One of the most powerful short-story writers of the twentieth century, Isaac Babel expressed his sense of inner conflict through disturbing tales that explored the contradictions of Russian society. Whether reflecting on anti-Semitism in stories such as " Story of My Dovecote " and " First Love ," or depicting Jewish gangsters in his native Odessa, Babel’s eye for the comical laid bare the ironies of history. His masterpiece, " Red Cavalry ," set in the Soviet-Polish war, is one of the classics of modern fiction. By turns flamboyant and restrained, this collection of Babel’s best-known stories vividly expresses the horrors of his age. This translation is based on the complete, original text taken from an unexpurgated Russian edition. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Recommended on 1 episode:

George Saunders on Anger, Ambition and Sin

George Saunders is tired of being the “kindness guy.” Saunders is one of my favorite fiction writers, and a friend of the pod; I talked to him back in 2021 and 2022. He also has a reputation as a kind of guru of kindness, thanks to a viral commencement speech he gave back in 2013. We talked about kindness on the show before. But with the publication of his new novel, “Vigil,” I noticed that something about Saunders seemed to have shifted. He was pushing back against that public persona, and wrestling with darker themes. “Vigil” follows an oil tycoon who, on his deathbed, is visited by angels and people from his past asking him to reassess his life. And you can feel a tension in that book that is also very alive in Saunders himself — between recognizing how much of our lives are conditioned by our circumstances and the need to pass judgment to reckon with the truth. In this conversation, I discuss that tension with Saunders. I ask him about his relationship not just to kindness but also to anger; how he defines sin; whether he believes in free will; and what he thinks lies beyond kindness. This episode contains strong language.

Books recommended:

• 📕  I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941 by Victor Klemperer, Martin Chalmers
• 📘  Red Cavalry and Other Stories (Penguin Classics) by Isaac Babel, David McDuff, Efraim Sicher
• 📗  The Place of Tides: A Journey to the Land of the Eider Duck and a Life-Changing Encounter with the Women Who Gather the Birds’ Precious Down on Remote ... the acclaimed author of The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks

George Saunders Feb. 10, 2026 3 books recommended

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