This year, Jane Austen fans around the world are celebrating the English author's 250th birthday. Surprisingly, one prominent event took place in North Carolina. The annual weeklong symposium, called the Jane Austen Summer Program, is a cross between an academic conference and summer camp, with lectures and embroidery workshops. It even has a Regency ball with a suggested dress code, so we put on our finest gown and traveled to New Bern, NC to find out why Austen's work is still as relevant as ever.

Featuring:

• Inger Brodey, professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and co-founder of the Jane Austen Summer Program
• Amy Patterson, co-owner of Jane Austen Books
• Samiha Bala, student at UNC-Chapel Hill

Links:

• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

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