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The History of Literature #524 — Growing Old with The Graduate – Mike Nichols, Roger Ebert, Charles Webb, and Me
The Graduate, a 1967 film directed by Mike Nichols and based on a novel by Charles Webb, introduced the world to actor Dustin Hoffman and became one of the most beloved Hollywood comedies ever made. Telling the story of a disaffected college graduate who has an affair with an older woman and then falls in… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #523 — Geoffrey Chaucer (with Marion Turner) | A New Podcast About the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike (with AFSCME President Lee Saunders)
Thanks mostly to the achievement and success of his Canterbury Tales, poet Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340s-1400) has been called “the Father of English literature” for more than 500 years. In this episode, Jacke talks to University of Oxford Professor Marion Turner (Chaucer: A European Life; The Wife of Bath: A Biography) about what made Chaucer so special… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #522 — Class, Whiteness, and Southern Literature (with Jolene Hubbs) | My Last Book with Mark Cirino
In the late nineteenth century, a popular magazine ran a cartoon with what it called “a race problem.” Tensions between black and white Americans in the postwar era? Nope. It was referring to a poor white southerner – shabby, slouching, lazy, and dumb – the kind of good-for-nothing layabout who would bring down the striving… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #521 — The Empress Messalina (with Honor Cargill-Martin) | My Last Book with Robert Chandler
The empress Messalina, third wife of the Roman emperor Claudius, was a ruthless, sexually insatiable schemer – or was she? But while the stories about her are wild (nightly visits to a brothel, a 24-hour sex competition), the real story is much more complex. In this episode, Jacke talks to historian Honor Cargill-Martin about her… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #520 — “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. called it, simply, the greatest American short story. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Ambrose Bierce and his masterpiece, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Continue reading
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The History of Literature #519 — Shakespeare’s First Folio (with Emma Smith) | My Last Book with Luke Parker
The compilation of Shakespeare’s plays known as the First Folio is one of the most important books in the history of literature. In this episode, Jacke talks to Shakespeare scholar and First Folio expert Emma Smith about the origins, importance, status, and legacy of this essential work, which celebrates its 400th birthday this year. PLUS… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #518 — The Curse of the Marquis de Sade – A Notorious Scoundrel, a Mythical Manuscript, and the Biggest Scandal in Literary History (with Joel Warner) | My Last Book with Diane Rayor
Not even imprisonment could stop the Marquis de Sade from writing his insanely intense, unrelenting erotica – and not even Sade’s eventual death could stop his secret manuscript, temporarily hidden in a Bastille wall to protect it from looters and revolutionaries, from haunting its owners as though possessed by a demonic force. Now one of… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #517 — The Marquis de Sade
The Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) was more than just a rake or a cad – based on his egregious conduct, he clearly belonged in prison, and one sympathizes with the father who aimed a pistol at Sade’s chest and pulled the trigger, hoping to end the demon’s life. (The gun misfired.) But what about Sade’s… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #516 — Sappho (with Diane Rayor)
When Diane Rayor was in college, a professor recommended a work by a 2600-year-old poet that changed her life. Now, after years of studying and translating the works of Sappho, the greatest woman poet in Ancient Greece, she joins Jacke for a conversation about her book Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works. Help support… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #515 — The Plague by Albert Camus (with Alice Kaplan and Laura Marris) | My Last Book with Alison Strayer
What were you doing when the pandemic arose? And did you turn to The Plague by Albert Camus to help you make sense of it all? For two Camus scholars, the pandemic resonated in unexpected ways – and shed new light on a work they’d been studying for years. In this episode, Jacke talks to authors Alice… Continue reading