Episode 45: "The Importance of Being Earnest" Act 2

Today’s episode of The Literary Life podcast is one in our “Best of The Literary Life” series. This week’s remix is a conversation from 2019 between Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins in which they discuss Dorothy L. Sayers’ essay “Are Women Human?“ They explore the ideas that Sayers wrestles with in the essay, including: the Victorian view of women, the significance of the industrial revolution, the human need for meaningful occupation, and the early feminist movement and women’s suffrage. Angelina and Cindy also discuss the history of women’s work inside and outside of the home and how they have been impacted by industry and our production-consumption culture. They take a fascinating look at the effects of the Enlightenment on women in the modern western world, as well as the problem of over-generalization and categorizing people according to classes. Finally, Cindy and Angelina highlight the importance of asking yourself the question: “Who am I supposed to be as a mother and a woman?” To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://www.theliterary.life/246/.

15 Okt 20241h 6min

Today on The Literary Life podcast, hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks wrap up their series on Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers. To begin the conversation, Thomas shares his reaction on finishing this book. Angelina then dives into her discoveries of Alice in Wonderland references throughout all of Sayers' detective books. They talk about how the cricket game relates to the whole story arc, review the descent and parody imagery ideas from last episode, and look at Lord Peter's arrest and its significance in the form of the romance. More topics they cover in these final chapters include the ascent imagery, Tallboy's confession, the act of justice in the detective novel, and how the ending of this book is actually quite fitting. We hope you have enjoyed this series and will be picking up more Sayers novels soon! To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/245/.

8 Okt 20241h 16min

Today’s episode of The Literary Life podcast picks up our series on Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers with a discussion of chapters 12-16. After sharing their commonplace quotes, Angelina and Thomas begin by talking about whether Sayers is “too accomplished” to be writing detective stories and the decline and resurgence of the genre. Angelina makes more connections between the medieval romance and Murder Must Advertise, as well as the images that parallel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland scenes and the purpose they serve. They also talk about the many masks of Lord Peter, the “hellish hunt”, the ad world and the drug world, and so much more. To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/244/.

1 Okt 20241h 5min

1On The Literary Life podcast this week, we continue our series on Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers, covering chapters 6-11. Angelina and Thomas begin the discussion talking about authors and their own thoughts on their best books versus those which readers seem to like best. Angelina shares some of the things she has learned about the drug trade in the early 20th century and in relation to this story. Thomas points out some of the allusions and references to other literature in these chapters. Angelina also expands on Lord Peter’s disguises and the role of the harlequin in the literary tradition. For an entertaining side note, Thomas reads some bad reviews of Sayers’ novels. To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/243/.

24 Sep 20241h 14min

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and the beginning of our series on Dorothy L. Sayers' classic detective novel, Murder Must Advertise. Beginning with the Golden Age of the detective novel and the backdrop of World War I, Angelina and Thomas give some historical background to provide a setting for this novel. Angelina also shares some biographical information about Dorothy Sayers and her literary education and advertising work. As they dig into the opening chapters of this novel, our hosts talk about Lord Peter Wimsey, his name and character. They also talk at some length about the "Bright Young Things" circle and their place in society during the post-WWI era. To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/242/.

17 Sep 20241h 26min

On this week’s episode of The Literary Life podcast, we are excited to bring you a new conversation with hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks and their guest Dr. Jason Baxter. They open the discussion with some thoughts on why Dante has had renewed popularity in recent days. Jason talks about the big questions that poets seek to answer, and what some of the obstacles modern readers might have when approaching Dante for the first time. Thomas asks whether Dante had a precedent for making himself a character in his own epic. Angelina brings up the question of what it means that The Divine Comedy is poetry rather than some other genre. Other topics they discuss are Dante’s cosmology, his psychological precision, how to approach The Divine Comedy for the first time, and Jason’s own translation work. To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/241/.

10 Sep 20241h 25min

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, we bring you another episode from the vault, this time to prepare you for our upcoming discussion of Dorothy L. Sayers' detective novel Murder Must Advertise. In this conversation, Angelina and Cindy talk all things related to the detective novel. Why do we love detective fiction so much? What are the qualities of a good detective novel? What is the history of detective fiction, and how did World War I bring about the Golden Age of the genre? Angelina and Cindy answer all these questions and more. Be sure to visit the shownotes page for this episode for links to all the books and authors mentioned in this episode here -->> https://theliterary.life/240/.

3 Sep 20241h 2min

Welcome to another remix episode of The Literary Life podcast with this popular “Literary Life of…” interview episode with Angelina, Cindy and their guest Jone Rose. Jone is a “super-fan” of the podcast and is a homeschool mom living in North Carolina. Today Angelina starts off the interview asking about Jone’s childhood reading life and school experience. Jone shares how her own adult literary education didn’t start until after she had been homeschooling her own children for several years. In addition to discussing the redemption of Jone’s own education, they talk about what Jone’s reading life looks like now, how narration helps make connections and increase understanding, asking better questions, and so much more! To get see all the books and links mentioned in this episode, please view the full show notes on our website at https://www.theliterary.life/239.

27 Aug 20241h 29min