Advertise on podcast: The Norton Library Podcast

In Part 2 of our discussion on Henry David Thoreau's Walden, editor Jedediah Britton-Purdy returns to discuss misconceptions about the author's philosophy, the balancing act of isolation and civic duty, and Thoreau's possible influence on important figures including Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  Jedediah Britton-Purdy is Professor of Law at Duke University and a scholar of environmental and constitutional law. His books on environmental themes include After Nature and This Land Is Our Land. He has also written about Henry David Thoreau in venues including The Atlantic, The Nation, and n+1. He grew up in West Virginia. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Walden and Other Writings, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393870701.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 1 of our discussion on Henry David Thoreau's Walden, we welcome editor Jedediah Britton-Purdy to discuss the relevance of Thoreau's questions about modernity to today's AI debate, the similarities and differences between Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and common misconceptions about Thoreau's life in the woods.  Jedediah Britton-Purdy is Professor of Law at Duke University and a scholar of environmental and constitutional law. His books on environmental themes include After Nature and This Land Is Our Land. He has also written about Henry David Thoreau in venues including The Atlantic, The Nation, and n+1. He grew up in West Virginia. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Walden and Other Writings, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393870701.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 2 of our discussion on Homer's Odyssey, translator Emily Wilson returns to discuss the cinematic spectacle of Christopher Nolan's film, the different responsibilities of translation and adaptation, and the challenges of weaving together multi-layered narrative episodes and characters into a single movie.   Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been named a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a MacArthur Fellow. In addition to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, she has also published translations of Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca. She lives in Philadelphia. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Odyssey, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393417937.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 1 of our discussion on Homer's Odyssey, we welcome translator Emily Wilson to discuss Odysseus as a complicated character, the roles of women and divine beings in the poem, and the centuries-old stories within stories that pose questions of hospitality, power, fatherhood, and time still relevant today.  Part 2, coming tomorrow (8/4), will center Wilson's reaction to Christopher Nolan's recent film.  Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been named a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a MacArthur Fellow. In addition to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, she has also published translations of Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca. She lives in Philadelphia. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Odyssey, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393417937.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 2 of our discussion on Apuleius's The Golden Ass, translator Ellen Finkelpearl returns to discuss the striking cover of the Norton Library edition, her favorite line from the text and the paradox of the title, and the ways Apuleius thinks of and comments on human and animal rights in the ancient world.  Ellen Finkelpearl is the Helen Chandler Garland Professor of Ancient Studies at Scripps College, and a scholar of Apuleius. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Golden Ass, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393428919.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 1 of our discussion on Apuleius's The Golden Ass, we welcome translator Ellen Finkelpearl to discuss the author's surviving and lost works, the process of translating such an ancient text, and the challenge of preserving Apuleius's rhythmic and exuberant writing style.  Ellen Finkelpearl is the Helen Chandler Garland Professor of Ancient Studies at Scripps College, and a scholar of Apuleius. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Golden Ass, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393428919.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 2 of our discussion on Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, translator Michael Katz returns to discuss the symbolic colors of the cover of the Norton Library edition, his first encounter with Dostoevsky's work and other Russian literature, and his favorite line from the novel.  Michael R. Katz is the C. V. Starr Professor Emeritus of Russian and East European Studies at Middlebury College. He has translated over twenty Russian novels, including The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, Fathers and Children, and Notes from Underground. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Crime and Punishment, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393427950.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 1 of our discussion on Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, we welcome translator Michael Katz to discuss the effects of Dostoevsky's personal and family life on his writing, the "big questions of life" and morality woven into Dostoevsky's works, and the challenge of translating Dostoevsky's repetitive writing style.  Michael R. Katz is the C. V. Starr Professor Emeritus of Russian and East European Studies at Middlebury College. He has translated over twenty Russian novels, including The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, Fathers and Children, and Notes from Underground. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Crime and Punishment, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393427950.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 2 of our discussion on Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, editor Susan M. Ryan returns to discuss the artistic inspiration behind the Norton Library edition, her favorite scene in the book, and the essential historical context readers need to fully understand the text.  Susan M. Ryan is Professor of English and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the University of Louisville. She is the author of The Grammar of Good Intentions: Race and the Antebellum Culture of Benevolence (2003) and The Moral Economies of American Authorship: Reputation, Scandal, and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Marketplace (2016). Her current project investigates nineteenth-century Americans' preoccupation with India. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393871593.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 1 of our discussion on Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, we welcome editor Susan M. Ryan to discuss the author's background and politics, the book's reception as both political commentary and nonpolitical drama, and the historical and narrative significance of the "Uncle Tom" figure.  Susan M. Ryan is Professor of English and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the University of Louisville. She is the author of The Grammar of Good Intentions: Race and the Antebellum Culture of Benevolence (2003) and The Moral Economies of American Authorship: Reputation, Scandal, and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Marketplace (2016). Her current project investigates nineteenth-century Americans preoccupation with India. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393871593.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 2 of our discussion on Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, editor Daniel Wright returns to discuss the appropriately rich color scheme of the Norton Library edition, his favorite awkward and heartbreaking line from the novel, and the reasons that Great Expectations is not a love story.  Daniel Wright is an associate professor of English at the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Grounds of the Novel (Stanford, 2024) and Bad Logic (Johns Hopkins, 2018). To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Great Expectations, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324046721.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 1 of our discussion on Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, we welcome editor Daniel Wright to discuss the author's busy and eventful life, the historical context and social issues behind his creation of Great Expectations, and the three entangled plots of which readers should be aware when first encountering this text.  Daniel Wright is an associate professor of English at the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Grounds of the Novel (Stanford, 2024) and Bad Logic (Johns Hopkins, 2018). To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of Great Expectations, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324046721.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 2 of our discussion on Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, editor Dora Zhang returns to discuss the original cover and the design of the Norton Library edition, her first encounter with Woolf's writing during college, and a few of her favorite moments in the text.  Dora Zhang is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Strange Likeness: Description and the Modernist Novel (University of Chicago Press, 2020), which studies the works of Henry James, Marcel Proust, and, centrally, Virginia Woolf in order to reinvigorate our understanding of the ubiquitous but undertheorized category of novelistic description. Her writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Public Books, The Chronicle Review, and The Point. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of A Room of One's Own, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393893991.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 1 of our discussion on Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, we welcome editor Dora Zhang to discuss the author's early life in a literary and artistic household, the enduring nature and distinctive prose of Woolf's works, and the argument of certain necessary material conditions for creating art.  Dora Zhang is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Strange Likeness: Description and the Modernist Novel (University of Chicago Press, 2020), which studies the works of Henry James, Marcel Proust, and, centrally, Virginia Woolf in order to reinvigorate our understanding of the ubiquitous but undertheorized category of novelistic description. Her writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Public Books, The Chronicle Review, and The Point. To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of A Room of One's Own, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393893991.  Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.

In Part 2 of our discussion on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, editor Justine Murison returns to discuss the cover design of the Norton Library edition, her first encounter with The Scarlet Letter in high school (and the process of coming to understand the text as an adult), and the challenging irony of Hawthorne's narrative voice.  Justine S. Murison is Associate Professor of English at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research and teaching examine nineteenth-century American literature with special attention to its relation to the intertwined histories of health and religion. She is the author of The Politics of Anxiety in Nineteenth-Century American Literature (2011) and Faith in Exposure: Privacy and Secularism in the Nineteenth-Century United States (2023). To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Scarlet Letter, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393871616. Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library. Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.