Cracking the Spine

Our listeners never fail to blow our minds. Listener TrendyMoron wrote to us about Aphantasia, a condition where you cannot voluntarily visualize imagery. Are any of you familiar with this condition? Do you have it yourself? How do you experience books? WE NEED TO KNOW. This topic inspired some great conversation for this episode, and for that, we owe you our gratitude, TrendyMoron.

We owe you a deep, sincere apology. The last few months have proven incredibly busy, and as such posting (and recording) hasn't happened the way you deserve. We're here to try to make it up to you, starting with finally posting a new episode.In the long-awaited one hundred and sixteenth episode, we discuss magazines. Do you still read print magazines? Do you think there's still a need for them? Do you think "zines" count? Listen the episode and sound off!

Have you ever been so excited for a book that the disappointment was inevitable? A listener asks us when the last time we were let down by our literary expectations, and you can imagine that we have THOUGHTS. Enjoy!

Listener John wonders how books have influenced your life - for instance, he felt braver wearing glasses as a child after reading Harry Potter. Have books ever inspired or influenced you to make changes in your own life? We cover lots of topics, but mostly we find that books make us hungry...

Zane and Sean luxuriate in a Josh-free week, and discuss the one topic Josh can't contribute to: reading! We talk about everything we love and don't love about the act of reading, and give Josh a hard time. Make sure to listen to the end when a special guest shows up!

Holy crap, this week has been long. Almost like it's taken....months? Who knows. As ever, I BLAME JOSH. This week we're discussing bad reading habits courtesy of an email by listener Luke. We also get pulled for copyright infringement and celebrate Sean's one hundred and eleventh birthday.

This week we're talking about everyone's favorite subject: Jake! I mean Josh! Did you know that Josh went to England recently? Well, somehow we found a way to turn that into an entire episode. Special shout out to reptile anatomy, which weirdly plays an important part in our discussion this week. Good times ahead, Crack Heads. Good. Times.

How do you organize your books? Turns out it's a pretty personal, and occasionally inexplicable thing. Thanks to listener Aimee (AGAIN!?) for this surprisingly complex topic. Check it out and let us know how you organize your books and thoughts.

Aaaaaand we're back! Blame Zane...But take this episode as our apology. Super Jesus comes through with a brilliant topic suggestion: what books would you NOT want to be adapted to film or television? This might shock you, but we have OPINIONS on this topic. Get ready to get all fired up with us, listeners. It's episode 108!

Sorry for the brief hiatus, listeners. But like always, we're back! We discuss an oft-submitted topic suggestion: audio books! Many of you have asked us to delve into this subject, and we graciously oblige. Make sure you listen all the way through because we're also bringing back the Special Reading!

Sorry for the delay, crackheads! Another week, another topic from Sean's brain. In this episode we put together our favorite authors and moviemakers...who would make the best adaptation of your favorite book? What author would be the best screenwriter for your favorite film? PLUS find out which of your favorite hosts is sick! All this and more in episode 105!

What's the best first line in a book? That's the brilliant topic that Sean came up with for this week, and...it gets heated, y'all. Readings, pedantry, and tangents galore. All this and more! in episode 105.

We've heard your prayers, and we're bringing back readings! Get introduced to Zane's new house (and frog), and listen to the gang read 3 different stories that remind them of Memorial Day, Americana, & the start of Summer.

As you can imagine, we're extremely fond of libraries here at Cracking The Spine. Listener Aimee once again gives us a great topic, and asks us how to make the most of our library cards. AND BOY HOWDY do we have some advice for her. Also, naturally, we delve into a big argument about The Crystal Skull. PART TIME.

Thanks to awesome listener Aimee for this week's great topic. We discuss merchandise for the things that we love, and our desperate need to own it. We just need it, okay? We can stop anytime we want. Quit judging us!

Sorry for the brief hiatus, dear readers! Life gets in the way, but we're here now. This week we get super topical, and discuss true crime. Inspired by Michelle McNamara's help in finding the Golden State Killer, we talk about true crime's influence in the real world.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! We made it to 100 episodes, and we couldn't have done it without your patronage and the help of a German economics podcast. For this very special episode we take a look back at our history, and reminisce about the good times and the butthurt. Thanks for sticking with us! We love you.

What would we do without our precious listeners? This week we discuss a topic submitted by Michael. (Thank you, dude, for giving us something to talk about!) We discuss experiencing physical sensations from well-written books, and Zane loses her mind thanks to a headache.

Sometimes when we need topic ideas, we take to googling. We're only human, after all. This week's googling unearthed a surprisingly deep topic of conversation. Do readers have the right to critique the work of a writer, even though they can't claim ownership over the work? Also we ate too much food before we recorded and...there's a lot of burping. Sorry.

Are you capable of multi-tasking while reading? Listener Nick comes through yet again with a great topic for us. He asks us if we can listen to music or podcasts while reading, and we talk about our abilities to juggle. PLUS we discover that somehow Sean has never seen Coneheads. WTF.

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?

This week your three intrepid hosts. . . HOLD ON! Did you say three?! Why yes, I did, because JOSH IS BACK! Anyway, your three intrepid hosts (one of whom is Josh) discuss an incredibly meta topic - how do you actually read a book? Are you a skimmer? Do you skip ahead? Pore over every word? You may be surprised to learn that Zane, Josh and Sean each have their own preferred method, and we all quickly learn that no one way is the "right way". Did I mention that Josh is back? He so is. . .

This week marks a triumphant return of 2/3 of the CtS crew! Josh couldn't make it (NO YOU HATERS, WE DIDN'T FIRE HIM) but Sean and Zane sit still long enough to talk about how it feels to get wrapped up in a series that isn't finished. It's kind of like listening to a podcast that is inconsistent in posting episodes. The crew also welcomes on a very special guest for the show, one whose appearance will be the stuff of legends for years to come.

Josh, Zane and Sean take their show on the road, quite literally. With scheduling becoming an issue, the gang takes the opportunity of a long drive to a special dinner to talk about travel books in all their forms. They get distracted by thoughts of meat and alcohol, as well as the meat and alcohol themselves. Buckle up, buckaroos! It's a wild ride!

This week we dip into the Cracking the Spine Reddit in order to get a great topic. Sean, Josh and Zane delve into what books our children will read when they get into high school. Will 1984 stand the test of time, or will The Hunger Games become the new classic. And, like, it's not that we're obsessed with The Hunger Games, but we may or may not spend some time talking about it.... but we talk about other things too.... Listen up. You may learn something (that your kids will learn later).

This week the group makes its triumphant return, and boy are you lucky they did! Taking another awesome listener suggestion, Josh, Zane and Sean talk about their own personal evolutionary arcs as readers. Where did each of their tastes come from? Did the Cro-Magnon steps of their early twenties help influence the homosapien tastes of their now? Is this analogy stretched to its limit? They attempt to apply some intelligent design to the conversation, and delve into the origin of reading. Join in!

Josh couldn't make it to the recording this week, so Zane and Sean thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about something they never can when Josh is around: reading books. For us, and maybe for you, there is a very ritualistic feeling associated with reading. There needs to be a specific time, the perfect place, the ideal inspiration. It's a fairly meta conversation, but one we think you'd enjoy. Listen and see if you agree!

For sixty nine episodes we have discussed the human side of books. This week we finally get in touch with our animal sides. Who are the most memorable non-human characters from literature, and what do they reveal about our shared humanity? Sean and Josh, while not as accomplished in the animal world as Zane, try to keep up. You can keep up too by listening! So do it!

How far are we willing to take a joke? Let's say we go one past sixty eight and one before seventy. But it's not what you think. Unless it is what you think. In which case, man, you're smart. Listen. Josh, Zane and Sean go to places in books you've likely never been before.

When our listeners suggest topics, we listen. And this time, we dig down deep to discuss book analysis. You might be surprised that one third of the hosts doesn't think of himself/herself as overly analytic, one third feels he/she is incredibly analytical, and the other comes down right in the middle. The gang also manages to work Skyrim into the conversation, and Zane goes off the reservation and picks her own book to read. Sean is flabbergasted. You'll laugh. We promise.

Have you guys sent us an email recently? If not, you really should. It's a good way to stay in touch with us, but also, it's a great way for us to hear from you. And this week we hear from a listener who gave us a fantastic show suggestion. Memorial Day has come and gone, which means that summer has (unofficially) started. Zane, Josh and Sean talk about what makes a book a particularly good summer read. There's also some J. Lo talk, some klaxons, a frog, and a motorcycle. Just the usual joyousness that is Cracking the Spine!