East of Eden gives us Cain, Abel, and Florence Pugh

So what is the main thing we're talking about today in terms of current television, Catherine?

Yes.

So our our chief topic of this episode is the new Netflix adaptation of East of Eden.

It is a seven episode series.

And it is a sweeping adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel of the turn of the American century, which tells the story of the Trask family.

They begin in the series as they do in the novel in the years immediately after the American Civil War.

And they follow Cyrus and his two sons.

Adam and Charles, and then eventually focus on Adam, who moves to California's Salinas Valley around the turn of the century.

And Adam's life is shaped by his marriage to Kathy, who arrives suddenly and sort of out of nowhere in their lives and has a kind of mysterious... sociopathic nature to her that it's really difficult for i think to grapple with as a reader of the novel um as a viewer of this adaptation this is sort of the central core question of of this story um is what is happening with kathy um among many other things The story then winds through Kathy abandoning Adam with their newborn twin boys and then moves through later periods of their life.

Those newborn twin boys grow up.

And I mentioned this, you know, there's some quite like, is it a spoiler to say like this plot point? No, look, this novel has been out for some time.

So the question of spoilers, I think, is...

You know, it's like, were we going to read East of Eden or not? But also, you have to talk about some of these elements in order to talk about the show because it is a kind of television series that used to get made more and does not really now.

This family saga, which is this intergenerational tale.

And in particular, for this Steinbeck novel, It is intergenerational exploration of a Cain and Abel moral question.

In this version, which is created by showrunner Zoe Kazan and her producing partner, Jeb Stewart, Kathy is played by Florence Pugh.

Adam Trask is played by Christopher Abbott.

Joseph Zeta and Joe Anders play their sons, Cal and Aaron.

And Martha Plimpton plays a madam at a brothel whose name is Faye.

There's a long list of additional cast members.

This story goes many, many places.

It is a big, chunky, chewy piece of TV to really wrestle with.

So, Alan.

What is your previous knowledge of or experience with East of Eden?

But we should also mention, just because they're significant, Tracy Letts is Adam's dad and Mike Feist is his brother, Charles.

So what is the main thing we're talking about today in terms of current television, Catherine?

Yes.

So our our chief topic of this episode is the new Netflix adaptation of East of Eden.

It is a seven episode series.

And it is a sweeping adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel of the turn of the American century, which tells the story of the Trask family.

They begin in the series as they do in the novel in the years immediately after the American Civil War.

And they follow Cyrus and his two sons.

Adam and Charles, and then eventually focus on Adam, who moves to California's Salinas Valley around the turn of the century.

And Adam's life is shaped by his marriage to Kathy, who arrives suddenly and sort of out of nowhere in their lives and has a kind of mysterious... sociopathic nature to her that it's really difficult for i think to grapple with as a reader of the novel um as a viewer of this adaptation this is sort of the central core question of of this story um is what is happening with kathy um among many other things The story then winds through Kathy abandoning Adam with their newborn twin boys and then moves through later periods of their life.

Those newborn twin boys grow up.

And I mentioned this, you know, there's some quite like, is it a spoiler to say like this plot point? No, look, this novel has been out for some time.

So the question of spoilers, I think, is...

You know, it's like, were we going to read East of Eden or not? But also, you have to talk about some of these elements in order to talk about the show because it is a kind of television series that used to get made more and does not really now.

This family saga, which is this intergenerational tale.

And in particular, for this Steinbeck novel, It is intergenerational exploration of a Cain and Abel moral question.

In this version, which is created by showrunner Zoe Kazan and her producing partner, Jeb Stewart, Kathy is played by Florence Pugh.

Adam Trask is played by Christopher Abbott.

Joseph Zeta and Joe Anders play their sons, Cal and Aaron.

And Martha Plimpton plays a madam at a brothel whose name is Faye.

There's a long list of additional cast members.

This story goes many, many places.

It is a big, chunky, chewy piece of TV to really wrestle with.

So, Alan.

What is your previous knowledge of or experience with East of Eden?

But we should also mention, just because they're significant, Tracy Letts is Adam's dad and Mike Feist is his brother, Charles.