Arts
Here we discuss -- with Robert Alter, the Hebrew Bible's most esteemed translator and commentator -- the Bible at its most unorthodox: the two books that never mention the word God (the Book of Esther, the Song of Songs) and the book of the Bible that most intently focuses its attention beyond the nation of Israel (the Book of Jonah). Chapter & Verse is a books-and-arts podcast about the cultural imagination — what Joan Didion once called the stories we tell ourselves to live. It delves into novels, nonfiction, poems, music, film, and other touchstones of our culture, with an eye to the spells they cast and the questions they raise. More information at chapterversepod.com. This episode is sponsored by UC Berkeley's Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities. For more information about the Townsend Center, visit http://townsendcenter.berkeley.edu.