better endure the winter months, or the emotional winters that occur in our lives, you'll want to give this book club chat a listen. You will be among fri...
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Reality Raincheck - November 17, 2021 19:47 - 46 minutesFor those of us who love a good murder mystery, or 10 mysterious murders, consider reading Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None. Christie has the mind of a puzzler, and you won't be able to put the pieces together--try as you might. Join us as we talk about these suspicious character...
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
Reality Raincheck - October 17, 2021 03:42 - 1 hourJoin us for this book club chat in which we discuss Thomas Hardy's novel The Woodlanders. We have the privilege of reuniting with our dear, BYU professor, John Bennion, who is a Hardy expert and himself a novelist. We talk about how Hardy was superb at his craft because he could weave interestin...
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
Reality Raincheck - September 30, 2021 22:38 - 1 hourThe Eye of the World is a fantasy book written by Robert Jordan. It is the first book in a very epic series, and in this episode we discuss some of the reasons that Jordan keeps the tension alive through using archetypes and impressive world and character building skills. A fun read to follow up...
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