Podcast Episodes
Back to Search430 In Shakespeare's Shadow (with Michael Blanding)
Episode 430
It's a paradox that has bothered Shakespeare's fans for centuries: the man was as insightful into human beings as anyone whoever lived, and yet his o…
3 years, 10 months ago
429 Books I Have Loved (with Charles Baxter, Margot Livesey, and Jim Shepard)
Episode 429
For years, we've enjoyed talking to writers about the books they love best. In this "best of" episode, we go deep into the archive for three of our f…
3 years, 10 months ago
428 Edward Gibbon (with Zachary Karabell)
Episode 428
Since the first publication of his six-volume magnum opus, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon (1734-1797) has bee…
3 years, 10 months ago
427 Bashō's Best - Haiku and the Essence of Life
Episode 427
In our last episode, Jacke looked at the life of celebrated Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694), the widely acknowledged master of haiku. In this …
3 years, 10 months ago
426 Matsuo Bashō - Haiku's Greatest Master
Episode 426
In addition to being what is probably the most widely used poetic form, haiku is almost certainly the most often misunderstood. In this episode, Jack…
3 years, 10 months ago
425 Tom Stoppard (with Scott Carter)
Episode 425
Born Tomáš Sträussler, in what was then Czechoslovakia, celebrated playwright Tom Stoppard (1937- ) became one of the most famous British playwrights…
3 years, 10 months ago
424 Karel Čapek (with Ian Coss)
Episode 424
Czech novelist Karel Čapek (1890-1938) might be best known as the pioneering science fiction writer who first coined the term "robot." But readers ha…
3 years, 10 months ago
423 Roger Ebert
Episode 423
Jacke spends his birthday reflecting on Chicago film critic Roger Ebert (1942-2013), the Judd Apatow show Freaks and Geeks, and other literature-and-…
3 years, 10 months ago
422 Wallace Stegner (with Melodie Edwards)
Episode 422
During his lifetime, Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) became famous for his prizewinning fiction and autobiographical works; his dedication to environment…
3 years, 10 months ago
421 HOL Goes to the Movies (A Best-of Episode with Brian Price, Meg Tilly, and Mike Palindrome)
Episode 421
Summertime! The season for watching blockbuster movies in arctic conditions, heart-pounding suspense flicks that heat the blood, and cool-breeze dram…
3 years, 11 months ago