The Foxed Page
If you love to read, The Foxed Page is for you. With these deep dives into the best books, you’ll gain a richer understanding of the title at hand, all while learning to read everything better.Choose from long-form lectures, quick recommendations, talks on old favorites and plenty of episodes from the archives.Listen to The Foxed Page--with Kimberly Ford, best-selling author, former adjunct professor and Ph.D.
Latest episodes
Jun 30, 2025 • 35min
Lecture 95: Tear This Heart Out (Arráncame la vida) by Angeles Mastretta >> Looking for a summer read that doesn't feel like a trifle?? This dive into the history, glamour and drama of Mexico in the 1930s is your answer!
Mastretta's ultra-engaging, sex-forward, historical, feminist family romance from 1985 might be a touchstone of feminist literature, but it's also SO FUN TO READ. Kimberly dives in to the feminist underpinnings, the way our protagonist can rationalize living with a criminal (anyone interested in how Carmela Soprano did it, you should read this book!) and the literary merits of this engaging work. This is a summer read you'll remember forever!
Jun 24, 2025 • 1h 2min
Lecture 94: ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey >> For whatever reason, Kimberly was reluctant to pick up this book. She is SO glad she did.
Orbital is the kind of novel that could inspire hours and hours of conversation. Kimberly can't imagine a single person who feels like they apprehended the thing with just one read. If you're curious about how she pulled it off, how she uses language to describe the undescribable, or plenty of other aspects--indulge yourself in a more fulsome experience of this gorgeous Booker Prize winner now!
Jun 20, 2025 • 1h 8min
LECTURE 93: I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith >> Want to know why The Atlantic put this at the top of their summer reading list? Listen in!
NO SPOILERS! Kimberly could not agree more with The Atlantic. This novel is the most crowd-pleasery of any book she ever recommends. It is SO GOOD. Rich and complex, but also light, it's gorgeous and transporting--everything you want in a summer read! Listen in now to be sure you fully appreciate all that makes it so appealing.
Jun 4, 2025 • 1h 3min
READING CHALLENGE 1b: PART TWO of To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf >> No novel keeps giving like this novel. Kimberly spends a delicious hour digging in to this complex literature-changing masterpiece.
People. This is when things get fun. Kimberly breaks down a bunch of aspects of the work: figurative language, the unique structure, patriarchy v. matriarchy, the very nature of creativity and the essence of what it is to be human (!!).
Want to get more out of this insanely great book? Treat yourself now.
May 27, 2025 • 54min
The very first foxed page READING CHALLENGE: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf >> Kimberly would argue that there’s no better way to usher in summer than reading this book.
May 20, 2025 • 1h 15min
Lecture 92: THE SCARLET LETTER >> Honestly, did your fifteen-year-old self really appreciate this insanely great classic? Listen in--NO READING REQUIRED--to why this book is SO GOOD.
NO READING REQUIRED!
Hawthorne's 1850 classic is the epitome of high school books that are wasted on high school students. This thing is a MASTERPIECE.
Listen in as Kimberly situates it historically, talks about the framing device, digs deep into the radical FEMINISM and of course covers symbolism (did you also write your term paper on symbolism??).
She wraps up the lecture by leaning into her ongoing rant about how PURITANISM really screwed this country--and how Hawthorne's gift to us all closes with a deeply anti-puritanical, deeply OPTIMISTIC message--the kind we all need today.
May 16, 2025 • 54min
Lecture 91: THE HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio >> You've heard Kimberly talk about how hard it is to write humor. Gramazio shows us how it's done!
NO SPOILERS! With humor as a lens, Kimberly dives in to all the ways this bestseller functions so well. You'll learn how to think about humor more generally, while seeing all the ways that the best humor can really shape a novel. Join Kimberly for an exploration of one of the strongest elements of this smart, engaging surprisingly philosophical book!
May 1, 2025 • 53min
Lecture 90: THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin >> Remember this absolute CORNERSTONE of feminist literature?? Turns out this classic is just as important and juicy as when it was published IN 1899!
Kimberly was honestly kind of shocked by how iconoclastic, gorgeous and important this novel feels. Whether it's a women's-studies-seminar favorite or new to you, indulge in this exploration of one woman's fascinating experience of society, domesticity, maternity and PASSION in late-1800s New Orleans.
Apr 23, 2025 • 1h 21min
Enriched read 9: the GENIUS of CORMAC McCARTHY (specifically: No Country for Old Men) >> Love McCarthy? Never read him? Tune in to see why he's just so incredibly good.
NO READING REQUIRED! As soon as Kimberly dove back in to No Country for Old Men, she knew she needed to parse what makes McCarthy SO GOOD. This exploration hits on all the ways that reading McCarthy is a master class in all elements of fiction: textured narrative voices, description of violence, sympathy for complex characters, dark humor, and others--not to mention gorgeous prose.
Apr 10, 2025 • 40min
Episode 89: ANNA KARENINA >> Intimidated??? DON'T be! Just let Kimberly tell you all the reasons these 1,000 pages are great.
NO READING REQUIRED! Whether this doorstop is an old favorite--or something you NEVER plan to read--treat yourself to Kimberly's take on why this classic of all classics is worth your next 40 minutes!
