Episodes

In 1949, American critic Lionel Trilling, writing in the New Yorker, was quick to recognize the achievement of George Orwell's new novel. "[P]rofound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating," he said. 1984 "confirms its author in the special, honorable place he holds in our intellectual life." And while the Cold War and the book's primary satirical targets - Stalin and his totalitarian regime - may have faded from view, the rise of technology and our current geopolitics mean that many of 1984's warn...

Did you think we already knew everything there was to know about Virginia Woolf? Think again! In this episode, Jacke talks to scholar and editor Urmila Seshagiri about The Life of Violet: Three Early Stories, which presents three interconnected comic stories chronicling the adventures of a giantess named Violet, which Woolf wrote in 1907, eight years before she published her first novel. The story of Seshagiri's discovery is nearly as fantastical as the stories themselves. PLUS literary biograph...

At the start of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, King Lear promises to divide his kingdom based on his daughters’ professions of love, but he portions it out before hearing all of their answers. For Nan Da, a professor of English literature who emigrated from China to the United States as a child in the 1990s, this startling opening scene sparked a reckoning between Shakespeare’s cruel and confounding story and the tragedy of Maoist and post-Maoist China. In this episode, Jacke talks to Nan about h...

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) was born into relative obscurity and died in mysterious circumstances at the age of 29. And yet, somehow this ambitious cobbler's son brought about a spectacular explosion of English literature, language, and culture. In this episode, Jacke talks to Stephen Greenblatt about his book Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival, which illuminates both Marlowe's times and the origins and significance of his work. PLUS author...

When Jacke started the podcast in 2015, he decided to privilege books that were at least fifty years old. (Longtime listeners will know he's made a few exceptions, but for the most part, that's been the policy.) Last month, the History of Literature Podcast celebrated its tenth anniversary - which means there are ten years' worth of books that are eligible now that weren't when he began. In this day-before-Thanksgiving episode, Jacke talks to regular guests Mike Palindrome and Laurie Frankel abo...

Charlotte Brontë wasn't born the eldest child, but she was thrust into a leadership role at the age of ten, as the Brontë children dealt with the tragic deaths of their mother and two eldest sisters. How did this affect their family dynamic? And when the younger two sisters, Emily and Anne, had their novels accepted while Charlotte's alone was rejected, how did Charlotte respond? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Catherine Rayner, expert in the Brontës and a qualified nurse who's studied th...

In September 2022, a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Jîna Amini, died after being beaten by police officers who arrested her for not adhering to the Islamic Republic’s dress code. Her death galvanized thousands of Iranians—mostly women—who took to the streets in one of the country’s largest uprisings in decades: the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. In this episode, Jacke talks to Nilo Tabrizy about her experience co-authoring the book For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprisin...

It's the 750th episode of the History of Literature, and what better way to celebrate than to talk some Hemingway with repeat guest Mark Cirino? In this episode, Jacke talks to Mark about Hemingway's classic love-and-war novel A Farewell to Arms, including the recent Norton Library edition of the book, which Mark edited. PLUS Jacke takes a look at the online contretemps between novelist Joyce Carol Oates and a famous wealthy person. AND graphic biographer Ken Krimstein (Einstein in Kafkaland: Ho...

When Hamlet, in his famous soliloquy, pondered the "dread of something after death, / the undiscovered country," he noted that such thoughts "puzzles the will." (Earlier editions of the play had this as a "hope of something after death" that "puzzles the brain." What's the significance for an Elizabethan writer (and audience) of the change from hope to dread? And from brain to will? In this episode, Jacke talks to Douglas Clark (The Will in English Renaissance Drama) about the moments of willing...

Katherine Mansfield's writing, said Virginia Woolf, "was the only writing I was ever jealous of." In this episode, Jacke talks to author Gerri Kimber about Katherine Mansfield: A Hidden Life, which explores the life and work of one of literary modernism's most significant writers. PLUS Jacke takes a look at the unusual friendship between poet W.H. Auden and the sex worker whom he hired, was robbed by, and befriended. And Kenneth Sacks (Emerson's Civil Wars: Spirit and Society in the Age of Aboli...

Dmitry Ivanovich Khvostov (1757-1835) might be the worst poet who ever lived. Pathologically prolific and delusional dedicated to a craft for which he had no talent, he continued to write and publish his poetry despite the pleadings of friends, loved ones, critics, and the public. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Ilya Vinitsky and translator James H. McGavran III about their book, The Graphomaniac: A Literary-Historical Discussion of Dmitry Khvostov as a Reprieve from Teaching, the Vanity ...

Author Devoney Looser may be a mild-mannered English professor to most people, but roller derby fans know her as Stone Cold Jane Austen, her smashmouth alter ego. In this episode, Devoney tells Jacke about her new book Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane, which suggests we also rethink the commonly held view of "spinster Jane." PLUS Jacke reveals #9 on the list of the Greatest Books of All Time. Join Jacke on a trip through literary England (signup closing soon)! The H...

In the spring of 2022, Jacke dropped everything to plummet into one of the strangest poems he had ever read, "Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894). The result was a two-part episode that never quite found its home. In this special Halloween episode, we've combined the best parts of both of those episodes to bring you the full story of an idiosyncratic Victorian poet and her bizarre tale of two sisters seduced by the fruits being sold by a pack of river goblins. Enjoy! Join Jacke o...

The year is 1816, and 18-year-old Mary Shelley has fled London with her lover, Percy Shelley, and her sister, Claire. They're on their way to visit Lord Byron's villa in Lake Geneva, Switzerland - and to change the course of literary history. In this episode, Jacke talks to Caroline Lea about her novel Love, Sex, and Frankenstein, which tells the haunting, evocative story of the summer that should have broken Mary Shelley, but instead inspired her to write her Gothic masterpiece. PLUS we hear fr...

An early encounter with one of the most famous people in the world initiated Jack Zipes into the world of fairy tales - and he never looked back. In this episode, Jacke talks to the fairy tale expert about his book Buried Treasures: The Power of Political Fairy Tales, which profiles modern writers and artists who tapped the political potential of fairy tales. PLUS Jacke delivers some Chaucer news before looking at Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, which lands at #11 on the list of the Greatest ...

It's October, the perfect month to celebrate the master of mystery and the macabre. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Richard Kopley about his book Edgar Allan Poe: A Life, a comprehensive critical biography that combines a narrative of Poe's enduring challenges (including his difficult foster father, poverty, alcoholism, depression, and his numerous personal losses) with close readings of his works. PLUS we look at Virginia Woolf's view of what made Jane Austen so great even at the age of ...

In 1945, the Nobel Committee awarded its prize for literature to Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) "for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world." Born in a rural Andean valley and abandoned by her free-spirited father at the age of three, Mistral struggled for the right to be a teacher - and then went on to help reform the Chilean educational system to improve the lives of women and the impoveri...

In this episode, Jacke talks to author David Denby about his new book, Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer, a group biography (loosely inspired by Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians) that describes how four larger-than-life figures upended the restrained culture of their forebears and changed American life. PLUS in honor of War and Peace, which lands at #13 on the list of the Greatest Books of All Time, Jacke takes a look at an early essay by Virginia Woolf that explains what made...

Thanks to his invention of Europe's first typographic printing method, and his pioneering work on the first printed Bible, the fifteenth-century German inventor Johannes Gutenberg has a fame and reputation that continues to this day. In 1997, Time magazine credited him with the most important innovation of the past one thousand years. However, due to scant and vague documentation, Gutenberg's actual life and career have been clouded in myth and speculation. In this episode, Jacke talks to schola...

Emily Brontë only published one full-length book before dying at the tragically young age of 30. But that book, Wuthering Heights, which tells the story of obsessive and vengeful love on the rugged moors of Yorkshire, is still considered one of the pinnacles of English literature, landing at #15 on the list of Greatest Books of All Time. In this episode, Jacke takes a deep look into Emily Brontë's classic "bad boy" novel, with assistance from Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Hardwick, Joyce Carol Oa...

It's October! Jacke kicks off his favorite month with a classic tale of horror, "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. Perhaps you know the general contours of the paradigmatic "be careful what you wish for" story from the Simpsons or another popularization - but just how scary was the original story? And who was W.W. Jacobs? Join Jacke on a trip through literary England (signup closing soon)! The History of Literature Podcast Tour is happening in May 2026! Act now to join Jacke and fellow litera...

Jane Austen had six brothers, but her older brother Henry was her favorite. Kind and witty, Henry has long been appreciated by Austen fans for his devotion to Jane and his championing of her novels. But Henry was a fascinating figure in his own right, capering through risky financial schemes and marrying an enigmatic French countess before ending his days as a hard-working curate. Highly successful at times and nearly bankrupt at others, Henry's colorful and turbulent life helps us better unders...

Jacke talks to author Mark Hussey (Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel) about Virginia Woolf's beloved novel Mrs Dalloway, which turned 100 earlier this year. PLUS author Graham Watson (The Invention of Charlotte Bronte) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Join Jacke on a trip through literary England (signup open through the end of September)! The History of Literature Podcast Tour is happening in May 2026! Act now to join Jacke and fellow literature fans on an...

Jacke talks to author Tom Lutz about 1925: A Literary Encyclopedia, which provides a fascinating window into a year when literature was arguably at its peak centrality. PLUS a look at J.R.R. Tolkien and his influential Lord of the Rings, #16 on the list of the Greatest Books of All Time. Join Jacke on a trip through literary England (signup open through the end of September)! The History of Literature Podcast Tour is happening in May 2026! Act now to join Jacke and fellow literature fans on a...