Episodes

It's still Chekhov month! In this episode, Jacke sets the table for the History of Literature's analysis of The Cherry Orchard (1904) with a look back, a look ahead, and a preview of the play's major themes. 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. ...

In the third installment of Chekhov's Four Major Plays, Jacke takes a look at Three Sisters , which tells the story of three sisters living in a provincial capital and longing for Moscow. 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. New!!! Looking for a...

In this holiday-themed episode, a sentimental Jacke takes a look at Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843), and the creation of Ebeneezer Scrooge. 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. New!!! Looking for an easy to way to buy Jacke a coffee? N...

In the second installment of our look at Chekhov's four major plays, Jacke takes a look at Uncle Vanya (1898), the story of an estate manager struggling to make sense of his life. 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. New!!! Looking for an easy t...

Ever wonder who wrote the first play in the North American colonies? Or who was the first published African American poet? Or what year it was when an Arab American first published a novel in the United States? Or who wrote the first published gay-themed poetry in America? The answers to all of the above might surprise you - sometimes because they're earlier than you expected, and sometimes because they're later. Sometimes the "first" comes from a famous writer, and sometimes the authors have be...

In 1896, the 36-year-old Chekhov suffered one of the worst experiences of his life, when his play The Seagull was performed in front of an audience so hostile that one of the lead actresses lost her voice. Two years later, a production of the same play (in better hands) became one of the great triumphs in the history of Russian theater. In this episode, Jacke kicks off a look at Chekhov's four greatest plays by exploring the relationship of comedy to tragedy in The Seagull . Help support the sho...

Since its first appearance, Marcel Proust's magnum opus In Search of Lost Time has delighted and confounded editors, readers, and critics. Published in seven volumes over a fourteen-year period, the enormous novel has generally been recognized as both the highest form of artistic achievement and one of the most difficult reading experiences imaginable. In this episode, Jacke and Mike discuss Swann's Way (1913) to see whether this opening volume serves as a good introduction to the entire work. H...

Author and notorious New York Post columnist Michael Riedel joins Jacke to discuss his new book, Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway , which explores the world of big-budget Broadway musicals in the 1990s. Along the way, he and Jacke discuss how he got his start as a Broadway columnist; musicals from The Lion King to The Producers ; the devastating impact of 9/11 and the current COVID-19 pandemic on New York theater; and some post-pandemic changes that might help Broadway get back on its...

In her lifetime, Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was known as a benevolent and capable leader, a protectress of free thinkers, and one of the most intelligent women in France. She was also the producer of great literature, as her collection of 72 stories known as The Heptameron picks up where Boccaccio's Decameron leaves off. In this episode, we look at the life of Marguerite de Navarre and hear one of the stories, affording us insight into what it means to be a leader during a time of moral a...

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a professor, academic essay, and professional linguist - but the world knows him best as the author of The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955). In this episode, Jacke finishes his look at literary genres by exploring the life, lifelong interests, and fantasy worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, whose books sold over 150 million copies, inspired a highly successful movie trilogy, and essentially created the modern fantasy novel. Help support the show...

Herodotus (c. 484 - 425? BCE) has been called both "The Father of History" and "The Father of Lies." His accounts of the ancient world, including a deep dive into all aspects of geography, biology, and culture (among many other topics), are fascinating, indispensable, and - at times - confoundingly implausible. Who was Herodotus? What can we make of his work? And is it worth reading today? In this episode of The History of Literature, Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters C...

Jacke continues the Thursday Theme for November with a look at a genre that began in the nineteenth century and nearly dominated the twentieth: the Western. What happened to western fiction? What was a "classic western" and why did it disappear? And what reinventions of the genre are happening now? Anna North, author of the forthcoming novel Outlawed , joins us to help sort through these questions, and to talk about a reimagined western she admires, C. Pam Zhang's How Much of These Hills Is Gold...

From the dramatic trains of Anna Karenina to the wide-open roads of Jack Kerouac, getting around has always played a central role in literature. But not all means of transportation are equal! In this lighthearted episode of the History of Literature, Jacke and Mike attempt to determine the most literary forms of transportation. 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 f...

In Part 2 of our look at great literary genres, Jacke probes the development of science fiction, from ancient Greek travels to the moon to the amazing stories of the twentieth century. Along the way, he chooses four candidates for the Mount Rushmore of Science Fiction, reads a passage from science fiction's O.G., and sees if there is a secret to science fiction that he can discover. Enjoy! Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop . (We appreciate it!) Find ...

Jacke takes a look at F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby (1925), which has been called by one newspaper "the American masterwork, the finest work of fiction by any of this country's writers." But what makes it so compelling? Is it enough to say that it's about the American dream and disillusionment? (Spoiler alert: Jacke doesn't think so!) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop . (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.co...

Jacke starts a new Thursday Theme with a look at genre fiction. First up: Romance novels! Every year, over a billion dollars are spent on these books about love and relationships and...well, what else do we consider fundamental to a romance novel? Sex? A happy ending? In this episode, Jacke takes a look at the history of the romance novel, the efforts to define the category, and some of the leading examples, both current and historical. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyo...

Jacke takes a look at the life and works of Jean Rhys (1890-1979), whose masterpiece Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), reimagined Jane Eyre from the point of view of "the madwoman in the attic," and still stands as one of the seminal works of feminist and postcolonial studies. 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 @l...

In this special Halloween episode, Jacke and Evie take a look at Edgar Allan Poe's great revenge story, "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846), written when Poe was destitute and in the depths of despair. 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. Ne...

George Orwell (1903-1950) was one of the twentieth century's great literary figures. An English novelist, who also excelled at essays and journalism, he fought all his life against injustice, snobbery, hypocrisy, deception (including self-deception), and lazy prose. In this episode, Mike Palindrome, president of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke to discuss Orwell's life and works, including 1984 , Animal Farm , his lesser-known novels, his journalistic works like Down and Out in Paris ...

In 1965, the critic Joseph Wood Krutch studied the available evidence and came to a surprising conclusion. "Edgar Allan Poe," he wrote, "invented the detective story in order that he might not go mad." Arthur Conan Doyle, a man who knew a thing or two about detective stories, was quick to credit his boyhood hero with inspiring Sherlock Holmes and all the mysteries that came after. "Poe...was the father of the detective tale," he said, "and covered its limits so completely that I fail to see how ...

Professor Richard Bradford, author of the new biography The Man Who Wasn't There: A Life of Ernest Hemingway , joins Jacke to talk about Hemingway's uneasy relationship with the truth. RICHARD BRADFORD is Research Professor in English at Ulster University and Visiting Professor at the University of Avignon. He has published over 25 acclaimed books, including biographies of Philip Larkin, Alan Sillitoe, Kingsley Amis, and Martin Amis. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofli...

He was "the king of poets," said Rimbaud, "a true God." T. S. Eliot called him a deformed Dante and said, “I am an English poet of American origin who learnt his art under the aegis of Baudelaire and the Baudelairian lineage of poets.” In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), his masterwork Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil) , and his intense admiration for Edgar Allan Poe. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop . (We apprec...

Authors Stephanie Kent and Logan Smalley join Jacke to talk about their new book for book lovers, The Call Me Ishmael Phone Book: An Interactive Guide to Life-Changing Books . If you love books, and talking about books, and people who love books, and people who love talking about books...well, you get the idea. Listen to this episode, and then go check out the book! Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop . (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyoflit...

Evie Lee, a Vice President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a look at Poe's classic doppelgänger story, "William Wilson" (1839). 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. New!!! Looking for an easy to way to buy Jacke a coffee? Now ...