Last year or in 2020, I think I stumbled upon Writ Large via the Onion‘s AV Club which I no longer bother with thanks to the shitty Gawker owners (yet they don’t own nor operate the new version of Gawker) using underhanded tactics to screw over the Chicago staff. Ergo, I make sure my eyeballs don’t see the ads, depriving Gawker, Inc. of money. Anyway, AV suggested this fantastic show focusing on famous works of literature in deep, thought-provoking lectures via an expert on said book. Were these people necessarily the be-all on Plato’s Repbublic or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? That’s debatable but the academics the host chose were pretty knowledgable, informative and made very compelling points. The show even brought up books I’ve never heard of…not a difficult task since I’m not super well-read, I only knew the heavy hitters.
Much like The Dollop, Nerd Poker and Honest Trailers, Writ Large‘s latest book became part of my Tuesday routine as I waited with excitement, hoping it was something the show was going to cover I’m want to learn more about. It did often enough and some favorites I keep handy to listen to every few months, especially Marx’s Communist Manifesto which I started rereading; it’s been over 30 years since I read it in a dedicated Philosophy class at Marquette. Fear not, I’m not a Marxist and never will be yet ol’ Karl made valid points despite how pie-in-the-sky some were, plus I forgot the context in which he wrote this rather influential book or pamphlet.
Then, Writ went on an unexpected hiatus after last November. I figured the host wanted to take a long break for Christmas and New Year’s. By min-January, nothing. Weeks passed until April 26th, it reappeared with an introduction from the host saying this would be the finale with Heidegger’s super deep and complicated Being and Time. I was really bummed since I felt this show broadened my horizons and let’s face it, Writ was a perfect tutor or self-improvement podcast as we’re not out of the woods completely with this COVID crap.
So why did it take me this long to say goodbye or hell, alert you all to it while it was fresh? I stupidly figured Writ would carry on for years and years as Marc Maron or Left Right Center have. Sorry about that. However, the creator(s) has left the whole series posted and you can still find it via Podcasts or whatever you Apple haters prefer. Check out any if they involve a favorite or a book you had to read in school, you may discover a new love of it or take a new perspective. I for one hope the original host will allow the torch to be passed to another ambitious person who can cover more, namely one really close to my heart as it turned 30, Douglas Coupland’s Generation X.