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The History of Literature #494 — Three Roads Back – How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives (with Megan Marshall)
In a final powerful book, acclaimed literary biographer Robert Richardson told the story of how Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and William James dealt with personal tragedies early in their careers. In this episode, Jacke talks to Pulitzer-prize winner Megan Marshall, who wrote the foreword for the book, about her friend Robert and his look Continue reading
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The History of Literature #493 — Catullus – The Poet of Love and Hate
He loved and he hated. Other than that, not much is known about the life of Catullus, who scandalized the late Roman Republic with his bawdy poems, his aching love for the upper-class married woman he called “Lesbia,” and his invective against Julius Caesar and other Roman notables. In this episode, Jacke takes a look Continue reading
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The History of Literature #492 — Nabokov Noir (with Luke Parker)
After the October Revolution in 1917, a teenaged Vladimir Nabokov and his family, part of the Russian nobility, sought exile in Western Europe, eventually settling in Berlin, where Vladimir lived for fifteen years. His life then included some politics, some writing and translating, some recreational pursuits – and a lot of trips to the cinema, Continue reading
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The History of Literature #491 — Elizabeth Bishop (with Megan Marshall)
Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) was one of the twentieth century’s most accomplished and celebrated poets. In this episode, Jacke talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Megan Marshall about her personal connection to Bishop, as well as her book Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast. MEGAN MARSHALL is the winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for Margaret Fuller, Continue reading
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The History of Literature #490 — Writing Hit Songs, Rewriting Charles Dickens, and Murdering Your Employer (with Rupert Holmes)
Jacke talks to Edgar Award-winning novelist, Tony Award-winning playwright, and legendary story songwriter Rupert Holmes about writing pop song landmarks (“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)),” Broadway whodunit musicals (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), and his new book Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide. RUPERT HOLMES has received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers Continue reading
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The History of Literature #489 — Schopenhauer (aka The Tunnel and The Hole)
“It is difficult to find happiness within oneself,” said the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), “but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.” In spite of his pessimism – or perhaps because of it – Schopenhauer, who was virtually unknown until the last few years of his life, went on to influence generations of Continue reading
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The History of Literature #488 — William Faulkner (with Carl Rollyson)
Jacke talks to “serial biographer” Carl Rollyson about his new two-volume biography of William Faulkner, The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934 (Volume 1) and The Life of William Faulkner: This Alarming Paradox, 1935-1962 (Volume 2). CARL ROLLYSON, Professor of Journalism at Baruch College, The City University of New York, has published more than Continue reading
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The History of Literature #487 — Bond, the Beatles, and the British Psyche (with John Higgs)
On October 5, 1962, two items were released, hardly newsworthy at the time. One was Dr. No, the first James Bond film, and the other was Love Me Do, the first Beatles recording. Over the next sixty years, both Bond and the Beatles would become cultural juggernauts, with a reach and influence so vast that they can Continue reading
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The History of Literature #486 — The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather & Edith Lewis (with Melissa J. Homestead)
What was Willa Cather’s life really like? Was she – as is often thought – a solitary artist, painstakingly crafting her novels about the Great Plains? Or did she actually have a robust creative partnership with another woman, Edith Lewis, which was downplayed at the time and for decades afterward? In this episode, Jacke talks Continue reading
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The History of Literature #485 — Reading Pleasures – Everyday Black Living in Early America (with Dr Tara Bynum)
“In the early United States, a Black person committed an act of resistance simply by reading and writing. Yet we overlook that these activities also brought pleasure.” In this episode, Jacke talks to Dr. Tara A. Bynum about her new book, Reading Pleasures: Everyday Black Living in Early America, which finds the “joyous, if messy, humanity” Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 