How to Read

Recent Episodes

15. Remakes, sequels and other story expansions

Posted November 23, 2018 • 00:15:15

What do we want when we revisit a beloved story? Sarah Chihaya suggests we’re drawn back by contradictory desires: on the one hand we want to relive...

14. How illustrations reshaped the Romantic legacy

Posted November 9, 2018 • 00:15:58

When we think about the generation before us, we might feel that their cultural touchstones aren't relevant today. But Tom Mole argues that the literature...

13. Why Eve got blamed

Posted October 26, 2018 • 00:16:57

The basic story of Adam and Eve is that Eve was tempted by a serpent, ate the forbidden fruit and thus caused humans to be kicked out of Paradise. But...

12. Identifying with characters

Posted October 12, 2018 • 00:16:13

Some academics think that reading a book just to identify with a character is self-centred and shallow. When you’re only reading for characters you...

11. Literature from speech to writing and back

Posted September 28, 2018 • 00:16:57

We tend to think of literature as something that’s written down. But Martin Puchner is interested in cases where the spoken word precedes, coexists...