Podcast Episodes
Back to Search371 Robert Hayden and the Nature of Freedom | PLUS Literary Zombies (with Scott G. Bruce)
Episode 371
Poet Robert Hayden (1913-1980) surprised Jacke with his description of freedom in his sonnet "Frederick Douglass"; in this episode, Jacke considers t…
4 years, 4 months ago
370 Oscar Wilde - A Life (with Matthew Sturgis) | PLUS A Glimpse of Literary Hell (with Scott G. Bruce)
Episode 370
In this episode, Professor Scott G. Bruce shares one of his favorite passages about the underworld from The Penguin Book of Hell, which he edited. Th…
4 years, 5 months ago
369 Rilke and the Search for God
Episode 369
Following Jacke's discussion with Stephen Mitchell about the first Christmas, Jacke takes a look at a special letter by Rainer Maria Rilke (which Ste…
4 years, 5 months ago
368 The Story of the Nativity (with Stephen Mitchell)
Episode 368
Stephen Mitchell has translated or adapted some of the world's most beautiful and spiritually rich texts, including The Gospel According to Jesus, Th…
4 years, 5 months ago
367 The Beatles and the Power of Narrative | Tolstoy on Twitter
Episode 367
Jacke talks to Mike Palindrome about his work on the "Tolstoy Together" project sponsored by Yiyun Li and A Public Space, along with some other thoug…
4 years, 5 months ago
366 Evelyn Waugh (with Phil Klay)
Episode 366
The English novelist Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) was regarded by many as the most brilliant satirical novelist of his time. A self-proclaimed curmudgeon…
4 years, 5 months ago
365 Moby Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Odyssey (A Bob Dylan Reading List) | PLUS Some thoughts on Charles M. Schulz
Episode 365
Your humble podcaster-squirrel is back! Jacke considers the legacy of Charles M. Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown and Peanuts, and reflects on the di…
4 years, 5 months ago
364 Bob Dylan, the Blues, and Songs with Literary Power (with Mike Mattison and Ernest Suarez)
Episode 364
What happened in the Sixties? How did singers of popular music transform from mere entertainers to the poetic bards of their generation? Were these s…
4 years, 5 months ago
363 William Butler Yeats
Episode 363
Born into a remarkable family full of talented artists, the Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats (1865-1938) nevertheless stood out. Deeply…
4 years, 5 months ago
362 Kurt Vonnegut (with Tom Roston)
Episode 362
Jacke talks to journalist Tom Roston about his new biography of Kurt Vonnegut, The Writer's Crusade: Kurt Vonnegut and the Many Lives of Slaughterhou…
4 years, 6 months ago