logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2022
26m 42s

SYMHC Classics: Aphra Behn

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

This 2017 episode covers the life of Aphra Behn, but there's really not a lot concretely known about the her. In addition to being a spy, was a dramatist, poet, novelist, translator, and the first woman in English literature known to have made her living as a writer.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Jul 9
Edwin Howard Armstrong
Edwin Howard Armstrong isn’t exactly a well-known inventor, but his work in radio literally changed communications around the globe. But his most famous invention – FM radio – became a source of constant frustration after he developed it. Research: Armstrong, Edwin H. “Frequency ... Show More
33m 22s
Jul 7
The Humble Ballpoint Pen
Before the ballpoint pen, people used their hands, reeds, bamboo, brushes, quills, and eventually nibs to write or draw. But how did things evolve from there to get to things like the fountain pen, and eventually, a ballpoint? Research: "pen." Britannica Library, Encyclopædia Bri ... Show More
35m 35s
Jul 5
SYMHC Classics: Lettuce, Slavery, and the Bibb Legacy
This 2022 episode starts with the story of John Bibb, credited with cultivating Bibb lettuce. But his family’s legacy, good and bad, is all tied to having enslaved people build their familial wealth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
33m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2022
Emily Dickinson Part 1
Poet Emily Dickinson has often been painted as a recluse and an oddball by history, though she had a passionate nature and a rich inner life. She wrote some of the most beloved and enduring poetry in the world during her introspective lifetime, but her audience didn't find her un ... Show More
1h 19m
Feb 2020
Sappho
Natalie Haynes and guests return for half an hour of comedy and the Classics from the BBC Radio Theatre in London. Natalie is a reformed comedian who is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greece and Rome. This time she's standing up in the name of Greek poet, Sappho, about whom ... Show More
24m 43s
Sep 2022
The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe. She's got to be one of the most famous people of all time, hasn't she? But what happens when an investigative war reporter dedicates years of his life to finding out who real Marilyn was, interviewing hundreds of people who knew her, from her co-stars, to her psyc ... Show More
40m 19s
Apr 2021
The Double Agent
The Chevalier d'Éon was a diplomat, spy, traitor, and international celebrity. She's also sometimes regarded as one of the most prominent transgender figures in European history. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener f ... Show More
25m 46s
May 2017
Emily Dickinson
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and works of Emily Dickinson, arguably the most startling and original poet in America in the C19th. According to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, her correspondent and mentor, writing 15 years after her death, "Few events in American literary ... Show More
48m 30s
Dec 2020
Charlotte Brontë, Revisted
Charlotte didn't let her circumstances and the discouragement of others stand in the way of her goal of becoming a published author; she got knocked down over and over before she was able to present the world with one of the most beloved heroines in literary history. Along the wa ... Show More
2h 3m
Mar 2023
From Eve to Austen: Women in Literature
Why might a woman have willingly confined herself to a cell for the rest of her life? Why have so many female authors in history published under aliases or initials? And what was Jane Austen’s dirtiest joke? In this episode of Betwixt the Sheets, Kate is joined by Anna Beer to di ... Show More
41m 59s
Jun 2023
Shakespeare's Sex Life
The Bard’s work featured many references to sex and sexuality - some more obvious than others. But what does the work reveal about the sexuality of Shakespeare himself?  Despite being married with three kids to Anne Hathaway in the sleepy suburbs of Stratford-upon-Avon, there’s m ... Show More
48m 50s
Sep 2023
Sarah Ruden, "Vergil: The Poet's Life" (Yale UP, 2023)
The Aeneid stands as a towering work of Classical Roman literature and a gripping dramatization of the best and worst of human nature. In the process of creating this epic poem, Vergil (70–19 BCE) became a living legend.But the real Vergil is a shadowy figure; we know that he was ... Show More
1h 5m
Sep 2023
SMNTY Classics: Women Writing Horror
This classic episode is ALIVE! Anney and Samantha delve into the history of women crafting the stuff of nightmares in the realm of horror fiction. Bonus dramatic reading included.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
34m 12s