Project Narrative
Education Podcasts
The Project Narrative podcast is built on the idea that storytelling is one of humanity’s greatest inventions, a way in which we both seek to understand the world and to change it. The podcast features scholars of narrative in conversation about short narratives that engage in that work of knowing and intervening. In each episode, a scholar reads a narrative aloud and then discusses it with the host of the podcast, Jim Phelan, the director of Project Narrative. The conversations range across a wide array of topics: the guest’s reasons for selecting it; the sources of its appeal, including the pleasures it offers and the challenges it presents; the claims it makes about understanding some part of the world and about doing something as a result.
Location:
United States
Description:
The Project Narrative podcast is built on the idea that storytelling is one of humanity’s greatest inventions, a way in which we both seek to understand the world and to change it. The podcast features scholars of narrative in conversation about short narratives that engage in that work of knowing and intervening. In each episode, a scholar reads a narrative aloud and then discusses it with the host of the podcast, Jim Phelan, the director of Project Narrative. The conversations range across a wide array of topics: the guest’s reasons for selecting it; the sources of its appeal, including the pleasures it offers and the challenges it presents; the claims it makes about understanding some part of the world and about doing something as a result.
Language:
English
Episodes
Episode 31: Jim Phelan & Jakob Lothe — Nadine Gordimer’s “Is There Nowhere Else We Can Meet?”
5/2/2024
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Jakob Lothe discuss Nadine Gordimer’s short story, “Is There Nowhere Else We Can Meet?” Jakob Lothe is Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Oslo, where he taught from 1993 to 2020. Some of Lothe’s publications include Conrad’s Narrative Method, Narrative in Fiction… Continue reading Episode 31: Jim Phelan & Jakob Lothe — Nadine Gordimer’s “Is There Nowhere Else We Can Meet?”
Duration:00:47:59
Episode 30: Jim Phelan & Brian Richardson — Ilse Aichinger’s “Mirror Story”
4/2/2024
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Brian Richardson discuss Ilse Aichinger’s short story, “Spiegelgeschichte,” translated to English as “Mirror Story,” originally published in German in Austria in 1949. Brian Richardson is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Maryland. Richardson has long been a stalwart member of… Continue reading Episode 30: Jim Phelan & Brian Richardson — Ilse Aichinger’s “Mirror Story”
Duration:00:55:49
Episode 29: Jim Phelan & Dorothy Hale — Chapter I of Henry James’s The Ambassadors
3/12/2024
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Dorothy Hale discuss the first chapter of Henry James’s The Ambassadors, which was published as a novel in September 1903 after its previous appearance as a serial narrative in the North American Review. Dorothy Hale is a professor in the graduate school at the… Continue reading Episode 29: Jim Phelan & Dorothy Hale — Chapter I of Henry James’s The Ambassadors
Duration:01:10:14
Episode 28: Jim Phelan & Matt Seybold — Chapter XVIII of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn
2/22/2024
In this special crossover episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Matt Seybold, executive producer and host of The American Vandal Podcast, discuss chapter eighteen of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Matt Seybold is Associate Professor of American Literature & Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, as well as Resident Scholar at the Center For… Continue reading Episode 28: Jim Phelan & Matt Seybold — Chapter XVIII of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn
Duration:01:20:32
Episode 27: Jim Phelan & Sarah Copland — Bernardine Evaristo’s “ohtakemehomelord.com”
2/6/2024
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Sarah Copland discuss Bernardine Evaristo’s 2005 short story, “ohtakemehomelord.com.” Sarah Copland is Associate Professor of English at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada and a former Visiting Scholar at Project Narrative. Copland works on literary modernism and on narrative theory, with particular attention to rhetorical… Continue reading Episode 27: Jim Phelan & Sarah Copland — Bernardine Evaristo’s “ohtakemehomelord.com”
Duration:01:01:18
Episode 26: Jim Phelan & Lindsay Holmgren — Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
12/19/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Lindsay Holmgren discuss Ursula Le Guin’s 1973 short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” Lindsay Holmgren is an Associate Professor in the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, where she also directs the Laidley Centre for Business Ethics and Equity. Holmgren… Continue reading Episode 26: Jim Phelan & Lindsay Holmgren — Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
Duration:00:59:33
Episode 25: Jim Phelan & Rita Charon — George Saunders’ “Puppy”
11/20/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Rita Charon discuss George Saunders’ short story, “Puppy.” Rita Charon is Bernard Schoenberg Professor of Social Medicine and Professor and Founding Chair of the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics at Columbia University. Charon also inaugurated and teaches in the Master of Science in… Continue reading Episode 25: Jim Phelan & Rita Charon — George Saunders’ “Puppy”
Duration:00:57:15
Episode 24: Jim Phelan & Henrik Zetterberg-Nielsen — Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”
11/3/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Henrik Zetterberg-Nielsen discuss Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Henrik Zetterberg-Nielsen is Professor of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University in Denmark. Zetterberg-Nielsen has published widely in both Danish and English and has made his mark in numerous sub-fields of narrative theory,… Continue reading Episode 24: Jim Phelan & Henrik Zetterberg-Nielsen — Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”
Duration:00:49:59
Episode 23: Jim Phelan & Susan Lanser — Sayed Kashua’s “Herzl Disappears at Midnight”
10/5/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Susan Lanser discuss Sayed Kashua’s 2005 short story, “Herzl Disappears at Midnight.” Susan Lanser is Professor Emerita in three departments at Brandeis University: English; Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies; and Comparative Literature. Lanser has done groundbreaking and influential work in multiple fields: narrative theory… Continue reading Episode 23: Jim Phelan & Susan Lanser — Sayed Kashua’s “Herzl Disappears at Midnight”
Duration:00:46:54
Episode 22: Jim Phelan & Erin James — Rachel Carson’s “A Fable for Tomorrow” from Silent Spring
8/21/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Erin James discuss the opening chapter of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, “A Fable for Tomorrow.” Erin James is a Professor of English at the University of Idaho and is the current Past President of the International Society for the Study of Narrative. James has… Continue reading Episode 22: Jim Phelan & Erin James — Rachel Carson’s “A Fable for Tomorrow” from Silent Spring
Duration:00:42:20
Episode 21: Jim Phelan & Yoon Sun Lee — Excerpt from Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman”
7/18/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Yoon Sun Lee discuss the opening narrative from The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston. Yoon Sun Lee is the Anne Pierce Rogers Professor in American Literature and Chair of the English Department at Wellesley College. Lee is… Continue reading Episode 21: Jim Phelan & Yoon Sun Lee — Excerpt from Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman”
Duration:00:41:09
Episode 20: Jim Phelan & Paul Dawson — The Proliferation of the Term Narrative in Public Discourse
7/10/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Paul Dawson discuss the proliferation of the term “narrative” in public discourse. Paul Dawson is an Associate Professor in the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Dawson currently serves as President of the International… Continue reading Episode 20: Jim Phelan & Paul Dawson — The Proliferation of the Term Narrative in Public Discourse
Duration:00:43:56
Episode 19: Jim Phelan & Marco Caracciolo — Charles Yu’s “Systems”
6/1/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Marco Caracciolo discuss Charles Yu’s 2020 short story, “Systems,” which was commissioned by the New York Times for the collection, The Decameron Project: 29 New Stories from the Pandemic. Marco Caracciolo is an Associate Professor of English and Literary Theory at Ghent University in… Continue reading Episode 19: Jim Phelan & Marco Caracciolo — Charles Yu’s “Systems”
Duration:00:41:25
Episode 18: Amy Shuman & Mary Hufford — Tending Sensibility through Narrative
5/15/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Amy Shuman and Mary Hufford discuss an oral narrative Hufford collected at the Headwaters of Southern West Virginia’s Big Coal River Valley. Mary Hufford is Associate Director of the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. After twenty years as a folklife specialist at the American Folklife Center, Library of… Continue reading Episode 18: Amy Shuman & Mary Hufford — Tending Sensibility through Narrative
Duration:00:43:23
Episode 17: Jim Phelan & Faye Halpern — Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat”
4/20/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Faye Halpern discuss Edgar Allan Poe’s 1843 short story, “The Black Cat.” Faye Halpern is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Calgary and is the author of Sentimental Readers: The Rise, Fall, and Revival of a Disparaged Rhetoric as well as… Continue reading Episode 17: Jim Phelan & Faye Halpern — Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat”
Duration:00:54:35
Episode 16: Jim Phelan & Amanpal Garcha — Salman Rushdie’s “The Firebird’s Nest”
3/21/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Amanpal Garcha discuss Salman Rushdie’s 1997 short story, “The Firebird’s Nest.” Amanpal Garcha is an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies in the Ohio State University’s English department, and he has recently become a member of the Core Faculty of Project Narrative.… Continue reading Episode 16: Jim Phelan & Amanpal Garcha — Salman Rushdie’s “The Firebird’s Nest”
Duration:01:08:17
Episode 15: Jim Phelan & Simone Drake — Scotia Brown’s Oral Narratives of Everyday Racism
2/9/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Simone Drake discuss two oral narratives by Scotia Brown, which were told as a part of an ongoing research project on African American women’s stories of everyday racism. Simone Drake is the Hazel C. Youngberg Trustees Distinguished Professor of English at Ohio State and… Continue reading Episode 15: Jim Phelan & Simone Drake — Scotia Brown’s Oral Narratives of Everyday Racism
Duration:00:44:21
Episode 14: Jim Phelan & Jared Gardner — Chris Gethard’s “Career Suicide”
1/19/2023
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Jared Gardner discuss Chris Gethard’s 2017 stand-up comedy special, Career Suicide, which is currently available on HBO. Jared Gardner is the Joseph V. Denney Designated Professor of English and Director of Popular Culture Studies at the Ohio State University, as well as a Core… Continue reading Episode 14: Jim Phelan & Jared Gardner — Chris Gethard’s “Career Suicide”
Duration:00:54:45
Episode 13: Jim Phelan & Sarah Iles Johnston — The Myth of Arachne and Athena
10/27/2022
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim sits down with Sarah Iles Johnston to read and discuss her own retelling of the myth of Arachne and Athena from her new book to be published later this year by Princeton University Press, Gods and Mortals: Ancient Greek Myths for Modern Readers. In Gods and… Continue reading Episode 13: Jim Phelan & Sarah Iles Johnston — The Myth of Arachne and Athena
Duration:00:41:16
Episode 12: Jim Phelan & Leigh Gilmore — “Neck” by Maggie O’Farrell
10/1/2022
In this episode of the Project Narrative Podcast, Jim Phelan and Leigh Gilmore read and discuss the first chapter from Maggie O’Farrell’s 2018 memoir, I am, I am, I am: Seventeen Brushes with Death, entitled, “Neck.” Leigh Gilmore is a Visiting Professor of English at the Ohio State University and a Core Faculty Member of… Continue reading Episode 12: Jim Phelan & Leigh Gilmore — “Neck” by Maggie O’Farrell
Duration:00:59:12