Hot Takes on the Classics
Episodes
Episode 24: Favorite Reads of 2025
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this special year-end episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda share their five favorite reads of 2025. Moving...
Episode 23: What We Learned About Love
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this penultimate episode of Hot Takes on the Classics’ season on love, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh step back to reflect on what a sus...
Episode 22: Waiting on God - Simone Weil: An Incandescent Life
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn 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...
Episode 21: Revelations of Divine Love: St. Julian's Mystical Sight
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich, the fir...
Episode 20: The Temple: The Architecture of the Soul — George Herbert
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda explore The Temple by George Herbert, one of the most profound d...
Episode 19: The Art and Music of Love: Theresa, Dido, and Shepherds
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore how Western art and music have depicted the many faces o...
Episode 18: A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh take a deep dive into Jonathan Edwards’s A Treatise Concerning...
Episode 17: The Confessions of St. Augustine: The Journey of Transformed Love
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore one of the most influential works in Western thought—S...
Episode 16: The Gospel of St. John - Cosmic Love
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Description In this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh turn to the fourth and final love in C.S. Lewis’s taxonomy—...
Episode 15: Anna Karenina: The Marriage Plot
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh close out their episodes on Eros with Leo Tolstoy’s monumental...
Episode 14: The Making of a Great Marriage: Pride and Prejudice
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh unpack Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, exploring how this b...
Episode 13: Romeo and Juliet: The Wisdom of Young Love
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh revisit Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, asking what makes this...
Episode 12: The Divine Comedy: Disordered Eros
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh dive into Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, one of the most...
Episode 11: The Phaedras: Love is a Madness
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore Plato’s Phaedrus, a dialogue that weaves together ques...
Episode 10: The Wind in the Willows: A Classic Tale of Friendship
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, a beloved c...
Episode 9: Huckleberry Finn: Can a Man and Child be Friends?
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim and Emily explore Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, asking whether a man and...
Episode 8: Cicero, On Friendship: Virtue–The Basis of Friendship
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh turn to Cicero’s On Friendship, a dialogue exploring what make...
Episode 7: Epic of Gilgamesh: Superhuman Friendship
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda journey into the world’s oldest surviving epic, The Epic of Gi...
Episode 6: East of Eden, John Steinbeck: The American Epic
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh dive into John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, exploring how the nov...
Episode 5: Sorry, Professor – Jo’s Heart Belonged to Laurie All Along
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily and Tim dive into Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, a quintessential American novel e...
Episode 4: Beyond Sentimentality – The Odyssey’s Vision of Wholeness in a Disenchanted World
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore Homer’s Odyssey as a foundational story of familial lo...
Episode 3: Antigone’s Stand: Love, Loyalty, and Loss
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh tackle Sophocles’ Antigone as part of their series on love—s...
Episode 2: The Selection Show: Building the Love-Reading Season
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this special episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh unveil the reading lineup for Season 2, themed around lo...
Episode 1: The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis: Exploring the Types—and Limits—of Human Love
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this opening episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh kick off Season 2 on the theme of love by diving into C....
Episode 23: What We Learned About War: The Hard Truths of Battle
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this final episode of Hot Takes on the Classics’ season on war, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh reflect on the biggest lessons they’ve ...
Episode 22: Modern Music & the Art of War: From Stravinsky to Picasso—20th Century’s Rule Change
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore how war shaped modern music and art, breaking traditiona...
Episode 21: Mein Kampf: The Blueprint for War & Genocide
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh tackle one of the most infamous books ever written: Adolf Hitler...
Episode 20: All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Marie Remarque: The Anti-War Protest Novel
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque’s...
Episode 19: Killer Angels by Michael Shaara: The Last Humane War?
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels, the Pulitzer Prize...
Episode 18: Joan of Arc: Don’t Send a Man to Do a Woman’s Job
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh delve into Mark Twain’s Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc,...
Episode 17: On War by Clausewitz: The Years That War Changed
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh unpack Carl von Clausewitz’s On War, a foundational text in mi...
Episode 16: War and Peace: How to Defeat Napoleon? Do Nothing
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh tackle Leo Tolstoy’s monumental War and Peace. They explore ho...
Episode 15: Depicting War in Art and Music: Of Fallen Heroes and Epic Battles
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh shift their focus to the depiction of war in art and music. They...
Episode 14: Paradise Lost: The Cosmic Battle of Good and Evil
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh delve into John Milton’s Paradise Lost, a towering epic of Eng...
Episode 13: Henry V - Shakespeare: A Young Prince Delivers the Greatest Speech on War
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh delve into Shakespeare’s Henry V, a play that captures the rem...
Episode 12: Song of Roland/Pope Urban/Life of Charlemagne: Battles that Become Legends
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh explore The Song of Roland, a medieval French epic that epitomiz...
Episode 11: Beowulf: Three Monsters and An Aging Hero
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh dive into Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon epic poem about a legendary h...
Episode 10: The City of God: A User’s Guide for the End of Civilization
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda explore St. Augustine’s monumental work, City of God. Written ...
Episode 9: Plutarch: Alcibiades and Coriolanus: Great Men to Love and Hate
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh delve into Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, exploring the contrastin...
Episode 8: The Art of War by Sun Tzu: Victory without Battle
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda analyze Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, a foundational text in strat...
Episode 7: Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars: Genocidal Maniac or Great Hero?
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh examine Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars, an essential work of Lati...
Episode 6: The Psychomachia: Was C.S. Lewis Wrong About Prudentius?
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda explore Prudentius’ Psychomachia (“The Battle of the Soul”...
Introducing: Hot Takes on the Classics
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hot Takes on the Classics is no dusty, academic approach to great books. It’s a gossipy, exciting discussion about the best literature ever written....
Episode 1: The Iliad: The Opposite of War is Not Peace; It’s Liturgy
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this debut episode of 'Hot Takes from the Classics,' hosts Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda delve into one of the greatest war epics ever wr...
Episode 2: The Book of Judges: Where Are the Hittites?
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh dive into the often-overlooked Book of Judges, examining its pow...
Episode 3: Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War: Not a Modern Historian, but a Participatory Chronicler
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, hosts Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda explore Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War, examining the l...
Episode 4: Thucydides, Pericles' Funeral Oration: The Greatest Speech to Read
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda dive into Pericles’ Funeral Oration as recorded by Thucydides ...
Episode 5: Virgil, The Aeneid: Can Peace Be Built on War?
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
DescriptionIn this episode of Hot Takes on the Classics, Tim McIntosh and Emily Maeda delve into Virgil’s Aeneid, a cornerstone of Roman literature....