What would you give for a conversation with Socrates? Vladimir Korolenko’s short story ‘The Shades’ is as close as it gets. It follows a conversation between Socrates and Eldipias as they discuss themes such as the truth, the nature of the one, true God, as well as the eternal topics of life and death. A masterful exploration of how the fear of changing one’s beliefs can lead to the loss of truth, this is an essential read for anyone interested in philosophy. Korolenko's intimate manner of discussing 'big topics' is similar to the lighthearted nature of NBC's 'The Good Place'. Vladimir Korolenko (1853-1921) was a Ukrainian-born Russian short-story writer, an open critic of the Tsarist regime, and later an anti-Bolshevik. His writing boasts harsh, hostile and powerful descriptions, as he investigates the simple lives of even simpler people. The most notable of his work is 'The Blind Musician' (1886), alongside numerous short stories, mostly based upon his own experience of exile in Siberia.