Best Jordan Raebel Podcasts (2024)

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Episode 79: Jose Rizal Pt. 3 1:12:33

26d ago1:12:33

1:12:33

Damn, who's that guy over there in the corner? Oh man, you say he's a doctor? And a writer? And in trouble with the Spanish government? And he bangs all the high-class ladies? And he-- oh. Oh, he says the alcohol wasn't free. Oh, he's making me pay for his meal. Ah. Well then, this could only be the conclusion to the most illustrious Jose Rizal!…

1
Episode 78: Jose Rizal Pt. 2 1:05:40

1M ago1:05:40

1:05:40

This poor dude might've actually done less damage had he just been left the hell alone. Sure they say the pen is mightier than the sword, but Jose Rizal seemed content to let sleeping Spaniards lie once he found out how much trouble he was in. Unfortunately, the people around him would force his environments to change, and his life to be forever al…

1
Episode 77: Jose Rizal Pt. 1 1:20:16

2M ago1:20:16

1:20:16

Sometimes you gotta be the change you wanna see in the world. And sometimes, you gotta piss off a whole lot of people to do it. Join us as we talk about the early life of the Philippines' foremost national hero, Jose Rizal, as well as his terrible finances, his bad housemate manners, and which side of his pants he hung his hog. Salamat!…

1
Episode 76: Federico Garcia Lorca 1:31:43

3M ago1:31:43

1:31:43

Hey kids, you wanna get mad about the shitty injustices of the world? You wanna hear the story of a brilliant poet whose life had to end because of how he was born? Wanna hear our perfect pronunciations of Spanish words? Then join us this episode as we delve into the short, sporadic life of one of Spain's most famous poets, Federico Garcia Lorca!…

1
Episode 75: Sun Tzu 58:48

3M ago58:48

58:48

TW: Torture; You ever have your boss ask you to make a manual of your process at work but really you know they're just trying to understand what the fuck it is you do? While we may not know the story behind the author to a great extent, we fully understand the purpose of his work. Unfortunately a little too well. Join us as we delve into "The Art o…

1
Episode 74: Nadia Anjuman 34:13

5M ago34:13

34:13

TW: Abuse; While I wouldn't call this our happiest episode, the story of Nadia Anjuman needs to be told. Her work is criminally underrepresented in the West, and we can only hope that as her message is spread, so too are her poems.By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 73: Percy Bysshe Shelley Pt. 2 1:30:09

5M ago1:30:09

1:30:09

TW: Dead kids, Suicide; When a guy like Percy comes along, history seems to revolve around them. Not in like-- a way in which important events seem to crop up around them, but in the fact that we know every little detail about this douchebag's life. If you like kidnapped children, terrible fathers, and boating accidents, boy do we have the guy for …

1
Episode 72: Percy Bysshe Shelley Pt. 1 1:26:15

6M ago1:26:15

1:26:15

It's been two years since we last talked about our Terrible Trio: Mary, Percy, and the good ol' Lord Byron. But today we continue the saga with "Mad Shelley", a poet who showed a penchant for explosives, electricity, and freaking out when it was most convenient. Join us as we delve into his earliest works, and the incredible knack he had for pissin…

1
Episode 71: Cormac McCarthy Pt. 2 1:56:03

7M ago1:56:03

1:56:03

Merry Christmas, you filthy animals aware of your own degradation and the wallowing of your own sins, it's the conclusion to our Cormac McCarthy series! This episode, we'll be heavily delving into the works he completed from the years 1985 onward, including "Blood Meridian", "The Road", and the rest. Keep dancing and never die, kids! This is a depr…

1
Episode 70: Cormac McCarthy Pt. 1 1:14:00

7M ago1:14:00

1:14:00

Welcome to Season 6, cowpoke! Join us as we discuss our favorite all-time author, Cormac McCarthy! For the little we really know about his life, the least we can do is celebrate his earliest works, including "The Orchard Keeper", "Outer Dark", "Child of God", and "Suttree". Come take a preliminary course in his works before we jump into his more we…

1
Episode 69: The Kama Sutra 56:47

8M ago56:47

56:47

Light up those skin-safe wax candles and slip on into the non-slip tub, for our Season 5 finale we're gettin' greased up, guffed up, and goofed up to bring you our discussion on the quintessential sex book: the "Kama Sutra"! Join us as we discuss the practices still in use today, the ones we wish weren't, and whether or not a famous explorer had a …

1
Episode 68: Charles Dickens Pt. 2 1:37:55

8M ago1:37:55

1:37:55

If you thought the guy was a bastard before, well, no need to change your viewpoint for this episode, I guess. We're here to find out MORE of his shitty opinions, how he felt about his weirdly-named children, the train crash that nearly killed him, and some of the greatest works from the latter-half of his life, including "David Copperfield", "A Ta…

1
Episode 67: Charles Dickens Pt. 1 2:03:24

9M ago2:03:24

2:03:24

My lord did this guy get up to some shit. Between the terrorist bird, the woman he tried to drown, the man he was sort of complicit in killing... this man lived a full life all before he turned 40. Join us as we go over the major early works of Charles Dickens, including "The Pickwick Papers", "Oliver Twist", and "A Christmas Carol", as well as all…

1
Episode 66: Emily Dickinson 1:17:59

9M ago1:17:59

1:17:59

Emily Dickinson could only be described as a Livewire within poetry. Someone who Blasted the competition out of the water. Unfortunately, her reclusive lifestyle led to her having no real fame until after her death, where her Mountain of works were finally published to universal acclaim. Join us as we go through her ghostly presence and her most fa…

1
Episode 65: Philip K. Dick Pt. 2 1:40:39

10M ago1:40:39

1:40:39

What a long road it's been. And that road is filled with androids dressed as Romans looking to kill you in a plot 2000 years in the making. Join us as we try to unravel the final years of history's most insane or prophetic writer (depending on what you believe). Time to head on down to the bus stop and yell at wind, we're discussing the ending saga…

1
Episode 64: Philip K. Dick Pt. 1 1:42:58

11M ago1:42:58

1:42:58

TW: Rape, Suicide; Sex! Drugs! Drugs! Rock n' Roll! Drugs! Well, maybe not so much the sex and Rock n' Roll but at least we got drugs! Philip K. Dick is certainly one of those authors that you know from the hundreds of adaptations you've seen on TV, whether you're aware of it or not, including "The Man in the High Castle", "Do Androids Dream of Ele…

1
Episode 63: Jane Austen Pt. 2 1:35:01

12M ago1:35:01

1:35:01

You know how to piss off a fanbase? Tell them the truth. Join us as we go into the rest of Jane Austen's life, as she produces satire after satire that seems to go over 50% of the population's head. If she lived longer than she did, there's a good chance she would've finally told the world herself, but unfortunately, we're left with a lot of specul…

1
Episode 62: Jane Austen Pt. 1 1:13:02

1y ago1:13:02

1:13:02

Miss us? Don't answer that it'll make me sad. Well we took an impromptu mid-season break by mistake but we're back! Come join us as we go over the early life and works of a very misunderstood lady, someone who's known today for the kind of work that she was actually making fun of in the first place, Jane Austen!…

1
Episode 61: William S. Burroughs Pt. 2 1:52:24

1y ago1:52:24

1:52:24

TW: Pedophilia; Jesus Christ this guy. For some of you, this will for sure be a sad goodbye, as we delve into the remaining years of William S. Burroughs and his works, including his magnum opus, "Naked Lunch". For those of us with a disgust for beatniks, it couldn't come soon enough.By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 60: William S. Burroughs Pt. 1 1:24:57

1y ago1:24:57

1:24:57

TW: Child Abuse, Pedophilia; Now have we dealt with some real pieces of shit here on Caleb Can't Read? Boy have we. Conmen, torturers, literal Nazis... But William S. Burroughs is a special kind of bastard. Come join us as delve into perhaps the most infamous writer of the Beat Generation and the making of his first novel, "Junkie", as well as what…

1
Episode 59: Francois Rabelais 1:40:40

1+ y ago1:40:40

1:40:40

If there were ever a superhero that could drown a man in piss and make you question why you ever called on them in the first place, Francois Rabelais would be the PeePee PooPoo Man. (The 'P' symbol on his chest stands for 'hoPe'.) Since Chaucer's invention of words used on Caleb Can't Read today, there was a man in the 1500's that put such a vocabu…

1
Episode 58: Roald Dahl Pt. 2 1:40:54

1+ y ago1:40:54

1:40:54

For a man such as Roald Dahl, author of "The BFG", "Matilda", and "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", what can you say about him? That he was problematic? A bit creepy with his erotica and kind of shitty to his kids? That he said some problematic things and was a hypocrite when it came to the messages he wrote for children but didn't do himself? Yes.…

1
Episode 57: Roald Dahl Pt. 1 1:25:23

1+ y ago1:25:23

1:25:23

TW: Child Abuse, Dead Kids; To those of you familiar with Roald Dahl's life, you may remember his beginnings as a severely abused child, an ace fighter pilot, and a sexual secret agent. To those of you who are unfamiliar with Roald Dahl... well... we have some surprises for you. Join us today as we delve into the early life of the man behind "James…

1
Episode 56: Rudyard Kipling Pt. 2 1:37:20

1+ y ago1:37:20

1:37:20

TW: Dead Kids; Welcome, you bunch of animals! Come delve into the heyday of Rudyard Kipling, from his surprisingly non-racist classic "The Jungle Book", to his questionable masterpiece "Kim", and alllll the way through his problematic hit "The White Man's Burden". For a man who loved to literally invent new slurs, will he be able to redeem himself?…

1
Episode 55: Rudyard Kipling Pt. 1 1:19:48

1+ y ago1:19:48

1:19:48

Ah, Kipling. A brilliant poet. A wonderful storyteller. A hell of a racist. Join us as we discuss the early life of English literature's most troubling slur creator!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 54: Jose Saramago Pt. 2 1:23:57

1+ y ago1:23:57

1:23:57

Kept you waiting? Well we've been dealing with a lot of illnesses lately, which oddly enough is the theme for this episode and Jose Saramago's remaining works. Come join us as we delve into his remaining catalogue, such as "Blindness", "Death With Interruptions", and "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ"!…

1
Episode 53: Jose Saramago Pt. 1 1:21:37

1+ y ago1:21:37

1:21:37

TW: Child abuse; For what would have been his 100th birthday, we are presenting you with the early life of Jose Saramago, arguably (by me-- I argue this--) Portugal's best writer. Join us as we delve into his shitty childhood, his bizarre family, and his early works which would later gain a cult following, including "Manual of Calligraphy and Paint…

1
Outtakes 21:56

1+ y ago21:56

21:56

Look, we are not experts. I swear to God, if ever we did a live show, people would have to sit through a good 20 minutes before we actually get to the source material, based solely on the fact that one of us hated how we opened the episode, and were quicker at pressing the 'stop' button than the other could cover it with their hand.…

1
Trailer 0:56

1+ y ago0:56

0:56

Welcome to the show, folks!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 52: Sylvia Plath 1:37:53

1+ y ago1:37:53

1:37:53

TW: Abuse, Dead Kids, Suicide; For our Season 4 finale, we bring to you a lot of sad. For real, there's like 3 different people who die by their own hand in this. But anyway, Sylvia Plath has become an authority in the poetry world since her passing, and her brilliance is something that must to be reiterated. Again though, if you're going through s…

1
Episode 51: Nostradamus 44:40

2y ago44:40

44:40

Bet you didn't see this one coming! Huh?! Haha, yeah... Anyway, this guy's a fuckin' fraud, and we're here to tell you all about it. Come listen to us discuss the bullshit prophecies of one of the most infamous conmen, Nostradamus!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 50: Helen Keller 1:16:44

2y ago1:16:44

1:16:44

TW: Alabama; It's our 50th episode! And to celebrate, we're going over the sad sad tale of Helen Keller, most well-known for overcoming her blind and deaf disabilities to become a prolific author and Socialist activist, and not as well-known for her weird religion and once flying a whole goddamn plane.…

1
Episode 49: Louis Braille 37:28

2y ago37:28

37:28

Come join us as we discuss the life of Louis Braille, the man who invented a system for the blind to read while he was only 15! And also sharing a bathroom with 120 other men. Yes, the 1800's were a pooey time, especially if you were blind before Braille, which we'll also talk about. Seriously, you were like town jester if you had a disability. Not…

1
Episode 48: Roberto Bolano 1:27:40

2y ago1:27:40

1:27:40

TW: Torture; Welcome to perhaps the most pretentious Latin American writer there ever was, Roberto Bolano! Come learn the backstory of the man who witnessed more than one atrocity in several countries, paving the way for him to create the two novels that one hipster chick was telling you about before her Marxist idealization turned you off, "2666" …

1
Episode 47: Chaucer 1:36:02

2y ago1:36:02

1:36:02

TW: Rape; You may know him as "Geoffrey Chaucer", but we know him as "Geoffrey Chaucer, God of Farts". Welcome to our episode on the man who quite literally invented the word, and perfected the ass-craft with his most famous stories-- and the precursor to the entire English literary scene-- "The Canterbury Tales"!…

1
Episode 46: Willa Cather Pt. 2 1:10:57

2y ago1:10:57

1:10:57

TW: Rape; Good goofin' God we're back in Nebraska. Come join us as we go over the greatest works of Willa Cather; including "Death Comes for the Archbishop", "My Antonia", and "One of Ours", as well as the last years of her life, fraught with pain and loss. Yay!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 45: Willa Cather Pt. 1 56:25

2y ago56:25

56:25

We hear you, and your prayers have been answered: you want more Nebraska. Well today we have for you the embodiment of Nebraska itself, the author of "The Prairie Trilogy", and famous derby-hat-wearer, Willa Cather!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 44: Herman Melville Pt. 3 1:26:00

2y ago1:26:00

1:26:00

Welcome to our finale of Herman Melville folks. The end of his depressing, destructive life, and yet the birth of Billy Budd, the "Handsome Sailor", a man so thicc with love, that he climaxes our hearts. Anyway, we'll be covering some of his most memorable stories here as well, including "Bartleby" and "Benito Cereno" as well. High school English c…

1
Episode 43: Herman Melville Pt. 2 1:13:58

2y ago1:13:58

1:13:58

Come join us as we go in length into the great American masterpiece, "Moby Dick"! There's traumatized toddlers! Dick fat! A South Seas gay marriage! Everything needed to run a safe re-election!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 42: Herman Melville Pt. 1 1:05:40

2y ago1:05:40

1:05:40

Split your lungs with blood and thunder, kids! It's Herman Melville! As we begin our journey into the life of this troubled sailor, we will be focusing on his career as a failed writer before his eventual magnum opus, "Moby Dick". Take your Dramamine, the water's gonna be rough!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 41.5: Scheduling Update 1:13

2y ago1:13

1:13

Hello, all. This is just a quick update for anyone wondering why we've got such a strange episode schedule currently. Short answer: it's because we don't make any money on this podcast so we're fighting for our lives with our day jobs. And with schedule changes for our day jobs comes schedule changes for our episodes on here. Episodes will now come…

1
Episode 41: Dalton Trumbo 1:07:25

2y ago1:07:25

1:07:25

WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME YOU LITTLE COMMIE? YOU THINK YOU CAN TALK TO UNCLE SAM THAT WAY? Well it turns out that someone DID talk to Uncle Sam that way, and his name was James Dalton Trumbo, author of "Johnny Got His Gun" and the (in)famous Communist blacklisted from Hollywood! Come listen to us discuss his most well-known work as well as Jordan not …

1
Episode 40: Iceberg Slim 1:26:04

2y ago1:26:04

1:26:04

TW: Abuse, just... a lot of abuse all around. Please skip this one if you've got any kind of hangups on this; Welcome to the first episode for Season 4 of Caleb Can't Read! And along with it, the most notorious pimp of them all, and the man who literally wrote the handbook on it, Iceberg Slim!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 39: Charles Bukowski 1:29:34

2+ y ago1:29:34

1:29:34

TW: Child Abuse, Rape; You know us, we love a good shithead. Well we're digging up one of the most glorified of all the drunk, abusive, deadbeat writers of them all, the poet and novelist Charles Bukowski!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 38: William Pierce III 1:12:02

2+ y ago1:12:02

1:12:02

Well we typed in "worst author" and this guy unsurprisingly topped every list right ahead of Glenn Beck. Come join us as we make fun of a Nazi who tried his hand at a literature and gloriously failed, the author behind terrorist propaganda book "The Turner Diaries", William Pierce III!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 37: Beowulf 1:05:29

2+ y ago1:05:29

1:05:29

COME FROM THE LAND OF THE ICE AND SNOW FROM THE MIDNIGHT SUN WHERE THE HOT SPRINGS BLOW we're doing "Beowulf" today. Come join us on the journey through ransacked England, a house fire, and the melding of reality and fiction which brings us one of the oldest Viking tales we know!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 36: Johann David Wyss 42:01

2+ y ago42:01

42:01

We've got emotional issues and we're having a hard time dealing with them, it's Johann David Wyss & Co., the authors of "The Swiss Family Robinson"!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 35: Daniel Defoe 1:26:08

2+ y ago1:26:08

1:26:08

Do you love spies? Pirates? Gilligan's Island? Then this episode is for you! Come listen to the tale of Daniel Defoe, the man who wanted nothing more than to be accepted by literally anybody. And he also wrote "Robinson Crusoe" if you're into that kind of thing.By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 34: The History of Book Burnings 1:16:12

2+ y ago1:16:12

1:16:12

Well what can I say? While this shit has always been around, it feels as though it's having a dramatic spike in America recently. Come listen to some of history's most infamous instances of one of the world's most pointless acts!By Jordan Raebel

1
Episode 33: Cervantes Pt. 2 1:06:32

2+ y ago1:06:32

1:06:32

Welcome to the tale of "Don Quixote"! If you wanted a tale of drama, love, and intrigue, see our episode on Mary Wollstonecraft. But if you want the story of two men who vomit on each other, this is the book for you. Follow us through the last years of the man who popularized satire, Miguel de Cervantes!…

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