Regency Era heiresses are a part of most Jane Austen novels, as women with fortunes men want to marry into. Some of these fortunes were from old family money, but many of them were new wealth founded on human exploitation on Caribbean plantations.
Our guest, Dr. Miranda Kaufmann, reveals what she's found in her research about heiresses as well as the storie ... Show More
Nov 12
Anne Lister: Regency-Era Power Lesbian
Join our Patreon to enjoy this as a video episode! Anne Lister was many things: secret sex diarist, land-owner, mountain climber, womanizer, power lesbian. How did she find a way to thrive during the patriarchal Regency Era, and what does her life story mean to today's queer comm ... Show More
1h 33m
Sep 23
The Definitely Real, Totally Accurate Story of Cyrus (Herodotus The Histories Bk 1, Part 3)
And we are back again with another week of Herodotus and his Histories. This time, we go backwards to explore how the Persian Empire got power within Asia. Isn't that fun? There certainly will not be any tangents here! No, not at all. Why would you think that?Submit your question ... Show More
34m 45s
Oct 13
740 Mel Brooks and Other Eminent Jews (with David Denby) | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (#13 GBOAT)
In this episode, Jacke talks to author David Denby about his new book, Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer, a group biography (loosely inspired by Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians) that describes how four larger-than-life figures upended the restrained culture of ... Show More
1h 3m
Oct 6
738 Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (#15 Greatest Book of All Time)
Emily Brontë only published one full-length book before dying at the tragically young age of 30. But that book, Wuthering Heights, which tells the story of obsessive and vengeful love on the rugged moors of Yorkshire, is still considered one of the pinnacles of English literature ... Show More
1h 16m
Feb 2024
Shakespeare: playing with the past
Recently, we marked the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio, a collection of plays by William Shakespeare. To celebrate this landmark in literary history, in today's Long Read, eight historical experts offer their takes on what the Bard's plays reveal about en ... Show More
24m 32s
Sep 18
Anne Boleyn: Myths vs Reality
The life of Anne Boleyn has intrigued audiences for centuries. Everyone knows something about her time as Queen of England, and of course, her betrayal and execution. But her formative years in France remain a bit of a mystery.Joining us today is Estelle Paranque, an Associate Pr ... Show More
1h 1m