Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Required Reading
ArtsBooksComedyComedy InterviewsExplicit

Required Reading

Erin Bowles

Required Reading revisits the most impactful books from our childhood with a new guest every week.

Play
Open in
  • 25 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 1 hr
  • English

Support the show

Goes straight to the publisher. podnod takes nothing.

Episodes 25

NewestOldestLongest
All5Unplayed5In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • S1 · E103
    February 25 · 1 hr 1 min

    The Martian Chronicles with Mel Thomas!

    Can you believe it took this long to get to Ray Bradbury? Better late than never as this week incredible video essayist and writer Mel Thomas joins me to discuss THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES - a science fiction novel-in-short-stories about human colonization of Mars. Follow Mel! Follow Erin! Support the podcast!

  • S1 · E102
    February 19 · 1 hr 24 min

    Jane Eyre with Madeline North!

    We're back! Erin got laid off and then went on vacation, but now we're back! We as in the royal we. Madeline North also returns to discuss Charlotte Bronte's 1847 classic: JANE EYRE. And we also talk a lot about Wuthering Heights. It can't be helped! Jane Eyre follows orphan Jane from ages 10-20 as she escapes a cruel home to go to an even crueler boarding school, then becomes a governess, falls in love, almost gets married, finds out her employer/fiance's been keeping a secret wife in the attic, gets the heck outta there, joins a family, finds out they're her real family, gets a lot of money, goes back to the employer and makes him a husband. And that's what you missed on Glee! In this episode we discuss my video essay about the book (ooooooo) and this video essay about some common Charlotte Bronte misconceptions! Follow Madeline! Listen to her previous episodes on Eragon and The Princess Bride! Follow Erin! Support the pod!

  • S1 · E101
    January 8 · 58 min

    Vampire Academy with Liz Wiest

    Welcome to 2026 and welcome to the VAMPIRE ACADEMY where we are horny, confused, and Catholic. Writer Liz Wiest joins me to discuss Richelle Mead's 2007 novel. The plot is complex but it's girls at an academy for vampires. You get the gist. Follow Liz! Follow Erin! Support the show!

  • S1 · E100
    Dec 17, 2025 · 1 hr 31 min

    EPISODE 100: MEASURE FOR MEASURE WITH CARLY O'BRIEN!

    Folks, it's episode 100. Professor Carly O'Brien returns for her fourth episode (first time a guest has made it to four episodes, a historic one indeed) to cover a play that fundamentally shaped who I am as an artist and as a lil freak. Measure for Measure is known as one of Shakespeare's three problem plays. It follows a Duke, a nun, and, well,.,, just listen. This is the last episode of 2025! See you next year! Cover art is James McMullen's poster for Lincoln Center. Check out Carly's previous episodes about A Christmas Carol and Johnny Tremain and Where the Red Fern Grows! Follow Carly! Follow Erin! Support the show!

  • S1 · E99
    Dec 10, 2025 · 59 min

    Frozen in Time with Justina Engel

    Favorite person alert: Justina Engel returns to discuss Ali Sparkes' 2009 sci-fi novel FROZEN IN TIME. During summer vacation siblings Ben and Rachel dig up a bomb shelter in their backyard. Inside the bomb shelter are their great aunt and uncle, cryogenically frozen (and there's a puppy there too). Family mysteries, government conspiracies, and international intrigue come to light - and fingernails fall off! Check out Justina's previous episode! It's the American Girl Doll episode! Follow Justina! Follow Erin! Support the podcast!

Showing 21–25 of 25 episodes