To celebrate American ingenuity on the week of July the 4th, Jason Crockett and I sit down and talk about Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City which covers the birth, planning, and execution of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Behind this ingenuity however is an insidiousness as America's first serial killer, H.H. Holmes, was lurking about the streets of Chicago, seducing and devouring any woman that was willing to be lured into his trap. We're asking the tough questions. What are the American achievements that we can celebrate in our present day? Could the scariest thing about H.H. Holmes be that he appeared to be normal and hidden? Or could it be that his intelligence manifested in the darkest of all ways? We answer these and more in today's episode

Resources:

The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

Visit:

Jason Crockett's podcast, With Honors on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Thanks for listening!

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Painter Val Welch is sent to Dawes, Wyoming where he is a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal working in the WPA. In this program, Welch is painting a mural in the local post office of Dawes. While in Wyoming, Welch is housed with rancher John Long and his wife Eve. Welch takes his journey to the mountain west expecting to paint. What he doesn't expect is that he will be sent on a mission to track down Eve Long as she has disappeared from the ranch, and that he may fall in love? We're asking the tough questions. What do you do when you fall in love with someone that you are tasked with tracking down for their spouse? Unobtainable love is here in this one, too? Is Charles Frazier a true master of historical fiction? Hannah Randolph joins us as we wrap up our Month of Frazier with Charles Frazier's The Trackers.

Thanks for listening!

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We check in on this year's Big Summer Read, The Stand by Steven King. We will be looking at what we are listing as part 1 or chapters 1-35. We're asking the tough questions. How much does this book feel like 2020? How much does this book feel like summer of 2025? Who is emerging as our protagonists of the story? Jason Crockett joins us as we answer these and more for our special episode in which we check-in with our Big Summer Read.

We hope you're following along with us! If you haven't started, hop in! There still some summer left.

Resources:

The Stand - The Complete and Uncut Edition by Stephen King

Visit:

Jason Crockett's show, With Honors on Spotify or Apple Podcast.

Comment:

If you have anything to add, comment on the show!

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The name Jefferson Davis is synonymous with the Civil War, rebellion, and many other things. However, what is the story behind his wife during this rise to power, wartime, and the escape? Charles Frazier gives us a fictionalized retelling based in fact and research on the life and times of the first lady of the Confederacy, Varina Davis. Frazier's novel looks at complexity of race, politics, and what happens if we don't fully accept the politics of those we love. We're asking the tough questions. What does happen if we don't fully agree with our loved ones? How far does true love really reach? Does Frazier have and continue a common theme of unobtainable love in his novels? Nathan Aaron joins us as we continue our Month of Frazier with our look at Varina.

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When logger Grainier returns from work in the Pacific Northwest to his cabin in Idaho, he finds that a wildfire has swept through and not only taken the forest with it, but also his home and family. Denis Johnson's Train Dreams gives us brief glimpses into the hermit life that Grainier leads after that as he seeks answers to his wife's death and what could have been with his daughter. We bring this to you during the month of Frazier as Johnson's style in Train Dreams is something that we can connect with similar devices, style and tone that Charles Frazier uses. Happy Month of Frazier!

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Luce has been caretaker of an estate in the woods of Appalachian North Carolina. After her sister is murdered, she takes in her niece and nephew who witnessed the murder. However, the children won't speak. Unbeknownst to her, their father is the murderer and is under the assumption that the money is dead wife had is hidden with their children. In Frazier's Nightwoods, we sit back and witness the slow burn of a chase. The anticipation of the inevitable. We're asking the tough questions. Does Frazier's writing style change from Cold Mountain, or by book three, have we gotten to understand his voice more? Are their parallels in messages in all of Frazier's books? Has Frazier created his own archetypal character? Nathan Aaron joins us as we answer these and more in our continuation of our Month of Frazier.

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Get ready for 2025's Big Summer Read. We sit down and discuss the upcoming read-together of Stephen King's The Stand. Read along with us! We will be doing check-ins every 300 pages, and we are looking to end with a culminating episode. Read with us, and let us know. We'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

Thanks for listening!

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When Will Cooper is sold into indentured servitude, he embarks on a journey that even he himself cannot imagine. Cooper gambles for the love of his life, restores a fallen trading post, pursues that love of his life, obtains land for the Cherokee, and ventures to Oklahoma, again for the love of his life. We're asking the tough questions. Why do we love books about settling in Appalachia? Is it possible to find the Cherokee version of Thirteen Moons? Amy Hawkins makes her ADMB debut to answer these questions and more as the Month of Frazier rolls on.

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