The Spouter-Inn

18. The Blazing World. 19.10.2019 53:40 ↓

A philosophical flight of fancy by Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle.

17. Hayy ibn Yaqzan. 02.10.2019 59:19 ↓

Abu Bakr ibn Tufayl’s novel is a curious philosophical thought experiment from twelfth-century al-Andalus.

16b. Bonus: Michael Collins on Middlemarch. 16.09.2019 46:23 ↓

Writer, podcaster, and personal trainer Michael Collins joins us to talk about his favourite book, George Eliot's Middlemarch.

16. Middlemarch. 13.09.2019 55:42 ↓

We begin our cluster on Philosophical novels with Middlemarch, George Eliot’s massive and masterful “study of provincial life”.

15b. Bonus: Emily Wilson on the Odyssey. 26.08.2019 43:12 ↓

Emily Wilson, professor and translator of the Odyssey, joins us to discuss the art of translation.

15. The Odyssey. 23.08.2019 59:28 ↓

Homer's epic poem about a long sea voyage.

14b. Bonus: Steve Mentz on The Tempest. 12.08.2019 42:01 ↓

Professor Steve Mentz emerges from the Atlantic to discuss The Tempest, blue humanities, and what happens when you consider the ocean's perspective.

14. The Tempest. 09.08.2019 54:23 ↓

One of William Shakespeare’s last plays—and one of his most curious.

13. To the Lighthouse. 18.07.2019 53:30 ↓

Virginia Woolf’s novel about two days separated by ten dramatic yers.

12b. Bonus: Damian Fleming on Moby-Dick. 08.07.2019 45:24 ↓

Medievalist and Moby-Dick fan Damian Fleming joins us to keep the conversation going about this great book.

12. Moby-Dick. 05.07.2019 59:46 ↓

Herman Melville’s massive book about obsession, encyclopedia of whale facts, and unexpected love story.

11. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. 19.06.2019 54:57 ↓

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley) remains a powerfully written book.

10b. Bonus: Peter Coviello on Leaves of Grass. 03.06.2019 49:19 ↓

Peter Coviello, author of Tomorrow’s Parties: Sex and the Untimely in Nineteenth-Century America, joins us to talk about Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass.

10. Leaves of Grass. 31.05.2019 57:09 ↓

Celebrate Walt Whitman’s 200th birthday with the book of poetry that he kept writing, revising, and expanding throughout his life.

9b. Bonus: Sarah Chamberlain on Frankenstein. 27.05.2019 46:29 ↓

Sarah Chamberlain, host of the Canadian horror movie podcast A Part Of Our Scare-itage, joins us to talk about the many movie adaptations of Frankenstein.

9. Frankenstein. 23.05.2019 58:29 ↓

Mary Shelley’s novel about a scientist and his creation.

8b. Bonus: Anthony Oliveira on Paradise Lost. 06.05.2019 48:23 ↓

Anthony Oliveira is host of The Devil’s Party, a podcast that has been slowly and lovingly working its way through Paradise Lost. He joins us to talk about Milton's epic poem.

8. Paradise Lost. 03.05.2019 57:48 ↓

John Milton’s epic retelling of the Biblical tale of Adam and Eve.

7. Inferno. 18.04.2019 59:59 ↓

The first section of Dante’s Divine Comedy offers a tour of Hell.

6. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. 04.04.2019 58:10 ↓

Gertrude Stein recounts early twentieth-century life in Paris.

5. Little Women. 19.03.2019 59:42 ↓

Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women.

4b. Bonus: Timothy Perry on The Book of Peace. 06.03.2019 36:35 ↓

Timothy Perry, medieval manuscript and early book librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, shows us a newly acquired medieval manuscript of Christine de Pizan's Book of Peace.

4. The Book of the City of Ladies. 05.03.2019 57:52 ↓

Christine de Pizan’s medieval feminist classic.

3. The Metamorphoses. 19.02.2019 55:40 ↓

Ovid's collection of curious tales, told in ravishing poetry.

2. The Symposium. 04.02.2019 55:37 ↓

Plato's philosophical dialogue about love (and catty drinking parties).