Revisiting Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Books, Arts

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic Dune was once the domain of sci-fi diehards. But in recent years, the book has crossed over into the mainstream. In today’s Books We’ve Loved, Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker are joined by Throughline’s Ramtin Arablouei, who makes a personal case for the story’s appeal – despite its density. Then, special guest, author Pierce Brown, shares whether he thinks Dune has reached Star Wars levels of cultural saturation.

Ramtin’s Recommendation: ‘Rendezvous with Rama’ by Arthur C. Clarke

Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ by Ursula K. Le Guin

Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘Saga’ by Brian K. Vaughn

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I saw myself projected into the future.
0:03.2	Or it felt like a world that somebody like me could live in.
0:07.1	You're listening to Books We've Loved from NPR.
0:09.7	The Book Show where we reread old favorites and tell you why they still matter today.
0:14.5	I'm Andrew Limbong.
0:15.5	I'm Bea Parker.
0:17.6	This is a big one.
0:18.6	This is a hefty.
0:21.6	This is a hefty Fliping through this right here
0:23.0	Andrew
0:23.5	It's so much
0:24.5	It's hefty boy
0:25.7	It's so
0:26.7	It's so much
0:27.9	And it's our guest's fault
0:29.6	And I mean
0:31.3	I did it
0:32.5	I
0:33.4	617 pages
0:36.2	Uh huh
0:36.7	Is that not counting The appendices and all that? I, uh, mm-hmm. Okay, so like almost 700 pages. Yeah. Who do we have with us that we can... Thank for this. We have here, Romitin, Arblui, from NPR's Thru Line. Romteen, what's up? Hey, how are you doing? Thank you for this assignment.
0:54.7	Thank you.
	...

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