The Brothers Karamazov

This week’s show is a Wasteland Companion episode- that is, a show where we take a book and walk through its themes, history, big ideas, etc… You need not have ANY prior knowledge of the book to listen. If you do, hopefully this can jog some memories. We chose to talk about the brothers Karamazov because we both believe it to contain some of the more gut wrenching and savage attacks on human nature and God. It also contains some of the most sincere people of faith in modern literature. The Brothers Karamazov has been a major template for books and stories about brothers and families for over a century. We discuss a bit of the history, a bit of the plot, a fair amount on the section you might know as the “Grand Inquisitor”, and we end up talking about the best arguments for the absence of a God, good and evil, freedom, slavery, and totalitarianism. Last week we were all parties and barbecues for the fourth of July. This week, it’s back in the wasteland as we discuss the big questions with a little help from our 19th century Russian pal, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“Man is tormented by no greater anxiety than to find someone quickly to whom he can hand over that great gift of freedom with which the ill-fated creature is born.” - The Grand Inquisitor