Jacke talks to author Michelle P. Brown about her new book, Bede and the Theory of Everything, which investigates the life and world of Bede (c. 673-735), the foremost scholar of the Middle Ages and the "father of English history." PLUS Adrian Edwards, Head of Printed Heritage Collections at the British Library, stops by to select his choice for the last boo ... Show More
Today
816 Gulliver's Travels at 300 (with David Womersley) | My Last Book with Daniel Mendelsohn
As a literary classic turns 300, Jacke talks to the University of Oxford's David Womersley about Jonathan Swift, the nature of satire, and The Cambridge Anniversary Edition of Gulliver's Travels, which Womersley edited. PLUS Daniel Mendelsohn, classics scholar and translator ofTh ... Show More
1h 10m
Jul 2
814 Shakespeare in Translation (with Daniel Hahn) | My Last Book with Indira Ghose
What is it like to translate Shakespeare into another language? How does one attempt to capture that transcendent magic so familiar to English speakers? In this episode, Jacke talks to writer, editor, and translator Daniel Hahn (If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare i ... Show More
1h 7m
Feb 2021
The Dark Ages: a ‘black hole’ in Britain’s history
Max Adams discusses his book The First Kingdom, Britain in the Age of Arthur, which pieces together the evidence to uncover what happened after the fall of Roman Britain. He speaks about some of the current theories about the era 400-600 AD, and why Arthurian myths have proven so ... Show More
46m 29s
Sep 2025
Ballads of Love and Death
In this enchanting episode, Dr. Eleanor Janega dissolves the boundaries between history, folklore, and music to explore the haunting world of medieval ballads. Joined by author Amy Jeffs, illustrator Gwen Burns and composer/singer Natalie Brice, Eleanor uncovers the timeless stor ... Show More
1h 1m
Aug 2024
The Ecclesiastical History of England, by the Venerable Bede, Part 2
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Let's relax and sleep with more history of the British Isles from the wonderful Bede. This time, we wander through four centuries of Roman influence, build some walls, and learn about Saint Alban, who got a miraculous drink on a ... Show More
50m 40s