Welcome to Gap Fest Reads. I'm David Bloss, one of the hosts of the Slate Political Gap Fest.

There's a certain category of art that can be characterized as vicarious suffering,

the worst journey in the world about Scott Antarctica expedition or the story of the shackles

or my father, you always talk about the movie, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which he would

describe as Humphrey Bogart gets dirtier and dirtier and dirtier and then he dies.

We are fascinated by tales of human endurance being on endurance and David Graham's

unputdownable new book, The Wager, a tale of shipwreck at mutiny and murder. It's such a book. It

is the story of men who suffered a ludicrous amount for no good reason, but it's also much,

much more. It's an inquiry into leadership. It's an investigation to how people try to shape

history by writing their own version of it. It's an exploration of the culture of the British Navy

and it's just a ripping yarn and it's no wonder that it's the number one New York Times bestseller.

None of this is surprising coming from David Graham, who is of course the author of two modern

classics of adventure history, The Lost City, The and Killers of the Flower Moon. David,

congratulations on The Wager and welcome to Gap Fest Reads. Thanks a bunch. I can say one

thing about the book is if you read it, no matter what, you will feel better about your own life.

That is definitely true. I'll never look at Wild Celery the same way again.

This episode is brought to you by Lionsgate Plus. The third season of a Lionsgate Plus original

series The Great is streaming exclusively on Lionsgate Plus. Follow Catherine the second

play by Elle Fanning and Peter The Great, played by Nicholas Hold, as they hilariously attempt to

make their marriage work after some seemingly insurmountable problems. From attempted murder and

the imprisonment of close friends to their never ending regal responsibilities. The Great,

season three is streaming exclusively on Lionsgate Plus. Let us start with the basics.

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