Monthly Archives: October 2023

NEW! The Annotated “Disappearance of the Lady Frances Carfax!”

Sherlock Holmes

You may have seen and heard the classic story of “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax” here on History Revisited and Audibly Speaking before, but this is a new version, now with annotations included from the observations in Leslie S. Klinger’s The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume II (New York: Norton’s, 2005).  Listen to the story and the annotated digressions to journey through the dual labyrinths of the plot-line and the mind of Arthur Conan Doyle, in this, one of my all-time-favorites in the Sherlock Holmes canon!

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Deja Vu History: The Biden Oval Office Speech on Israel and Ukraine of 2023 and the FDR “Arsenal of Democracy” Speech of 1940

American HIstory, Audio narration, FDR, Holocaust, Western Civilization II, World War II

No one has caught the similarities between the Biden Oval Office Speech on Israel and Ukraine of 2023 and the FDR “Arsenal of Democracy” Speech of 1940, other than the use of the phrase “Arsenal of Democracy.” Yet the parallels are eery and uncanny.  They are also portentous for revealing the resonance of the world situations of 1940 and that of today.  Listen and learn how the Biden speech drew on two FDR speeches, one in 1940 and one in the wake of Pearl Harbor (no, not that one, not the “Day of Infamy” speech but one a few days later) and you will agree on the striking similarities. I hope you will also agree on the gravity of their meanings as discussed here.

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Fresh for Halloween! “The Adventure of the Cardboard Box!”

Sherlock Holmes

In the run up to Halloween, there no more terrifying, thrilling and horrifying story in the Sherlock Holmes canon than this, “The Cardboard Box.”  Publishers were frightened to publish it and its author, John Watson, was persuaded to do so only on his deathbed.  Listeners are strongly encouraged to listen only at noon, in the bright sunshine, when demons are at a distance and vampires asleep in their coffins. If you must listen to this of an evening, have someone with you to hold onto.  Listen…if you dare.

Podcast: Embed