PODCAST · education
A Literary Cornucopia
by Luisa Morales-Molina
A cozy literary nook where poems and essays wander in, tiny stories flutter by, author bios come alive, and bookish curiosities await discovery.
Episodes
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Episode 160: "The Storyteller" by H. H. Munro
"She did all that she was told, she was always truthful, she kept her clothes clean, ate milk puddings as though they were jam tarts, learned her lessons perfectly, and was polite in her manners." "Was she pretty?" asked the bigger of the small girls. "Not as pretty as any of you," said the...
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Episode 159: "The Father" by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Then the priest rose. "There is yet this, however," said he, and walking toward Thord, he took him by the hand and looked gravely into his eyes: "God grant that the child may become a blessing to you!"What can change a person’s heart? “The Father” by Norwegian writer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson follows…
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Episode 158: Summertime Memories
Dumbfounded, I came to realize my situation. I had been warned when I was young, but never did I think this could happen to me. I had listened to the stories from those who survived and remembered the sage advice. “Keep your light going and pray they set you free.” ( "A Summertime Short Story)"...
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Episode 157: Wedding Traditions: The Stories Behind the Ceremony
Marriage has always been about more than two people falling in love. Historically, it brought families together, strengthened communities, and ensured the continuation of society. In this episode, we'll explore some of those traditions and discover the meaning behind customs that many of us take...
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Episode 156: In Honor of Fathers' Day: A Memory
Thinking about our fathers often brings a mix of emotions — admiration, gratitude, discipline, and sometimes, a little mischief. Memories of childhood adventures or lessons learned can shape how we see the world and the men who raised us. This episode is a reflection of a childhood memory,...
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Episode 155: "Examination Day" by Henry Slesar: A Dystopian Story
The Jordans never spoke of the exam, not until their son, Dickie, was twelve years old. It was on his birthday that Mrs. Jordan first mentioned the subject in his presence, and the anxious manner of her speech caused her husband to answer sharply.‘Forget about it,’ he said. ‘He’ll do all right.’…
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Episode 154: Small Stories About Mothers
"Behind every woman is another strong woman." ~~Tina Neidlein When the month of May rolls around most of us think of our mother’s. Right? We begin to reflect on times we spent with her. Both the good and the bad. If she’s no longer around, we might feel a bit nostalgic, maybe regretting that we...
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Episode 153: Poetry Part Two: The Healing Power of Poetry: Poems That Carry Us Through
Poetry might just be the most powerful tool we have for healing ✨ Have you ever turned to a poem during a tough moment? In this episode, I share stories of how poetry crosses borders — languages, ages, and experiences — offering a quiet strength and reflection when words are hard to find. It’s…
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Episode 152: Poetry Part One: The Power of Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art that uses language, rhythm, and vivid imagery to evoke emotions, ideas, and aesthetic experiences. Distinct from prose, it often features a condensed, musical structure with techniques like rhyme, meter, and metaphor to make the invisible visible, ranging from...
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Episode 151: Freedom in an Hour: Kate Chopin’s "The Story of an Hour"
Kate Chopin’s "The Story of an Hour," first published in 1894, is a brief but powerful story often studied through a feminist lens. It follows Louise Mallard, a woman with a weak heart, who is carefully told that her husband, Brently Mallard, has died in a train accident. At first Louise reacts...
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Episode 150: Doris Lessing: "Flight" and Letting Go
He deliberately held out his wrist for the bird to take flight, and caught it again at the moment it spread its wings. He felt the plump shape strive and strain under his fingers; and, in a sudden access of troubled spite, shut the bird into a small box and fastened the bolt. 'Now you stay…
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Episode 149: Love Potions in Literature: The Power of Aphrodisiacs
“Grandma, are you a witch?” I said.“ Of course,” she said. “I thought you knew.” “Do you know how to cast spells and make potions?” “Depends,” she said. “What’s on your mind? Is it a love potion you need? Tell me all about it, Amy.” Real-world love remedies—from herbs to exotic foods—show us that...
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Episode 148: Micro Fiction: The Art of Compressing
"I would look up at the ceiling every time he came near me. I searched in the white color for the peace and tranquility I needed to make the most important decision of my life. " Micro fiction and flash fiction rely on implication and concise language to deliver maximum impact. Micro fiction is...
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Episode 147: Ernest Hemingway: "Hills Like White Elephants"
"It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig," the man said. "It's not really an operation at all." The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on. "I know you wouldn't mind it, Jig. It's really not anything. It's just to let the air in." The girl did not say anything. You’ve heard the...
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Episode 146: Toni Morrison: "The Work You Do, The Person You Are"
Toni Morrison's impact on literature is profound. She is celebrated for her examination of Black American experiences, particularly those of Black women, within their communities. Morrison's writing style is known for its poetic and luminous prose, and she is considered one of the greatest...
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Episode 145: The Brothers Grimm and "The Robber Bridegroom"
"Once upon a time there was a miller who had a beautiful daughter. When she came of age he wished that she was provided for and well married. He thought, "If a respectable suitor comes and asks for her hand in marriage, I will give her to him." Not long afterward a suitor came who appeared to be...
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Episode 144: J.R.R. Tolkien's "Letters from Father Christmas"
When we think of J.R.R. Tolkien, we usually think big: quests, wars, and vast imaginary landscapes. But one of the most revealing windows into his creative life comes from something much smaller—his Christmas letters to his children. For more than twenty years, Tolkien wrote as Father Christmas,...
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Epsidoe 143: Hans Christian Anderson: "The Little Match Girl"
She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing. She crept along trembling with cold and hunger--a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing! What…
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Episode 142: James Baldwin: "Why He Carried the Turkey"
James Baldwins' story "Why He Carried The Turkey" is taken from Fifty Famous People - A Book of Short Stories, 1912. "Well, that is lucky," said the old man, smiling. "I happen to be going that way, and I will carry your turkey, if you will allow me." "That is John Marshall, Chief Justice of the...
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Episode 141: Luisa Morales: "The Wine Bottle: A Quest"
She descended into the basement, hunting for the wine her uncle had hidden there. A vintage from 1847. November, no less. Her birthday month. A coincidence? A grand reserve, priceless beyond imagination. The stairs looked ready to betray her. Narrow. Uneven. Crumbling. Why, why had she worn heels...
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Episode 140: Luisa Morales: "The Lonely Trail: In Search of Angela"
"It was not too long ago that he felt free as a bird. He always had the choice of doing whatever he wanted to do or wherever he wanted to go. No one could stop him, until that one day. He couldn’t stop thinking of the day he met Angela. The first time he laid eyes on her, he thought he was seeing...
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Episode 139: Shirley Jackson: "The Witch"
“A big old ugly witch and I told her to go away and she went away,” the little boy went on, in a quiet narrative to himself, “she came and said, ‘I’m going to eat you up,’ and I said, ‘no, you’re not,’ and I chased her away, the bad old mean witch.” Although very short (just over 1,400 words),...
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Episode 138: O. Henry: "Hearts and Hands"
"It's Miss Fairchild," he said, with a smile. "I'll ask you to excuse the other hand; "it's otherwise engaged just at present." He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining "bracelet" to the left one of his companion. The glad look in the girl's eyes slowly changed to a...
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Episode 137: Katharine Brush: "Birthday Party"
"It became obvious that this was special occasion and that she had planned a surprise." "Birthday party" is a brief, observational story about a married couple in a restaurant where the wife attempts a public birthday surprise for her husband. Katharine Brush's short stories have been compared…
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Episode 136: Anton Chekov: "A Nincompoop"
"I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her eighty rubles. She murmured her little "merci" several times and went out. I looked after her and thought: "How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!" ("A Nincompoop)" Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian...
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Episode 135: Gwendolyn Brooks: "Home"
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) was an influential 20th-century poet and the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1950. Her short story "Home," later incorporated into her novel Maud Martha, centers around a family's anxiety and eventual relief as they await the outcome of a bank loan...
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Episode 134: Shirley Jackson: "Charles"
With the third week of kindergarten Charles was an institution in our family; the baby was being a Charles when she cried all afternoon; Laurie did a Charles when he filled his wagon full of mud and pulled it through the kitchen; even my husband, when he caught his elbow in the telephone cord and...
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Episode 133: James Thurber: "The Princess and the Tin Box"
Once upon a time, in a far country, there lived a King whose daughter was the prettiest princess in the world. Her eyes were like the cornflower, her hair was sweeter than the hyacinth, and her throat made the swan look dusty. And so begins James Thurber's unusual fairy tale. The stories of the...
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Episode 132: Liam O'Flaherty: "The Sniper"
His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. "The Sniper" is a powerful and concise short story by the Irish writer Liam O'Flaherty, first published in 1923. It's set in Dublin during the Irish Civil War (1922-1923), a conflict that pitted...
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Episode 131: Mona Gardner: "The Dinner Party"
A spirited discussion springs up between a young girl who insists that women have outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era and a colonel who says that they haven’t. “A woman’s unfailing reaction in any crisis,” the colonel says, “is to scream. And while a man may feel like it…
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Episode 130: Leonard Q Ross: "The Path Through the Cemetery"
Leo Rosten (April 11, 1908- Feb. 19, 1997) was a Polish-born American author and social scientist best known for his popular books on Yiddish and for his comic novels featuring the immigrant night-school student Hyman Kaplan. He wrote "The Path Through the Cemetery" under the pen name of Leonard…
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Episode 129: John Collier: "The Chaser"
"Oh dear, no," said the old man. "It would be no good charging that sort of price for a love potion, for example. Young people who need a love potion very seldom have five thousand dollars. Otherwise they would not need a love potion." John Collier (1901-1980) was a British-born author and...
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Episode 128: Bertrand Russell: "How to Grow Old"
Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, and social reformer, known as a founder of analytic philosophy and a Nobel Prize winner. His early life was marked by tragedy, losing his parents, sister, and grandfather by age six, after which his grandmother cared for him and his brother.…
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Episode 127: Quentin Reynolds: "A Secret for Two"
"No ... no .. ." Jacques said softly. "None of us knew. Only one knew--a friend of his named Joseph ... It was a secret, I think, just between those two."The author of "A Secret for Two," Quentin James Reynolds, was an American journalist and World War II war correspondent. As an associate editor...
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Episode 126: Eva-Lis Wuorio: "You Can't Take It With You"
Uncle Basil had heard all the words they called him because he wasn't as deaf as he made out. He knew he was a mangy, stingy, penny-pinching screw, scrimp, scraper, pinchfist, hoarder, and curmudgeon (just to start with). There were other words, less gentle, he'd also heard himself called. He...
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Episode 125: Isaac Asimov: "The Fun They Had"
Isaac Asimov was a prolific writer, contributing significantly to science fiction and popular science literature. He wrote or edited about 500 books, including the renowned Foundation and robot series. His story "Nightfall" (1941) is considered one of the greatest science fiction short stories....
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Episode 124: Edgar Allan Poe and "The Oval Portrait"
He was wild and lost to the world as he painted, his only thought was to complete a perfect likeness of his beautiful young wife to be captured for eternity. "The Oval Portrait" was one of Poe's briefest stories in the genres of mystery and the macabre. Link to podcast episode 4:...
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Episode 123: Ernest Hemingway: "The Old Man at the Bridge"
Ernest Hemingway was an influential American novelist and short-story writer, born on July 21, 1899, in Cicero, Illinois, and died on July 2, 1961, in Ketchum, Idaho. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, recognized for his impactful prose style and adventurous life. Hemingway's...
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Episode 122: Toni Morrison: "Sweetness"
Toni Morrison was a celebrated American writer known for her exploration of the Black experience, particularly the Black female experience. She became the first Black female writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1993). The short story “Sweetness” was originally published inThe New...
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Episode 121: Oscar Wilde- "The Selfish Giant"
Oscar Wilde's' plays were mostly directed at adult audiences. They displayed his wit. However, this controversial Irish writer also wrote charming stories for children. "The Selfish Giant" was part of his short story collection The Happy Prince and Other Tales. ALC Blog:...
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Episode 120: William Faulkner - "A Rose for Emily"
William Faulkner’s works, many set in a fictional county, reflect the complexities and contradictions of the South. His influence extends to countless writers, and his themes remain relevant in contemporary discussions of history and culture. Faulkner is celebrated as a pioneer of modernist…
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Episode 119: O. Henry and "The Gift of the Magi"
"Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the most wise. Everywhere they are the wise ones. They are the magi." The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry) What are our true feelings when we exchange gifts with the ones we love?
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Episode 118: Thomas Hardy: "The Thieves Who Couldn't Help Sneezing"
“The name Thomas Hardy has meant surefire gloom and doom for a century. No one has ever gone to Thomas Hardy for light reading. What a surprise then, to discover this almost frivolous adventure of a juvenile detective among so much adversity and pessimism. ‘The Thieves Who Couldn’t Help Sneezing’...
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Episode 117: Leo Tolstoy: Greed - "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"
Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author, a master of realistic fiction and one of the world’s greatest novelists. Most readers will agree with the assessment of the 19th-century British poet and critic Matthew Arnold that a novel by Tolstoy is not a work of art but a piece of life; the Russian author...
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Episode 116: Amy Tan and "Two Kinds"
“Two Kinds” was published in 1989 as part of Amy Tan’s book The Joy Luck Club. The story is narrated by a Chinese-American woman, named Jing-mei, who is looking back on her upbringing in the United States. A closer look at the story reveals that ‘Two Kinds’ is about the relationship between…
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Episode 115: Maya Angelou and "Mrs. Flowers"
American poet, memoirist, and actress Maya Angelou wrote several volumes of autobiography that explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. She is perhaps best known for her autobiographical work "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1969). The book garnered critical acclaim and a...
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Episode 114: Langston Hughes: "Thank You, Ma'am"
Langston Hughes was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that celebrated African American cultural expressions. His work spanned various genres, including poetry, plays, novels, and newspaper columns, focusing on the African American experience. The episode includes a...
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Episode 113: Ray Bradbury: A Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Although often labeled a science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury himself noted that much of his work was fantasy, horror, or mystery, with "Fahrenheit 451" being his only true science fiction book. His work remains highly relevant in today's world due to its exploration of themes such as censorship,...
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Episode 112: F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby and The Jazz Age
The term "Jazz Age" was made popular by F. Scott Fitzgerald himself. It refers to the 1920s, a period marked by significant cultural and social changes, particularly in the United States. Jazz music became the dominant sound of the era defining the cultural aspect. In Fitzgerald's novel The Great...
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Episode 111: Richard Connell and his "Most Dangerous Game"
Richard Connell began his career as a journalist at a young age, contributing to his father's newspaper, the Poughkeepsie News-Press. His story “The Most Dangerous Game” remains his most enduring work. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell.pdf
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does A Literary Cornucopia have?
A Literary Cornucopia currently has 161 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is A Literary Cornucopia about?
A cozy literary nook where poems and essays wander in, tiny stories flutter by, author bios come alive, and bookish curiosities await discovery.
How often does A Literary Cornucopia release new episodes?
A Literary Cornucopia publishes regularly with 161 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to A Literary Cornucopia?
You can listen to A Literary Cornucopia on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts A Literary Cornucopia?
A Literary Cornucopia is created and hosted by Luisa Morales-Molina.
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