The History of Literature

Latest Episodes:

685 Charles Chesnutt (with Tess Chakkalakal) | My Last Book with John Goodby Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

Complex and talented, Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was one of the first American authors to write for both Black and white readers. Born in Cleveland to "mixed race" parents, Chesnutt rejected the opportunity to "pass" as white, instead remaining in the Black community throughout his life. His life in the South during Reconstruction, and his knowledge of both Black and white communities, made him one of America's sharpest observers of race in America during the postwar years. In this episode, Jacke talks to Chesnutt scholar Tess Chakkalakal about her book A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt, which the New York Times Book Review says "asks the reader to see the 'First Negro Novelist' as he saw himself: a writer and student of American letters at a time when the literary marketplace struggled to take him seriously...a timely reminder of the influence of artists like Charles W. Chesnutt today, when perhaps only literature has the power to sustain us." PLUS: John Goodby (Dylan Thomas: A Critical Life) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read.

Additional listening:

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

684 The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne (with Mike Palindrome) Mar 06, 2025

Show notes

What happens when a respected church leader shows up one day wearing a mysterious veil that conceals his eyes, offering no explanation - and keeps wearing it for decades? How will the community respond? What conspiracy theories will they develop? And how will an author like Nathaniel Hawthorne, writing a hundred years later, spin a New England sin-and-guilt anecdote into powerful literary gold? In this episode, Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a reading and discussion of Hawthorne's riveting short story "The Minister's Black Veil."

Additional listening:

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

683 Marianne Moore (with Cristanne Miller) Mar 03, 2025

Show notes

Marianne Moore (1887-1972) achieved something rare in American letters: a modernist poet who was popular with both critics and the public. Famous for her formal innovation, precise diction, and wit - as well as her black tri-corner hat and cloak, which she wore as she dashed around Manhattan - she was lauded by T.S. Eliot (and numerous prize committees) and treated by the public as a true American poet. Muhammad Ali asked her to write the liner notes to his album notes; Ford Motor Company asked her to name their line of cars. In this episode, Jacke talks to Moore scholar Cristanne Miller about Moore's life, Moore's work, and a new digital archive project that unites the two.

Additional listening:

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

682 The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature (with Farah Jasmine Griffin) [Ad-Free Re-Release] Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

As America closes out this year's Black History Month, Jacke dives into the archives for one of his favorite episodes, which featured a conversation with Columbia University professor Farah Jasmine Griffin about her book Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature. PLUS friend of the show Scott Carter stops by to talk about the version of the gospels that Charles Dickens wrote.

This episode originally ran on November 15, 2021. It's presented here without the insertion of advertising.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

681 The Jolly Corner by Henry James - Part 3 | My Last Book by Colm Tóibín Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

It's the conclusion to "The Jolly Corner"! Spencer Brydon lived in Europe for 33 years (as did his creator, Henry James) before returning to his childhood home in New York City. Europe has changed him - and he can't help thinking, as he observes a highly transformed New York, that he'd have been a very different person had he stayed in America during those crucial decades at the end of the nineteenth century. He finds himself roaming his old deserted house on "the jolly corner" late at night, hunting for the phantom of the self that might-have-been, until he finally sees something that shocks him into unconsciousness. In this episode, Jacke presents the rousing conclusion to this fascinating story of nostalgia, regrets, wonder, selfhood, friendship, and terror. PLUS Irish novelist and essayist Colm Tóibín (The Master, On James Baldwin) stops by to discuss his selection for the last book he will ever read. Enjoy!

Additional listening:

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

680 The Jolly Corner by Henry James - Part 2 Feb 20, 2025

Show notes

After spending decades in Europe, the American Henry James felt haunted by the idea that he'd given up something essential. Inspired by a trip home to New York City, the place of his birth, he wrote an astonishing story about a man who creeps through his childhood home late at night, searching for ghosts, and one in particular he's desperate to see: the American version of himself that didn't ever get a chance to live. In this episode, Jacke reads and analyzes the middle of Henry James's "The Jolly Corner."

Additional listening:

679 The Jolly Corner by Henry James - Part 1
340 Constance Fenimore Woolson
341 Constance and Henry - The Story of "Miss Grief"

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

679 The Jolly Corner by Henry James - Part 1 Feb 17, 2025

Show notes

Although the writer Henry James (1843-1916) was born in New York City's Washington Square, he spent most of his adulthood in Europe, where he wrote such masterpieces as The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove, and The Golden Bowl. Late in life, he returned to New York after a thirty-three year absence to find the city much transformed, as skyscrapers and grand public buildings - museums and libraries and opera houses - now dominated the scene.

In this episode, Jacke reads and comments upon the opening of James's 1908 story "The Jolly Corner," in which a man revisits his childhood home in New York after a thirty-three year absence and finds himself chasing memories, ghosts, and other figments of his imagination.

Additional listening:

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

678 Fernando Pessoa (with Bartholomew Ryan) | My Last Book with Robin Waterfield Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

Jacke's been trying to come to grips with Portuguese modernist poet Fernando Pessoa ever since Harold Bloom named him one of the 26 most influential writers in the entire Western canon. But it's not easy! As a young man, Pessoa wanted to be, in his words, "plural like the universe," and he carried this out in his poetry: writing verse in the style of more than one hundred fictional alter-egos that he called heteronyms. In this episode, Pessoa expert Bartholomew Ryan, author of Fernando Pessoa: A Critical Life, joins Jacke for a discussion of Pessoa's profound, endlessly innovative ideas. PLUS renowned scholar Robin Waterfield (Aesop's Fables: A New Translation) joins Jacke for a discussion of the last book he will ever read.

Additional listening:

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

677 Dylan Thomas (with John Goodby) | Emily Brontë and the Search for Hope Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

Dylan Thomas: brilliant poet or self-indulgent blowhard? In this episode, Jacke talks to John Goodby, co-author of the biography Dylan Thomas: A Critical Life, about the misconceptions swirling around the famous Welsh poet, and the approach that he and fellow author Chris Wigginton took in presenting a revealing and fresh introduction to Thomas's life and work. PLUS Jacke reads an essay by Emily Brontë in which she wades through deep currents of darkness and gloom to catch a glimpse of hope.

Additional listening:

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

676 "Mrs Spring Fragrance" by Sui Sin Far (with Mike Palindrome) Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a reading and discussion of "Mrs. Spring Fragrance" by Sui Sin Far. The story, which takes place against a backdrop of waves of immigration to America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (and the racist anti-Asian laws that followed), depicts an enterprising "Americanized" Chinese woman with a taste for matchmaking as she navigates the worlds of Seattle, San Francisco, and her own marriage. While acknowledging the achievement of the pioneering Sui Sin Far, Mike explores his personal reaction to the story, especially the highly patriarchal world of Asian immigrant communities.

Additional listening:

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected