Episode 2: The Selection Show: Building the Love-Reading Season

DescriptionIn this special episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh unveil the reading lineup for Season 2, themed around love. Drawing from C.S. Lewis’s framework of the four loves—Storge (affection), Philia (friendship), Eros (romantic love), and Agape (charity)—they nominate and debate the classic works that best represent each love. From Shakespeare and ancient epics to religious poetry and modern novels, the hosts haggle, reflect, and wrestle with what makes love so difficult to portray well in literature. Tim also offers a spicy hot take: that most romanticEpisode OutlineIntroduction: Why a selection show, and why start with loveDefinitions of the Four Loves from C.S. LewisTim’s and Emily’s nominations for Storge (affection)Friendship and Philia: Ancient texts to children’s storiesNominations for Eros (romantic love) and literary love trianglesAgape: Self-giving love in theology, poetry, and fictionDebates and tie-breakers: Making the final cutsPlans for poetry episodes and bonus contentTeaser for future discussion on art and musicKey Topics & TakeawaysLewis’s Framework Shapes the Season: C. S. Lewis’s The Four Loves provides the guiding structure for curating literature around distinct types of love.Love of Family and Place: Storge (affection) is often familial or connected to love of place; selecting books for this category was surprisingly challenging.The Richness of Companionship: Philia (friendship) led to a rich list—from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Wind in the Willows.Beauty and Cost: Eros (romantic) selections ranged from Shakespeare and Austen to Dante and Tolstoy, with a possible poetry special to include Donne, Catullus, and Dante’s Inferno.Selfless and Divine Love: Agape (charity) prompted deep reflections on divine love and self-sacrificial relationships, featuring mystics, theologians, and unexpected novels.Blended Loves: Overlapping and Porous Categories: The categories are porous: many books express multiple forms of love, showing their complexity and interconnection.Wildcards: Unclassifiable but Powerful: The Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry are suggested as wildcard entries that transcend easy categorization.Questions & DiscussionWhich literary works have best captured the love of family, friends, romance, or God in your experience? Share a book that moved you deeply in its portrayal of love.Are some types of love harder to depict in fiction than others? Consider whether Agape (charity) or Philia (friendship) is harder to write compellingly than Eros (romantic love). What role does self-sacrifice play in true love across the genres discussed? Reflect on examples from this episode like The Road, The Gospel of John, or The Gift of the Magi. Suggested ReadingStorge (Affection) Antigone by Sophocles  The Odyssey by Homer translated by Emily WilsonLittle Women by Louisa May Alcott East of Eden by John Steinbeck Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes SaavedraPoems by TibullusPhilia (Friendship)The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Sophus Helle Plato’s Symposium translated by Jowett On Friendship by CiceroThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain   Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame    Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle: Books 8 & 9 All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy  Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle  Old Testament: David and Jonathan The Iliad by Homer translated by Emily Wilson: Achilles and Patroclus Eros (Romantic Love)Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Phaedrus by Plato Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne by John Donne (especially “Batter My Heart”) The Poems of Catullus by Catullus Dante’s Inferno translated by Anthony Esolen: Canto V, Francesca da Rimini and Paolo MalatestaThe Wife of Bath by Chaucer The End of the Affair by Graham GreeneThe Gift of the Magi by O. HenryThe Aeneid by Virgil: Dido and AeneasAgape (Charity) Confessions by St. Augustine translated by Sarah RudenThe Gospel of John and 1 John (Bible)The Revelation of Divine Love by Julian of NorwichThe Temple by George HerbertRevelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich Awaiting God by Simone Weil translation by Brad JersakThe Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor HugoThe Road by Cormac McCarthyThe Treatise on Religious Affections by Jonathan EdwardsRevelations of Divine Love by Julian of NorwichA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Dante's Paradiso translated by Anthony EsolenJayber Crow by Wendell Berry