Best Daniel Breyer Podcasts (2025)

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#151 Augustus - John Williams (Epistolary) 54:38

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5h ago54:38

54:38

About the Book: Published in 1972, Augustus by John Williams is a masterful historical novel that chronicles the life and rule of Rome’s first emperor. Told through a series of letters, journal entries, and memoirs, the book captures the political intrigue, personal ambitions, and moral dilemmas that shaped Augustus’ rise to power and his consolida…

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#150 Does Art Reveal or Reflect Humanity? 18:30

20d ago18:30

18:30

About the Book: Published in 2005, Never Let Me Go is Kazuo Ishiguro’s haunting meditation on memory, identity, and what it means to be human. The novel follows Kathy H., a young woman reflecting on her years at Hailsham—a seemingly idyllic English boarding school where children are raised apart from the outside world. As Kathy recounts her friends…

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#149 Never Let Me Go - Kazou Ishiguro (Speculative Fiction) 1:01:06

27d ago1:01:06

1:01:06

About the Book: Published in 2005, Never Let Me Go is Kazuo Ishiguro’s haunting meditation on memory, identity, and what it means to be human. The novel follows Kathy H., a young woman reflecting on her years at Hailsham—a seemingly idyllic English boarding school where children are raised apart from the outside world. As Kathy recounts her friends…

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#148 Road Trip Recap 17:03

1M ago17:03

17:03

About the Book: Published in 1945, Cannery Row is John Steinbeck’s affectionate portrait of a working-class community on the waterfront of Monterey, California, during the Great Depression. The novel centers on the lives of a cast of misfits—Doc, the gentle marine biologist; Mack and his band of good-hearted troublemakers; Dora and her girls at the…

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#147 Cannery Row - John Steinbeck 1:02:37

2M ago1:02:37

1:02:37

About the Book: Published in 1945, Cannery Row is John Steinbeck’s affectionate portrait of a working-class community on the waterfront of Monterey, California, during the Great Depression. The novel centers on the lives of a cast of misfits—Doc, the gentle marine biologist; Mack and his band of good-hearted troublemakers; Dora and her girls at the…

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#146 Lightweight Centurions 14:15

2M ago14:15

14:15

About the Book: First published in 1969, The Andromeda Strain is Michael Crichton’s groundbreaking techno-thriller that launched him into literary stardom. The novel begins when a satellite crashes near a small desert town in Arizona, releasing a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism. A team of top scientists is rushed to a secret underground lab, …

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#145 The Andromeda Strain - Michael Crichton (Arizona) 54:58

3M ago54:58

54:58

About the Book: First published in 1969, The Andromeda Strain is Michael Crichton’s groundbreaking techno-thriller that launched him into literary stardom. The novel begins when a satellite crashes near a small desert town in Arizona, releasing a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism. A team of top scientists is rushed to a secret underground lab, …

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#144 There's No Turning Back 17:20

3M ago17:20

17:20

About the Book: Published in 1968, House Made of Dawn is N. Scott Momaday’s landmark debut novel and a defining work of Native American literature. The story follows Abel, a young Native American man who returns to his reservation in New Mexico after serving in World War II. Struggling with alienation, dislocation, and the clash between traditional…

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#143 House Made of Dawn - N. Scott Momaday (New Mexico) 1:01:46

3M ago1:01:46

1:01:46

About the Book: Published in 1968, House Made of Dawn is N. Scott Momaday’s landmark debut novel and a defining work of Native American literature. The story follows Abel, a young Native American man who returns to his reservation in New Mexico after serving in World War II. Struggling with alienation, dislocation, and the clash between traditional…

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#142 People Can't Find Out About the Serial Killer in My Family 14:53

3M ago14:53

14:53

About the Book: Winner of the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Angle of Repose is a sweeping American saga that blends history, family drama, and the search for meaning. The novel follows retired historian Lyman Ward as he pieces together the life of his grandmother, Susan Burling Ward—a cultured artist and writer who left the East Coast in the lat…

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#141 Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner (Colorado) 48:04

4M ago48:04

48:04

About the Book: Winner of the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Angle of Repose is a sweeping American saga that blends history, family drama, and the search for meaning. The novel follows retired historian Lyman Ward as he pieces together the life of his grandmother, Susan Burling Ward—a cultured artist and writer who left the East Coast in the lat…

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#140 Where Would We Be Without Books? 13:25

4M ago13:25

13:25

About the Book: Published in 1932, Brave New World is Aldous Huxley’s dystopian vision of a future society engineered for efficiency, order, and pleasure—but at the expense of individuality, emotion, and truth. Set in a World State dominated by genetic engineering, social conditioning, and a strict caste system, the novel follows Bernard Marx, a di…

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#139 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (New Mexico) 1:05:19

4M ago1:05:19

1:05:19

About the Book: Published in 1932, Brave New World is Aldous Huxley’s dystopian vision of a future society engineered for efficiency, order, and pleasure—but at the expense of individuality, emotion, and truth. Set in a World State dominated by genetic engineering, social conditioning, and a strict caste system, the novel follows Bernard Marx, a di…

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#138 You Have to Walk Before You Run, Trot Before You Canter 14:18

5M ago14:18

14:18

About the Book: Horseman, Pass By tells the story of Homer Bannon, an old-time cattleman who epitomizes the frontier values of honesty and decency, and Hud, his unscrupulous stepson. Caught in the middle is the narrator, Homer's young grandson Lonnie, who is as much drawn to his grandfather’s strength of character as he is to Hud's hedonism and mat…

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#137 Horseman, Pass By - Larry McMurtry (Texas) 1:02:39

5M ago1:02:39

1:02:39

About the Book: Horseman, Pass By tells the story of Homer Bannon, an old-time cattleman who epitomizes the frontier values of honesty and decency, and Hud, his unscrupulous stepson. Caught in the middle is the narrator, Homer's young grandson Lonnie, who is as much drawn to his grandfather’s strength of character as he is to Hud's hedonism and mat…

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#136 She Fell I Swear! 16:39

5M ago16:39

16:39

About the Book: All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty". The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It is commonly thought to have been loosely inspired by the real-life story of U…

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#135 All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren (Louisiana) 1:03:47

6M ago1:03:47

1:03:47

About the Book: All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty". The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It is commonly thought to have been loosely inspired by the real-life story of U…

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#134 Book Bootleggers 14:41

5M ago14:41

14:41

About the Book: Light in August, a novel that contrasts stark tragedy with hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality, which features some of Faulkner’s most memorable characters: guileless, dauntless Lena Grove, in search of the father of her unborn child; Reverend Gail Hightower, a lonely outcast haunted by visions of Confederate glory; and Jo…

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#133 Light in August - William Faulkner (Mississippi) 1:05:35

6M ago1:05:35

1:05:35

About the Book: Light in August, a novel that contrasts stark tragedy with hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality, which features some of Faulkner’s most memorable characters: guileless, dauntless Lena Grove, in search of the father of her unborn child; Reverend Gail Hightower, a lonely outcast haunted by visions of Confederate glory; and Jo…

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#132 Scorpions and Sauerkraut 14:04

6M ago14:04

14:04

About the Book: This compelling novel has as its protagonist Cornelius Suttree, living alone and in exile in a disintegrating houseboat on the wrong side of the Tennessee River close by Knoxville. He stays at the edge of an outcast community inhabited by eccentrics, criminals and the poverty-stricken. Rising above the physical and human squalor aro…

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#131 Suttree - Cormac McCarthy (Tennessee) 1:08:08

6M ago1:08:08

1:08:08

About the Book: This compelling novel has as its protagonist Cornelius Suttree, living alone and in exile in a disintegrating houseboat on the wrong side of the Tennessee River close by Knoxville. He stays at the edge of an outcast community inhabited by eccentrics, criminals and the poverty-stricken. Rising above the physical and human squalor aro…

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#130 Third Spaces, Dental Waiting Rooms, and Quiet Uber Rides 19:02

7M ago19:02

19:02

About the Book: “This is a book about Heaven,” says Jayber Crow, “but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell.” It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town's barber. Orphaned at age ten, Jayber Crow’s acquaintance with loneliness and want have made…

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#129 Jayber Crow - Wendell Berry (Kentucky) 1:06:10

7M ago1:06:10

1:06:10

About the Book: “This is a book about Heaven,” says Jayber Crow, “but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell.” It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town's barber. Orphaned at age ten, Jayber Crow’s acquaintance with loneliness and want have made…

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#128🔥 SMOKEBIRDS, a novel by Daniel Breyer: Live Recording at Green Apple Books in SF 1:03:57

7M ago1:03:57

1:03:57

Jeremy joined Daniel for a live event at Green Apple Books in San Francisco to discuss Daniel’s debut: Smokebirds. Set in the near future, when every autumn is fire season in California, wealthy San Franciscans flee their city for smoke-free pastures. Among them are the Petersons, a family enriched by the lumber industry, who traditionally spend ev…

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#127 🪙 24 Hours After You Win the Lottery.... 20:21

8M ago20:21

20:21

About the Book: Second only to Slaughterhouse-Five of Vonnegut's canon in its prominence and influence, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965) presents Eliot Rosewater, an itinerant, semi-crazed millionaire wandering the country in search of heritage and philanthropic outcome, introducing the science fiction writer Kilgore Trout to the world and Vonne…

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#126 God Bless You Mr Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut (Indiana) 59:08

8M ago59:08

59:08

About the Book: Second only to Slaughterhouse-Five of Vonnegut's canon in its prominence and influence, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965) presents Eliot Rosewater, an itinerant, semi-crazed millionaire wandering the country in search of heritage and philanthropic outcome, introducing the science fiction writer Kilgore Trout to the world and Vonne…

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#125 🏡 Diets, Taylor Swift, Conformity, and the Myth of Individualism 24:59

8M ago24:59

24:59

About the Book: Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the hou…

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#124 Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng (Ohio) 1:09:15

9M ago1:09:15

1:09:15

About the Book: Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the hou…

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#123 🎮 "Bad" Habits, Video Games, Jiu Jitsu, and the End of Death 15:30

9M ago15:30

15:30

About The Book: Rabbit, Run is the book that established John Updike as one of the major American novelists of his—or any other—generation. Its hero is Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, a onetime high-school basketball star who on an impulse deserts his wife and son. He is twenty-six years old, a man-child caught in a struggle between instinct and thought, …

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#122 🐇 Rabbit Run by John Updike (Pennsylvania) 1:16:50

9M ago1:16:50

1:16:50

About The Book: Rabbit, Run is the book that established John Updike as one of the major American novelists of his—or any other—generation. Its hero is Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, a onetime high-school basketball star who on an impulse deserts his wife and son. He is twenty-six years old, a man-child caught in a struggle between instinct and thought, …

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#121 New York vs Siberia 19:59

9M ago19:59

19:59

About the Book: In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but…

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#120 If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin 1:03:18

9M ago1:03:18

1:03:18

About the Book: In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but…

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#119 Full House, ABC Family, Moralizing Content, and the Return of Retro 15:28

10M ago15:28

15:28

About The Book: Generations of readers young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s most popular and enduring novel, Little Women. Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their strugg…

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#118 🐴 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 1:01:57

10M ago1:01:57

1:01:57

About The Book: Generations of readers young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s most popular and enduring novel, Little Women. Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their strugg…

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#117 🧓🏼 Peak Late! Achieving Artistic Success at a Young Age, Ego in Writing, and Jon Hamm 20:49

10M ago20:49

20:49

About The Book: Set at an affluent liberal arts college during the height of the Reagan eighties, The Rules of Attraction follows a handful of rowdy, spoiled, sexually promiscuous students with no plans for the future—or even the present. Three of them—Sean, Paul, and Lauren—become involved in a love triangle of sorts within a sequence of drug runs…

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#116 🥵 Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis (New Hampshire) 1:04:56

10M ago1:04:56

1:04:56

About The Book: Set at an affluent liberal arts college during the height of the Reagan eighties, The Rules of Attraction follows a handful of rowdy, spoiled, sexually promiscuous students with no plans for the future—or even the present. Three of them—Sean, Paul, and Lauren—become involved in a love triangle of sorts within a sequence of drug runs…

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#115 👻 Do You Believe in Ghosts? 9:39

11M ago9:39

9:39

About The Book: Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a …

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#114 -SEASON 7 ROAD TRIP USA - Bag of Bones by Stephen King (Maine) 1:05:06

11M ago1:05:06

1:05:06

About The Book: Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a …

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#113 〽️ Alternative Takes on Classic Characters, A Dangerous Game 14:00

12M ago14:00

14:00

About The Book: A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Islan…

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#112 🌾 James by Percival Everett 58:35

12M ago58:35

58:35

About The Book: A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Islan…

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#111 📿 The Spectrum of Spirituality and Rationality 16:25

12M ago16:25

16:25

About The Book: A man starts driving without knowing where he is going. He alternates between turning right and left, and finally he gets stuck at the end of a forest road. Soon it gets dark and starts to snow, but instead of going back to find help, he ventures, foolishly, into the dark forest. Inevitably, the man gets lost, and as he grows cold a…

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#110 🌳 A Shining by Jon Fosse (2023) 59:58

1y ago59:58

59:58

Website TikTok Instagram YouTube Newsletter Jeremy's Website Dan's WebsiteBy Jeremy Streich, Daniel Breyer

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#109 👁️‍🗨️ The Allure of Violence, Escapism, Horror, and Finding Humor in Death 17:10

1y ago17:10

17:10

About The Book: 980, PASS CHRISTIAN, It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit and plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight b…

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#108🤿 The Passenger by CORMAC MCCARTHY (2022) 56:17

1y ago56:17

56:17

About The Book: 980, PASS CHRISTIAN, It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit and plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight b…

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#107 😗 Would You Be a Whistleblower? 12:06

1y ago12:06

12:06

About The Book: It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled b…

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#106 🇮🇪 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan 46:05

1y ago46:05

46:05

About The Book: It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled b…

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#105 🔚 Endings: the Good, the Bad, the Insanely Great 14:32

1y ago14:32

14:32

About The Book: Zach Wells is a perpetually dissatisfied geologist-slash-paleobiologist. Expert in a very narrow area—the geological history of a cave forty-four meters above the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon—he is a laconic man who plays chess with his daughter, trades puns with his wife while she does yoga, and dodges committee work at the c…

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#104 ☎️ Telephone by Percival Everet (2020) 1:04:30

1y ago1:04:30

1:04:30

About The Book: Zach Wells is a perpetually dissatisfied geologist-slash-paleobiologist. Expert in a very narrow area—the geological history of a cave forty-four meters above the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon—he is a laconic man who plays chess with his daughter, trades puns with his wife while she does yoga, and dodges committee work at the c…

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#103 What Your Bookshelf Says About You 12:55

1y ago12:55

12:55

Website TikTok Instagram YouTube Newsletter Jeremy's Website Dan's Website Website TikTok Instagram YouTube Newsletter Jeremy's Website Dan's WebsiteBy Daniel, Jeremy

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#102 The Dutch House by Anne Patchett (2019) 59:27

1y ago59:27

59:27

Website TikTok Instagram YouTube Newsletter Jeremy's Website Dan's WebsiteBy Daniel, Jeremy