x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson / The Podglomerate

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 historyofliterature.com/donate. Contact the show at historyofliteraturepodcast@gmail.com.

arts books

All Episodes

61:31

792 Death and Decay in Early Modern Lyric Poetry...

The History of Literature ·

2026/04/13

In this episode, Jacke talks to author Eileen Sperry about her book This Body of Death: Form and Decay in Early Modern Lyric, which examines how the lyric poetry of Shakespeare and his contemporaries shaped our understanding of what it means to be mortal. PLUS a skeleton discovered under a collapsed church floor in the Netherlands might answer a longstanding literary mystery. AND Biblical scholar Bruce Gordon discusses his choice for the last book he will ever read.The music in this episode is by

en

67:07

791 Emilia Lanier (a.k.a Aemilia Bassano Lanyer)...

The History of Literature ·

2026/04/09

The "Forgotten Women of Literature" series continues with a look at Aemilia Bassano Lanyer (1569-1645), the first Englishwoman to publish a volume of poetry, the protofeminist Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611), which tells the story of Christ's crucifixion from a woman's perspective. In addition to her many accomplishments and incredible life story, Lanyer has tantalizingly close connections to William Shakespeare, causing Jacke (and other scholars) to examine whether she might have been the

en

58:26

790 Madness and Myth (with Natasha Joukovsky) | My...

The History of Literature ·

2026/04/06

What happens when an abnormally average man is suddenly on a path to greatness, as his picks in the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament start panning out? Will he predict a perfect bracket, capturing the billion-dollar prize? And what will this mean for the women in his life--including the Cassandra who saw it coming? In this episode, Jacke talks to novelist Natasha Joukovsky about March Madness, Greek myths, the mediocrities who roam the streets of Washington, D.C., and her new book Medium Rare,

en

76:12

789 The 25 Greatest Books of All Time (with Mike...

The History of Literature ·

2026/04/02

In 2025, Jacke began a countdown of the top 25 greatest books of all time, as part of a series called "25 for 25." In this episode, Jacke reveals the #2 and #1 entries on the list. Then Mike Palindrome, longtime friend and President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke to discuss the books chosen, the relative merits of the list, and propose some alternatives. PLUS Cass Sunstein (How to Become Famous: Lost Einsteins, Forgotten Superstars, and How the Beatles Came to Be) stops by to discuss

en

51:39

788 John Ruskin (with Bob Blaisdell) | My Last Book...

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/30

Nineteenth-century art critic and polymath John Ruskin (1819-1900) was a visionary thinker and influential social commentator who revolutionized how society viewed art and its connection to life. In this episode, Jacke talks to Bob Blaisdell (editor of Ruskin on Art and Artists) about the impact that Ruskin had on the artists and writers who followed. PLUS Gertrude Stein expert Francesca Wade (Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife) stops by to discuss her choice for the last book she will ever read.The

en

61:12

787 Why Poetry with Matthew Zapruder Encore

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/26

In his book Why Poetry, the poet Matthew Zapruder issued "an impassioned call for a return to reading poetry and an incisive argument for its accessibility to all readers." The poet Robert Hass said, "Zapruder on poetry is pure pleasure. His prose is so direct that you have the impression, sentence by sentence, that you are being told simple things about a simple subject and by the end of each essay you come to understand that you've been on a very rich, very subtle tour of what's aesthetically and

en

57:07

786 Cherokee Novelist and Poet John Rollin Ridge...

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/23

A member of the Cherokee nation, John Rollin Ridge (1827-1867) lived a dramatic life full of contradictions. He also became the first Native American to publish a novel, The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta: the Celebrated California Bandit, a Gold Rush-era adventure story about the man who inspired the character of Zorro. In this episode, Jacke talks to scholar Travis Franks about Ridge's life, his writing career, and some newly discovered poetry that helps illuminate this fascinating

en

78:31

785 Literature in an Age of Anti-Immigration...

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/19

Daniel A. Olivas, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, is a fiction writer, poet, playwright, book critic, and attorney. In this episode, Jacke talks to Daniel about his lifelong devotion to literature and its ability to humanize the targets of anti-immigration sentiment. In the interview, Daniel recounts how his interest in literature led to his novel inspired by Mary Shelley, Chicano Frankenstein, and his play inspired by Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godínez: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts. PLUS Jane

en

66:26

784 Marcus Aurelius: Philosopher-King (with William...

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/16

In the fourth century B.C., Plato famously posited a philosopher-king as the ideal ruler for his imagined Republic. Five hundred years later, the Roman Empire was led by Marcus Aurelius, the man often viewed as the best example of this Platonic ideal. In this episode, Jacke talks to William O. Stephens about his book Marcus Aurelius: Philosopher-King, which guides readers through the fascinating life, writings, and legacy of Rome's great emperor philosopher. The music in this episode is by Gabriel

en

55:31

783 Southern Imagining (with Elleke Boehmer) | My...

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/12

The world has a northern bias: our politics, culture, and literature all tend to view the northern viewpoint as the default position, leaving the far southern latitudes (Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Southern Africa among others), as a faraway land full of strangeness. But what if you live in those lands? How can a strange, faraway place be home? In this episode, Jacke talks to Elleke Boehmer about her book Southern Imagining: A Literary and Cultural History of the Far Southern Hemisphere,

en

65:02

782 Consent in the Regency Novel (with Zoë McGee)

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/09

Ever since the novel was invented, women have used it as a platform for sharing ideas about sexual consent. In this episode, Jacke talks to Dr. Zoë McGee about her new book Courting Disaster: Reading Between the Lines in the Regency Novel, which compares classic novels by Jane Austen, Frances Burney, and others with historic court records to show that today's arguments about consent are not a new phenomenon. PLUS Jacke reads a letter from Chekhov in which he describes the experience of watching a

en

66:55

781 Laurie Frankel's Enormous Wings | My Last Book...

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/05

"And one man in his time plays many parts," wrote Shakespeare in As You Like It, "[h]is acts being seven ages." We all know the feeling of passing from one phase to the next. But what happens when something dramatic mashes these acts together? In this episode, Jacke talks to New York Times bestselling author (and HOL superguest) Laurie Frankel about her novel Enormous Wings, in which a woman who should be enjoying her golden years is suddenly forced to contemplate a return to an earlier stage of

en

49:22

780 Chekhov on Writing (with Bob Blaisdell)

The History of Literature ·

2026/03/02

In an 1886 letter to his brother, Anton Chekhov delivered some advice about truthfulness in writing. "Don't invent sufferings you have not experienced," he wrote, "and don't paint pictures you have not seen--for a lie in a story is much more boring than a lie in conversation." In this episode, Jacke talks to editor Bob Blaisdell about the book Chekhov on Writing: the Mentor, the Self-Critic, Literary Questions, and Fictional Writers, which gathers the wisdom and grace of one of literature's most

en

66:36

779 Ernest Hemingway and The Sun Also Rises (with...

The History of Literature ·

2026/02/26

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was one of the most famous American writers of the twentieth century. His plain, economical prose style--inspired by journalism and the King James Bible, with an assist from the Cezannes he viewed in Gertrude Stein’s apartment--became a hallmark of modernism and changed the course of American literature. In this episode, Jacke and Mike take a look at an author and novel, The Sun Also Rises (1927), they’ve been reading and discussing for decades.Want more Hemingway? We

en

57:17

778 A History of Aphorisms (with James Geary) | My...

The History of Literature ·

2026/02/23

For thousands of years, writers from ancient China to contemporary meme-makers have demonstrated the power of the short, witty, philosophical phrases known as aphorisms. In this episode, Jacke talks to James Geary (The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism) about his decades-long effort to collect, catalogue, and celebrate the oldest written art form on the planet. PLUS author Paul Chrystal (Miracula: Weird and Wonderful Stories of Ancient Greece and Rome) stops by to discuss his

en

84:15

777 T.S. Eliot's "Preludes" | "The Story of the...

The History of Literature ·

2026/02/19

Jacke kicks off the episode with an analysis of T.S. Eliot's underappreciated poem of urban alienation, "Preludes." Then scholar and translator Kate Deimling (The Story of the Marquis de Cressy by Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni) tells Jacke about an eighteenth-century Frenchwoman who was a bestseller in her day, but whose best novels have been unavailable in English for more than 200 years (until now!). Join Jacke on a trip through literary England! Join Jacke and fellow literature fans on an eight-day

en

69:54

776 Mary Shelley in Bath (with Fiona Sampson) | My...

The History of Literature ·

2026/02/16

As fans of the novel know, Frankenstein began with a flash of insight during an ill-fated holiday near Geneva in the summer of 1816, when the young woman then known as Mary Godwin contributed the modern-day Promethean tale to the ghost stories being shared by married lover Percy Shelley and their friends Lord Byron and John Polidori. A few months later, the nineteen-year-old Mary (who would eventually become Mary Shelley) arrived in Bath, hiding from London's gossipmongers and determined to work on

en

54:41

775 Celebrity Authorship in the Nineteenth Century...

The History of Literature ·

2026/02/12

When assessing the literature of an era, we tend to think of the works that have made it into the canon - but in so doing, we're in danger of overlooking the many different kinds of books and texts that people were actually reading. In this episode, Jacke talks to Sarah Allison (The Rise of Celebrity Authorship: Nineteenth-Century Print Culture and Antislavery) about the creation of literary celebrity from the nineteenth century's pop culture print forms, including antislavery writing. PLUS popular

en

58:10

774 Robert Louis Stevenson (with Leo Damrosch)

The History of Literature ·

2026/02/09

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) suffered from poor health for most of his life, and yet he possessed immense vitality. In this episode, Jacke talks to biographer Leo Damrosch (Storyteller: The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson) about his efforts to bring to life the man who gave the world Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.Join Jacke on a trip through literary England! Join Jacke and fellow literature fans on an eight-day journey through literary England in

en

77:01

773 The Films of Rob Reiner (with Mike Palindrome) |...

The History of Literature ·

2026/02/05

In mid-December 2025, the world was shocked by the horrible and tragic news that beloved film director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner had been murdered at their home. In this episode, Jacke and Mike celebrate Reiner's amazing run of indelible films in the 1980s and early 1990s, including a selection of their Top 10 favorite lines from Rob Reiner films. PLUS storytelling expert Matt Abrahams (Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot) stops by

en

772 results

Similar Podcasts

Start The Breakthrough Full Audiobook Now, Thriller Fans!

thebookvoice.com

Get Hooked On The Life-Enhancing Full Audiobook Experience!

thebookvoice.com

西四五条

主播郑捕头

Podcast Patapoe

0d0a

On Mic Podcast

Jordan Rich