Albert Camus (1913-1960) was born in Algeria to French parents. After his father died in World War I, when Albert was still an infant, the family was reduced to impoverished circumstances, forced to move in with relatives in an apartment without electricity or running water. From these humble beginnings, Camus became one of the most famous and celebrated wri ... Show More
Jan 22
769 The European Byron (with Jonathan Gross) | The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald (#3 GBOAT)
The Romantic poet Byron (1788-1824) was more than just the scandal-ridden celebrity who was famously dubbed "mad, bad, and dangerous to know"--he was also a restless seeker of an identity to match his personal and artistic sensibilities. In this episode, Jacke talks to Byron scho ... Show More
1h 5m
Jan 19
768 Young James Baldwin (with Nicholas Boggs) | My Last Book with Bruce Robbins
The American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin (1924-1987) spent the second half of his life as a fixture in American intellectual life. But what formed him? In this episode, Jacke talks to Nicholas Boggs, author of Baldwin: A Love Story, the first major biography of ... Show More
57m 5s
Jul 2025
Albert Camus: The Absurdity Of It All
Albert Camus was a literary giant of the 20th century, known for his philosophy of absurdity in the human quest for the meaning of life. His personal life and North African roots helped shape his writing. In philosophy circles, many called him a prominent voice of existentialism, ... Show More
47m 11s
Nov 2013
Albert Camus - The Outsider
One hundred years after his birth this month’s World Book Club, will be discussing Albert Camus' seminal novel The Outsider with his acclaimed biographer Oliver Todd, and Professor of French at Sheffield University, David Walker. And appropriately the programme comes from the hea ... Show More
53m 21s
Nov 2023
Dostoyevsky, Camus, existentialism and absurdism
<p>We're here with an episode mixing philosophy and literature, our favorite topics. Today we're talking about existentialism and absurdism, through Fyodor Dostoyevsky's White Nights, and Albert Camus' The Stranger / The Outsider.</p>
<p>You're listening to Es ... Show More
33m 15s
Jul 2024
Série d'été - Albert Camus. Hubert Védrine
<p>Homme de théâtre, de romans, d'essais, Albert Camus (1913-1960) a marqué ses contemporains par la beauté de sa langue, son enracinement dans sa patrie, ses combats intellectuels. Hubert Védrine retrace, dans un livre hommage à Camus, les lignes de force de l'écrivain.</p><br>< ... Show More
29m 38s
Apr 2025
L'Etranger, d'Albert Camus
L’Étranger, publié en 1942, est sans doute le roman le plus célèbre d’Albert Camus. Œuvre emblématique de la philosophie de l’absurde, il met en scène un personnage indifférent au monde et à ses conventions, dont le destin tragique illustre la condition humaine selon Camus. Ce ro ... Show More
2m 15s
May 2025
Close Readings: Nietzsche's 'Schopenhauer as Educator'
In this extended extract from their series 'Conversations in Philosophy', part of the LRB's Close Readings podcast, Jonathan Rée and James Wood look at one of Friedrich Nietzsche's early essays, 'Schopenhauer as Educator'. For Nietzsche, Schopenhauer’s genius lay not in his ideas ... Show More
31m 43s