Cracking The Spine

Listener Nicholas sends us into uncharted territory with this great topic suggestion: the wide world of sports! We discuss our experience with sports related literature, Josh goes off the TMI deep end, and Zane wins the show. Six week streak, keep the faith alive!

Well, the honeymoon is over. This week's episode is fraught with tension. We field a great topic suggestion from listener John Glessner about the future of the book industry. Can it survive the collapse of the corporate book store, or will it go the way of the music industry? We get grumpy and argumentative, and Zane confesses a deep dark secret.

The gang is back again this week (yes, THIS WEEK) to talk about fantasy fiction. No, not that THAT fantasy fiction. The fiction where we fantasize about who writes our story. What author would you choose to tell the story of your life? We discuss our choices, and Josh brags about how famous his friends are.

Up a day early to help soothe your snow day woes! This week we're discussing the recent Terry Goodkind scandal, and why literature is a collaborative art that requires teamwork.

Two weeks in a row?!? You bet your butts. We're back with a vengeance, and we're talking about how Barnes and Noble is tanking the industry. Check it out and let us know if you agree.

Happy new week! We're discussing what fictional worlds we'd actually want to live in, but don't worry - we're also arguing about...well, anything and everything. We've missed you, but we promise this episode will make it feel like we were never gone.

Okay guys, we admit it - it has been longer than a week since we posted. What we intended to be our Halloween/Thanksgiving episode has become our Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's episode. But we're pretty sure it was worth the wait. Dramatic reading abound!

This WEEK your intrepid friends shake off the dust of a week and get into the deeper recesses of their privileged upbringings. Some kids were afraid of hunger or gun violence. Tune in to listen to the horrific nightmare scenarios that kept us up at night.

Have you ever caught yourself thinking "Damn, if only I knew what personality type Josh is"? WELL WONDER NO MORE! We heeded the suggestion of a listener and together took the Myers-Briggs test. Listen and take the test with along with us, and find out what famous authors (or podcast hosts) you share a personality type with!We took the test at 16personalities.com.

Everything is kind of the worst, which means we are all relating to dystopian fiction HARD. We get political and discuss how the apocalypse seems to be encroaching at a much slower rate in real life than our books and films would suggest. To summarize: Thanks for nothing, Roland Emmerich.

We're a day late, which we'll go ahead and blame on the holiday weekend (Thanks, AMERICA), but we think you'll be pleased with today's episode. Thanks to an intrepid listener we're able to breathe new life into an old topic. Do we read the novel first, or watch the adaptation? We get introspective and the conversation inevitably turns to Star Trek. Enjoy!

Sometimes you love a book so much that you just feel compelled to rewrite it. Or at least...some people do. This week your intrepid hosts discuss their experience with fan fiction (or lack thereof).We also address a well intentioned but creepy email that we received, and discuss internet manners. So keep your elbows off the table, chew with your mouth closed, and heed our advice.

Welcome to our Passover/Easter spectacular! The gang gets together at an unconventional family gathering, and discuss what it's like to be late to the proverbial party. We welcome Sean's daughter as our newest (and most professional) host, and she makes a valiant effort to keep us on topic. Consider it a spring miracle. Happy belated holidays, listeners!

Have you ever wished for a full hour of Cracking The Spine? Then today is your lucky day! We discuss if we've ever read books to impress anyone...so in true CtS fashion we never get sidetracked or bogged down in minutiae, and we wrap up our very civil discourse efficiently and succinctly. Just kidding, we talk for forever about whatever. We can't be anyone but ourselves.

When the week stretches on as long as this, there's a lot to talk about. The gang catches up on all the reading they've been doing (no, really!), discuss the emotional power of literature, and get worked up about listener emails. Just another week in the CtS universe. Listen and enjoy!

Seems like you can't swing a dead cat around your head these days without hitting one or more depressing news story. So our gang puts on their political hats and talks about the role of literature during tough times. Be warned - it's a politically-themed discussion. Proceed with caution.

Happy merriness and holiday yuletide greetings listeners! We've made it to our second Christmas spectacular. This time around, instead of reading previously published works by famous writers, we opted to read personal missives sent to us by soon-to-be famous (or infamous in some cases) listeners. We got a wide array of letters, from the humorously sublime to the deeply heartfelt. Light up a log (in whatever way is meaningful to you) and give a listen!

Your favorite weekly podcast returns a day early from its normal weekly posting schedule to deliver another week's worth of content and hilarity. We decided to post on Wednesday this week (as opposed to every other week) in case you have some traveling to do. As you might. We post weekly. Oh, we talk about books and podcasts and something this week. Because we post every week.

This week, while celebrating a High Holiday, Zane, Sean and Josh tackle the not-at-all controversial topic of our civilization's fascination with Stone Age texts. While (attempting) to stay respectful, they (attempt) addressing the seemingly incongruous connection humanity feels with books written before the advent of any modern kind of thinking. Join us, and remember, it's not offensive!

Based on another great listener suggestion (from what is arguably one of the most powerful emails we've ever received) Josh, Sean and Josh dive into the world of bookstores and libraries. Sure, yeah, they've talked about those amazing respositories before, but not to the extent they delve into it tonight. Listen as they expound on their love of the idea of collecting human understanding in the printed form. Ok, that sounds more serious than it is. Trust me, there's the more than enough of the usual Sean-boasting, Zane-eye-rolling, and Josh-not-reading that you guys have come to know and love. But also, maybe serious?