The Norton Library Podcast

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Euripides's Exploration of the Unthinkable and Unnatural (Medea, Part 1) Mar 04, 2024

Show notes

In Part 1 of our discussion on Medea, we welcome translator Sheila Murnaghan to discuss the historical and dramatic context in which Euripides wrote the play, its basis in the Medea myth, and the plays most prominent characters.
Sheila Murnaghan is the Alfred Reginald Allen Memorial Professor of Greek at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Disguise and Recognition in the Odyssey and numerous articles on Greek epic and tragedy, gender in classical culture, and classical reception. She is the co-editor of Odyssean Identities in Modern Cultures: The Journey Home and Women and Slaves in Classical Culture: Differential Equations.
To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Medea, go to https://seagull.wwnorton.com/medeaNL.
Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.
Listen to our Spotify playlist inspired by Medea: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2jHEa9BnjuCKUkb8JYWgks?si=95b63188d01d4562.
Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter @TNL_WWN.
Episode transcript at https://seagull.wwnorton.com/medea/part1/transcript.

An African American Novel about White People (The Marrow of Tradition, Part 2) Feb 19, 2024

Show notes

In Part 2 of our discussion on The Marrow of Tradition, editor Autumn Womack discusses her background with the novel, teaching the novel, her favorite line, and her hot take on The Marrow of Tradition.
Autumn Womack is an Assistant Professor in the departments of African American Studies and English at Princeton University, where she specializes in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century African American literary culture. She is the author of The Matter of Black Living: The Aesthetic Experiment of Racial Data, 1880–1930 (2022).

To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Marrow of Tradition, go to https://seagull.wwnorton.com/marrow-of-tradition-nl.
Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.
Listen to our Spotify playlist inspired by The Marrow of Tradition: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1y5KkGWyq43LrUTupCytgX?si=12ff06aa1f954b76.
Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter @TNL_WWN.
Episode transcript at: https://seagull.wwnorton.com/themarrowoftradition/part2/transcript.

Carterets, Millers, and Massacres (The Marrow of Tradition, Part 1) Feb 05, 2024

Show notes

In Part 1 of our discussion on The Marrow of Tradition, we welcome editor Autumn Womack to discuss Charles W. Chestnut's biography, his ambitions in writing the novel, the historical realities depicted in it, and some of its major characters.
Autumn Womack is an Assistant Professor in the departments of African American Studies and English at Princeton University, where she specializes in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century African American literary culture. She is the author of The Matter of Black Living: The Aesthetic Experiment of Racial Data, 1880–1930 (2022).

Up-to-date with a Vengeance (Dracula, Part 2) Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

In Part 2 of our discussion on Dracula, editor Rachel Feder discusses the inspiration for the cover of her Norton Library edition, her favorite line in the novel, how the novel relates to the popular cultural understanding of vampires, and notions of the sublime in Gothic literature.
Rachel Feder is an associate professor of English and literary arts at the University of Denver, where her courses often bring literary history into conversation with contemporary culture. She is the author of Harvester of Hearts: Motherhood under the sign of Frankenstein and the poetry collection Birth Chart.

To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Dracula, go to https://seagull.wwnorton.com/Dracula.
Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.
Listen to our Spotify playlist inspired by Dracula: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KJEv5xKOtQt6aFUPcgMWg?si=ef328110a1014367.
Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter @TNL_WWN.
Episode transcript at: https://seagull.wwnorton.com/dracula/part2/transcript.

Vampires and Gothic Horror (Dracula, Part 1) Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

In Part 1 of our discussion on Dracula, we welcome editor Rachel Feder to discuss whether Bram Stoker's biography is relevant to our interpretations of the novel, Dracula's place in the history of Gothic literature, different types of Gothic literature, and some of the most prominent characters in the novel.
Rachel Feder is an associate professor of English and literary arts at the University of Denver, where her courses often bring literary history into conversation with contemporary culture. She is the author of Harvester of Hearts: Motherhood under the sign of Frankenstein and the poetry collection Birth Chart.

A Long and Winding Road to Nowhere (The Canterbury Tales, Part 2) Dec 22, 2023

Show notes

In Part 2 of our discussion on The Canterbury Tales, translator and editor Sheila Fisher uncovers her favorite line(s) in the text, tells us how she approaches teaching the Tales, gives us a cross-centuries Chaucer playlist, and reflects on the text's relevance to readers today.
Sheila Fisher is Professor of English at Trinity College (Hartford). She is the author of Chaucer’s Poetic Alchemy: A Study of Value and Its Transformation in The Canterbury Tales, and the editor (with Janet E. Halley) of Seeking the Woman in Late Medieval and Renaissance Writings: Essays in Feminist Contextual Criticism, as well as essays on the Gawain-poet, Julian of Norwich, and Margery Kempe.

To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Canterbury Tales, go to https://seagull.wwnorton.com/NLCanterbury.
Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.
Listen to our Spotify playlist inspired by The Canterbury Tales: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4w2Lu5kGenjNFtqCQT8djv?si=0b2bd16d939f471a.
Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter @TNL_WWN.
Episode transcript at: https://seagull.wwnorton.com/thecanterburytales/part2/transcript.

Tales and Tellers (The Canterbury Tales, Part 1) Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

In Part 1 of our discussion on The Canterbury Tales, we welcome translator and editor Sheila Fisher to discuss Geoffrey Chaucer's life and times, his great accomplishment in crafting these Tales, and the intricacies of Sheila's favorite tale, that of the Wife of Bath.
Sheila Fisher is Professor of English at Trinity College (Hartford). She is the author of Chaucer’s Poetic Alchemy: A Study of Value and Its Transformation in The Canterbury Tales, and the editor (with Janet E. Halley) of Seeking the Woman in Late Medieval and Renaissance Writings: Essays in Feminist Contextual Criticism, as well as essays on the Gawain-poet, Julian of Norwich, and Margery Kempe.

Ugh, as if I could forgive her! (Emma, Part 2) Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

In Part 2 of our discussion on Emma , editor Stephanie Insley Hershinow tells us how she first encountered Jane Austen's work, highlights some of her preferred techniques for teaching Emma, gives her hot take on Austen, and reflects on some of the most affecting adaptations of Emma in popular media.
Stephanie Insley Hershinow is an associate professor of English at Baruch College, CUNY, where she specializes in novel theory and eighteenth-century culture. She is the author of Born Yesterday: Inexperience and the Early Realist Novel. She lives with her family in Jersey City, New Jersey.

To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Emma, go to https://seagull.wwnorton.com/NLEmma.
Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.
Listen to our Spotify playlist inspired by Emma: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qxZTcPpCsTpnPyCVAEr3K?si=19817ebce02b465e.
Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter @TNL_WWN.
Episode transcript at: https://seagull.wwnorton.com/emma/part2/transcript.

Handsome, Clever, and Rich (Emma, Part 1) Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

In the first of our two episodes on Emma , we welcome editor Stephanie Insley Hershinow to discuss what popular conceptions of Jane Austen get right and get wrong about her, how Austen is both similar to and different from the titular protagonist of the novel, Austen's place in the history of marriage stories, and some of the novel's most memorable characters.
Stephanie Insley Hershinow is an associate professor of English at Baruch College, CUNY, where she specializes in novel theory and eighteenth-century culture. She is the author of Born Yesterday: Inexperience and the Early Realist Novel. She lives with her family in Jersey City, New Jersey.

A Nose for Absurdity (Selected Tales of Gogol, Part 2) Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

In part 2 of our discussion on the short fiction of Nikolai Gogol (as selected in the recently published Norton Library edition), translator Michael Katz and introducer Kate Holland tell us their favorite lines from Gogol's work and highlight the qualities of his unique style and voice that have captured readers across the centuries.
Michael R. Katz is C. V. Starr Professor Emeritus of Russian and East European Studies at Middlebury College. He has published translations of more than fifteen Russian novels, including Crime and Punishment, Notes from Underground, and The Brothers Karamazov.

Kate Holland is Associate Professor of Russian Literature in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Toronto. She is the author of The Novel in the Age of Disintegration: Dostoevsky and the Problem of Genre in the 1870s. She is President of the North American Dostoevsky Society.

To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Selected Tales, go to https://seagull.wwnorton.com/selectedtales.
Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.
Listen to our Spotify playlist inspired by Selected Tales: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0yzq1CO0wvOhq70CIk6Xar?si=6a4e9e7f261d470c.
Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter @TNL_WWN.
Episode transcript at: https://seagull.wwnorton.com/selectedtales/part2/transcript.

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