Welcome to 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales!

Episodes

Sept. 14, 2025

THE GREAT SERMON HANDICAP A JEEVES STORY from P.G.WODEHOUSE

Another great tale from Wodehouse taking a poke at the generation of wealthy young men who are kept on retainers by rich relatives and have no desire to work- thus having to create their own entertainment- in this case, betti...

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Sept. 10, 2025

THE RACE by STEWART EDWARD WHITE

Two cowboys are paid to round up a crew of Mexicans to drive a herd of cattle near the Mexican border. When one of the vaqueros becomes angry and shoots the black cook, one of the cowboys shoots and kills the Mexican, turning...

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Sept. 7, 2025

SPRINGTIME A LA CARTE and THE MARRY MONTH OF MAY A DOUBLEHEADER FROM…

Spring has arrived, and in the bustling city of New York in 1905 or so minds were turning to other than business pursuits. Two great stories from O.Henry that illustrate what NYC was like in those formative years- with ice de...

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Sept. 3, 2025

THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON by FRANK STOCKTON

A classic Frank Stockton tale about a griffin ( a winged beast of legend) and a minor canon- meaning an associate pastor/priest who handles the actual job of visiting and teaching the congregation). Our story: A little rura...

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Aug. 31, 2025

THE WORST CRIME IN THE WORLD A FATHER BROWN MYSTERY

A great Father Brown Mystery from GK Chesteron's collection 'The Wisdom of Father Brown. Father Brown plans to meet his niece in a picture gallery, but before he does, he encounters a lawyer named Granby who wants his opinion...

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Aug. 27, 2025

2 B R 0 2 B by KURT VONNEGUT

(to be or naught to be) In a future where death is volunteered and the population is controlled, a soon-to-be father waits for his triplets to be born—and he must find three volunteers to die in order for them to live.. Expli...

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Aug. 24, 2025

A MYSTERY OF HEROISM by STEPHEN CRANE

meAmidst a raging battle taking place over an otherwise peaceful glen, a soldier, having been taunted by others, decides to run under shell and rifle fire across an open meadow filled with dying men and horses to a nearby wel...

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Aug. 20, 2025

MR.VINCENT EGG AND THE WAGE OF SIN H.C. BUNNER

An elder man living out his latter days in Paris and working part time writing for a tour guide spends one week every month drinking himself into a stupor between writing jobs and having no concern for other people's problems...

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Aug. 17, 2025

MY WATCH and MY FIRST LITERARY VENTURE by MARK TWAIN

MY WATCH: A humurous piece describing the narrator's futile efforts to get his watch fixed MY FIRST LITERARY VENTURE: An autobiographical piece describing Twain as a young typesetter in Hannibal who gets a rare chance to writ...

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Aug. 13, 2025

THE UNFAMILIAR by RICHARD CONNELL

A small, broze-skinned man shows up mysteriously in a small Connecicut farming town wearing strange clothes and speaking very little english. A local farmer rescues him from a trip to the jail by offering to be responsible fo...

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Aug. 10, 2025

O.HENRY DOUBLE PLAY: DOUGHERTY'S EYE OPENER and LITTLE SPECK IN GARNE…

Big Jim Dougherty was a sporting man, but he hadn;t been much of a husband to Del. After three years of marriage she finally had to ask him to take her out to dinner. She dressed to impress. A great New York in 1905 short sto...

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Aug. 10, 2025

1001 STORIES FROM THE GILDED AGE STARTS ROCKIN' TODAY! FOLLOW AT YOU…

Starting now ANNE OF THE ISLAND EVERY MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY AT NOON EASTERN- Anne is headed for college 1001 Stories From The Gilded Age Now Mon-Wed-Fri (Fri is short story) all at noon EDT Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.a...

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Aug. 9, 2025

COMING SOON TO 1001 STORIES FROM THE GILDED AGE: ANNE OF THE ISLAND

It's "Back to School" time for Anne Shirley of Green Gables- as well as your kids and neighbor's kids-Coming Sunday Aug 10 (tomorrow as I write this) at noon EDT -Chapter 1 of the 3rd 'Anne of Green Gables' story- called 'An...

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Aug. 6, 2025

HUCKLEBERRY by FRANK STOCKTON A TALE OF RIDDLES

Frank Stockton not only gave us some great short stories but also some very well-loved children's tales. Frank Stockton (1854 - 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known for his allegorical fairy tales for all age...

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Aug. 3, 2025

THE AUNT AND THE SLUGGARD by P.G. WODEHOUSE

"The Aunt and the Sluggard" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, and features the young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. The story was published in the Saturday Evening Post in the United States in April 1916, a...

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July 26, 2025

THE VANISHING OF VAUDREY A FATHER BROWN MYSTERY (W BONUS PRELUDE)

In one of GK Chesterton'slast collections, the Wisdom of Father Brown, Father Brown, while visiting a retired Flambeau in Spain, explains to a curious guest how he solves murders. Then he begins to recall past events, one sto...

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July 23, 2025

A TRIVIAL INCIDENT by ANTON CHEKHOV

A Trivial Incident- An Earlybird Release Our narrator and his friend enter the woods on a large estate to hunt woodcock but are soon told that the owner does not allow hunting. The narrator's friend once knew the lady owner s...

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July 20, 2025

THE GOLD and THE CAT BY MARY E. WILKIINS FREEMAN

The Gold - The Colonies had recently gone to war with the Old Country and New England coastal residents were hearing that british ships were raiding small towns. One married couple, having just received a large inheritance of...

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July 16, 2025

SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER (PT 2) HIS BROTHER'S KEEPER BY HENRY …

In part two our narrator, Joe, now older, heads out to the outback to raise sheep with his best friend who has just married a girl they had grown up with. Upon leaving she asks Joe not to let her new husband go near a drink- ...

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July 13, 2025

SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER (PT 1) by HENRY LAWSON

Henry Lawson was one of Australia's greatest short story writers (I think the best) and poets, and hisn stories tell much about the people who settle Australia and fought the tough climate and barren landscape to farm and ra...

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July 9, 2025

THE TREASURE IN THE FOREST by H.G. WELLS

Two unscrupulous Englishmen murder a group of Chinamen who are about to find a treasure in gold ingots but find the treasure better protected than they thought... Join us at www.bestof1001stories.com to brose all 12 of our 10...

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July 6, 2025

THE TRANSFERRED GHOST by FRANK STOCKTON

Amild mannered man falls in love with a young lady named Madeleine but doesn't have the courage to tell her, mainly because her father is a mean old guy who wants to keep her by his side as he grows older. The father goes awa...

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June 29, 2025

THE ADVENTURE OF THE FINAL PROBLEM A SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURE (2025)

In this story Dr. Watson narrates a tragedy involving Holmes as it appears Holmes has been killed by his mortal enemy, Dr Moriarty, on the eve of a trial that would convict Moriarty and his henchmen of a number of crimes. NO...

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June 25, 2025

EXTRICATING YOUNG GUSSIE A BERTIE WOOSTER/JEEVES STORY FROM P.G. WOD…

"Extricating Young Gussie" is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United States in the 18 September 1915 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and in the United Kingdom in the...

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