Episodes

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) started a firestorm with his 1928 novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, which was quickly banned around the world. But the novel eventually found its way into print, after winning numerous obscenity trials in the 1950s and 60s, and today it's widely available (if not always widely read). In this episode, Jacke talks to Indian novelist Saikat Majumdar (The Middle Finger, Silverfish) about Saikat's childhood, his journey to becoming a writer, and his admiration for Lawrence's cl...

Jacke takes a look at the early years of Percy Bysshe Shelley, from his idyllic childhood, to his rebellious student years, to his experiments in free love, radical politics, and Wordsworthian poetry. Works discussed include "Queen Mab," "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty," "Alastor, or the Spirit of Solitude," "Mont Blanc," "Mutability ["We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon"], and "To Wordsworth." Additional listening suggestions: John Keats More John Keats 306 Keats's Great Odes (with...

As the author of what is generally considered the first and perhaps greatest novel of the modern era, Miguel de Cervantes and his masterpiece Don Quixote belongs on every shelf. But as two scholars point out in their new book, What Would Cervantes Do? Navigating Post-Truth with Spanish Baroque Literature the lessons to be learned from Cervantes go beyond issues of plot and character. In this episode, Jacke talks to Professor David Castillo and Professor William Egginton about using the example o...

The British spy novel was well established long before Ian Fleming's creation of James Bond in the 1950s. And while it came to be identified with the Cold War, thanks to Fleming and subsequent writers like John le Carré, thriller aficionados continued to look back to earlier authors for novels with a different set of stakes. In this episode, Jacke talks to scholar and journalist Juliette Bretan about the issues at work in the spy novels of the 1930s. With Europe in flux, what were the protagonis...

In 1994, Harold Bloom's magnum opus The Western Canon took up the critical cudgels on behalf of 26 writers declared by Bloom to be essential. In this episode, Bethanne Patrick (aka the Book Maven), literary critic and host of the new podcast Missing Pages, joins Jacke to propose some additions to Bloom's narrow list. Additional Listening Suggestions: 83 Overrated! The Top 10 Books You Don't Need to Read 52 Recommend This! The Best 101 Books for College-Bound Readers 54 The Greatest Books ...

The warrior and leader known as Bābur (1483-1530) had the kind of life one might expect from the descendant of Timur (Tamburlaine) on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's. Elevated to the throne at age 12, and thrown into a world of battles and defeats, he eventually founded the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. In his quieter moments, he wrote his memoirs (also known as the Bāburnāma), an astonishingly sensitive portrait of life, leadership, and the natural world. Generall...

It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when reading novels was not a common activity - and then, suddenly, it was. In this episode, Jacke talks to Jason Feifer, an expert on transformative changes in society, to see how the rise of novels (and the backlash against them) follow broader patterns of disruption, adaptation, and the entrepreneurial spirit. Jason Feifer is the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, a startup advisor, host of the podcasts Build for Tomorrow and Problem So...

Today, Kate Chopin (1851-1904) might be best known for her groundbreaking feminist novel The Awakening (1899). But she was also an accomplished short story writer, publishing in national magazines like Atlantic Monthly and Vogue. In this episode, Jacke provides an annotated reading of producer Emma's latest pick: "A Pair of Silk Stockings" (1897) Chopin's story of a down-on-her-luck woman who receives an unexpected windfall and decides whether to succumb to the temptation of some luxury items. ...

Sure, we know poets are experts in subjects like love, death, nightingales, and moonlight. But what about money? Isn't that a little...beneath them? (Or at least out of their area of expertise?) In this episode, Jacke talks to author John Ramsden (The Poets' Guide to Economics) about the contributions made by eleven poets to the field of economics. What did men like Defoe, Swift, Shelley, Coleridge, Sir Walter Scott, de Quincey, Ruskin, William Morris, George Bernard Shaw, Hilaire, Belloc, and E...

In 1922, a writer for the Observer commented: "No book has been more eagerly and curiously awaited by the strange little inner circle of book-lovers and littérateurs than James Joyce's Ulysses." After declaring Joyce to be a man of genius, the writer said, "I cannot see how the work upon which Mr Joyce spent seven strenuous years, years of wrestling and of agony, can ever be given to the public." The objection then, or the fear, was that the book would wreak havoc on the morals of the general po...

Responding to a listener email, a heartbroken Jacke takes a close look at Emily Dickinson's astonishing poem "A Bird, came down the Walk." Additional listening suggestions: 120 The Astonishing Emily Dickinson 418 "Because I could not stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson 95 The Runaway Poets (the story of the Brownings) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Networ...

The History of Literature Presents: Missing Pages

He was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in 1904, but in the next 87 years, the world came to know and love him by his pen name, Dr. Seuss. Best known for his more than 60 books for children, including The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Green Eggs and Ham, and Hop on Pop, Dr. Seuss has sold more than 600 million books. In this episode, Jacke talks to Mesh Lakhani, CEO of Lola Media and co-host of the chart-topping podcast Better Call Paul, about his love of Dr. Seuss's 1971 classic work...

In our last episode, we looked at the decision by Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard to purchase a printing press and run it out of their home. What began as a hobby - a relief from the strains of writing - soon turned into a genuine business, as The Hogarth Press met with success. And when Virginia published one of her most famous stories "Kew Gardens," the dam burst, and the Woolfs and their press had to prepare for a dramatic increase in sales. In this episode, Jacke continues and conclud...

Virginia Woolf has long been celebrated as a supremely gifted novelist and essayist. Less well known, but important to understanding her life and contributions to literature, are her efforts as a publisher. In the decades that she and her husband operated the Hogarth Press - starting with a hand-operated printer they ran on their dining room table, cranking out one page at a time - they published some Modernist classics, including works by Virginia and The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. In this episo...

Is this the greatest man vs. nature story ever? Hard to say. But it just might be the purest. Kicking off a new HOL feature, producer Emma chooses a short story for Jacke to read and discuss - Jack London's classic "To Build a Fire.". Get somewhere warm and let your mind drift to the snowy Yukon for this gripping tale of man vs. nature and man vs. himself. Additional listening suggestions: 101 Writers at Work 90 Mark Twain's Final Request Edith Wharton and "Roman Fever" Help support...

"All you have to do is write one true sentence," Ernest Hemingway said in A Moveable Feast. "Write the truest sentence that you know." And so he did: the man wrote thousands of sentences, all in search of "truth" of some kind. What does a "true sentence" mean for a fiction writer? What true sentences did Hemingway himself write? And how much of this is in the eye of the beholder? In this episode, Jacke is joined by Mark Cirino, the host of the One True Podcast and author of the book One True ...

Very few writers have had the influence or importance of Langston Hughes (1902?-1967). Best known for poems like "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "I, Too," and "The Weary Blues," Hughes was also a widely read novelist, short story writer, and essayist - and his promotion of Black people and culture became central to the cultural explosion known as the Harlem Renaissance. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Hughes's early years, including his childhood, adolescence, and the poems Hughes wrote in ...

It's a paradox that has bothered Shakespeare's fans for centuries: the man was as insightful into human beings as anyone whoever lived, and yet his own life is barely documented. This combination of literary genius plus biographical uncertainty has spun off a number of mysteries - including the question of how exactly Shakespeare came to know the things that he did. In this episode, Jacke talks to investigative journalist Michael Blanding, author of In Shakespeare's Shadow, about a renegade s...

For years, we've enjoyed talking to writers about the books they love best. In this "best of" episode, we go deep into the archive for three of our favorites: Jim Shepard and his youthful discovery of Bram Stoker's Dracula; Margot Livesey and her love for Ford Madox Ford's modernist classic The Good Soldier; and Charles Baxter telling us about his love for the poetry of James Wright. Enjoy! Additional listening suggestions: 96 Dracula, Lolita, and the Power of Volcanoes (with Jim Shepard)...

Since the first publication of his six-volume magnum opus, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon (1734-1797) has been ranked among the greatest historians who ever lived. What made his work different? Does it hold up today? And what lessons can a modern-day historian draw from his example? In this episode, Jacke talks with author Zachary Karabell about Gibbon's inspiration, influence, and legacy. ZACHARY KARABELL is the author of numerous books, including Insi...

In our last episode, Jacke looked at the life of celebrated Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694), the widely acknowledged master of haiku. In this episode, Jacke looks deeper into the nature of Bashō's best works, organizing them into some loose categories and offering some thoughts on haiku in Bashō's world and ours. Additional listening suggestions: 425 Matsuo Bashō, Haiku's Greatest Master 75 The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki 418 "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickins...

In addition to being what is probably the most widely used poetic form, haiku is almost certainly the most often misunderstood. In this episode, Jacke examines the life and works of Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694), haiku's greatest master, as he sorts through his thoughts on the uses (and potential misuses) of the haiku form. What makes much of it so bad? And how does that differ from what is truly great? Additional listening suggestions: 62 Bad Poetry 7A Proust, Pound, and Chinese Poetry 312 Yu...

Born Tomáš Sträussler, in what was then Czechoslovakia, celebrated playwright Tom Stoppard (1937- ) became one of the most famous British playwrights in the world. Known for his wit and humor, his facility with language, and the depth of his philosophical inquiries, he found success with plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Coast of Utopia, The Invention of Love, and The Real Thing. He has also been a successful writer for radio, television, and film, with scripts like Shakespea...