
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 • 93 episodes
The Classic English Literature Podcast
Latest Episodes
Dear Diary: Samuel Pepys, John Evelyn, and Navel-Gazing as History
Today we look at the diary, a form of writing that became extraordinarily popular over the course of the 1600s. We'll especially look at famous diarists such as John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, who not only chronicle details of their persona...
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Season 1
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Episode 93
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40:29

A Parody of Pomposity: Samuel Butler's Hudibras
I'm back before you even had a chance to miss me!Today, a bit of a genealogy of a now little read mock epic -- Samuel Butler's Hudibras -- which takes Chaucer and Spenser and Jonson and Cervantes, mixes them all up into a gloopy...
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Season 1
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Episode 92
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26:13

Forward to the Past: John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress
Put on your comfortable shoes and grab your walking stick because today we're embarking on the most famous allegory in the English language: John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress from 1678. We'll cross plains, endure temptations, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 91
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38:32

Nasty, Brutish, and Naturally Free: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and the Social Contract
The political upheavals of 17th century England demanded new answers for old political questions: what is the purpose of government, how is power legitimated, and who may wield it? Philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke reasoned from t...
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Season 1
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Episode 90
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25:29

Early Science Fiction: Lunar Geese and Blazing Worlds
We often think of science fiction as a particularly modern genre of storytelling, born of the science and technology of the electronic and digital age. But speculative fiction goes back centuries, back to the beginning of what we now call...
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Season 1
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Episode 89
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34:32

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