The Classic English Literature Podcast
Where rhyme gets its reason! In a historical survey of English literature, I take a personal and philosophical approach to the major texts of the tradition in order to not only situate the poems, prose, and plays in their own contexts, but also to show their relevance to our own. This show is for the general listener: as a teacher of high school literature and philosophy, I am less than a scholar but more than a buff. I hope to edify and entertain!
Podcasting since 2022 • 102 episodes
The Classic English Literature Podcast
Latest Episodes
The First English Novel? Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe
On this trip, we're looking at the conventional candidate for the first modern novel in English. Defoe's story of a resourceful man shipwrecked on a desert island is so much more than a ripping yarn: it speaks to the rise of a literary ve...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 103
•
36:52
The First Ghost Story? Daniel Defoe's "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal"
For you today, Trick or Treaters, a discussion of what some critics assert is the first modern ghost story in English: Daniel Defoe's 1705 "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal."The text:
•
Season 1
•
Episode 102
•
21:58
Modish Men and the Way of the World: The Great Restoration Comedies of Manners
Well, I probably should have done this episode earlier, since it might have been good for it to precede our other discussions of Resto comedy. But I made a last minute decision and included a second play, which kind of threw off the old c...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 101
•
31:59
"A Foolish Marriage Vow": John Dryden's Marriage a la Mode and Amphitryon
For our second episode on John Dryden, we'll talk about two of his plays which marked an innovation in the tragi-comic romance: Marriage a la Mode and Amphitryon. We'll discuss the "split-plot" play, the e...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 100
•
30:49
"The Amendment of Vices": John Dryden's Satires
Once hailed as the towering literary figure of the Restoration age, John Dryden is little known now by the general reader. Let's take care of that with a close look at his most enduring works, the poetical satires Mac Flecknoe
•
Season 1
•
Episode 99
•
37:43
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
The History of England
David Crowther
The History of English Podcast
Kevin StroudShakespeare Unlimited
Folger Shakespeare Library
Lexicon Valley
Lexicon Valley
Not Just the Tudors
History Hit
Gone Medieval
History Hit
Philosophize This!
Stephen West
The Rest Is History
Goalhanger
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Andrew Hickey
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey
Literature and History
Doug Metzger