Sandra Mayer assesses the intersections of literary and political fame in Disraeli’s public image. Sandra Mayer (PhD, University of Vienna) explores Disraeli’s dual public role of celebrated novelist and venerable statesman that crucially shaped his reputation as one of the ‘eminent Victorians,’ and the celebrifying impact of Disraeli’s position as a social, ... Show More
Jul 2015
Disraeli's 'Venetia': Death of a Poet?
Michael Flavin demonstrates the way in which a critically unexplored novel, 'Venetia', sheds light on Disraeli's political formation. Michael Flavin discusses Venetia (1837), is a transitional novel in Disraeli’s literary and political development. It is transitional because, in ... Show More
17m 58s
Jul 2015
Rediscovering Disraeli – One Letter at a Time
Michel Pharand, director of The Disraeli Project in Ontario, talks about piecing together Disraeli's story, one letter at a time. Michel Pharand explores the work of The Disraeli Project in Kingston, Ontario. Their work brings Disraeli’s private and public lives into focus: from ... Show More
27m 17s
Aug 2024
Ludovico Silva, "Marx's Literary Style" (Verso, 2023)
In Marx’s Literary Style, the Venezuelan poet and philosopher Ludovico Silva argues that much of the confusion around Marx’s work results from a failure to understand his literary mode of expression. Through meticulous readings of key passages in Marx’s oeuvre, Silva isolates the ... Show More
1h 8m
Nov 2023
Andrew Brandel, "Moving Words: Literature, Memory, and Migration in Berlin" (U Toronto Press, 2023)
In the decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin has re-emerged as a global city in large part thanks to its reputation as a literary city – a place where artists from around the world gather and can make a life. Moving Words: Literature, Memory, and Migration in Berlin ( ... Show More
49m 21s
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
Jan 2025
Introducing 2025 Fellow Ahmed Moor: When "the urgency of the need isn't met by the pace of change."
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with writer Ahmed Moor, one of FMEP’s 2025 Palestinian Non-resident Fellows, about his family and background, the values that guide his writing, and how he understands and engages with Palestinian survival in t ... Show More
39m 31s
Nov 2024
Book Club: Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude"
It begins with one of the most iconic lines in literature: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”“One Hundred Years of Solitude,” Gabriel García Márquez’s magical ... Show More
41m 9s