
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 | Twice weekly | Episodes | 792 | Founded | 11 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | BooksArtsHistory | |||

Everywhere we look, we see the benefits of the modern world. But what have we lost? In this episode, Jacke talks to Malcolm Guite about his new book Galahad and the Grail, the first of a four-volume Arthuriad, which poetically retells the Arthurian l... more
As we recently discussed with Hadley Suter, nineteenth-century French novelist Stendhal (1783-1842) came of age in an era when identity was up for grabs. So who was he? How did he view himself? What did he write, and why do we care so much about him ... more
When times are tough, can literature help? After sharing an email from a listener, Jacke talks to author Rachel Pastan about her novel We're So Lucky to Live Here, in which a woman copes with a tragic loss by staging a production of Chekhov's The Che... more
We often say it's important for a person to be "authentic," but what does that mean? Why is that necessarily a good thing? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Hadley Suter (Becoming Stendhal: The Performance of Authenticity and the Making of a Nov... 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. Malcolm Guite
2. Hadley Suter
3. Susan Dunne
4. Mark Csikszentmihalyi
5. Rachel Pastan
6. Theodore Martin
7. Phillip Lopate
8. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm
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