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The History of Literature Podcast

The History of Literature Podcast

Amateur enthusiast Jacke Wilson journeys through the history of literature, from ancient epics to contemporary classics. (Episodes are not in chronological order - feel free to jump in wherever you'd like!)

Recent Episodes

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635 Darwin and Cataclysmic Change (with Allen MacDuffie) | My Last Book with Adelle Waldman
Sept. 19, 2024

635 Darwin and Cataclysmic Change (with Allen MacDuffie) | My Last Book with Adelle Waldman

Dealing with reality can be difficult enough, but when the nature of that reality is completely overturned - as it is in a case like the climate crisis - people are left with a feeling of intense uncertainty. What does this …
634 The Bible: A Global History (with Bruce Gordon) | My Last Book with Michelle P Brown
Sept. 16, 2024

634 The Bible: A Global History (with Bruce Gordon) | My Last Book with Michelle P Brown

For more than two thousand years, the Bible has been an essential part of the world's conception of humanity and its relationship to God. But although it is in some sense timeless and eternal - literally the word of God - th…
633 Hemingway's Letters (with Sandra Spanier) | My Last Book with Andrew Stauffer
Sept. 12, 2024

633 Hemingway's Letters (with Sandra Spanier) | My Last Book with Andrew Stauffer

Discussions of Ernest Hemingway tend to focus on the peaks of his career, which are typically centered around his most famous novels. But Hemingway was busy in between those novels too, writing articles, short stories, and l…
632 Norman Mailer (with J. Michael Lennon)
Sept. 9, 2024

632 Norman Mailer (with J. Michael Lennon)

For almost sixty years, Norman Mailer was a fixture on the American literary scene, seemingly as well known for his feuds and personal exploits as he was for his prize-winning novels and groundbreaking journalism. But what w…
631 Shakespeare's Sisters (with Ramie Targoff) | My Last Book with Sarah Gristwood
Sept. 5, 2024

631 Shakespeare's Sisters (with Ramie Targoff) | My Last Book with Sarah Gristwood

Recently, we talked to novelist Jodi Picoult about her contention that many of the works commonly attributed to Shakespeare were actually written by a woman named Emilia Bassano (a.k.a. Aemilia Lanyer). But even as that comp…
630 Queer Shakespeare (with Will Tosh) | Ray Bradbury and the Search for the Mysterious Mr Electrico
Sept. 2, 2024

630 Queer Shakespeare (with Will Tosh) | Ray Bradbury and the Search for the Mysterious Mr Electrico

Was Shakespeare gay? Will Tosh, head of research at Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London, says that question has an easy answer - but more importantly, when it comes to understanding Shakespeare's sexuality, it isn't really…
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