A special guest stops by to help Jacke talk about life, literature, and one of the world's great masterpieces: The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka. Hope you enjoy!
Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twi ... Show More
Oct 12
836 Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (with Robin Waterfield and John Sellars) | My Last Book with Daniel Olivas
What does it mean to live a good life? How can we accomplish it? For more than two thousand years, Western civilization has looked to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics to help answer those questions. In this episode, Jacke talks to translator Robin Waterfield and scholar John Sellar ... Show More
56m 58s
Oct 8
835 Blackness in Iran (with Amy Motlagh) | My Last Book with Nicholas Boggs
What do Iranians - both home and abroad - think of race? Does "blackness" exist in Iran? And what can we learn about race and slavery in Iran from folklore, ethnography, literature, and films? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Amy Motlagh about her book Colorblind: Racial Th ... Show More
46m 4s
Oct 5
834 Shakespeare's Scholars (with Sean Keilen) | My Last Book with Nan Z. Da
Shakespeare himself didn't attend a university - and yet, for centuries, the world's greatest scholars have studied his works to learn about everything from poetry to politics. But have they missed the lessons that Shakespeare had for them in particular? In this episode, Jacke ta ... Show More
57m 9s
Jan 2024
Franz Kafka: The Trial, Letters to Milena, Metamorphosis
<p>Hi friends!! We're here with the most requested episode yet: Kafka! In this one we discuss The Trial, Metamorphosis, Letters to Milena, and Kafka in general.</p>
<p><strong>SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: </strong><em>We just launched </em><a href="https://discord.gg/4RXFbQJdr5" tar ... Show More
46m 46s
Mar 2024
Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka - "The Metamorphosis" - is a profound tale that explores themes of alienation, identity, and the human condition. Kafka's celebrated literary style masterfully draws listeners into a bizarre yet strangely relatable universe, where the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, awaken ... Show More
1h 23m
Apr 2025
Guide to Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis is a strange tale that poses the question of what it would be like to one day wake up and suddenly find yourself transformed into an insect, however, through the use of satire and absurdism, Kafka has sculpted a story that has far deeper me ... Show More
1h 1m
Apr 2021
Feed Drop: The History of Literature - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
This isn't an episode of Overdue, it's a Feed Drop! We wanted to share with you an episode of The History of Literature, a podcast about great stories and why we love them.To use host Jacke Wilson's words, the show "takes a fresh look at some of the most compelling examples of cr ... Show More
1h 1m
Nov 2025
Episode 320: Forgive Me (Kafka's "A Hunger Artist")
David and Tamler return to one of their favorites, Frans Kafka, this time on his beautiful and distressing short story "The Hunger Artist," a story that brims with metaphorical possibilities but also implores us to accept it on its own mysterious terms. Plus gooning. The Goon Squ ... Show More
1h 29m