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
Aug 31
827 American Literature's War on Crime (with Theodore Martin) | W.E.B. DuBois Sits with Shakespeare
The second half of the twentieth century was marked by an extreme increase in America's prison population, from roughly 250,000 inmates in 1940 to well over two million by 2008. At the same time, American readers were devouring mysteries, thrillers, detective novels, police proce ... Show More
1h 23m
Aug 27
826 The Essayist's Essayist - Phillip Lopate on the Pleasures of Reading Washington Irving and Other "Minor Writers" | Notes from the History of Literature Podcast Tour!
At the time of Washington Irving's death, he was the most famous and widely praised American writer of his or any other era. But his reputation soon dwindled, and today he's known primarily as the author of just two stories ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle"), wh ... Show More
1h 19m
Aug 24
825 Henry James's Ghosts (with Morgan Lloyd Malcolm) | My Last Book with David Womersley
In 1895, Henry James suffered through a terrible failure, as his play Guy Domville was greeted by hoots, jeers, and tomatoes being thrown at the play's author. James responded by starting work on his masterpiece The Turn of the Screw, which tells the story of a governess and the ... Show More
1h 8m
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