Just The Best Literature

Host Dennis Leap and 60-plus panel member Deborah Leap discuss Mrs. Barbara Bush, as well as George and Martha Washington’s lives as first president and first lady. NOTE: This episode is a repeat from Dec. 17, 2018

Host Dennis Leap and 60-plus panel member Deborah Leap discuss the funeral of George Herbert Walker Bush, followed by a discussion of George and Martha Washington’s support of the troops during America’s war with Britain.

Host Dennis Leap discusses George Washington as a skilled architect and builder.

Host Dennis Leap discusses George Washington as one of America’s first agricultural pioneers.

Host Dennis Leap continues discussing George Washington’s treatment of slaves and disgust for slavery.

Host Dennis Leap discusses George Washington’s noble qualities of character in his physical appearance, manners and dress, and begins a discussion on Washington’s hatred of chattel slavery.

Host Dennis Leap, with 60-plus panel member Deborah Leap, discusses fascinating historical facts concerning Martha Washington’s family and her first husband, Daniel Custis.

Host Dennis Leap, with 60 plus panel member Deborah Leap, discuss fascinating historical facts concerning George Washington’s wife Martha.

Host Dennis Leap continues to discuss the pertinent facts of George Washington's life, including his marriage, family life and health.

Host Dennis Leap continues to discuss the pertinent facts of George Washington’s life in the context of liberal leftists’ rage against “dead privileged white men.”

Host Dennis Leap discusses the pertinent facts and towering moral character of George Washington in the context of liberal lefts' handling Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.

Host Dennis Leap and special guest Grant Turgeon finish discussing Chapter 48: “The First Lowering.” They then go on to discuss chapters 52 and 53, which focus on the social meeting (or Gam) of two or more whale ships and why Ahab chose not to gam with the Albatross (Goney).

Host Dennis Leap and special guest Grant Turgeon continue discussing Chapter 48: “The First Lowering.” This explosive chapter gives insight into the uniting of Ahab’s stowaway crew—believed at one time to be Phantoms—and the legitimate crew of the Pequod.

Host Dennis Leap and special guest Grant Turgeon discuss Chapters 46 through 48. For Chapter 46, Dennis and Grant discuss Melville’s additional revelation of Ahab’s megalomania. In Chapters 47 and 48, Dennis and Grant discuss the shocking introduction and use of Ahab’s powerful phantom whale-killing crew.

Host Dennis Leap and special guest Grant Turgeon discuss Chapters 43 and 44. In Chapter 43, Melville begins to reveal that there is an unknown mysterious crew on board. For Chapter 44, Leap and Turgeon discuss Ahab’s great intelligence and also his mental madness.

Host Dennis Leap and special guest Grant Turgeon discuss Chapter 42: “The Whiteness of the Whale.” This fascinating chapter discusses the elusive qualities of the color white. This color happens to appall Ishmael.

Host Dennis Leap and special guest Grant Turgeon discuss Chapter 41, “Moby Dick,” which gives the history of Moby Dick and Ahab and shows that Ishmael recognizes he is totally under Ahab’s influence.

Host Dennis Leap with special guest Grant Turgeon complete their discussion of Chapter 37, titled “Sunset,” showing how Ahab describes himself as “demonic" and “madness maddened.” They then discuss the soliloquy’s of Starbuck (Chapter 38) and Stubb (Chapter 39) and end the program with a comedic soliloquy of the sailors (Chapter 40) written in the form of a musical. Under Ahab’s trance, the shipmates celebrate the killing of the whale.

Host Dennis Leap and special guest Grant Turgeon complete their discussion of Chapter 36, “The Quarterdeck,” showing how Ahab successfully completed his plan to hijack the Pequod to satisfy his vengeance against Moby Dick.

Host Dennis Leap and special guest Grant Turgeon discuss Chapters 30 and 31 of Moby Dick: Melville compares Ahab to a Norse king and crafts a humorous tale of Stubb telling Flask about his queer dream of a merman. Dennis and Grant also begin their discussion of Chapter 36, “The Quarterdeck,” in which Ahab initiates his plan to hijack the Pequod for his own dark purpose.