Why We Read Controversial Texts (Uncle Tom's Cabin, Part 2)

The Norton Library Podcast

The Norton Library Podcast
Why We Read Controversial Texts (Uncle Tom's Cabin, Part 2)
May 18, 2026 Season 4 Episode 17
The Norton Library

In Part 2 of our discussion on Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, editor Susan M. Ryan returns to discuss the artistic inspiration behind the Norton Library edition, her favorite scene in the book, and the essential historical context readers need to fully understand the text. 

Susan M. Ryan is Professor of English and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the University of Louisville. She is the author of The Grammar of Good Intentions: Race and the Antebellum Culture of Benevolence (2003) and The Moral Economies of American Authorship: Reputation, Scandal, and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Marketplace (2016). Her current project investigates nineteenth-century Americans' preoccupation with India.

To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393871593

Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.

Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social

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