Wednesday Oct 29, 2025
The Tidings of Loss (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 25 – Part 6)
The Countdown of Monte Cristo
A daily podcast reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, one page at a time, every single day, over the course of four years.
Each short episode offers a focused, intimate passage from Dumas’ sweeping tale of betrayal, imprisonment, revenge, and redemption, accompanied by brief reflections, historical context, and the occasional detour into 19th-century oddities (and yes, the occasional mangled French pronunciation).
Never read The Count of Monte Cristo? Perfect. This podcast is designed for first-time readers, longtime admirers, and anyone curious about experiencing a literary classic as a daily ritual rather than a daunting tome. You can start from the beginning or jump in wherever you are, the story unfolds steadily, patiently, one page at a time.
Whether you’re a lover of classic literature, a podcast listener looking for a calm daily escape, or someone who just wants a few quiet minutes away from the noise of the modern world, The Countdown of Monte Cristo invites you to live with one of the greatest novels ever written.
New episodes every day. No skipping. No rushing.
Subscribe on your favorite podcatcher or watch along on YouTube.
Support the project at https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod and help keep the countdown alive.
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Episodes
Episodes
Tuesday Oct 28, 2025
Tuesday Oct 28, 2025
A vessel fit for a hidden fortune.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 25, Edmond commissions secret compartments in his new yacht, designed to conceal three divisions known only to him. The next day he sails from Genoa under the guise of a rich Spanish nobleman who prefers to command his own vessel. Crowds gather in admiration as the yacht answers his hand with uncanny precision, each spectator wagering a different destination. None guess the truth: Monte Cristo.
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New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://countdownofmontecristo.com
Want to talk theories, themes, or betrayals? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each chapter: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3vyewhvQugX5M3oREl57A
⸻
The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Monday Oct 27, 2025
Monday Oct 27, 2025
Edmond begins to shape his new life.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 25, Dantès parts from La Jeune Amélie with generous gifts that secure the goodwill of her crew, then watches Jacopo sail for Marseilles with instructions to meet him again at Monte Cristo. Traveling on to Genoa, Edmond seizes opportunity: a yacht, built for an Englishman, becomes his for sixty thousand francs in gold. Wealth is now freedom, and the sea — once a prison’s horizon — is again his domain.
⸻
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://countdownofmontecristo.com
Want to talk theories, themes, or betrayals? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each chapter: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3vyewhvQugX5M3oREl57A
⸻
The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Sunday Oct 26, 2025
Sunday Oct 26, 2025
Wealth begins to change hands.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 25, Edmond discreetly sells four small diamonds in Leghorn, netting twenty thousand francs. The next day, he astonishes Jacopo with a brand new vessel and a gift of one hundred piastres — on the condition that Jacopo sail to Marseilles to inquire after Edmond’s father and Mercédès. To explain such sudden generosity, Dantès invents a plausible story of family inheritance. Jacopo, loyal and unsuspecting, believes him without hesitation.
⸻
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://countdownofmontecristo.com
Want to talk theories, themes, or betrayals? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each chapter: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3vyewhvQugX5M3oREl57A
⸻
The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Saturday Oct 25, 2025
Saturday Oct 25, 2025
Six days later, La Jeune Amélie returns.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 25, Edmond plays the part of a wounded man, feigning weakness as the smugglers recount their narrow escape from a guard-ship. They regret his absence and the fifty piastres profit he might have earned, but Dantès, secretly heir to untold millions, conceals even the faintest smile. That evening he leaves Monte Cristo behind, sailing back toward Leghorn — carrying in his pocket the first tokens of his new destiny.
⸻
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://countdownofmontecristo.com
Want to talk theories, themes, or betrayals? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each chapter: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3vyewhvQugX5M3oREl57A
⸻
The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Friday Oct 24, 2025
Friday Oct 24, 2025
Day breaks over Monte Cristo, and with it begins Edmond’s transformation.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 25, Dantès conceals the treasure with painstaking care — restoring the cavern and hillside until they appear untouched by human hands. But he cannot remain a dragon hoarding in solitude. His heart burns to rejoin mankind, to wield the rank and influence that wealth alone commands. The treasure is hidden, but a new destiny has been uncovered.
⸻
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://countdownofmontecristo.com
Want to talk theories, themes, or betrayals? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each chapter: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3vyewhvQugX5M3oREl57A
⸻
The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Thursday Oct 23, 2025
Thursday Oct 23, 2025
Ecstasy, terror, and gratitude overwhelm the new heir of Spada’s fortune.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24, Edmond staggers between disbelief and frenzy, frightening the goats of Monte Cristo with his wild cries before falling to his knees in prayer. At last he begins to measure his fortune: gold ingots, crowns bearing the effigy of Alexander VI, pearls, diamonds, and jewels beyond reckoning. That night he keeps watch at the grotto’s mouth, armed and sleepless — a man transformed by both joy and fear at his unimaginable wealth.
⸻
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://countdownofmontecristo.com
Want to talk theories, themes, or betrayals? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each chapter: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3vyewhvQugX5M3oREl57A
⸻
The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Wednesday Oct 22, 2025
Wednesday Oct 22, 2025
The moment of revelation arrives.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24, Edmond bursts open the chest sealed for centuries and beholds its wonders: heaps of golden coin, heavy bars of unpolished gold, and cascades of diamonds, rubies, and pearls that clatter like hail in his hands. Frenzied with amazement, Dantès rushes through the grotto and onto the rocks, gasping at the immensity of his discovery. He is alone with the Spada treasure — wealth beyond imagination, dazzling and real.
⸻
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://countdownofmontecristo.com
Want to talk theories, themes, or betrayals? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each chapter: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3vyewhvQugX5M3oREl57A
⸻
The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Tuesday Oct 21, 2025
Tuesday Oct 21, 2025
At last, the moment of truth.
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 24, Dantès digs into the farthest corner of the second grotto, and his pickaxe strikes against wood and iron. With torchlight he clears the earth to reveal a massive oaken coffer, bound in steel and bearing a silver plate engraved with the arms of the Spada family. After years of hope and fear, the treasure has taken form.
⸻
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://countdownofmontecristo.com
Want to talk theories, themes, or betrayals? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each chapter: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3vyewhvQugX5M3oREl57A
⸻
The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.