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Episodes

Nov. 27, 2023

569 The Man with a Passion for Medieval Manuscripts (with Christopher…

Jacke talks to British academic librarian Christopher de Hamel about his passion for medieval manuscripts and his new book The Manuscripts Club: The People Behind a Thousand Years of Medieval Manuscripts . PLUS Maaheen Ahmed,...

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Nov. 22, 2023

568 The Tempest (with Laurie Frankel)

Jacke celebrates autumn with a look at Shakespeare's Sonnet #73 ("That time of year thou mayst in me behold"), then welcomes novelist Laurie Frankel ( Family Family , One Two Three ) for a Wednesday-before-Thanksgiving discus...

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Nov. 20, 2023

567 Your Dream Guest: Jessica Kirzane on Translating Yiddish Literatu…

Your wish is our command! Jacke talks to listener-nominated "dream guest" Dr. Jessica Kirzane about her work with Yiddish literature, including her recent translations of early twentieth-century writer Miriam Karpilove, Diary...

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Nov. 16, 2023

566 Shakespeare's First Folio - The Facsimile Edition (with Adrian Ed…

Jacke talks to Adrian Edwards, the lead curator of the British Library's Printed Heritage Collections, about the new book Shakespeare's First Folio: 400th Anniversary Facsimile Edition: Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, His...

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Nov. 13, 2023

565 The Roman Empire's Golden Age (with Tom Holland) | My Last Book w…

It was an era known as the Golden Age of Rome, when the republic-turned-empire became the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. In this episode, Jacke talks to novelist-turned-historian Tom Holland...

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Nov. 9, 2023

564 H.D. (with Lara Vetter)

Jacke talks to scholar and biographer Lara Vetter ( H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) ) about the life and works of modernist poet and avant-garde woman Hilda Doolittle, better known by her nom de plume H.D. Help support the show at pat...

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Nov. 6, 2023

563 Sylvia Plath (with Carl Rollyson)

Jacke talks to "serial biographer" Carl Rollyson ( The Last Days of Sylvia Plath , The Life of William Faulkner ) about his new book, Sylvia Plath: Day by Day: Volume 1: 1932-1955 , which draws upon Plath's diaries and other ...

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Nov. 2, 2023

562 Literature Later in Life (with Myron Tuman)

Jacke starts the show with a listener email and a look at Emily Dickinson's Poem #238 ("How many times these low feet staggered - "). THEN author Myron Tuman ( The Stuttering Son in Literature and Psychology: Boys and Their F...

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Oct. 30, 2023

561 Homer and His Iliad (with Robin Lane Fox) | A Quick Hit of Witche…

Who was Homer? And why, all these years later, do we still read his Iliad ? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Robin Lane Fox ( Homer and His Iliad ) about his lifelong passion for this classic ancient text. PLUS Katherin...

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Oct. 26, 2023

560 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

It's the early nineteenth century, and the moon is bright, the Hudson Valley forests are full of shadows, and a lonely schoolteacher heads home on his rickety horse. All those stories he's heard about a headless horseman are ...

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Oct. 23, 2023

559 Washington Irving | My Last Book with Joe Skinner

Jacke takes a look at "America's first Man of Letters," Washington Irving (1783-1859), most famous for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." PLUS Joe Skinner of American Masters: Creative Spark...

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Oct. 19, 2023

558 Black Nature Writing (with Erin Sharkey)

How do we humans experience nature? And how might we experience nature differently from one another? In this episode, Jacke talks to writer, film producer, arts and abolition organizer, cultural worker, and educator Erin Shar...

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Oct. 16, 2023

557 Somerset Maugham (with Tan Twan Eng)

The English novelist, playwright, and short story writer Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) lived a life as eventful as his prodigious literary output. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Maugham's travels and travails, followin...

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Oct. 12, 2023

556 The Story Behind a Children's Classic - Anna Sewell and the Writi…

Born in 1820, the devout Quaker Anna Sewell was in her fifties - and terminally ill - when she decided to write a book that would change the way the public viewed and treated animals. Although her novel Black Beauty has since...

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Oct. 9, 2023

555 What Was Shakespeare Really Like? (with Sir Stanley Wells) | My L…

Shakespeare's plays and poetry are some of the most towering achievements in the history of humankind. What was Shakespeare the person like? How did he work? What made him laugh? In this episode, Jacke talks to Sir Stanley We...

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Oct. 5, 2023

554 John Ashbery (with Jess Cotton) | My Last Book with David van den…

Poetry! Poetry! Poetry! After taking a look at Emily Dickinson's Poem #1 94 ("Title divine - is mine!"), Jacke talks to Cambridge University's Jess Cotton, whose biography of John Ashbery ( John Ashbery: A Critical Life ) cha...

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Oct. 2, 2023

553 A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf | My Last Book with Max Saunders

Jacke takes a look at "A Haunted House," Virginia Woolf's modernist ghost story. PLUS Ford Madox Ford biographer Max Saunders ( Ford Madox Ford: A Critical Life ) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever ...

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Sept. 28, 2023

552 Writing after Rushdie (with Shilpi Suneja)

Jacke talks to novelist Shilpi Suneja about her childhood in India, her discovery of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children , and her new novel House of Caravans , which offers its own fresh look at Indian Independence and its ...

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Sept. 25, 2023

551 Charlotte Lennox and The Female Quixote (Forgotten Women of Liter…

Jacke takes a look at the life and works of eighteenth-century novelist Charlotte Lennox, whose poetry, plays, novels, and criticism earned her the approbation of the best literary minds of her day. Best known for The Female ...

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Sept. 21, 2023

550 F Scott Fitzgerald (with Arthur Krystal) | My Last Book with Jed …

Just who was F. Scott Fitzgerald? How do we make sense of his many different sides? In this episode, Jacke talks to biographer Arthur Krystal about his new book Some Unfinished Chaos: The Lives of F. Scott Fitzgerald. PLUS Je...

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Sept. 18, 2023

549 Forgotten Women of Literature 7 - Ursula Parrott (with Marsha Gor…

Hardly anyone knows Ursula Parrott today, but not long ago she was close to being a household name. As a bestselling novelist of the Roaring Twenties and beyond, Parrott's life was filled with literature, celebrity, and scand...

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Sept. 14, 2023

548 Shakespeare in a Divided America (with James Shapiro)

Jacke talks to Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro about his new book, Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future , which looks at eight contentious periods in American history to see how...

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Sept. 11, 2023

547 Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality (wit…

Jacke talks to author William Egginton about his new book Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality , which uses the examples of three profound thinkers to explore the differences between reality "out there...

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Sept. 7, 2023

546 The Cambridge Companion to Comics (with Maaheen Ahmed) | My Last …

Jacke talks to Professor Maaheen Ahmed, editor of The Cambridge Companion to Comics , about the popular, multifaceted, and dynamic art form of manga, graphic novels, and other comics. PLUS Elizabeth Winkler ( Shakespeare Was ...

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