The Classic English Literature Podcast

Release Date

All Episodes

A Critique of Reason: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Send us a textWhile 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, Gul ... Show more

. 49min 41sec

Food for Thought: Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and Other Writings

Send us a textI 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-de ... Show more

. 39min 25sec

Seditious Greetings!: The Political Code of "O Come All Ye Faithful"

Send us 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 039 ... Show more

. 13min 42sec

"Read All About It!": The Rise of the Public Press

Send us a textIn 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 perio ... Show more

. 28min 35sec

The First English Novel? Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

Send us a text

On this trip, we're looking at the conventional candidate for the first modern novel in English. Defoe's story of a resourceful man shipwrecked on a d ...

. 37min 27sec