When times are tough, can literature help? After sharing an email from a listener, Jacke talks to author Rachel Pastan about her novel We're So Lucky to Live Here, in which a woman copes with a tragic loss by staging a production of Chekhov's The Ch…
We often say it's important for a person to be "authentic," but what does that mean? Why is that necessarily a good thing? In Episode 830 of the History of Literature Podcast, Jacke talks to author Hadley Suter (Becoming Stendhal: The Performance o…
Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell, two of the leading novelists of the 19th century, shared a remarkable literary friendship. After Charlotte's death, Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë became one of the most famous -- and controversial -- lite…
What do we know about the Chinese philosopher and teacher Confucius? Although people have written biographies of Confucius for over 2,000 years, a recent discovery of a Chinese tomb containing the oldest written account of his life gives us a chance…
Ready to embark on a literary adventure for two?! Visit press.historyofliterature.com to order your copy of Great Detective! by Jacke Wilson, host of the History of Literature Podcast. Or if you're in the DC area, stop by Wonderland Books to take a…
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,…
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…
In Episode 825, Jacke talks to playwright and screenwriter Morgan Lloyd Malcolm about her new adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, which has its world premiere at London's Arcola Theater in September. This stage performance promises to be a mesmeri…
In Episode 824, Jacke talks to novelist Emily Franklin about her new book Love & Other Monsters, which narrates the story of a circle of friends from the point of view of Claire Clairmont, Mary Shelley's stepsister. It's an often-told, momentous st…
Attention All History of Literature Enthusiasts and Great Detective! Readers: Earn money back on your purchase price by helping us spread the word! You can earn money back with a quick post to social media about Great Detective! Here's how the…
In Episode 823. United States President Abraham Lincoln and his assassin John Wilkes Booth were both deeply immersed in Shakespeare's works. And yet, the conclusions they reached about how best to end tyranny — a feature of both Macbeth and Julius C…
Henry David Thoreau was not a traditional Christian, and yet he was a deeply, profoundly religious man. In Episode 822, Jacke talks to Lydia Willsky-Ciollo about her book Wildness: Henry David Thoreau and the Making of an American Theology, which de…
Special Discount! For a limited time only, enter code SHIP26 at checkout for free shipping on your order of Great Detective! An Adventure for Two People, by Jacke Wilson. Visit press.historyofliterature.com today! In Great Detective! An Adventure f…
The kiss! What could be more romantic? And yet, as historian Katie Barclay discovered when writing her book The Kiss: A History of Passion and Power, she found non-romantic kisses to be even more fascinating. In Episode 821, Jacke talks to historian…
In Episode 820, Jacke talks to Sonja Tiernan about her book Eva Gore-Booth: Irish Radical Poet, Rebel, and Reformer, which tells the story of a young woman who cast aside her aristocratic origins to champion the causes of barmaids, circus performers…
In Episode 819, Jacke talks to biographer Glenda Norquay (Robert Louis Stevenson: A Critical Life) about the amazing life of Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish author of classic works like Kidnapped and Treasure Island. His works are great reads,…
Great Detective! An Adventure for Two People by HOL host Jacke Wilson is now available at Wonderland Books in Bethesda, MD. In Great Detective! An Adventure for Two People, you and a friend race through the streets of foggy London, testing your cr…
In Episode 818, Jacke talks to author James Bailey about his critically acclaimed biography Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark. James and Jacke cover not only many of Spark's best known works, including The Prime of Miss Jean B…
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…
In Episode 816, Jacke talks to David Womersley about Jonathan Swift, the nature of satire, and The Cambridge Anniversary Edition of Gulliver's Travels, which Womersley edited. David Womersley is the Thomas Warton Professor of Literature at the Unive…
On Sale Now! For more information and to order Great Detective! An Adventure for Two People [2-Book Boxed Set] by Jacke Wilson, visit press.historyofliterature.com. SPECIAL DISCOUNT! It's a month for celebrations! In honor of the birthdays of A…
In Episode 815, as America turns 250, Jacke takes a look at the career and major works of Paddy Chayefsky, whose 1976 film Network is often praised for predicting the demise of television (and, perhaps, America itself). Thanks in part to beloved fi…
In Episode 814, Jacke talks to writer, editor, and translator Daniel Hahn (If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation), about his encounters with writers and actors who've engaged with Shakespeare's work in more than a hundred …
In Episode 813 of the History of Literature Podcast, Jacke talks to award-winning poet and biographer Fiona Sampson about her book Becoming George, which examines George Sand's iconoclasm and rehabilitates her as an intellectual and artistic giant.…
