Happy 2026, listeners! To kick off the new year, we’re sharing something special: Austen Chat’s first episode recorded in front of a live audience. 

Jane Austen lived during a remarkably dynamic period of British history and was well aware of the forces shaping her world—colonial expansion, booming global trade, revolutions in Europe and the Americas, and yes, slavery and the abolition movement. It was also a world that included people of color whose lives were far richer and more influential and varied than often assumed today. In this episode, we talk with author Vanessa Riley, who is eager to share their stories. 

Join us as we discuss Miss Lambe—Austen’s mixed-race heiress in Sanditon—and meet some notable Black figures from Austen’s time, such as Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, who was born enslaved but went on to build a Caribbean business empire. Vanessa also shares some of her experiences behind the scenes (and on the screen!) of the 2024 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility as Hallmark's historical consultant. 

Dr. Vanessa Riley is the author of over 25 novels across across the genres of historical fiction, romance, and mystery, including a trio of books based on the true stories of extraordinary women during the Regency era: Island Queen, Queen of Exiles, and Sister Mother Warrior. Her works spotlight hidden narratives of Black women and women of color. Vanessa was the historical consultant for Hallmark’s 2024 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility and the 2024 Georgia Mystery/Detective Author of the Year for Murder in Drury Lane. With a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and other engineering degrees from Penn State, she brings a research-oriented approach to her inclusive storytelling about the Caribbean and the Georgian and Regency eras. 

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep31.

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“Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it. Everybody said how well she looked; and Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful . . . .” —Mrs. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

Jane Bennet, the eldest of the five Bennet sisters, is an undisputed beauty, but Austen tells us Jane also “unite[s] with great strength of feeling, a composure of temper, and an uniform cheerfulness of manner.” In this episode, we sit down with Susannah Harker—beloved by Janeites for her portrayal of Jane Bennet in the iconic 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice—to explore the nuances of Jane’s character and Susannah’s experiences bringing her to life on screen. We also touch on Susannah’s theatrical heritage, the enduring appeal of the 1995 adaptation, and her plans for a new comedy-drama project, Jane Bennet’s Second Spring.

Actor and writer Susannah Harker is best known to Janeites for her role as Jane Bennet in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries. Her extensive television work also includes many roles in mystery series and contemporary and period dramas, and she received a BAFTA award nomination for her role as Mattie in the original House of Cards. Among her film roles is that of Titania in A Caribbean Dream, an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. On stage, she has starred in Abigail’s Party, The Glass Menagerie, and many other plays. Harker is currently writing a script for a new comedy-drama project, Jane Bennet’s Second Spring.

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep30/.

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Join us for a chat with noted Austen scholar Kathryn Sutherland about Jane Austen’s surviving manuscripts and what they reveal about her writing process and creative confidence. Kathryn also shares the story behind the ambitious digital project that brought Austen’s scattered manuscripts together in a virtual archive and talks about some of the material objects she included in her book Jane Austen in 41 Objects—reflecting on how tangible artifacts can bring us closer to the writer we think we know.

Kathryn Sutherland is Professor Emerita and a Senior Research Fellow at St Anne's College, Oxford. She is the author Jane Austen's Textual Lives (2005), Why Modern Manuscripts Matter (2022), and Jane Austen in 41 Objects (2025). She is also the editor of many editions of Austen's works through Oxford World's Classics, including Teenage Writings (with Freya Johnston, 2017). Sutherland was also the Project Director and Principal Investigator for Jane Austen's Fiction Manuscripts, a website that houses the digitized files of all Jane Austen's known fiction manuscripts. She is a patron of Jane Austen's House in Chawton, a trustee of Friends of the Nations' Libraries, and a trustee of the British Library Collections Trust.

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep29/.

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Bath bun. Bobbinet. Poor basket. Vanity-bait. These are just a few of the words the Oxford English Dictionary credits Jane Austen with using for the first time in print—and almost all are words related to domestic and everyday life. In this episode, we sit down with scholar Charlotte Brewer to explore the Dictionary’s 19th-century origins, its reliance on volunteer readers, its ongoing digital evolution, and the literary biases that shaped whose words were recorded. A must-listen for word nerds! 

Charlotte Brewer is Emerita Fellow in English at Hertford College, Oxford. She began her career as a medievalist, subsequently turning to the history of the English language and in particular its record in the Oxford English Dictionary. Her publications include studies of Jane Austen and Shakespeare in the OED, and she is currently working on the Murray Scriptorium, a co-edited edition of the letters of James Murray, the first chief editor of the OED.

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep28/.

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"She has many rare & charming qualities, but Sobriety is not one of them."—Jane Austen, Jack and Alice

Drunken brawls. Cannibalism. Heroines behaving very badly. Such mayhem may seem worlds apart from the sedate drawing rooms of Austen's novels, but it is par for the course in her teenage writings. In this episode, we welcome Lesley Peterson for an exploration of the whimsical world of Austen's juvenilia—the hilarious and often absurd stories she penned in her youth. Along the way, we’ll see how young Jane, growing up in a lively, intellectual household, was already testing boundaries and sharpening the wit that would one day captivate readers everywhere.

Lesley Peterson is the editor of the Journal of Juvenilia Studies and, before her retirement, was Professor of English at the University of North Alabama. She has published numerous articles in JASNA’s journals, Persuasions and Persuasions On-Line, and is a frequent presenter at JASNA's Annual General Meetings. In 2024, she served as a JASNA Traveling Lecturer and was awarded a fellowship through the JASNA International Visitor Program.

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep27/.

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Think you know Jane Austen? In this episode, we explore the wild side of Austen’s writings, life, and legacy with noted scholar Devoney Looser, who makes the case for Austen as a far more daring and unconventional figure than her prim Victorian reputation suggests. Whether you're new to Austen or a longtime Janeite, this episode offers a lively take on the beloved author—and reminds us why we’re all a little wild for Austen.

Devoney Looser is Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, a Guggenheim Fellow, an NEH Public Scholar, and a Rockefeller Bellagio Fellow. She is the author of Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës, The Making of Jane Austen, The Daily Jane Austen, and her latest, Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane, which will be released September 2, 2025. A life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) and frequent speaker at JASNA conferences, Looser has also skated in roller derby under the name Stone Cold Jane Austen.

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep26/.

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“There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do, if he chooses, and that is his duty." —Mr. Knightley

We believe Jane Austen is for everyone, but it’s no secret that her modern fanbase is predominantly female. But why is that, and what might men be missing? Brett McKay joins us in this episode to share how he first discovered Austen’s work and why more men should read her books. Along the way, we touch on Austen's Aristotelian ideas of virtue, the qualities that make a good man, the importance of choosing the right spouse, and how reading her works can help everyone become the best version of themselves.

Brett McKay is the founder of The Art of Manliness, a website and podcast dedicated to helping men “grow up well, reach their potential, and become better friends, mentors, husbands, fathers, and citizens.” Since 2008 he has interviewed hundreds of authors and scholars on a wide range of subjects, from philosophy to weight-lifting, dinner-party planning to hostage negotiation. In 2023, he interviewed Austen scholar John Mullan in an episode entitled “Jane Austen for Dudes.” 

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep25/.

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"'The course of true love never did run smooth'—A Hartfield edition of Shakespeare would have a long note on that passage.” —Emma

Shakespeare's influence on Jane Austen can be seen throughout her novels and letters. She quotes him, mimics him, and echoes him in fascinating ways. In this episode, Professor Mary Floyd-Wilson helps us unpack and examine the many parallels between these two pillars of English literature. 

Mary Floyd-Wilson is the Mann Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She specializes in Shakespeare and early modern literature, with works including English Ethnicity and Race in Early Modern Drama and Occult Knowledge, Science, and Gender on the Shakespearean Stage. Recently, she received the George H. Johnson Prize for Distinguished Achievement from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities. 

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep24/.

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Jane Austen has had devoted American admirers since her works were first published. In fact, several Americans played a crucial role in preserving and promoting her legacy. Joining us to explore Austen’s reputation and reception in America is Professor Juliette Wells, a leading expert on the subject, who will also share the story of avid Austen collector Alberta H. Burke and preview some of the Austen treasures set to be displayed at the Morgan Library’s upcoming exhibit A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250, for which she is guest co-curator.

Juliette Wells, Professor of Literary Studies at Goucher College, is the author of Reading Austen in America (2017), Everybody's Jane: Austen in the Popular Imagination (2011), and most recently, A New Jane Austen: How Americans Brought Us the World’s Greatest Novelist (2023). She has edited the 200th-anniversary editions of Persuasion and Emma for Penguin Classics, with a new edition of Mansfield Park slated for release later this year. A former JASNA Traveling Lecturer, Dr. Wells is a regular speaker at the society’s Annual General Meetings. She is also the guest co-curator for the upcoming exhibition A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250 at the Morgan Library and Museum, which will run from June 6 to September 14, 2025, in celebration of Austen’s milestone birthday.

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep23/.

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"I have made up my mind to like no novels really but Miss Edgeworth's, yours, and my own."  —Jane Austen to her niece, Anna Lefroy, 1814

Jane Austen’s novels and letters are strewn with references to the female authors she admired—writers like Maria Edgeworth, Ann Radcliffe, and Charlotte Lennox. But these novelists, despite their wide popularity in their own time, have largely disappeared from our bookshelves. In this episode, rare book dealer Rebecca Romney shares some of their stories, examines their influence on Austen, and may even inspire you to add some of Austen’s favorites to your own to-be-read list. 

Rebecca Romney is a rare book dealer and the cofounder of Type Punch Matrix, a Washington, DC-area rare book firm. Over the course of her career, she has sold Shakespeare folios, first editions of Newton's Principia Mathematica and Darwin's Origin of Species, and individual leaves from the Gutenberg Bible. The author of several books, her latest is Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend. She is also the rare books specialist on the HISTORY Channel’s show Pawn Stars.

For a transcript and show notes, visit https://jasna.org/austen/podcast/ep21/.

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