The History of Literature

Nicholson Baker, award-winning novelist known for intimate, detail-rich work, talks about the one private book he’d choose to read last. Indira Ghose, Shakespeare scholar and author focused on humor and theatre, explores Shakespeare’s comic mechanisms, witty battles of words, wise fools, dark laughs, and how jokes navigate power and gender. Short, lively, and full of literary wit.

Laurie Frankel, novelist who explores family, identity, and contemporary social issues, discusses Enormous Wings, about a 77-year-old woman confronting motherhood after an unexpected pregnancy. They talk about aging, memory, shifting family roles, bodily autonomy, and how society reacts to older sexuality and choice. Short, surprising, and deeply human reflections.

As Jacke and Emma travel to England for the History of Literature Podcast Tour, they're revisiting some past interviews with special guests. In this episode, Jacke talks to the University of Oxford's Emma Smith about her book Shakespeare's First Folio: Four Centuries of an Iconic Book. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/literature⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there such a thing as a general human nature? And if so, does Shakespeare serve as a "faithful mirror" to it, as Dr. Johnson claimed? In this episode, Jacke talks to Oxford University's David Womersley about his book Thinking Through Shakespeare, which explores how Shakespeare's plays think through--and invite us to think through--deep human questions of lasting importance. PLUS Ramie Targoff (Shakespeare's Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance) discusses her choice for the last book she will ever read. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠patreon.com/literature⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate⁠⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Jacke and Emma get ready for the History of Literature Podcast Tour, they're revisiting some past interviews with special guests. In this episode, Jacke talks to the University of Oxford's Emma Smith about her book ⁠Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers⁠⁠⁠⁠. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/literature⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate⁠⁠⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marion Turner, J. R. R. Tolkien Professor at Oxford and author of Chaucer: A European Life, guides listeners through Chaucer’s multilingual, cosmopolitan world. She traces his London origins, education, travels, poetic innovations and the Canterbury Tales’ deliberate incompletion. The conversation highlights Chaucer’s performance culture, earthy humour, and how archival research reshapes his biography.

Marion Turner, J. R. R. Tolkien Professor at Oxford and Chaucer scholar, discusses Chaucer and her book on the Wife of Bath. She explores Chaucer's Italian influences, his inventive reworking of sources, and how travel shaped his style. The Wife of Bath is examined as a vivid, ordinary middle-aged woman whose voice provoked medieval readers and centuries of adaptation.

Will Tosh, Director of Research at Shakespeare's Globe and author of Straight Acting, explores Shakespeare as a queer artist. He discusses queer readings of the sonnets, how all-male companies shaped onstage dynamics, the risks of publishing queer work in the early modern period, and why modern productions should embrace these queer currents.

Ritchie Robertson, Oxford scholar of German literature and Hoffmann biographer, explores E.T.A. Hoffmann’s strange, musical, and Gothic stories. Gerri Kimber, Katherine Mansfield expert and biographer, explains why Mansfield’s collected fiction would be her last read. They discuss Hoffmann’s dark fairy tales, detective roots, musical ties, and Mansfield’s deceptively simple, deeply re-readable prose.

Peter Budrin, a literary scholar who studies 18th-century reception, discusses Laurence Sterne’s surprising popularity in 1920s Soviet Russia. Edward Watts, historian and author, stops by to name the last book he’d read. They explore Sterne’s conversational style, why his works resurged amid upheaval, and how secret networks of readers found solace and individuality in his writing.