Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

You know the plots, but what about the minutiae? We delve into the Sherlock Holmes stories and answers questions that arise, clarify muddy details, and look into some of the period terminology in this weekly podcast.

  1. 5d ago

    Who Was Barker?

    "my friend and rival, Mr. Barker" [RETI]      We occasionally get suggestions for topics, and this is one of those cases. Kai Johansen wondered "who was Barker?" — as in "Barker, my hated rival on the Surrey shore," in "The Retired Colourman."     It led us to a  short article in The Baker Street Journal by William Schweickert (Vol. 43 No. 2) that takes us through Mercer, Shinwell Johnson, and Langdale Pike and then proposes that Barker held a particularly important role. What was it? It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift).  Start shopping today.    "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Lomax" emerges from the sub-library. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit for our paying subscribers.  Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

  2. 5d ago ·  Bonus

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  3. Jul 15

    Thorndyke on the Holmesian Method

    "I've heard of your methods before now, Mr. Holmes" [NAVA]    In this month's "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" theme, we turn our attention to another detective — a contemporary of Sherlock Holmes: Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke.     The creation of R. Austin Freeman, Thorndyke appeared in 21 novels and 40 short stories published between 1907 and 1942. In Baker Street Miscellanea No. 9, Howard Brody uncovered Thorndyke's opinion of Sherlock Holmes's methods, and it's just a Trifle.      If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.    "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Lomax" emerges from the sub-library. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit for our paying subscribers.  Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

  4. Jul 8

    The Shivers

    "It is not cold which makes me shiver" [SPEC]      We've all had moments when we've shivered. Perhaps it's from being exposed to the cold for a while, so the entire body spasms in an effort to create heat. Or maybe it's a tingle along our spine, brought on by something that scares us.   We trace the appearance of shivers and shivering in the Sherlock Holmes stories, to determine who was shivering and why. We even explore a little about origins of the word itself. It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.    "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Lomax" emerges from the sub-library. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit for our paying subscribers.  Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

  5. Jul 1

    Holmes Alone

    "the gap of loneliness and isolation" [MAZA]    Holmes and Watson go together like every great paring. To think of one of them, one must, by simple association, think of the other. It seems almost anathema to consider them alone.    In his 2009 Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article "Holmes Alone: Glimpses of Post-Watson Baker Street in 'The Mazarin Stone,'" Marshall Berdan, BSI ("Henri Murger") paints a very different picture than the lost-without-his-Boswell detective. His analysis is just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "Lomax." This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.      Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links The Morley-Montgomery Award episode series (Patreon | Substack) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

  6. Jun 17

    Musgrave Musings

    "a rough familiarity" [LAST]    According to one Sherlockian scholar, there is material in "The Musgrave Ritual" that is strangely familiar. You may or may not have picked up on it before. We certainly didn't.   E. Butler Richards, in Vol. 9 of Baker Street Miscellanea, wonders if Watson or Holmes was pulling the wool over our eyes in this entry from an early part of Holmes's career. Does he succeed in convincing us of his thesis? It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.    Don't sleep on "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers.  Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Download | 25.4 MB 22:54   Links Baker Street Miscellanea (Abebooks) Pseudepigrapha (Wikipedia) E. Butler Richards (IMDb) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

  7. Jun 10

    Up Against It

    "Funds were wanting, however" [STUD]    Not every case Sherlock Holmes took involved a crime. Often times, clients were dealing with a puzzling situation or a conundrum without a crime. And taking their cases to Sherlock Holmes was the best recourse.   And a number of these cases involved clients who were in a bit of a financial jam. Interestingly these cases all appeared in fairly close succession. Coincidence? Perhaps it's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.      Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Download | 21.5 MB 23:01   Links George Gissing I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 91: The Confidence Game All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

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You know the plots, but what about the minutiae? We delve into the Sherlock Holmes stories and answers questions that arise, clarify muddy details, and look into some of the period terminology in this weekly podcast.

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