Episodes

The American poet Dana Gioia calls Charles Baudelaire "the first modern poet," adding "In both style and content, his provocative, alluring, and shockingly original work shaped and enlarged the imagination of later poets, not only in his native France but across Europe and the Americas." In this episode, acclaimed translator and poet Aaron Poochigian joins Jacke to talk about his new translation of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal, or The Flowers of Evil. ALSO: Jacke bets on himself! Happy Hallowe...

The writer, philosopher, and trailblazing feminist Mary Wollstonecraft is perhaps best known as the mother of the author of Frankenstein, but this amazing figure deserves more attention than a line in Mary Shelley's biography. As the author of classic works like Thoughts on the Education of Daughters and A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft advanced arguments hundreds of years ahead of her time. In this episode, Jacke talks with screenwriter and novelist Samantha Silva (Mr. Di...

Mysteries! Beloved by adults and children alike, it's hard to imagine a genre with a more universal appeal. But what makes mysteries so compelling? What is it about mysteries - and human beings, for that matter - that makes mysteries so seductive? And how do authors like Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling turn the mechanics of mystery into the highest art? Jonah Lehrer, author of the new book Mystery: A Seduction, A Strategy, A Solution joins Jacke for a special October talk about the science and a...

A special guest stops by to help Jacke talk about life, literature, and one of the world's great masterpieces: The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka. Hope you enjoy! Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com. The History of Literature Podcast is a memb...

As a child growing up in Newark, New Jersey in the 1930s and 40s, Philip Milton Roth (1933-2018) never thought about being a writer. By the time he died, he had become one of the most famous and celebrated figures in the literary world - though his writing and personal flaws attracted criticism as well as admiration. In this episode, Jacke and Mike discuss the life and potential legacy of Philip Roth, author of Goodbye Columbus, Portnoy's Complaint, Sabbath's Theater, American Pastoral, The Plot...

William Sidney Porter (1862-1910) packed a lot of life into his 47 years, traveling from a childhood in North Carolina to work as a rancher and bank teller in Texas to a desperate escape to Honduras, where he hoped to avoid federal prosecution for embezzlement. Eventually he spent three years in prison, where he began writing short stories under the name "O. Henry." By the time he emerged he was nationally famous, and his subsequent years in New York City, where he wrote "The Gift of the Magi" a...

John Marcher has been waiting all his life for something rare and strange to happen to him - something that will leap out of the darkness and attack him like a Beast in a Jungle. His friend May Bartram has agreed to wait with him. Together, the pair have been analyzing and enduring this unusual life-situation for years...until finally the Beast appears, first to her, and then to him. In this episode, Jacke concludes the three-part series on the Henry James masterpiece "The Beast in the Jungle...

How's literature doing these days? Does the twenty-first century look as good for literature as the nineteenth did? How about the seventeenth? And the twentieth was no slouch... In this episode, Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a discussion of the Top 10 Greatest Literary Centuries, starting from the year 1000 and continuing to the present day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A man has lived his life convinced that something rare and strange lies in wait for him - a monumental catastrophe that has never happened to anyone before. He shares his secret apprehension with one person, until his fear begins to dominate her life as well. What will happen to him? To her? To them? In this episode, Jacke continues his review of Henry James's amazing novella "The Beast in the Jungle." (Don't worry if you haven't listened to the first part - this one has everything you need!)...

Squirrel-voiced waiter-host Jacke Wilson invites his listeners to a literary feast! In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Henry James's long-short-story masterpiece, "The Beast in the Jungle." (Don't worry if you've never read the story or haven't been able to find room in your heart for Henry James before--this episode is for anyone hungry enough to listen!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the aftermath of World War II, author Graham Greene was in personal and professional agony. His marriage was on the rocks, his soul was struggling to find its home, and his restless spirit had taken him into the bedrooms of multiple women. After several tumultuous years ("grotesquely complicated" was how he described his personal life), he sat down to record his feelings about one lover in particular, the wealthy (and married) American heiress, Catherine Walston. The result was one of the mos...

In the immediate aftermath of her death at the age of 53, Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840-1894) was considered one of the greatest writers of her day, but her reputation soon faded. A hundred years later, she was little more than a footnote in her friend Henry James's biography, until scholars began to rediscover her life and works. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at one of her most famous short stories, "Miss Grief," in which an aspiring writer of artistic ambition seeks out the opinion an...

When she died tragically at the age of 53, Constance Fenimore Woolson was ranked with the greatest female writers of all time, including Jane Austen, George Eliot, and the Brontes. What happened to her reputation after that? Did her friend Henry James sink her reputation as an author and a person? In this episode, Jacke takes a look at the hugely successful (and now often overlooked) nineteenth-century American author Constance Fenimore Woolson. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature...

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) was one of the most famous American writers of the mid-twentieth century. As a key member of a group of writers known as the "Beat Generation," his works explored the role of the individual in post-war America. His most famous work, On the Road (1957), has sold millions of copies and continues to inspire seekers of nonconformity and spiritual uplift. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at the life and works of the King of the Beats, and along the way offers some thoughts...

Jacke talks to actress and novelist Meg Tilly about her unusual childhood, her life as a ballet dancer and Hollywood star, and her current life writing thrillers in the peaceful Pacific Northwest. THE RUNAWAY HEIRESS is the pulse-pounding story of a brave woman who finds herself falling for a big-shot film director while trying to stay one step ahead of the man who will do anything to find her. Meg Tilly may be best known for her acclaimed Golden Globe-winning performance in the movie Agne...

Debut novelist A. Natasha Joukovsky (The Portrait of a Mirror) joins Jacke for a discussion of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Ovid's myth of Narcissus, the fascinating power of recursions, and a life lived in the worlds of literature, business, and art. THE PORTRAIT OF A MIRROR is a stunning reinvention of the myth of Narcissus as a modern novel of manners, about two young, well-heeled couples whose parallel lives intertwine over the course of a summer, by a sharp new voice in fict...

German artist Charlie Stein joins Jacke for a discussion of art in literature, including her series 100 Paintings Imagined by Authors, in which she and her partner Andy Best use textual clues and historical context to reimagine artworks that are described in great works of literature. You can see examples of their work at charliestein.com/100-paintings-imagined/ In appreciation to Charlie for joining us, we are donating to her preferred charity, Bärenherz Children's Hospice in Leipzig. Hel...

Finally! At long last, Jacke responds to years of requests from his Brazilian listeners to take a closer look at Machado de Assis, the novelist whom critic Harold Bloom called simply "a miracle." In this episode, author and Brazilian friend Claudia Laitano joins Jacke to discuss Machado's life, works, and legacy. Enjoy! Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following...

Born into a well-to-do family in New Zealand, Katherine Mansfield began writing fiction at the age of 10. But it was in England and continental Europe that her writing took flight, as she drew upon Chekhov and the new spirit of Modernism to advance (and perfect) the short story form before dying a tragically early death. Her work was "the only writing I have ever been jealous of…," Virginia Woolf wrote. "Probably we had something in common which I shall never find in anybody else.” In this episo...

It's the OG of experimental literature! (In English, anyway...) In this episode, Jacke takes a look at the wild and woolly Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. And in spite of Dr. Johnson's famous claim that "nothing odd will do long - Tristram Shandy did not last!" we're still talking about this classic eighteenth-century novel. Who was Sterne? What rules did he break? And what power does it have for a reader today? Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/sh...

Novelist Laurie Frankel joins Jacke to talk about her writing, her theater background, and her new novel One Two Three. Then Jacke and Laurie geek out on Shakespeare and choose the Top 10 Things To Love About Hamlet. Laurie Frankel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of novels such as The Atlas of Love, Goodbye for Now, and the Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Pick This Is How It Always Is. Frankel lives in Seattle with her husband, daughter, and border collie. She ...

As the world struggles to emerge from a global pandemic, Jacke takes a look at our relationship with nature, turning to William Wordsworth's classic sonnet "The World Is Too Much With Us" to see if its concerns are applicable today. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to jack...

Yang Huang, author of the new novel My Good Son, joins Jacke for a discussion of her childhood in China, how censorship restricted her ability to imagine stories, and how George Eliot's Middlemarch helped her break free from these limitations. We also discuss her work as a novelist and what it's like to be an Asian American during a period of highly visible anti-Asian sentiment. YANG HUANG grew up in China and has lived in the United States since 1990. Her novel MY GOOD SON won the University...

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) was a soldier, a civil servant, a playwright, and a poet. He was kidnapped by pirates and held prisoner for almost five years. Later in life, he turned to writing novels, and through his masterpiece Don Quixote, he became the most celebrated and important figure in Spanish literature. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Cervantes' incredible life and his most indelible creations, including the ingenious (and deluded) knight, his trusty squire, and the blurry la...