What Would Jane Do?

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. Have you ever thought about casting Jane away on an island - Love Island to be exact? In this episode,  we have a look at the dating culture in Jane's day and compare it to our own version in Love Island and The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Which heroine would not find herself in a thong bikini by the pool and who would love the gossip...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. How would Jane Austen fit in with our modern #MeToo movement? It's an interesting question which led us, in this episode, to look at Jane Austen and the #MeToo, breaking it down into terms which make sense in her era: the context of feminist thought and sexual harassment in the late 18th and early 19th century. We discuss the sho...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. In this episode Julia Golding and Zoe Wheddon look at Jane Austen and childhood. We investigate how her era invented our modern idea of childhood as a time of innocence. But how was she raised? Did new ideas of Rousseau and natural education make it to the parsonage at Steventon? There were many children in her adult life and she was...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. This week Zoe Wheddon and Julia Golding discuss what would Jane do about modern friendship, look back at Jane's  friendships in real life and in her fiction, as well as swap Jane Austen news and award this episode's Lizzy and Lady Catherine. Would Jane fit in with Taylor Swift's pack or a Facebook fan group? What role d...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. *Contains mature content*  In this episode, inspired by the Netflix series, Bridgerton, we discuss Jane Austen and sex. What did Jane know about it? What role does it play in her novels? Then we widen the discussion to look at the Georgian world on such matters as contraception, pornography and prostitution. We then discuss Bridgerton...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. Julia Golding and Zoe Wheddon discuss what would Jane do at Christmas. Find out about Regency traditions, turkeys, snapdragons and much more. We also award our Lizzie and Lady Catherine of the week and catch up on Jane Austen news in an episode recorded on her birthday. For details of the books recommended, here is a list: Jane Austen...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. For the second season of What would Jane do? The author and original host,  Julia Golding, is joined by Zoe Wheddon, teacher, researcher and writer. They discuss how Jane and her characters would respond to a pandemic, the nature of illness in the early nineteenth century and what treatments were available. Stick around to hear who is...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. Ever wanted to time travel back to the theatre in Jane Austen's time? Find out in this podcast with world expert, Dr David Taylor of St Hugh's College, Oxford, what Jane Austen would have seen when she entered a theatre in the 1790s. Who was there and what did it look like? What plays were on offer? Which writers inspired he...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. What surprising room might Mr Darcy and guests retire to after dinner? What exactly was Admiral Croft looking at in the shop window in Bath? Where did Jane and Cassandra get their ideas from for their youthful collaboration on The History of England? You can find out the answers to these questions and much more when you listen to Dr D...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. A very special episode recorded on location at the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton. Listen to Julia Golding in conversation with the museum director, Mary Guyatt and find out how Jane's last home became a museum open to the public. What was daily life like in this home for Jane, her mother and her sister Cassandra? Who made t...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. Marvel or DC universe? Iron Man or Batman? Wonder Woman or Black Panther? Our cinema culture has for over a decade been dominated by our love of super heroes. Julia Golding explores how each era makes the heroes suited for its own day. She goes back to the novelists writing before Jane Austen to look at the big rivalry: Richardson Uni...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. Questions about gender identity may seem to be characteristic of our time, but others have gone before us in challenging societal roles. From Harriet Freke in Maria Edgeworth's Belinda (1801) to the real life Chevalier d'Eon, men and women have been pushing the boundaries of what it means to be male and female. Where does Ja...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. Are you a GoT fan and/or a Jane Austen one? Can you describe GoT and Jane Austen in 3 little words? Take the challenge and find out what would Jane Austen have made of the cult TV hit. Going back in time for an early nineteenth century perspective,  Julia Golding takes a tour of the gothic in fiction and fact, touching on the scandalo...

Thanks for listening. Do text us with topic ideas or reactions. Julia Golding turns to Jane Austen for help with understanding how to handle social media. She first takes a look at the world of eighteenth century society, the networking via letters, and the public disasters that can fall in such a gossipy world. What can we learn today about keeping a balance between our private and public selves...