A Whale Of A Tale: BPR's Book Club Reads 'Moby-Dick'

Moby-Dick Marathon — FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015 file photo the likeness of a whale adorns a door at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Mass. The museum will hold its 20th annual nonstop reading of Herman Melvilles classic novel, Moby-Dick, beginning midday Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, and ending about 25 hours later on Sunday. More than 150 volunteers plan to recite aloud short snippets of the novel in the cover-to-cover reading.

Amanda McGowan is a producer for Boston Public Radio.

October 30, 2018

Updated October 30, 2018

A dangerous voyage on the high seas! A megalomaniac captain! Lots and lots of information about whales!

That's right: It's time for Boston Public Radio's Book Club — the "Moby-Dick" edition.

Co-hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, author Alex Beam, and BPR producer Amanda McGowan chatted with listeners about Herman Melville's classic novel and teased out the themes that still resonate today.

For Beam, the story is a reminder of humanity's shared lot, with an ominous message for societies captained by reckless leaders.

"It's the ship of humanity, right?" Beam said of the book's ship, the Pequod.

"All of us are on this voyage together, and we're going to die in this terrible whirlpool, brought down by the leader of a faith we don't actually believe in," he said.