The Higher Men

Nobody expects the last act of a prophet's book to be funny. Clancy Martin insists Book Four is a comedy, and that the laughter is doing serious work: Nietzsche makes his own teacher ridiculous, an old man throwing a party, stepping on strangers in the woods, so that we laugh instead of kneel. The guests file in, kings, a scholar of leeches, a convulsing magician who is secretly a portrait of Wagner, and Martin tells you about a letter he had just written to a student who survived an attempt on her life. The ending belongs to art itself, and to the question of what we owe a beautiful liar.

Content note: this episode includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you love is struggling, or thinking about suicide, you don't have to carry it alone. In the United States, you can call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time, or chat online at 988lifeline.org. Outside the United States, findahelpline.com lists free, confidential support lines by country.