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PODCAST

Books of Titans Podcast

Welcome to the Books of Titans Podcast where I (Erik Rostad) seek truth & beauty in the Immortal Books. My goal is to read the Great Books written by 200 authors over the next 15 years and share what I’m learning. I’ll talk a bit about each book, tie ideas together from a variety of genres, and share the one thing I always hope to remember from each of the Immortal Books. www.booksoftitans.com

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All Episodes

17:31

#258 - The Last Sweet Mile by Allen Levi

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/08/15

A life well-lived. Looking back, what would make you say that about your own life? What would constitute that well-lived life? Would it contain grand gestures seen by many or small, sacred acts seen by few?The Last Sweet Mile is a long letter written by Allen Levi to his family that covers the last year of his brother Gary’s life. They had a special relationship. A relationship we all long for. They were remarkably close. Gary was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011 and died an exact year later on

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35:20

The DIY Great Books Approach

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/08/08

This episode is for anyone who wants to tackle the Great Books independently—whether you’re years out of college or just looking for a self-guided approach. Not sure where to begin? In this episode, I share ideas on how to prepare, start, and continue on your very own Great Books journey. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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28:36

#257 - An Odyssey by Daniel Mendelsohn

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/08/01

I book the author events at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN, and earlier this year, I saw that Dr. Mendelsohn was coming out with a brand new translation of The Odyssey for the University of Chicago Press. I reached out to Dr. Mendelsohn to see if he would be near Franklin any time soon, and to my delight, he was able to do an author event.It was fascinating. I learned so much about The Odyssey and about his translation choices. It shed new light on the epic. You can watch the event here and

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37:33

#256 - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/07/25

This book is seared into my memory. I first read it in August of 2002 and just re-read it for the second time in my life. My memory of the work from my first reading was near exact, something that almost never happens to me. It struck such a cord in my 20s that I thought about it often over the subsequent 20+ years. It is one of the most important novels I have ever read.Dorian Gray makes a Faustian bargain to retain his youth in exchange for his soul. A painted portrait then takes on his “passions

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51:24

#255 - The Library of Ancient Wisdom by Selena Wisnom

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/07/18

Ashurbanipal was king of Assyria from 669 to 631BC. He was a warrior poet, a scholar who carried a pen in his belt while decimating foes with cruel and unusual punishments. In a miraculous twist of history, the fire that destroyed his famous library is the very thing that ensured its survival. The fire solidified his 30,000+ clay tablets.Those clay tablets, lost to history for 2,400+ years, now mostly reside in the British Museum, where Cuneiform scholars work their way through works of astrology,

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32:18

2025 Mid-Year Reading Review

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/07/11

I find it helpful to take a step back from day to day reading to consider overall themes that show up over spans of reading time. That’s what I do in this episode. I look at the first half of reading for 2025 and talk about the 19 books I’ve read so far. I then talk about my favorite books, things I enjoy about Greek Literature, and share the one idea so far this year that has had the biggest impact. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to

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39:37

#254 - The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/07/04

Last week, I discussed Anabasis by Xenophon, which covers the failed attempt of Cyrus the Younger to rule the Persian Empire with the help of 10,000+ Greek Mercenaries. The Education of Cyrus covers a different Cyrus, Cyrus the Great (600 - 530BC). This is the Cyrus in the Bible. The Cyrus of the British Museum’s Cyrus Cylinder. The Cyrus who conquered the Babylonians.The Education of Cyrus differs from Xenophon’s Hellenika and Anabasis in that it is largely a fictionalized account of Cyrus’ life

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40:39

#253 - Anabasis by Xenophon

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/06/27

The Persian Cyrus the Younger recruits Greek mercenaries (12,900 to be exact, although Ten Thousand has a nicer ring to it) to help him try to claim the throne of Persia. The battle doesn’t go well, Cyrus loses a hand and a head, and the Greeks are forced to retreat to their country of origin. These events, take place between 401 - 399BC.Anabasis means a movement upwards, but can also refer both to an advance and a retreat. Both occur in this work, with Xenophon not only authoring the work but being

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19:53

Should You Re-Read Books From Your Past or Focus on...

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/06/20

I love experiencing a book for the first time. There’s the rush of discovering a new story, an intoxicating idea, or a memorable character. By the time I’ve finished the book, I’m ready to get that hit again with a new book. I actually fear the high won’t be as good if I go back and read a book for a second time, even if it’s a book I really enjoyed.But that’s not how books work. Re-reading a book creates a new experience, not a recreation of the first reading. I’ve changed during readings. Life

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29:20

#252 - The Frogs by Aristophanes

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/06/13

It took me 5 comedy plays by Aristophanes to begin to enjoy them. This was the 5th. It wasn’t as crude or banal as the first four I read (Clouds, Birds, Lysistrata, Women of the Assembly). I really enjoyed this one. Dionysus journeys to Hades to meet Euripides. A verbal contest ensues between the great tragedians Aeschylus and Euripides to determine who is the Best Tragic Poet. On the way to Hades, Dionysus hears the song of the Frogs, the title for this play.The Frogs was first performed at the

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33:45

#251 - The Clouds by Aristophanes

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/06/06

A father seeks to get out of debt, not in the traditional way of paying it off, but in the new way of winning an argument over his creditors. It doesn’t matter whether the argument is true or not, only if it gets him out of debt.This quest drives the father, Strepsiades, into the school of Socrates (likely in attendance at the play in 423BC) to learn the “wrong argument.” What ensues is a hilarious series of scenes masking some serious commentary on truth, justice, and persuasion. Arguments in the

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52:17

#250 - Reading the Greek Tragedies

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/05/30

I just finished reading all of the Greek Tragedies that survive from Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. That was not the plan, I only expected to read 2 or 3 by each playwright, but I got hooked.In this episode, I share about my experience, cover the major themes throughout those plays, and talk about my favorites. These stories will be with me for the rest of my life. They cover ideas we hear daily in politics, news, and conversation. The plays are utterly thrilling and breathtaking.And we only

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26:17

#249 - Bacchae by Euripides

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/05/23

Homer (Simpson, not the epic poet) once said that alcohol is the “cause of... and solution to... all of life's problems.” I think of that quote when I think of the god Dionysus (also known as Bacchus). Dionysus is the god of joy and celebration, but also madness and violence. The god of inspiration and intoxication. He’s the god the indwells through wine, which can both bring happiness and cause drunkenness.The women who follow Dionysus are called Maenads or Bacchants. They worship outside of the

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29:49

#248 - Helen by Euripides

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/05/16

What if everything you knew of Helen of Troy wasn’t true? That she didn’t go with Paris to Troy. That instead, she was whisked away to Egypt while the Greeks and Trojans battled it out over her phantom.That’s the storyline of Helen by Euripides. It brings into question perception vs reality. It provides Helen a way to redeem her name. And it makes for an absolutely brilliant and entertaining tragedy play about the most famous woman in Greek literature.In this episode, I cover the storyline, main

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40:29

#247 - Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/05/09

Homer doesn’t mention her but she permeates the Iliad. Without her, Aeschylus’ Oresteia doesn’t pack the same punch. Her story is so tragic that Euripides doesn’t let this play end as it should. He has her whisked away so she is not sacrificed.Her name is Iphigenia. She’s the daughter of Agamemnon, the King of the Greeks. This play takes place before the Iliad, before the Trojan War. The Greeks with their 1000 ships are headed to Troy to reclaim Helen. But Agamemnon has messed up. He hunted one of

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19:18

#246 - Orestes by Euripides

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/05/02

That’s such a brutal painting. Orestes has stabbed his own mother and the furies are immediately there to torment him. The story of Orestes was explored by each of the three main Greek tragedy playwrights, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Aeschylus set the standard with The Oresteia, Sophocles approached it through Electra, and Euripides through both Orestes & Electra.Orestes if a fascinating character study. He kills his mother Clytemnestra in vengeance of her killing her husband, Orestes’

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29:29

#245 - Free Speech by Jacob Mchangama

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/04/18

“In fact, free speech may well be the most powerful engine of equality ever devised by human kind.”Free Speech by Jacob Mchangama presents a thorough and fascinating look at the history of free speech through the ages. What’s amazing is that free speech is a rather recent phenomenon, is quite fragile, and most of the people I consider to be the bulwarks of free speech were not as principled as I thought.I got to meet Jacob last week and hear more about this book at an event at Landmark Booksellers

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25:35

How Can I Teach Myself to Read Better as an Adult?

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/04/11

A few years ago, I read a book about a coffee entrepreneur. It was really good. I immediately thought about a new friend of mine who worked at a coffee shop. I bought the book for him and met up a few weeks later to hear what he thought. His comments shocked me.He thanked me for the book and said it was the first full book he had read since college. This was a man in his early 30s, which means he hadn’t read a book in nearly 10 years.I think that’s where a lot of adults find themselves. Life gets

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24:55

#244 - Phoenician Women by Euripides

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/04/04

Euripides’ Phoenician Women mimics the Aeschylus tragedy Seven Against Thebes with some key differences. One of those is the composition of the members of the chorus. Aeschylus chose Theban women as the members of his chorus but Euripides selected foreign slave women from Tyre en route to Delphi. They don’t have skin in the game like the Theban women do as they watch their royal line destroy themselves before their eyes.I think Euripides’ choice is so interesting. Not only did he select the

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31:36

#243 - The Authentic Confucius by Annping Chin

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/03/28

Most of the sayings of Confucius consist of three parts:* The Saying* The Person* The Time/LocationIf you just read The Analects, you get all of the sayings and if you’re very diligent (or use a commentary), you can get to know the people Confucius addresses in his responses. What’s difficult to gather from The Analects is the historical context (time/location) in which each statement was made.That’s where Annping Chin’s book comes in, The Authentic Confucius. Organized along the path of Confucius’

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