Six Impossible Episodes: Etiquette Manua...

Journalist and writer Elizabeth Bisland was sent on a trip around the world in 1889, in a sort of race against Nellie Bly. But that was not something she wanted to be known for. Research: Bisland, Elisabeth. “At the Sign of the Hobby Horse.” Houghton, Mifflin and Co. Riverside Pr ... Show More

This 2019 episode explores the difficult-to-study work of Laurencin. In addition to her work not quite falling in line with the artists who were her contemporaries, her personal papers are difficult to access, are censored, and have strict limitations put on their use. See omnyst ... Show More

Tracy talks about how the show's recording schedule meant that this week's Monday episode got revised repeatedly to reflect current events. Holly talks about the way theater performances during portions of heavy censorship in France incorporated audience participation.See omnystu ... Show More

<p>Ryan speaks with Edith Hall about why she wants to open up Aristotle’s works to the world at large, how Aristotle defined what a human being is and how one can be happy, the importance of doing what you’re good at and enjoying what you’re doing so long as it’s good for the soc ... Show More

So many people have requested this guest and now I'm beyond thrilled to oblige! Yes, that's right it's author Candice Carty-Williams whose first novel, Queenie, became a publishing sensation. Queenie won the 2019 Book of the Year at the British Book Awards making Carty-Williams t ... Show More

I confess I sometimes wonder where we got in the habit of proclaiming, usually with some sort of righteous indignation, that we have the “right” to this or that as citizens. I know that the political theorists of the eighteenth century wrote a lot about “rights,” and that “rights ... Show More

The Palace of Dreams is a novel from 1981 that is ostensibly set in the 19th century Ottoman empire, but the Albanian writer Ismail Kadare cleverly smuggles in thinly veiled criticism of the totalitarian state presided over by Enver Hoxha. The book was duly banned shortly after p ... Show More

Emily Post (c. 1870s - 1960) wrote one of the most popular books on etiquette. A novelist, columnist, and radio personality, Emily’s 1922 book Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and At Home was the pivot point that turned her into a superstar. As a teen, Emily was ver ... Show More

<p>It often seems like we live in a very inconsiderate, indifferent, and ill-mannered time and that the cure for what ails our abrasive and disjointed relations is a lot more politeness. But my guest would say that what we really need is a revival of civility.</p><p>Today on the ... Show More

In the first of three introductions to our full 2024 Close Readings programme, starting in January, Colin Burrow and Clare Bucknell present their series, On Satire. Over twelve episodes, Colin and Clare will attempt to chart a stable course through some of the most unruly, vulgar ... Show More

<p>The charge to be well-mannered, to treat others with civility, kindness, and respect, is perennial. But the rules for how to carry those manners into action, the rules of good etiquette, change over time.</p><p>Given all the cultural and technological changes modern society ha ... Show More