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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

99:04

718 Jim - The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry...

The History of Literature ·

2025/07/21

In this episode, Jacke talks to eminent Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin (Was Huck Black?: Mark Twain and African-American Voices) about her new book Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade, which sheds new light on the origins and influence of Mark Twain's beloved yet polarizing figure. PLUS Jacke takes a look at the recent spate of Mark Twain news, from the publication of Percival Everett's prizewinning novel James, to John Jeremiah Sullivan's review of Ron Chernow's

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56:41

717 Einstein and Kafka (with Ken Krimstein) | Dr...

The History of Literature ·

2025/07/17

It's an action-packed day at the History of Literature! First, Jacke recounts the story of Dr. Johnson racing to the aid of his friend, the playwright Oliver Goldsmith, whose landlady was threatening him with debtor's prison. Naturally, the great critic and dictionary author Johnson found a very literary way to help. Then Jacke is joined by author Ken Krimstein, whose graphic novel Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up with the Universe looks at the critical year

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61:28

716 Icelandic Folk Legends (with Dagrun Osk...

The History of Literature ·

2025/07/14

Since the first permanent settlers landed there more than a thousand years ago, Iceland has been perhaps the most unique and enchanting place in all of Europe. How fitting, then, for its people to have developed unique, enchanting, and captivating stories involving hidden people, trolls, ghosts, sea monsters, and more. In this episode, Jacke talks to Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir about the tales of love, revenge, and conflict gathered in her book Ghosts, Trolls, and the Hidden People: An Anthology of

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72:12

715 How Did George Eliot and the Victorians Respond...

The History of Literature ·

2025/07/10

What does it feel like to live helplessly in a world that is coming undone? If you're alive in 2025, you are probably very familiar with this feeling - and if you'd been alive in the age of Victorian literature, you might have felt that way too. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Nathan K. Hensley about his book Action without Hope: Victorian Literature after Climate Collapse, which studies how authors like George Eliot, Emily Brontë, H.G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, and Christina Rossetti used

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85:00

714 The Real Charles Dickens (with Stephen Browning...

The History of Literature ·

2025/07/07

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) led one of the most colorful and interesting lives of any author. But while many of us are familiar with his unforgettable characters and fantastically successful novels, we often don't know the details of his difficult early life, his success as a reporter, his troubled marriage and suspected relationship with another woman, and his social reform efforts. In this episode, Jacke talks to Stephen Browning and Simon Thomas, whose book The Real Charles Dickens takes the

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94:43

713 The Odyssey (with Daniel Mendelsohn) | The...

The History of Literature ·

2025/07/03

Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest surviving works of literature - and yet, somehow, it can also feel like one of the newest. The inventive narrative structure, complex hero, and surprisingly modern themes still feel fresh, thousands of years after the poem's genesis. In this episode, Jacke talks to author and translator Daniel Mendelsohn about his passion for the Odyssey and his efforts to breathe new poetic life into the ancient epic through a vivid new translation. PLUS Jacke announces the

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59:46

712 Shakespeare's Greatest Love (with David Medina) |...

The History of Literature ·

2025/06/30

He might be the greatest writer about love that the world has ever known. But as is so often the case with Shakespeare, the biographical record raises as many questions as it answers. How often did Shakespeare fall in love, and with whom, and what happened? Who was Shakespeare's greatest love? In this episode, Jacke talks to David Medina about his book Shakespeare's Greatest Love, which argues that the answer has long been hiding in plain sight. Check out David's book tour and other events at

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73:28

711 How Does Literature Handle Atrocities? (with...

The History of Literature ·

2025/06/26

For millennia, literature has represented humanity at its finest. Over the same period of time, human beings have been committing the worst acts of mass violence imaginable. How have authors addressed these atrocities? Have they shown an ability to look at their own nation with the critical eyes of a stranger? And if so, have works of imagination proven themselves to be the right means of doing so? In this episode, Jacke talks to Bruce Robbins about his book Atrocity: A Literary History, which

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60:09

710 Weird and Wonderful Stories from Ancient Greece...

The History of Literature ·

2025/06/23

It's another action-packed episode! First, Jacke relays the story of a long-time listener who worked some mundane jobs before becoming an artistic bookmaker. Then Jacke talks to author Paul Chrystal about his work diving into lesser-known ancient texts for his book Miracula: Weird and Wonderful Stories of Ancient Greece and Rome. And in between, Jacke announces an exciting new development for the podcast. Enjoy!Learn more about Chaz and Katie's journey by visiting their About Page at

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91:52

709 Black American Humor (with Damon Young) | The...

The History of Literature ·

2025/06/16

DAMON YOUNG (⁠What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays⁠) is a Pittsburgh writer and humorist. In this episode, Jacke talks to Damon about his work editing and writing an introduction for That's How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor, which emphasizes how and why Black American humor is uniquely transfixing. PLUS Jacke nominates a joke as the greatest American joke ever told. Learn more about Damon Young and his work at https://www.damonjyoung.com

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71:01

708 Science Fact and Science Fiction (with Keith...

The History of Literature ·

2025/06/12

For decades, writers and filmmakers have imagined worlds where characters can do things like watch a double sunset (on Tatooine, of course), or stand among the sand dunes of Arrakis, or gaze at the gas-giant planet Polyphemus from the moon Pandora. But even as works like Star Wars, Dune, and Avatar have enticed us with their fictional renditions of planets beyond our reach, astronomers have slowly begun to compile a set of scientific truths about the actual exoplanets. In this episode, Jacke talks

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60:42

707 Emile Zola (with Robert Lethbridge) | Graham...

The History of Literature ·

2025/06/09

For years, listeners have been requesting an episode devoted to the French novelist, journalist, playwright, and public intellectual Émile Zola (1840-1902). In this episode, Jacke talks to author Robert Lethbridge, whose new book Émile Zola: A Determined Life presents a comprehensive exploration of the life, work, and times of the celebrated French literary polymath. PLUS Jacke takes a look at some news that a ghost story by Graham Greene - perhaps the only one he ever wrote - has recently emerged

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72:23

706 Living with Jane Austen (with Janet Todd) | A...

The History of Literature ·

2025/06/02

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Jane Austen's novels make us wish she was our friend. She wouldn't be just any old friend: she'd be the sharpest and wisest, the one we turn to in a crisis, the one who understands our flaws and helps us see our blind spots. As we navigate the perils of love and life, she'd be the friend who gently points us in the right direction. Well, that's a funny thing to say about someone who lived more than two hundred years ago, but it's how we feel. And so, we

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59:34

705 Runaway Poets - How the Brownings Fell in Love...

The History of Literature ·

2025/05/29

Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) was one of the most prolific and accomplished poets of the Victorian age, an inspiration to Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, and countless others. And yet, her life was full of cloistered misery, as her father insisted that she should never marry. And then, the clouds lifted, and a letter arrived. It was from the poet Robert Browning (1812-1889), admiring her from afar, declaring his love. How did these two poets find each other? What kind of life did they

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86:31

704 Butterflies Regained

The History of Literature ·

2025/05/26

Poetry, butterflies, and original music oh my! With some help from poets Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, and John Keats, along with original music by composer Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal, Jacke tackles the topic of butterflies. Yes, yes, we all know that butterflies are symbols of beauty and transformation - but can great poets get beyond the clichés? Why did Keats imagine himself as a butterfly in his love letters? Did Robert Frost mansplain poetry to Emily Dickinson (and do we agree)

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69:35

703 D.H. Lawrence (with David Ellis) | My Last Book...

The History of Literature ·

2025/05/19

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) is one of the most famous novelists of his era - and one of the most difficult to pin down. Was he a tasteless, avant-garde pornographer? Or the greatest imaginative novelist of his generation (as E.M. Forster once said)? What should we know about his hard-luck childhood and turbulent adult life? In this episode, Jacke talks to biographer David Ellis (D.H. Lawrence: A Critical Life) about the struggle to capture and convey the essence of Lawrence's life and works. PLUS

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52:01

702 Writing in the World of Jane Austen (with D.G....

The History of Literature ·

2025/05/15

Jacke talks to D.G. Rampton, Australia's Queen of the Regency Romance, about her love for the novels of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer - and what it's like for a twenty-first-century novelist to set her novels in the early-nineteenth-century world of intelligent heroines, dashing men, and sparkling banter. Find PLUS Jacke dives into the story of a book festival gone horribly wrong, searching for signs of hope amid the literary wreckage.Additional listening: 280 Romance Novels 303 The

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71:31

701 Emerson's Struggle with Slavery (with Kenneth...

The History of Literature ·

2025/05/12

For several decades, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was perhaps the most prominent writer and intellectual in America. As an advocate of personal freedom living in Massachusetts, surrounded by passionate abolitionists, one might expect that his positions regarding slavery would be obvious and uncomplicated. And yet, Emerson struggled with the issue - not whether it was wrong (he was opposed to it), but the extent to which it obliged him or others to take action, and if so, how best to act in a way

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28:08

700 - Butterflies at Rest

The History of Literature ·

2025/05/05

Returning to some devastating news after a trip to Paris, Jacke searches for lost time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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72:12

699 Gatsby's Daisy (with Rachel Feder) | My Last Book...

The History of Literature ·

2025/04/28

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby might be one hundred years old, but it's still incredibly relevant: one list-of-lists site ranks it as the number-one book of all time. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Rachel Feder about this classic tale of reinvention - and the reinventing she did for her book Daisy, which retells the Gatsby story from the perspective of a messy, ambitious, and possibly devious 1990s teen poet. PLUS Francesca Peacock (Pure Wit: The Revolutionary Life of Margaret

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