History
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The History of Literature #471 — Angels of War (with Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, and Susan Meissner
In this episode, Jacke talks to three bestselling authors – Susan Meissner, Kristina McMorris, and Ariel Lawhon – who came together to write When We Had Wings, a historical novel about a trio of World War II nurses who waged their own battle for freedom and survival. PLUS we hear what Charlie Lovett, bibliophile and Lewis… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #467 — TS Eliot and The Waste Land (with Jed Rasula)
In 2022, T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land turned 100 years old – and it’s hard to imagine a poem with a more explosive impact or a more enduring influence. In this episode, Jacke talks to Professor Jed Rasula about his book, What the Thunder Said: How The Waste Land Made Poetry Modern. Jed Rasula is the Helen S. Lanier… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #466 — Kurt Vonnegut, Planetary Citizen (with Christina Jarvis)
When novelist Kurt Vonnegut died in 2007, the planet lost one of its most creative and compelling voices. In this episode, Jacke talks to Vonnegut scholar Christina Jarvis (Lucky Mud & Other Foma: A Field Guide to Kurt Vonnegut’s Environmentalism and Planetary Citizenship) about Vonnegut’s ethical, environmental, and planetary teachings. CHRISTINA JARVIS is Professor of English… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #465 — Greek Lit and Game Theory (with Professor Josiah Ober)
Game theory as a mathematical discipline has been around since the Cold War, but as Professor Josiah Ober (The Greeks and the Rational: The Discovery of Practical Reason) points out, its roots stretch back to Socrates, if not before. In this episode, Jacke talks to Professor Ober about the Greek discovery of practical reason –… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #464 — Percy Bysshe Shelley – The Mature Years
Following up on Episode 446 Percy Bysshe Shelley – The Early Years, Jacke takes a look at the final five years of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s life, from 1817-1822, as the poet turned away from hands-on political action in favor of attempting to transform the world through his art. Works discussed include the Preface to Frankenstein; “Stanzas Written… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #463 — Friedrich Nietzsche (with Ritchie Robertson)
Sigmund Freud once said of the philosopher and cultural critic Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) that “he had a more penetrating knowledge of himself than any man who ever lived or was likely to live.” Well known for his iconoclastic views and intoxicating prose style, Nietzsche went from near obscurity in his lifetime to dominating the ideas… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #462 — My Last Book (with Laurie Frankel)
The question stopped Jacke in his tracks. “Dear Jacke,” said the emailer. “What do you want your “last book” to be? This will be the last book you will ever read…” And so, he set about determining what his “last book” should be, with help from dozens of guests (and counting). In this special episode,… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #461 — The Peabody Sisters (with Megan Marshall)
Pulitzer-Prize-winning literary biographer Megan Marshall joins Jacke to discuss the book that was twenty years in the making: The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited the American Renaissance. This “stunning work of biography,” as the New York Times labeled it, tells the story of Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody, the nineteenth-century New England women who made intellectual history.… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #459 — Eve Bites Back! An Alternative History of English Literature (with Anna Beer)
Jacke talks to author Anna Beer about her new book Eve Bites Back! An Alternative History of English Literature, which tells the stories of eight women (Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, Aemilia Lanyer, Anne Bradstreet, Aphra Behn, Mary Wortley Montagu, Jane Austen, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon) who were warned not to write – but who did… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #457 — The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson’s Editor (The Thomas Wentworth Higginson Story) | PLUS Making (Book) Dreams Come True (with Eve Yohalem and Julie Sternberg)
Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911) has become famous as the man who in 1862 encouraged young contributors to submit to his magazine – and who received in reply four poems from an unknown woman in Amherst, who asked whether he thought her verses were alive. Her name, of course, was Emily Dickinson, and Higginson recognized her… Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 