The Classic English Literature Podcast

The Classic English Literature Podcast

M. G. McDonoughM. G. McDonough
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Imitation and Optimism: The Essays of Alexander Pope

Send us Fan MailAlexander Pope, whom some critics regard as the most important poet of the early 18th century, set out to comprehensively explain the rules that governed art, poetry, and humanity itself. And, it turns out, they're all the same rules.Support the showPlease like, s ...  Show more

 . 35min 18sec
A Critique of Reason: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Send us Fan MailWhile many may think of Swift's magnificent octopus as a mere children's adventure tale, it is, in fact, one of the darkest and most troubling satires in the English language. Written as the Enlightenment began asserting rationality as the measure of all things, G ...  Show more

 . 49min 6sec
Food for Thought: Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and Other Writings

Send us Fan MailI hope you've brought your appetite, because today we're looking at some of Dr. Swift's shorter prose satires (along with a couple of poems) and he certainly gives us plenty to chew on."A Description of the Morning": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45266/a- ...  Show more

 . 38min 49sec
Seditious Greetings!: The Political Code of "O Come All Ye Faithful"

Send a textOne of the most theologically and liturgically important Christmas carols may contain coded messages against the Throne of England!Additional Music: "Adeste Fidelis" by Bing Crosby with The Max Terr choir; John Scott Trotter and his orch.; Traditional; Decca (BM 03929) ...  Show more

 . 13min 42sec
"Read All About It!": The Rise of the Public Press

Send us Fan MailIn the early 18th century, the public press came to dominate English writing. Pamphlets, newspapers, and periodicals fed the appetite for news and commentary of an ever-hungrier reading public. Richard Steele and Joseph Addison were the great innovators of the per ...  Show more

 . 28min 0sec