
Amateur enthusiast Jacke Wilson journeys through the history of literature, from ancient epics to contemporary classics. Episodes are not in chronological order and you don't need to start at the beginning - feel free to jump in wherever you like! Find out more at historyofliterature.com and facebook.com/historyofliterature. Support the show by visiting patreon.com/literature or historyofliteratur... more
| Publishes | Daily | Episodes | 792 | Founded | 11 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | BooksArtsHistory | |||

Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell, two of the leading novelists of the 19th century, shared a remarkable literary friendship. After Charlotte's death, Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë became one of the most famous--and controversial--literary... more
What do we know about the Chinese philosopher and teacher Confucius? Although people have written biographies of Confucius for over 2,000 years, a recent discovery of a Chinese tomb containing the oldest written account of his life gives us a chance ... more
The second half of the twentieth century was marked by an extreme increase in America's prison population, from roughly 250,000 inmates in 1940 to well over two million by 2008. At the same time, American readers were devouring mysteries, thrillers, ... more
At the time of Washington Irving's death, he was the most famous and widely praised American writer of his or any other era. But his reputation soon dwindled, and today he's known primarily as the author of just two stories ("The Legend of Sleepy Hol... more
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The majority of the wuthering heights episode was him whining about how girls friendzoned him when he was younger. So annoying to listen to. Came to listen to analysis about the book not hear you project your sulky gripes about girls not wanting to date you because you’re a “nice” guy.
Jack says that if you ever use the word woke in a sentence, you are a 100% racist.
Wuthering Heights was a great discussion. I had to laugh at Jacke’s description of Heathcliff as compared to his young, squeaky clean self. We’ve all known how the opposite sex seems to be attracted to the bad boys/girls. Poor good Jacke. Great work for an interesting piece of literature! Refreshing not to approach it with a bit of humor! Thumbs up!
Listened to the Wuthering Heights “analysis” and instead got an incel ranting about how he was “too nice” and that’s why no girl liked him back. Completely ignored a lot of the deeper themes of the book (ex. class, racism, and portrayal of female sexuality in the Victorian era) to talk about the “mysteries of the female mind”.
Found this podcast after searching for an episode on The Brothers Karamazov. I’m 40 minutes in and he has not even started talking about the book. It feels more like a personal therapy session than a book analysis/discussion.
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This show offers deep dives into literary history, author biographies, and scholarly context across a wide range of writers and eras. Episodes commonly blend close-reading, biographical context, translation, and reception, often featuring expert guests such as academics, translators, biographers, and editors. Listeners can expect thoughtful analyses of classics, nuanced discussions of literary influence, and connections to contemporary culture through themes like translation, gender, nationalism, and publishing. A notable strength is the host's ability to host long-form conversations with distinguished scholars and writers, interspersed with literary anecdotes, readings, and sponsor reads that keep the cadence lively for a broadly educated ... more
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The History of Literature launched 11 years ago and published 792 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
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Recent guests on The History of Literature include:
1. Rachel Pastan
2. Mark Csikszentmihalyi
3. Theodore Martin
4. Phillip Lopate
5. David Womersley
6. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm
7. Emily Franklin
8. Lydia Willsky-Ciollo
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