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PODCAST

Austen Chat

Jane Austen Society of North America

Welcome to Austen Chat, the podcast of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA). Join us each month as we interview scholars, authors, and subject experts on a wide range of topics related to Austen’s writings, her life and times, and more. There is always more to learn and enjoy about Jane!

arts books

All Episodes

37:30

Jane Austen & Her Teenage Writings: A Visit with...

Austen Chat ·

2025/09/04

"She has many rare & charming qualities, but Sobriety is not one of them."—Jane Austen, Jack and Alice Drunken brawls. Cannibalism. Heroines behaving very badly. Such mayhem may seem worlds apart from the sedate drawing rooms of Austen's novels, but it is par for the course in her teenage writings. In this episode, we welcome Lesley Peterson for an exploration of the whimsical world of Austen's juvenilia—the hilarious and often absurd stories she penned in her youth. Along the way, we’ll ...

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32:52

Jane Austen & Her Wild Side: A Visit with Devoney Looser

Austen Chat ·

2025/08/07

Think you know Jane Austen? In this episode, we explore the wild side of Austen’s writings, life, and legacy with noted scholar Devoney Looser, who makes the case for Austen as a far more daring and unconventional figure than her prim Victorian reputation suggests. Whether you're new to Austen or a longtime Janeite, this episode offers a lively take on the beloved author—and reminds us why we’re all a little wild for Austen. Devoney Looser is Regents Professor of English at Arizona State Univ...

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35:28

Jane Austen & Gentlemen: A Visit with Brett McKay

Austen Chat ·

2025/07/02

“There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do, if he chooses, and that is his duty." —Mr. Knightley We believe Jane Austen is for everyone, but it’s no secret that her modern fanbase is predominantly female. But why is that, and what might men be missing? Brett McKay joins us in this episode to share how he first discovered Austen’s work and why more men should read her books. Along the way, we touch on Austen's Aristotelian ideas of virtue, the qualities that make a good man, the impo...

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39:45

Jane Austen & Shakespeare: A Visit with Mary...

Austen Chat ·

2025/06/05

"'The course of true love never did run smooth'—A Hartfield edition of Shakespeare would have a long note on that passage.” —Emma Shakespeare's influence on Jane Austen can be seen throughout her novels and letters. She quotes him, mimics him, and echoes him in fascinating ways. In this episode, Professor Mary Floyd-Wilson helps us unpack and examine the many parallels between these two pillars of English literature. Mary Floyd-Wilson is the Mann Distinguished Professor of English and C...

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42:04

Jane Austen in America: A Visit with Juliette Wells

Austen Chat ·

2025/05/01

Jane Austen has had devoted American admirers since her works were first published. In fact, several Americans played a crucial role in preserving and promoting her legacy. Joining us to explore Austen’s reputation and reception in America is Professor Juliette Wells, a leading expert on the subject, who will also share the story of avid Austen collector Alberta H. Burke and preview some of the Austen treasures set to be displayed at the Morgan Library’s upcoming exhibit A Lively Mind: Jane A...

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41:50

The Women Writers Who Inspired Austen: A Visit with...

Austen Chat ·

2025/04/03

"I have made up my mind to like no novels really but Miss Edgeworth's, yours, and my own." —Jane Austen to her niece, Anna Lefroy, 1814 Jane Austen’s novels and letters are strewn with references to the female authors she admired—writers like Maria Edgeworth, Ann Radcliffe, and Charlotte Lennox. But these novelists, despite their wide popularity in their own time, have largely disappeared from our bookshelves. In this episode, rare book dealer Rebecca Romney shares some of their stories...

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43:55

Jane Austen & Her Playlist: A Visit with Laura Klein

Austen Chat ·

2025/03/06

"I do not think I can live without something of a musical society. . . . without music, life would be a blank to me." —Emma Though these words are spoken by the shallow and pretentious Mrs. Elton, the sentiment is one that Jane Austen herself likely shared. Austen played the pianoforte throughout her life and often incorporated music into her novels. In this episode, we chat with pianist Laura Klein about the music Austen and her family knew and loved and discuss how she used it in her ...

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41:36

Jane Austen in the Garden: A Visit with Kim Wilson

Austen Chat ·

2025/02/07

"To work in his garden was one of his most respectable pleasures." —Pride and Prejudice The garden may be where Charlotte sends Mr. Collins when she tires of him, but for many of Jane Austen's heroines, it's a place of repose and reflection. Nature is an important and recurring theme in Austen's novels and a meaningful part of her own life. In this episode, author Kim Wilson takes us on a tour of the many types of Regency-era gardens and greenery that inspired Austen and her work. This episod...

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55:53

A Close Look at Austen’s Genius: A Visit with John...

Austen Chat ·

2025/01/09

Happy 2025! This year marks Jane Austen's 250th birthday, and we are delighted to kick off the celebration with professor and author John Mullan as our guest. This month we delve into passages from the four novels published during Austen's lifetime and discuss what the details reveal about her genius as a writer. Join us for this fascinating and insightful episode! John Mullan is Lord Northcliffe Chair of Modern English Literature at University College London. Specializing in eighteenth- and ...

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47:59

Adapting Austen: A Visit with Andrew Davies

Austen Chat ·

2024/12/05

In this episode we chat with the man who gave us the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice—for many, the definitive Austen adaptation. A prolific author and screenwriter, Andrew Davies is also responsible for the 1996 ITV adaptation of Emma, Northanger Abbey (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008), and the recent dramatization of Sanditon—not to mention adaptations of a host of other classic novels. Join us as we discuss Andrew's thoughts on adapting Austen's novels to film and, of course, ...

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43:27

Jane Austen & Lord Byron: A Visit with Christine...

Austen Chat ·

2024/11/07

Lord Byron is one of the most notorious bad boys of English literature. He had countless affairs, drank wine from a cup fashioned from a human skull, kept a pet bear at Cambridge, and fought for Greek independence against the Ottoman Empire. What could this Regency-era demigod of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” possibly have to do with spinster Jane, a country parson's daughter? More than you'd think, according to our guest, Christine Kenyon Jones. In this episode we discuss the paralle...

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37:46

Austen in Translation: A Visit with Keiko Parker and...

Austen Chat ·

2024/10/03

Thanks to the tireless work of translators, readers around the world can enjoy Jane Austen's works in their native languages. But how does one even begin to translate her carefully crafted sentences? What unforeseen challenges and valuable insights arise in the process? In this episode, we ask Austen translators Keiko Parker and Maria Biajoli about their experiences—the good, the bad, and the je ne sais quoi. Keiko Parker has been a JASNA member since 1981 and coordinated the 2007 Annual Gene...

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49:23

Cassandra Austen & Her Drawings: A Visit with Janine...

Austen Chat ·

2024/09/06

Cassandra Austen, beloved sister to Jane, was a talented artist in her own right. At age 19, she illustrated Jane's satirical History of England with thirteen delightful ink-and-watercolor portraits. She continued to draw and paint throughout her life, most often copying from popular newspaper and magazine prints of the day. In this episode, Austen scholar Janine Barchas discusses her recent discovery of previously unidentified works by Cassandra and the underappreciated "art of copying," a t...

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47:13

Jane Austen & Her Creative Process: A Visit with...

Austen Chat ·

2024/08/08

Jane Austen pioneered and perfected quite a few literary techniques, and her novels mark a major turning point in modern English fiction. In this episode we chat with Collins Hemingway about Austen’s development as a writer and unpack the tools in her literary toolbox. Drawing on insights from his book Jane Austen and the Creation of Modern Fiction: Six Novels in “a Style Entirely New,” Collins shares his thoughts on her creative process, what she learned from novel to novel, and her mastery ...

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45:16

Jane Austen & A Reading Challenge: A Visit with the...

Austen Chat ·

2024/07/02

It's Austen Chat's one-year anniversary! Encouraging more people to read Jane Austen and gain a deeper understanding of her works and life is JASNA’s mission, and to celebrate our podcast birthday, we welcome not one but three guests to talk about reading Austen and the online event they organize each year: Jane Austen July. BookTubers Katie Lumsden, host of the YouTube channel Books and Things, Marissa Schwartz, host of Blatantly Bookish, and Claudia Falcone, host of Spinster’s Library, are ...

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47:07

Jane Austen & Her Bookshelf: A Visit with Susan Allen...

Austen Chat ·

2024/06/06

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." —Henry Tilney, Northanger AbbeyAs an avid reader and a novelist herself, Jane Austen of course loved to read novels. But what else did she read, and what influence did it have on her writing? What books did she place in the hands of her characters, and what do their reading habits and choices say about them? Drawing from her forthcoming book, What Jane Austen's Characters Read (and Why), P...

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46:31

Jane Austen & Movie Music: A Visit with Ruth Mudge

Austen Chat ·

2024/05/02

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34:08

Jane Austen & the Decorative Arts: A Visit with...

Austen Chat ·

2024/04/04

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42:45

Jane Austen & Her Genius: A Visit with Juliet McMaster

Austen Chat ·

2024/03/07

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45:42

Jane Austen & Food: A Visit with Julienne Gehrer

Austen Chat ·

2024/02/01

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28 results

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