July 16, 2026
Episode 817: The Odyssey
In Episode 817, Jacke gets ready for the release of Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, the rare instance of a summer blockbuster based on a literary classic, with some help from classics scholars Daniel Mendelsohn (The Odyssey, An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic) and Mary Beard (Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old).
Revisit your worn copy of The Odyssey or the latest translation of this epic by Daniel Mendelsohn to reacquaint you with the seemingly impossible journey home for Odysseus before you head out to the theaters to watch what promises to be a visually sumptuous retelling of this tale for modern audiences.
Episode 827: American Literature's War on Crime with Theodore Martin
The second half of the twentieth century was marked by an extreme increase in America's prison population, from roughly 250,000 inmates in 1940 to well over two million by 2008. At the same time, American readers were devouring mysteries, thrillers,…
Episode 826: Washington Irving with Phillip Lopate
At the time of Washington Irving's death, he was the most famous and widely praised American writer of his or any other era. But his reputation soon dwindled, and today he's known primarily as the author of just two stories ("The Legend of Sleepy Ho…
