Ripperature: Building the Myth

HA! I published the episode within a month! In this episode, we talk about the murder of Francis Saville Kent and the crime and murderer in common nineteenth-century media (broadsides and newspapers). We identify some common affective themes in these texts that influence and continue in adaptations of the crime. Bear with me! Works Cited and relevant media can be found on my website (graciebain.co...

While all ten of you wait for my second episode (I'm almost done editing, I swear), check out Adaptation Today's backlog of episodes. Adaptation Today is a wonderful resource, including a listserv, website, podcast, pedagogy tools, and mentoring programs. Here's the link to the podcast feed: https://feeds.captivate.fm/adaptation-today/ Audio Credits: Foggy passage by Victor_Natas -- https://freeso...

She's backkkkk! Join me as I start a new season with just as much heart but a lot more winging it. In this episode, we orient ourselves towards the new season. Throughout the next couple of episodes, we'll explore the crimes of two Victorian murderers, Constance Kent and Maria Manning, and their fictional afterlives! Bear with me! Works Cited and relevant media can be found on my website . Audio C...

Well, here we are! It’s the final episode of this season. Today, we’ll recap our arguments and reflect on the journey. Works Cited can be found on my website. Audio Credits: Audio Credits Theme Music:  Victor_Natas. "Foggy Passage." Free Sound , 12 December 2022, WAV file, https://freesound.org/s/664158/.  Victorian Bell: JohnsonBrandEditing , “Ding Ding small bell.” Free Sound , 12 Janu...

In the last episode of our detective chapter, we examine the movie From Hell and a fictional version of the historical detective involved in the actual case, Detective Abberline. We also discuss how the victims are portrayed in this film and how they interact with each other and the police. Works Cited can be found on my website . Special thanks to Dana Blair. Audio Credits Theme Music: ...

It’s time! In this episode, we discuss the very popular book Stalking Jack the Ripper and how the protagonist/forensic detective is a complicated portrayal of neo-Victorian gender. Works cited can be found on my website. Voice Actors: Olivia Cash Audio Credits Theme Music:  Victor_Natas. "Foggy Passage." Free Sound , 12 December 2022, WAV file, https://freesound.org/s/664158/.  Victorian...

Today, we’ll explore a film called A Study in Terror , which combines two very famous Victorian figures, Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. In this episode, we talk about how one of the most popular detective figures mirrors what we know about detective surveillance and how the movie treats the victims.  Voice Actors: Ross Schmidt, Dana Blair, Kristen Figgins Works cited can be found here:...

In our first episode on detectives, we walk through some common detective tropes, the dependence of Ripperature on those tropes, and the dime novel  “The Whitechapel Murders: Or, On the Track of the Fiend” (published in 1888). Works cited can be found here: https://graciebain.com/2024/04/30/works-cited/ Audio Credits: Theme Music: Victor_Natas. "Foggy Passage." Free Sound , 12 December 2022,...

In our final episode on Jill the Ripper, we examine perhaps one of the more difficult texts, The Michaelmas Girls , to discuss Jill the Ripper’s violence. In this episode, an unofficial detective figure suspects Mary Jane Kelly of participating in the murders. Content note : This novel discusses some deeply upsetting themes about queerness in addition to the already upsetting narrative of the murd...

In this episode, Gracie leads you through the cinematic masterpiece Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde, which combines Jill the Ripper with another famous culture-text, Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde . We talk about the intertextual nature of the Jack the Ripper myth, the “improper feminine,” and the queer potential of this film. Works Cited can be found here Audio Credits: Theme Music: Victor_Natas. "Fogg...

Who else had Dolph Lundgren on their 2024 Ripperature bingo card? In this episode, we look at the 2000 film Jill Rips and its portrayal of Jill the Ripper. We talk about perhaps one of the more unlikable protagonists, Matt, and his relationship with a BDSM female serial killer. Buckle up!  Sources can be found at https://graciebain.com/episode-three/. Audio Credits: Film Clips: Jill the Rippe...

Hi, everyone! Just to update everyone, I won't be publishing any more episodes until I graduate this semester. Don't worry! I am continuing to record and edit the rest of the season. See you soon! Theme music:  Victor_Natas , "Foggy Passage" (https://freesound.org/s/664158/), This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.

In the second episode of this season, Gracie introduces one of the more popular theories of the Whitechapel Murderer’s identity, Jill the Ripper. After briefly establishing the historical context for this theory, we talk about Victorian gender ideology and what a female serial killer means for a mythology like the Whitechapel Murders using a dime novel from 1889 called “The Whitechapel Murders; Or...

Welcome to Ripperature: Building the Myth! In this episode, Gracie introduces Jack the Ripper as a culture-text, briefly explains the five women canonically characterized as victims of Jack the Ripper, and places you within the theoretical and gender contexts of the season. Special thanks to: Michel Lacrue, Olivia Cash, Nicole Patrao! Sources can be found at http://graciebain.com/episode-one/...

What do you think of when you hear "Jack the Ripper"? In 1888, five women, Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly, were murdered and mutilated in London’s East End. Though scholars debate the validity of this claim, contemporary Victorian newspapers reported the women as sex workers, and that characterization continues today. The Whitechapel Murder narrat...