# Dylan O'Sullivan - The Classics Are Never Getting Old

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-hope-axis-by-anna-g-t-7076854/dylan-o-sullivan-the-classics-are-never-getting-old
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-hope-axis-by-anna-g-t-7076854/dylan-o-sullivan-the-classics-are-never-getting-old.md
Podcast: [The Hope Axis by Anna Gát](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-hope-axis-by-anna-g-t-7076854)
Published: 2026-03-29T01:09:03+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anna-gat/episodes/Dylan-OSullivan---The-Classics-Are-Never-Getting-Old-e3h3vqu
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/f8e5b408/podcast/play/117619998/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-2-29%2Fa4b0f18e-65b0-5477-bc9c-d39caab2be39.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-hope-axis-by-anna-g-t-7076854/episodes/dylan-o-sullivan-the-classics-are-never-getting-old
Duration seconds: 3499

## Resource

This week on The Hope Axis, Dylan O’Sullivan joins to talk about the classics and their second life online. We get into reading in the age of TikTok and AI, and whether people today can still take on long, difficult books, along with the experience of going back to books and seeing them differently over time. Hope you enjoy. For the full transcript of our conversation, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fGdRmgt7ZO6MKGzd6sHUX15n3q5QBINl/view?usp=sharing Important Links: X (Twitter) – https://x.com/DylanoA4?lang=en Essayful - https://substack.com/@essayful LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanoa4/ The Spectator - https://spectator.com/writer/dylan-osullivan/ Show Notes: (00:00) Introduction (02:33) The Right Age to Start Reading The Classics (07:53) The Feeling of Cultural Stagnation (12:22) How to Find Good Books (21:53) Finding What to Read and Where to Think (31:09) Dylan's Most Quoted Authors (39:03) Modern World of Self-publishing (41:38) What Do You Write About If You Don't Live First (48:19) What's up with Dostoevsky (56:14) Ulysses and End Notes Books, Essays & References Mentioned: C.S. Lewis — The Abolition of Man C.S. Lewis — Mere Christianity Arthur Koestler — Darkness at Noon Arthur Koestler — The Act of Creation Leo Tolstoy — War and Peace Leo Tolstoy — Anna Karenina Fyodor Dostoevsky — The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky — Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky — White Nights James Joyce — Ulysses

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## Transcript

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