What makes a "book of the century"? And who gets to decide which books make the cut? Over the past two seasons of Literate, we have been asking these questions while reading through the New York Public Library's 1995 list of the books of the ce

Episode 14: The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot

May 6th, 2021 1h 9m

This week we wander through The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot. Written in the aftermath of the Great War, this long poem uses a diverse array of voices to convey a sense of disillusionment with modern life. Those voices range from the parodic to th

Episode 13: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Apr 22nd, 2021 1h 4m

We step into a world of uncertainty, this week, with The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. In this ghost story, a young woman takes up a new job as a governess, caring for two children who seem almost too good to be true... But while the govern

Episode 12: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Apr 8th, 2021 1h

Traverse Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys with us! This imaginative prequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre gives a history - a life - to the madwoman in the attic of that classic Victorian novel. It depicts the Caribbean past of Antoinette, who

Episode 11: The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta

Mar 25th, 2021 1h 2m

Buchi Emecheta's novel The Bride Price takes us back to Nigeria! It tells the tragic story of Aku-nna, a city girl, whose childhood in Lagos is cut short by the unexpected death of her father. Unable to afford urban life, her family then return

Episode 10: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Mar 11th, 2021 1h

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is the most widely read African novel, and we're exploring some of the reasons why. We follow its main character, Okonkwo, from childhood to death. From the start, it's an enthralling story of striving and cour

Episode 9: The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

Feb 25th, 2021 1h 1m

Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook is next on our list! This novel explores the life of Anna Wulf. Like Lessing, Anna is a writer, but the similarities between author and character don't end there. Although Anna lives in the UK, her memories t

Episode 8: Requiem by Anna Akhmatova

Feb 11th, 2021 1h 3m

This episode takes us through the lamentation of Anna Akhmatova's Rekviem / Requiem. In this poem, or cycle of poems, Akhmatova speaks out against the Great Purge under Stalin. We are struck by its evocative power as the poem draws upon intense

Episode 7: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Jan 28th, 2021 1h 2m

We start Season 2 with a boom – the Latin American Boom, that is – by reading Gabriel García Márquez's Cien años de soledad / One Hundred Years of Solitude! This book gives a glimpse into an important moment for Latin American literature and wo

Episode 6: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Nov 12th, 2020 1h 10m

Let your imagination set sail in this discussion of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse in the final episode of our first season. It's a story about love, family, loss, and growing up. It's also a story about the fluidity of perspective, drawing

Episode 5: The Wild Swans at Coole by W. B. Yeats

Oct 29th, 2020 56m 30s

Join us in experiencing W. B. Yeats's striking images and evocative sounds in The Wild Swans at Coole. We compare the 1917 and 1919 editions of this collection of poems. And we revel in the mastery of fit between form and content throughout. Th

Episode 4: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Oct 15th, 2020 58m 49s

This week we're putting Franz Kafka's slim novella, The Metamorphosis, under the microscope. It's a famous story about one character, Gregor Samsa, transforming from a human into something decidedly not-human. An insect, or a "vermin", some kin

Episode 3: On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Oct 1st, 2020 53m 58s

Follow your wanderlust through Jack Kerouac's On the Road. This iconic novel of the Beat Generation takes us to 1950s America. It's a dizzying trip filled with jazz, poetry, friendship, betrayal, and the open road. We revel in the book's relent

Episode 2: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Sep 17th, 2020 53m 11s

In this episode, we venture into the labyrinth of Jorge Luis Borges's collection of short stories, Ficciones. We explore his use of the short story, as a genre, while following apparently endless allusions across this philosophically rich and d

Episode 1: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Sep 3rd, 2020 1h 2m

In this episode, literary scholars Alicia Broggi and Erica Lombard discuss Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. The episode also features an extended reflection on the book by Dr. Dana Williams (Howard University), who is President of the Toni Morr

Trailer

Coming soon! Literate podcast

Aug 27th, 2020 1m 27s

Listen to the trailer for Literate, a new podcast about the "best" books. Each episode, literary scholars Alicia Broggi and Erica Lombard discuss one book on the New York Public Library’s 1995 “Books of the Century” list. They learn about its a

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