Episodes

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 ...

Haruki Murakami (b. 1949) is one of the rare writers who combines literary admiration with widespread appeal. Host Jacke Wilson is joined by lifelong Murakami fan Mike Palindrome to discuss what makes his novels so compelling...

Jacke starts the episode by looking at the different ways that ten writers have viewed the Bible, #18 on the list of the Greatest Books of All Time. Then he's joined by scholar Kate Loveman, one of the few people in the world...

Responding to a special request from a listener, Jacke discusses Fyodor Dostoevsky, his novel The Brothers Karamazov , and the search for meaning in a meaningless world. This episode was originally released as episode #250 on...

Jacke looks forward to a new season by exploring the language and imagery of John Keats's famous ode to autumn. Then he talks to Graham Watson about his new book The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: A New Life , which tells the...

Since the publication of John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost in 1667, readers and critics have noted the relationship between the poem and the author's political and personal struggles. What has been less prominent - at lea...

As part of the "25 for 25" series, Jacke starts the episode with a look at #20 on the list of Greatest Books of All Time, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , by Mark Twain. Then he reclaims a previous episode devoted to Lorr...

What happened to Eden? While today we might view the story of Adam and Eve as metaphorical, for many generations of Christians, the Earthly Paradise was a vibrant symbol at the heart of the cosmos. In this episode, Jacke talk...

“Our dear enemies,” a French writer once called the English. Englishman John Cleese called the French “our natural enemies” and joked “if we have to fight anyone, I say let’s fight the French.” With the exception of some (ver...

Jacke starts the episode with an uplifting story, then submerges himself into chaos and absurdity for a look at The Trial by Franz Kafka, which lands at #21 on the list of Greatest Books of All Time. Then he welcomes novelist...

Put on your black turtleneck! Jacke starts the episode with a look at #22 on the list of The Greatest Books of All Time, The Stranger by Albert Camus. Then he talks to Jake Poller about British and American novelist and playw...

As technology advances, the ability of authors and artists to prevent their works from being pirated or misused has become urgent. In this episode, Jacke talks to copyright expert Mira T. Sundara Rajan ( The Moral Rights of A...

Since its publication in 1957, Jack Kerouac's iconic novel On the Road has inspired millions to head for the highways and live life to its fullest. In this episode, Jacke talks to filmmaker Ebs Burnough about his new document...

Jacke continues his journey through the list of the 25 Greatest Books of All Time with a look at Flaubert's "perfect novel," Madame Bovary (1856-57). Telling the story of the bored wife of a provincial doctor who enters into ...

Jacke continues his analysis of "The 25 Greatest Books of All Time" by a special look at Homer's Odyssey . Then Mike Palindrome, the president of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a discussion of the second half...

In June of 1922, the twenty-five-year-old wunderkind F. Scott Fitzgerald published "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," an incredible story of fabulously wealthy people living a secret life in remote Montana. Later that month, h...

In this episode, Jacke talks to eminent Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin ( Was Huck Black?: Mark Twain and African-American Voices ) about her new book Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade , which sh...

It's an action-packed day at the History of Literature! First, Jacke recounts the story of Dr. Johnson racing to the aid of his friend, the playwright Oliver Goldsmith, whose landlady was threatening him with debtor's prison....

Since the first permanent settlers landed there more than a thousand years ago, Iceland has been perhaps the most unique and enchanting place in all of Europe. How fitting, then, for its people to have developed unique, encha...

What does it feel like to live helplessly in a world that is coming undone? If you're alive in 2025, you are probably very familiar with this feeling - and if you'd been alive in the age of Victorian literature, you might hav...

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) led one of the most colorful and interesting lives of any author. But while many of us are familiar with his unforgettable characters and fantastically successful novels, we often don't know the de...

Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest surviving works of literature - and yet, somehow, it can also feel like one of the newest. The inventive narrative structure, complex hero, and surprisingly modern themes still feel fresh,...

He might be the greatest writer about love that the world has ever known. But as is so often the case with Shakespeare, the biographical record raises as many questions as it answers. How often did Shakespeare fall in love, a...

For millennia, literature has represented humanity at its finest. Over the same period of time, human beings have been committing the worst acts of mass violence imaginable. How have authors addressed these atrocities? Have t...