How to Read

Pick up a novel today, and it’s almost guaranteed to be divided up into chapters.Click here for more about the episode...The history of the chapter (with Nicholas Dames)

You might not think writing style matters in philosophy. But Kwame Anthony Appiah – aClick here for more about the episode...How to read philosophy (with Kwame Anthony Appiah)

A utopia presents an ideal world that has overcome the problems of the present.  ForClick here for more about the episode...Philadelphia’s utopian roots (with Bethany Wiggin)

What connects Langston Hughes to Hong Kong, Malcolm X to Mecca, and Syrian merchants to the 9/11 memorial? In this episode, English professor Wai Chee Dimock shows us how to read quintessentially American writers from an international perspective. From this angle, major American concerns like race and money start to look a little different.Click here for more about the episode...Global currents in US literature (with Wai Chee Dimock)

The idea of putting spaces between written words didn’t develop until thousands of years afterClick here for more about the episode...The long history of reading aloud (with Roger Chartier)

The idea of putting spaces between written words didn’t develop until thousands of years after writing itself was invented. Before then, even literate people could only recognize words by reading aloud. And since then, we've read aloud for many different reasons. Our guest Roger Chartier walks us through a few of the most interesting -- from raucous Shakespearean theaters to railway passengers cozying up with strangers to listen to a novel.

During the Renaissance, a writer could be imprisoned just for claiming that a husband beatingClick here for more about the episode...The politics of disobedient wives (with Julie Crawford)

During the Renaissance, a writer could be imprisoned just for claiming that a husband beating his wife should show mercy. It wasn’t that the authorities wanted merciless wife-beatings. The issue was that they understood criticism of a tyrannical husband as criticism of a tyrannical king. English professor Julie Crawford explains how power relations within the home have underpinned political thinking for many centuries.

What happens when we apply today’s ideas about social networks back onto literature of theClick here for more about the episode...Social networks in novels (with Paul Saint-Amour)

What happens when we apply today's ideas about social networks back onto literature of the past? It's easy to think of these networks as a new feature of 21st century life -- but our guest Paul Saint-Amour argues that 19th century novels also had a profound understanding of how information travels.