St John's English Podcast

The politics of storytelling - part 7: Frankenstein 08.03.2023 5:11 ↓

Monsters meet Marxism in NJJ's latest slice of political criticism of a Gothic classic

The politics of storytelling - part 6: Mrs Sisyphus 08.03.2023 5:05 ↓

NJJ interrogates Carol Ann Duffy's 'Mrs Sisyphus' from a Marxist perspective.  Roll up, roll up!

The politics of storytelling - part 5 04.03.2023 3:15 ↓

What does a political reading of Carol Ann Duffy's Mrs Midas offer us? Pure gold!

The politics of storytelling - part 4 03.03.2023 4:36 ↓

NJJ turns his political lens to Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber.  Bloody brilliant!

The politics of storytelling - part 2 03.03.2023 4:41 ↓

NJJ's crash course on instant AO5 takes a look at the politics of comedy in Twelfth Night. 

The politics of storytelling - part 3 03.03.2023 4:16 ↓

NJJ's crash course on political readings of texts considers the poetry, and politics, of Christina Rossetti. 

The politics of storytelling: part 1 03.03.2023 4:20 ↓

NJJ's crash course on political readings kicks off with a Marxist take on Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin.  Seriously.

The next generation's poets... 24.02.2023 0:30 ↓

Using the opening seven stanzas of Coleridge's poem as a starter (and continuing his rhyme scheme and meter), some bright and brilliant Year 6 pupils continue Cristabel's journey as she peers around the oak... 

Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker 17.02.2023 30:35 ↓

This podcast is on the EDEXCEL IGCSE English literature poem 'Blessing' by Imtiaz Dharker

Remember by Christina Rossetti 17.02.2023 29:56 ↓

This podcast is on the EDEXCEL IGCSE English Literature poem 'Remember' by Christina Rossetti

The Tyger by William Blake 17.02.2023 42:47 ↓

This is a podcast on the EDEXCEL IGCSE English Literature poem 'The Tyger' by William Blake

Prayer Before Birth by Louis MacNeice 17.02.2023 43:51 ↓

This is a podcast on the EDEXCEL IGCSE English Literature poem Prayer Before Birth by Louis MacNeice

A Brief History of Heroism 07.02.2023 20:57 ↓

NJJ reviews the history of heroism in life and literature, and asks the question: are we now living in a post-heroic age?

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare 26.01.2023 36:51 ↓

This is a podcast on the IGCSE English Literature poem Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Search for my Tongue by Sujata Bhatt 22.12.2022 33:07 ↓

This podcast is on the EDEXCEL IGCSE English Literature poem 'Search for my Tongue' by Sujata Bhatt

Poem at Thirty-Nine by Alice Walker 22.12.2022 32:51 ↓

This podcast is on the EDEXCEL IGCSE poem 'Poem at Thirty-Nine' by Alice Walker

Having a laugh - the comedy of Twelfth Night 11.12.2022 10:21 ↓

NJJ explores the styles and theories of comedy that inform the play's laughter

Half Past Two by UA Fanthorpe 06.12.2022 44:50 ↓

This podcast is on the EDEXCEL IGCSE poem 'Half Past Two' by UA Fanthorpe

Piano by DH Lawrence 06.12.2022 31:32 ↓

A podcast on the EDEXCEL IGCSE poem Piano by DH Lawrence

Hide and Seek by Vernon Scannell 06.12.2022 40:17 ↓

A podcast on the EDEXCEL IGCSE poem 'Hide and Seek'

Just one quote: Streetcar - The kindness of strangers 06.12.2022 4:52 ↓

NJJ considers the famous last words of the play and their implications for all of us

Twelfth Night: "What is love?" 05.12.2022 6:07 ↓

NJJ's fifth and final podcast goes right to the core of the play: 'What is love?' What indeed ...

Twelfth Night: "Youth's a stuff will not endure" 05.12.2022 9:40 ↓

The fourth in NJJ's 'Just One Quote' series explores the theme of youth and the passing of time through Feste's song lyric 'Youth's a stuff will not endure.'

A Passage to Africa 05.12.2022 2:28 ↓

A brief discussion of Alagiah's piece from the IGCSE Edexcel Anthology - A Passage to Africa.

Twelfth Night: "... call upon my soul." 05.12.2022 7:12 ↓

The third in NJJ's 'Just One Quote' series within this podcast. This episode focuses on love and the soul in Twelfth Night through Viola's line from Act 1, Scene 5: " Make me a willow cabin at your gate, / And call upon my soul within the house; / Write loyal cantons of contemned love / And sing them loud even in the dead of night;"