The Norton Library Podcast

82 Episodes

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Haunted (Wuthering Heights, Part 1)

2026-10-0531:42

In Part 1 of our discussion on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, we welcome editor Deborah Lutz to discuss collaborative writing amongst the Brontë sisters, the initially negative reception of Wuthering Heights, and the process of unpacking parts of the author's mysterious life. Deborah Lutz is the author of six books, including This Dark Night: Emily Brontë, A Life and The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects, which was shortlisted for the PEN/Weld Award for Biography. She ...

An Account of Yourself (Walden, Part 2)

2026-09-2130:31

In Part 2 of our discussion on Henry David Thoreau's Walden, editor Jedediah Britton-Purdy returns to discuss misconceptions about the author's philosophy, the balancing act of isolation and civic duty, and Thoreau's possible influence on important figures including Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Jedediah Britton-Purdy is Professor of Law at Duke University and a scholar of environmental and constitutional law. His books on environmental themes include After Na...

Thoreau is Punk! (Walden, Part 1)

2026-09-0732:51

In Part 1 of our discussion on Henry David Thoreau's Walden, we welcome editor Jedediah Britton-Purdy to discuss the relevance of Thoreau's questions about modernity to today's AI debate, the similarities and differences between Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and common misconceptions about Thoreau's life in the woods. Jedediah Britton-Purdy is Professor of Law at Duke University and a scholar of environmental and constitutional law. His books on environmental themes include After Nat...

Who Doesn't Understand Thunder? (The Odyssey, Part 2)

2026-08-0430:51

In Part 2 of our discussion on Homer's Odyssey, translator Emily Wilson returns to discuss the cinematic spectacle of Christopher Nolan's film, the different responsibilities of translation and adaptation, and the challenges of weaving together multi-layered narrative episodes and characters into a single movie. Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been named a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a MacA...

A Complicated Man (The Odyssey, Part 1)

2026-08-0334:26

In Part 1 of our discussion on Homer's Odyssey, we welcome translator Emily Wilson to discuss Odysseus as a complicated character, the roles of women and divine beings in the poem, and the centuries-old stories within stories that pose questions of hospitality, power, fatherhood, and time still relevant today. Part 2, coming tomorrow (8/4), will center Wilson's reaction to Christopher Nolan's recent film. Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsy...

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