Podcast
Obscure with Michael Ian Black
Hosted by Misfit Toys · EN
It's a book club, but funny!
Comedian Michael Ian Black is tackling a great work of literature: Wuthering Heights.
Join Michael's weekly book club as he reads aloud from a classic and asks people like Jen Kirkman, Mike Birbiglia, Michael Showalter, and even his teenage kids to weigh in with their perspectives.
Season 1: Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. The book is bleak, but Michael does a lot of accent work.
Season 2: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It's alive, and it's just a big buddy. Also, more accent work.
Season 3: Wuthering Heights. It's a love story? Who knows
Season 4: American Tragedy. Also a potential title of this podcast
Support this show and access bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/michaelianblack
31episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
S4 Episode 130 - Wrong About Most Things
Mar 2400:33:02Tap to summarizeWitness after witness condemning Clyde to Ol' Sparky. Dots are being connected, red yarn tied to thumbtacks, evidence uncovered! They even found the druggist to whom Clyde applied for abortifacient! They found everybody! How the heck does Clyde have any hope of walking after this litany of concerned citizens putting the screws to the young Mr. Griffiths.Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 129 - DE-Fense! De-FENSE!
Mar 1700:32:55Tap to summarizeThe case is underway! Jury selection complete. Opening argument argued. And now, at long last, witnesses are taking the stand. What will they say? Will they sink Clyde's case? PLUS a lesson in antiquity. AND a new nickname for Robert is REVEALED!!!Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 128 - Fighting for His Very Life
Mar 1000:34:59Tap to summarizeClyde is there in that darn Bridgeburg courtroom trying his level best to keep calm and carry on, but it's tough. It's TOUGH! That Orville Mason is one tough cookie, and his opening argument certainly doesn't leave any room for doubt. That's one guilty son of a gun. Or say I! Plus, it remains cold.Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 127 - The Best Face He Can
Mar 300:37:33Tap to summarizeAfter counsel for both prosecution and defense conclude jury selection, the Trail of the Century begins - at least in Bridgeburg - District Attorney Orville B. Mason takes to the well to begin his opening argument. (I don't know if the area in front of the bench is called "the well" but it seems to me it ought to be.) Electric. Dynamic. So Dreiser described the speaking style of the District Attorney. It's an episode of nearly pure monologue!Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 126 - An Uphill Climb... Both Ways!
Feb 2400:30:40Tap to summarizeYour host is snowbound following a winter blizzard, with nothing to do at all but read a classic work of literature out loud and comment on it as he goes. Dudley Sheerline makes an appearance. Who's Dudley Sheerline - who cares? Some Dickensian humor pops its head up and blows us all a delicious raspberry.Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 125 - Like Flying Birds
Feb 1700:32:31Tap to summarizeYour host recounts his week of travel to and from distant points on the continent. Las Vegas, San Francisco, and back to the East Coast for a new season of "Have I Got News For You." Flying to Bridgeburg, NY, are various reporters and correspondents and townsfolk hoping to get a view of the murderer, Clyde Griffiths. Some thoughts on winter and holiday and death follow.Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 124 - From the Master Boudoir...
Feb 1000:32:51Tap to summarizeA sultry beginning to this week's episode of "Obscure," as your host describes his new locale, the primary bedroom of his midcentury masterpiece in the wilds of Connecticut. In Denver, the Asa Griffiths family has now been appraised of their eldest boy's troubles. Will they abscond to Bridgeburg, as your host absconded to his master boudoir? Or will they remain, per instructions, where they are?Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 123 - Bawl in the Family
Feb 300:36:21Tap to summarizeThe news finally reaches the poor Asa Griffiths family, arriving as it does in the various circulars and broadsheets from far away lands. And nary a word from the Samuel Griffiths family regarding the plight of their Clyde. Meanwhile, squalor of the heart precedes squalor of the Jill Schwartz Memorial Library, which remains chaotic.Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 122 - An Ambling Man
Jan 2700:34:38Tap to summarizeAs Clyde rots in a Bridgeburg jail cell concocting, with attorneys Bellknap & Jephson, some potential defense which a jury will believe, your host goes on a brief philosophical amble regarding Truth! Yes, Truth, that misty island just offshore. PLUS, the question is asked: "What relationship did Dreiser have, if any, with Mark Twain?" The answer will SHOCK you!!!Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →S4 Episode 121 - Exculpatory Maneuvering
Jan 2000:32:20Tap to summarizeA library amuck! The nature of tragedy contemplated! A legal strategy formulated! Rubble and debris of both the construction and personal types. Plus, brain storms from Clyde's legal team and, potentially, from Clyde himself. The stakes could not be higher as our hero's new counsel lays the foundation for a defense.Support Obscure!Read Michael's substackFollow Michael on TwitterFollow Michael on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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