Professing Literature

Education Podcasts

Why do great novels, poems and plays move us and excite us? How can they change the way we look at ourselves and the world? What do these authors have to teach us? Why do they matter? There are no better answers to these questions than those provided by the authors themselves. We want to let them speak. Professing Literature is not a broad summary of major works. Instead, it will zero in on one or two key passages, looking at them closely in order to figure out what is at stake. The goal will be to appreciate an author’s brilliance by seeing him or her in action. We will unpack key phrases, images and metaphors and we will consider the techniques the writer uses to make ideas come alive.

Location:

United States

Genres:

Education Podcasts

Description:

Why do great novels, poems and plays move us and excite us? How can they change the way we look at ourselves and the world? What do these authors have to teach us? Why do they matter? There are no better answers to these questions than those provided by the authors themselves. We want to let them speak. Professing Literature is not a broad summary of major works. Instead, it will zero in on one or two key passages, looking at them closely in order to figure out what is at stake. The goal will be to appreciate an author’s brilliance by seeing him or her in action. We will unpack key phrases, images and metaphors and we will consider the techniques the writer uses to make ideas come alive.

Language:

English

Email:

professingliterature@protonmail.com

Episodes

EP18 - The Numb Fingers | Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes” (Part One)

4/25/2024

John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes” (Part One). The first of a two-part episode that considers John Keats’ gorgeous poem. Set in a dreamy medieval world of castles, blood feuds and esoteric folk rituals, Keats gives us a love story with some of the lushest and most opulent imagery in all of English poetry. However, we begin in a very different atmosphere marked by darkness, death and piercing cold. We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Segment Music: "At Sea" by In This World

Duration:01:14:06

EP17 – Bred in the Bone | Auden, September 1, 1939

3/20/2024

On the day the Nazis invade Poland, beginning the Second World War, a poet nurses a drink in a New York bar. The unwarlike Auden has just immigrated to the United States from England, yet he feels a shadow rising behind him in the east that no one will be able to escape. Auden looks without and within, contemplating the primordial destructive urge that seems to be in control of the nations, the way modern life exacerbates it, and the only possible solution. We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Segment Music: "les rues la nuit seul" by Renderings

Duration:01:19:01

EP16 - Family Breakfast | O’Connor, The Lame Shall Enter First

8/21/2023

Flannery O’Connor, The Lame Shall Enter First. Sheppard is a high-minded liberal. Norton is his disappointing young son, who seems indifferent to Sheppard’s moral crusades. In the opening paragraphs of this short story Flannery O’Connor presents the two of them at breakfast. Every detail of the depiction alludes to just what is wrong within this little family, highlighting Sheppard’s “telescopic philanthropism” which neglects what is right in front of him as he attempts to prove his goodness and fails utterly. We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Segment Music: "Steep Climb" by Martin Klem

Duration:01:37:22

EP15 – Take My Eyes | Shakespeare, King Lear (Part Two)

6/19/2023

William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act Four, Scene Five. Lear has lost his kingdom, his family, his security and his sanity. When he encounters his old friend the Earl of Gloucester, who has been savagely blinded, we witness one of the strangest and yet richest conversations in all of literature. Choked with both rage and guilt, Lear intercuts fantasies of revenge with flashes of moral clarity, and fumbles toward a profound articulation of what it means to suffer. We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema

Duration:01:29:38

EP14 - Not Altogether Fool | Shakespeare, King Lear (Part One)

4/21/2023

William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act One, Scene Four. Looking forward to an easy retirement, where he can maintain the honours of kingship with none of the responsibilities, King Lear abdicates, and banishes the wrong daughter. His loyal fool attempts to show him the error of his ways. We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: "Minuet in D Minor (BWV Anh. 132)" - Traditional

Duration:01:27:23

EP13 – Beyond the Sunset | Tennyson, Ulysses

1/24/2023

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses. Homer tells of how the mighty king of Ithaca arrived home after twenty years of war and wandering. However, in Tennyson’s monologue, one of the best-loved poems of the nineteenth century, we hear that he is restless and longs for the companionship and adventure that had come to define him. We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: "Lord of the Dead" by CJ-0

Duration:01:33:22

EP12 - The Winter Road | Bronte, Jane Eyre

1/3/2023

Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter 12. Late on a winter afternoon a young woman is walking from the country manor where she works toward the neighbouring village. Jane Eyre has known great sadness. She is poor and friendless but also strong and wise, possessed of high integrity and deep faith. When she shortly encounters a strange man on horseback the meeting will change her, but it will change him even more. We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: "Thoughts in A Minor" by Ian Kelosky

Duration:01:21:30

EP11 - An Old Woman and a Little Girl | St. Luke’s Gospel

11/17/2022

St. Luke’s Gospel 8:40-56. In this episode Professing Literature tackles the New Testament. We discuss two intertwined miracle stories in Luke’s Gospel: a healing and a resurrection. Though the stories are short and seemingly simple Luke artfully deploys a handful of key details to help us understand the character of Jesus and the nature of his mission. We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: "From the North" by Wicked Cinema

Duration:01:15:52

Retrospective 01 | From Macbeth to Midsummer (Episodes 1-10)

8/7/2022

David and Eric look back over the first series (episodes 1-10) of Professing Literature and David answers some listener questions. We got a great response from listeners and some great questions about episodes 1-10. David also gives a few clues as to what's coming in the next series of episodes (Eric presses him on when there will be more Macbeth!). As always, if you have any questions, comments, or otherwise, send us an email at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ---------- Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: "An Afternoon at the Versailles" by Cercles Nouvelles

Duration:01:00:28

EP10 - A Night In the Forest | Shakespeare, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

6/27/2022

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act Four, Scene One. When four young aristocrats and a weaver spend a night in the forest outside of Athens they cross into the world of the faeries. The next morning they struggle to understand what happened. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Please reach out with questions, comments, or critiques to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. We enjoy hearing from you! --------- Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: "An Afternoon at the Versailles" by Cercles Nouvelles

Duration:01:08:19

EP09 - At the Violet Hour | Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Part Two)

5/6/2022

T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Part Two). The conclusion of our discussion of “Prufrock,” Eliot’s seminal exploration of modern alienation. Professing Literature is officially back! Thanks for your patience during our hiatus. We've got more episodes coming. Thanks so much for your support! We'd love to hear what you think about this episode or any of the others. Please send questions, comments, or otherwise to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: “A Short Story” by Andrea Colella

Duration:01:24:49

EP08 - Prufrock Among the Women | Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Part One)

12/24/2021

T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Part One). This is the first of two episodes devoted to one of the most famous poems of the twentieth century, wherein Eliot’s enigmatic speaker invites us on an evening stroll through his memories, his fears and his inhibitions. We'd love to hear what you think about this episode or any of the others. Please send questions, comments, or otherwise to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: “If My Companion” by John Dowland, performed by Jon Sayles

Duration:01:25:41

EP07 - The Archer with the Bow | Beowulf

11/15/2021

Beowulf. A shining young warrior has crossed the water and saved the Danish people from a dreadful monster and his scarcely less dreadful mother. As the Danes honour Beowulf with feasting, gifts and music their aged king offers him some counsel. Hrothgar has ruled the Danes for fifty years, in times of triumph and adversity, and he wants to make sure his young friend can profit from his own hard-won wisdom. Professing Literature is back! We'd love to hear what you think about this episode or any of the others. Please send questions, comments, or otherwise to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. ------------ Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music: "The White Birch" by Moorland Songs

Duration:01:18:57

Professing Literature Update from David

10/12/2021

A quick message from David about the podcast and new episodes that will be available soon. Thanks for listening everyone! Email us with questions or comments at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.

Duration:00:00:39

EP06 - Memories of Jane | Salinger, "The Catcher in the Rye"

7/25/2021

J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 11. Jane Gallagher had been the sort of girl who kept her kings in the back row. Is she still? As sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield unravels over the course of a few days in Manhattan his thoughts often return to Jane, who haunts his memory and is connected to so many of his most pressing obsessions: sex, vulnerability, change and authenticity. As always, thanks for listening. Please send us your questions, comments, or otherwise to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. We love hearing from listeners!

Duration:01:13:40

EP05 - Alone in the Darkness | Milton, “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent”

7/17/2021

John Milton, “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent.” In the early 1650s John Milton lost his eyesight. Blindness forced him out of politics, where he had been an important figure in Oliver Cromwell’s government, and into retirement where he wrote some of the greatest poetry in all of literary history. In this sonnet, though, he wonders if he has anything left to offer God at all. As always, thanks for listening! We'd love to hear from you, so please send your questions, thoughts, or otherwise to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.

Duration:00:54:30

EP04 - Lunchbreak At the Victory Mansions | Orwell, "1984"

7/5/2021

George Orwell, 1984, Chapter One. The opening paragraphs of George Orwell’s novel seem innocuous, as a man named Winston Smith returns to his apartment building for lunch. However, from the first sentence onward Orwell estranges us from the world we take for granted and begins hinting at the nature of the totalitarian state which he feared might one day come into being. As always, thanks for listening! We'd love to hear from you. Send us your questions, comments, or otherwise to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.

Duration:01:03:36

EP03 - When the Sweet Turns Sour | Heaney, “Blackberry Picking”

5/25/2021

Seamus Heaney, “Blackberry-Picking.” Today we consider a lyric poem from Death of a Naturalist, Seamus Heaney’s first collection (1966). In “Blackberry-Picking” Heaney recounts a memory from his childhood, or perhaps from the beginning of his childhood’s end. ---------- We started recording episodes about a year ago and are just now releasing them. We have a handful more of them to publish before we catch up. We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening! If you have questions for Dr. Anderson, please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Duration:00:57:35

EP02 - Losing Your Way at a Picnic | Austen, "Emma"

5/12/2021

Emma, Vol 3, Chapter 7. A bright summer day in Surrey offers a sharp contrast to emotional storms. In this episode we discuss one of Jane Austen’s great set pieces, the picnic at Box Hill. Emma gets herself into deep trouble when she embarrasses an old friend, and the man who secretly loves her has to summon up the courage to tell her she was wrong. ---- We started recording episodes about a year ago and are just now releasing them. We have a handful more of them to publish before we catch up. We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening!

Duration:01:02:09

EP01 - In the Middle of a Murder | Shakespeare, "Macbeth"

4/21/2021

Macbeth, Act Two, Scene Two. In the inaugural episode of Professing Literature we examine a conversation held in the aftermath of one of literature’s most famous murders. Macbeth has just stabbed a king to gain a throne he will never sit upon securely. His tense exchange of words with Lady Macbeth discloses the moral and psychological stakes of the act, and hints at the consequences that will follow.

Duration:01:05:45