July 6, 2026
Episode 815: Paddy Chayefsky
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 films like Marty (1955) and Network (1976), Paddy Chayefsky is often regarded as the greatest writer of television's first Golden Age and the most acclaimed screenwriter in Hollywood history. But who was Chayefsky? What made his writing stand out? And how well do his works hold up in 2026? Take a listen to Jacke's exploration of Paddy Chayefsky's works.
Episode 831: Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" with Rachel Pastan
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…
Episode 830: Stendhal with Hadley Suter
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…
