Poe Knows...

Coincidence or not, two of the greatest terror writers in American history - Poe and H.P. Lovecraft - were cat lovers. According to the Guardian, in a pretty cool article, Poe even had a cat named Catarina who would sit on his shoulder as he wrote. Mike and Dave have cats that also occasionally ride on our shoulders but are just as apt to try to eat us, but we digress...

This episode focuses on the tale, "The Black Cat," which belies Poe's true love of his feline friends, but more importantly, it highlights the fact that Poe's texts are widely open to interpretation. The fates of the characters involved can be used - especially in a larger essay - as part of an argument that Poe is either pro- or anti- feminist or pro- or anti- abolitionist. You'll just have to listen to see how such variety is possible!