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Episodes

517 The Marquis de Sade
May 29, 2023

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 …

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516 Sappho (with Diane Rayor)
May 25, 2023

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 j...

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515 The Plague by Albert Camus (with Alice Kaplan and Laura Marris) | My Last Book with Alison Strayer
May 22, 2023

515 The Plague by Albert Camus (with Alice Kaplan and Laura Marris) |…

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 …

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514 Southern Gothic (with David van den Berg) | My Last Book with Jason Feifer
May 18, 2023

514 Southern Gothic (with David van den Berg) | My Last Book with Jas…

In the aftermath of a Civil War loss that shattered the region and exposed the moral and cultural fault lines in the populace, writers in the American South responded with stories filled with grotesque, macabre, and shockingl...

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513 The Writers of Northern Ireland (with Alexander Poots) | My Last Book with Laura Lee
May 15, 2023

513 The Writers of Northern Ireland (with Alexander Poots) | My Last …

The literary world has long celebrated the incredible contributions of Ireland and its writers, with a special focus on Dublin-centric writers like James Joyce and W.B. Yeats. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland has been quietly turn...

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512 Hannah Arendt (with Samantha Rose Hill) | My Last Book with Scott Carter
May 11, 2023

512 Hannah Arendt (with Samantha Rose Hill) | My Last Book with Scott…

Born to a German-Jewish family in 1906, Hannah Arendt became one of the most renowned political thinkers of the twentieth century. Her works, including The Origins of Totalitarianism, The Human Condition, and Eichmann in Jeru...

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511 Annie Ernaux, Winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature (with Alison Strayer) | My Last Book with Bob Blaisdell
May 8, 2023

511 Annie Ernaux, Winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature (with…

Jacke talks to Alison Strayer, translator of several books by French author Annie Ernaux, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2022. PLUS he talks to author and Chekhov expert Bob Blaisdell about his choice for the last ...

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510 The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James (Part 2)
May 4, 2023

510 The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James (Part 2)

Does a famous author's body of work contain a hidden meaning? Part Two of Jacke's look at the classic Henry James novella, "The Figure in the Carpet." Additional listening suggestions: 343 The Feast in the Jungle 341 Constanc...

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509 The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James (Part 1)
May 1, 2023

509 The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James (Part 1)

Does a famous author's body of work contain a hidden meaning? With an assist from Jorge Luis Borges, Jacke explores the classic Henry James novella, "The Figure in the Carpet." Additional listening suggestions: 343 The Feast ...

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508 Lord Byron (with David Ellis) | My Last Book with Ariel Lawhon, Susan Meissner, and Kristina McMorris)
April 27, 2023

508 Lord Byron (with David Ellis) | My Last Book with Ariel Lawhon, S…

The poet Lord Byron is well known as a passionate revolutionary and a brooding hero who harbors dark secrets. But what about his playful sense of humor? In this episode, Jacke talks to Byron biographer David Ellis ( Byron ) …

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507 The Class of 1989 - A Special Year in Black Cinema (with Len Webb and Vincent Williams)
April 24, 2023

507 The Class of 1989 - A Special Year in Black Cinema (with Len Webb…

For years, pop culture critics Len Webb and Vincent Williams have hosted the podcast The Micheaux Mission, which aims to watch and review every Black film ever released. In this episode, Jacke talks to Len and Vincent about t...

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506 Black Shakespeare (with Ian Smith) | My Last Book with David Castillo and William Egginton
April 20, 2023

506 Black Shakespeare (with Ian Smith) | My Last Book with David Cast…

For centuries, Shakespeare's works have been scrutinized by scholars and fans eager to engage with and learn from the texts. And yet, in spite of the prominence of race in today's media headlines and public discourse, the que...

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505 Ford Madox Ford (with Max Saunders) | My Last Book with Bethanne Patrick
April 17, 2023

505 Ford Madox Ford (with Max Saunders) | My Last Book with Bethanne …

Ford Madox Ford lived a fascinating life, surrounded by some of the most famous writers of the era: Joseph Conrad, H.G. Wells, Henry James, Stephen Crane, D.H. Lawrence, Jean Rhys, Ernest Hemingway, and many others. Today, he...

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504 Persuasion (Book Two) (with Mike Palindrome) | My Last Book with Juliette Bretan
April 13, 2023

504 Persuasion (Book Two) (with Mike Palindrome) | My Last Book with …

Persuaded by the well-meaning Lady Russell, Anne Elliot turns down prospective suitor Frederick Wentworth. Will life give her a second chance at love? And if so, can she persuade herself to take it? In this episode, Jacke tal...

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503 Persuasion (Book One) (with Gina Buonaguro)
April 13, 2023

503 Persuasion (Book One) (with Gina Buonaguro)

What happens when we let opportunities slip past us? And what if we let others talk us out of what looks like our best chance at love? In this episode, Jacke talks to historical romance novelist Gina Buonaguro ( The …

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502 Persuasion by Jane Austen
April 10, 2023

502 Persuasion by Jane Austen

Harold Bloom called Persuasion "the perfect novel." Virginia Woolf said "In Persuasion , Jane Austen is beginning to discover that the world is larger, more mysterious, and more romantic than she supposed." In this episode, t...

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501 The Naked World (with Irina Mashinski)
April 6, 2023

501 The Naked World (with Irina Mashinski)

Irina Mashinski is a bilingual Russophone American writer, poet, essayist, teacher, and translator, whose works include Giornata and eleven books of poetry and essays in Russian. She is also the co-editor of The Penguin Book ...

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500 Episode 500! Meg White, Listener Emails, Johnson and Boswell, and More! (with Margot Livesey)
April 3, 2023

500 Episode 500! Meg White, Listener Emails, Johnson and Boswell, and…

It's Episode 500! Jacke shares some thoughts on Meg White's drumming, Boswell and Johnson, and living in Taiwan. Then author Margot Livesey ( The Boy in the Field , The Flight of Gemma Hardy ) joins Jacke for a discussion …

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499 Wilde Nights and Robber Barons (with Laura Lee)
March 30, 2023

499 Wilde Nights and Robber Barons (with Laura Lee)

Jacke talks to author Laura Lee about her new book Wilde Nights and Robber Barons: The Story of Maruice Schwabe, the Man Behind Oscar Wilde's Downfall, Who with a Band of False Aristocrats Swindled the World . LAURA LEE is …

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498 A New Novel by a Legendary Independent Filmmaker (with John Sayles)
March 27, 2023

498 A New Novel by a Legendary Independent Filmmaker (with John Sayle…

Jacke talks to legendary independent filmmaker John Sayles ( Lone Star , Passion Fish ) about his new novel Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey , which tells a sweeping story of romance and revolution in eighteenth cen...

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497 The Art of War by Sun Tzu
March 23, 2023

497 The Art of War by Sun Tzu

By any measure, the ancient Chinese military treatise The Art of War has had an astonishing literary history, proving itself over two and a half millennia to be one of the world's most essential and enduring books. In this ep...

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496 The Wife of Bath (with Marion Turner)
March 20, 2023

496 The Wife of Bath (with Marion Turner)

The Wife of Bath, arguably the first ordinary and recognizably real woman in English literature, has obsessed readers from Shakespeare to James Joyce, Voltaire to Pasolini, Dryden to Zadie Smith. Few literary characters have ...

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495 The Creative Spark (with Joe Skinner)
March 16, 2023

495 The Creative Spark (with Joe Skinner)

How do today's master's create their art? In this episode, Jacke talks to Joe Skinner, producer and host of the podcast American Masters: Creative Spark , about the narrative interviews he's conducted with iconic artists abou...

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494 Three Roads Back - How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives (with Megan Marshall)
March 13, 2023

494 Three Roads Back - How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Respon…

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 episod...

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