In this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh begin their exploration of adolescence with James Joyce’s “Araby”, a story of youthful longing set against the drab, paralyzed world of Dublin. Tim and Emily discuss the unnamed boy’s intense attraction to Mangan’s sister, the religious and chivalric language through which…

In this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, a psychologically complex ghost story that challenges idealized visions of childhood innocence. They discuss James’s elaborate prose, the governess’s uncertain perceptions, the sinister influence surrounding Miles and Flora, and the story’s unresolved tension…

In this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore Hans Christian Andersen’s life and two of his best-known stories: “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “The Ugly Duckling.” They consider how fairy tales preserve patterns of reality, form the moral imagination, and speak as powerfully to adults as to children.  Episode…

Description In this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh discuss William Faulkner’s celebrated short story “Barn Burning.” Along the way they explore Faulkner’s life, the emergence of stream of consciousness narration, and why “Barn Burning” remains one of the greatest American short stories ever written. The hosts examine the heartbreaking…

Description In this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh begin their season on the stages of life with William Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.” They explore the Romantic movement’s response to the Enlightenment, Wordsworth’s vision of childhood as a uniquely perceptive stage of life, and…

Description In this opening episode of Season 3, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh unveil a last-minute change of plans, shifting from a season on politics to an exploration of literature centered on the stages of human life. Together they build a reading list spanning childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age, debating classic short stories, novellas,…

Description In this special year-end episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda share their five favorite reads of 2025. Moving from plays and poetry to memoir, philosophy, theology, neuroscience, and historical fiction, they reflect on the books that most shaped their thinking this year. Along the way, they discuss stage design…

Description In this penultimate episode of Hot Takes on the Classics’ season on love, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh step back to reflect on what a sustained engagement with classic texts has revealed about love itself. Drawing on philosophy, novels, poetry, and plays explored throughout the season, they consider why love is harder to portray than…

Description In this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh close their season on love by turning to Simone Weil’s Waiting for God. Through a wide-ranging conversation, they explore Weil’s life as an “activist mystic,” her radical commitment to solidarity with the afflicted, and her understanding of attention as the heart of…

Description In this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich, the first known book written in English by a woman. They discuss Julian’s life as a fourteenth-century anchoress, her extraordinary visions during a near-fatal illness, and her enduring theological vision of divine love as…