The History of Literature

Nicholas Dames (The Chapter: A Segmented History from Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century) started his latest project with a seemingly simple question: Why do books have chapters? In this episode, as we turn from one year to the next, Jacke talks to an expert in segmentation. PLUS Hamid Dabashi (The Persian Prince: The Rise and Resurrection of an Imperial Archetype) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What books to buy for others? What books to read? In this guest episode from FT Weekend's Life and Art podcast, members of the Financial Times books team answer listener questions and share their personal recommendations from 2023. Follow the Life and Art podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a...FRAUD!? In this episode, Jacke dives into the dispute over one of the most famous Christmas poems of all time, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" or "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Long attributed to the somewhat curmudgeonly figure Clement C. Moore, new research has called that authorship into question. Does ANOTHER Christmas poem by Moore unlock the mystery? PLUS History of Literature superguest Marion Turner (Chaucer, a European Life; The Wife of Bath: A Biography) stops by to discuss her choice for the last book she will ever read. Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zelda and Scott, Henry and June and Anaïs, Jean-Paul and Simone, Vladimir and Vera... the names that ring out from the 1930s are those of some of the most famous artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century. Everyone who was everyone, it seemed, was in Europe, but as the Roaring Twenties faded, a new political reality took hold. The winds of war were once again stirring - how would these artists adapt? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Florian Illies about his new book, Love in a Time of Hate: Art and Passion in the Shadow of War, about the way figures like Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, Thomas Mann, and Walter Benjamin pursued their art - and often their passionate romances - in the shadow of political uncertainty. PLUS Jacke takes a look at some famous holiday songwriters. Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shakespeare helped to make the Fool a common literary character. But what about the real-life fools who served in actual courts? Who were they and what kind of lives did they lead? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Peter K. Andersson about his book Fool: In Search of Henry VIII's Closest Man, which tells the story of Will Somer, an unusual man with a very strange job. PLUS Milton expert Ed Simon (Heaven, Hell, and Paradise Lost) selects his choice for the last book he will ever read. Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Books are often viewed as the pinnacle of civilization; war, on the other hand, is where civilization breaks down. What happens when these two forces encounter one another? In this episode, Jacke talks to esteemed literary historian Andrew Pettegree about his new book, The Book at War: How Reading Shaped Conflict and Conflict Shaped Reading. PLUS Robin Lane Fox (Homer and His Iliad) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After taking a look at Emily Dickinson's Poem #269 ("Wild Nights - wild nights!"), Jacke talks to novelist Anne Enright about growing up in Ireland, her writing career, and her new book The Wren, The Wren. PLUS Dublin literary historian Christopher Morash (Dublin: A Writer's City) stops by to select the last book he will ever read. Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacke reads "Odour of Chrysanthemums," D.H. Lawrence's story about a woman waiting for her husband, a coal miner, to come home. Then Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters Club, stops by to discuss his trip to the Proust Conference and his thoughts on Lawrence's classic short story. Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After discussing Emily Dickinson's Poem #259 ("A Clock stopped -"), Jacke talks to author David Sterling Brown about his new book Shakespeare's White Others. PLUS novelist Shilpi Suneja (House of Caravans) selects the last book she will ever read. Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacke talks to bestselling author Katharine Howe (editor of The Penguin Book of Pirates) about her new novel, A True Account: Hannah Masury's Sojourn Amongst the Pirates, Written by Herself. PLUS an analysis of Emily Dickinson's Poem #256 ("The Robin's my Criterion for Tune-") Help support the show atpatreon.com/literatureorhistoryofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more atwww.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices