December 16, 2025 • 26 mins
Jane Austen worked at a 12-sided desk, was great at singing, and earned shockingly little money from her novels. Today’s her 250th birthday, so we’re celebrating with nine niche literary facts about the beloved author, from the way she helped soldiers in WWI to the reason why Kelly Clarkson couldn’t buy her ring. (Sorry, Kelly.)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio. Guess what, Mango? What's that? Well?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
All right, let's say I invite you over for ice
cream and give you a dessert spoon to eat it with.
I also offer you coffee from a coffee urned. So
who would we be celebrating here?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Mango? Can I have another clue?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Sure, if you don't want a coffee, I'll serve you
tea with a tea ladle, which.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Sounds nice, but I still have no idea what you're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
You get one more clue, Mega, You know I never
get more than three clues. So I'm throwing this party
for someone who's two hundred and fiftieth birthday just so
happens to be on December sixteenth.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Jane Austen nailed at mango, You're so smart.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Austin was the first
person to use these terms in writing. She didn't necessarily
coin them, but she definitely helped codify them. For example,
the dessert spoon first appeared in a letter she wrote
back in eighteen oh eight. Apparently no one had ever
bothered writing about dessert spoons before. In fact, the OED
credits her with around two hundred different words, and they
(01:20):
run the gamut from the verb to chaperone. The noun
existed before that, but she verbed it. Have you ever
verbed something?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I have?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Pretty impressively. So to the phrase if I've told you once,
I've told you one hundred times, which I think is
like the eternal mom phrase. Right, that's pretty amazing that
what Austin actually wrote was if I have spoken once
to Rebecca about that carpet. I am sure I have
spoken at least a dozen times, but you know it's
the gist.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, that carpet. Second, well, thank you to Jane Austen
for all of those terms. But uh, you know, I
definitely used the if I've told you once a bit,
quite a bit, but I don't really talk about coffee
earns something.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
No, not me either, but it's just nice to know
they're out there. But today we have eight more facts
about the Great Jane Austin in honor of her two
hundred and fiftieth birthday, So let's dive in. Hey, their
(02:33):
podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson,
and as always i'm here with my good friend Mangesh
hot Ticketter and over there in the booth just brooding
on a more as our friend and producer Dylan Fagan,
just brooding.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
It is remarkable how you fit that more backdrop into
that booth, and also just how brooding he looks. He
really does it well, so will. Today is a very
special birthday celebration of Jane Austen. And I'm cure, are
you a fan? Like, were you familiar with her work
before we started working on this episode?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Don't you feel like there was sort of mandatory two
three Jane Austen titles in AP English.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I don't know that I could recite much.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
From them at this point, but I know we read
a decent amount, how about you.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, I mean I have definitely skimmed Jane Austen. I
don't know if I've read Jane Austen, but my mom
was a huge fan, so she and my sister had
not only read everything, but like also watched every single
PBS and BBC adaptation and there's so many of them,
and then all the movies of course, and then the
(03:36):
variations like A Clueless and whatever.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, but I do feel like she's one of those
authors that you read too young in life.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Right, Yeah, let's make a commitment.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Let's return to Jane Austin after this episode in our sixties,
right exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
But I actually remember this one time. I was in Washington,
DC and I was riding the Metro and I saw
this guy who had clearly just worked out and was
coming from the gym. And he looked roided up to me,
and he was like wearing a tank top, and he
looked really gruff, and he was like tatted up, and
he seemed so intimidating. But I could tell he was
(04:11):
reading a book. And you know, I'm a curious cat.
There are also like so many people on the train
that I was like kind of like poking around trying
to figure out what he was reading. And I finally
caught a glimpse of the cover and it was Emma.
But it's perfect. You're totally profiling this guy a picture.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
You actually like climbing up over his muscles to see
the book.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I remember thinking I like this guy more now. Yeah,
you know, anyway, let's get back to the fact. So
one thing I did not realize is that Jane Austen
only completed six novels in her lifetime, oh way, and
four of these were actually published anonymously, but she finished
all her books in the same location, a place called
(04:51):
Chotten Cottage. Chotten Cottage is located, unsurprisingly in Chotten, Hampshire,
which is a small village. It's around fifty miles or
so sod of London, and Jane lived there with her mom,
her sister and her friend for eight years. This was
from eighteen oh nine until she died at the age
of forty one in eighteen seventeen.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Now I noticed you said finished her novels there. Does
that mean she started them somewhere else?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
She did. She wrote the first drafts of three of
her novels, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility in north
Anger Abbey at Steventon House, the country home where she
was born, but she finished those and also Mansfield Park,
Persuasion and Emma all at Chotten and Shotten is actually
a must visit spot for Austin fence. It is maintained
(05:35):
as her house museum and much of it has been
restored to look like it would have been in the
early eighteen hundreds. The museum also holds many of Jane
Austin's possessions like her jewelry, the first editions of her books,
and one of my favorite things is the twelve sided
wooden table where she worked at.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Gotta Love a Good Dodeca Gone Right, And besides writing
these novels and letters at that she probably also used
it to copy down some of her favorite piano scores.
You know, the Austin family and especially Jane, they were
super into music. In twenty fifteen, scholars at the University
of Southampton digitized most of the Austin family music books
collection and made them available to the public. So they're
(06:17):
around twenty volumes of music, and seven of them belonged
specifically to Jane, including titles like Songs and Duets and
Juvenile Songs and lessons for young beginners who don't know
enough to practice. That sort of reminds me of Derek
Zulander's Well was School for kids who don't read good
sort of thing. This one's probably a little better than that.
But she actually copied out by hand.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
That's amazing. So this means she actually played piano.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
She did, and this was a pretty common thing at
the time, like the piano was considered an instrument that
a woman of certain statures should know how to play,
you know, to entertain a husband or potential guest. Jane, however,
did not play for company, but she did like to
practice in the morning before anybody else woke up.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
So what sort of stuff was she jamming on before
anyone could wake up to hear it? Well?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
The family collection includes a lot of popular composers at
the time, like friends Joseph Hayden, as well as you
know folk songs like the Groves of Sweet Myrtle with
lyrics by Scottish poet Robert Burns. There's also some naval songs,
which makes sense. Jane had two brothers who served in
the British Navy, and a song called Crazy Jane that
scholars believe may have been actually a family joke. Now,
(07:28):
Jane may have played nursery rhymes for her nieces and
nephews and sang for them too. According to her family,
she had a really nice singing voice, so even if
she didn't perform them in public, music was a big
part of her life. Some experts actually say it influenced
her writing too, like the rhythm of her language. You
can imagine that being the case.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah, I believe that it's so funny though, like that
she has a nice singing voice, like I've never thought
about Jane Austen's voice. Yeah yeah, And she could have
like a terrible singing voice or ara, like, it wouldn't
have been something I thought about. Worn out. But you know,
I'm going to dedicate this next fact to Dylan, who's
still over there rooting bad. It's terrible, But it turns
(08:08):
out that mister Darcy, the love interest of Elizabeth Bennett
and Pride and Prejudice, may have been inspired by a
real life nobleman that Jane knew. So as a side note,
I know mister Darcy is a beloved figure, So let
me just issue the big caveat that all of this
is conjecture and it's really on the part of Jane
Austen scholars. So I should also say there have been
(08:31):
many possible contenders for this honor through the years, including
a young, good looking and absolutely broke Irish law student.
His name was Thomas Lefroy, whom Jane met in the
late seventeen hundreds. It is unclear if they ever dated
in the current sense of the term, like they made
have gone on walks with things like that, but they
definitely exchanged flirtatious letters, and whatever their situationship was. It
(08:56):
ended when Lefroy married a rich heiress instead.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Oh wow, Well, I'm not sure he deserved her anyway.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I know I don't think you did. More recently, doctor
Susan Law, a writer and Austin aficionado, came to believe
that Darcy may have been based on a guy named
John Parker, more commonly known as Lord Boringdon. Now Jane
knew Lord Boringdon through his second wife, Francis, who was
a close friend of hers, but the word, at least
(09:23):
in Southern England was that everyone kind of knew Lord
Boringdon because of his very scandalous first marriage.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Okay, so you're saying Lord Boringdon was actually pretty interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
He definitely had a reputation as a ladies man. Before
he got married, he had a long and open affair
with a married woman named Lady Elizabeth Monk, but she
wouldn't leave her husband for him. So Boringdon, who was
in his thirties at this point, went ahead and married
an eighteen year old named Augusta Faine. But after a
couple of years he started cheating on Augusta with a
(09:54):
ballerina he'd met, and meanwhile, Lady Elizabeth was also back
in the picture because she was still unwilling to fully
cut things off with Lord Boringdon.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Man, that's pretty juicy, And.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
It actually gets juicier because young Lady Augusta, she's aware
her husband is, you know, Tom catting about, so she
starts having an affair with a guy named Sir Arthur Paget.
And in a weird twist, Paget's brother is married to
one of Lady Elizabeth's daughters. But even more scandalous than
that is that Paget is a college buddy of Lord Boringdon's.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Now I'm trying to keep up with this and to say, like,
how weird that twist is, But I gotta be honest,
I'm getting a little bit lost here. So how about
you just tell me if there's a happy ending to this?
There is?
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Okay, good, Well, after finding out about Augusta's affair, Lord
Boringdon divorced her, which was fined by her. She actually
got married to Sir Paget three days later, and a
couple of months after that, Boringdon marries Jane's friend Francis,
and to everyone surprised both of these marriages actually last.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
All right, so you were talking about how Lord Boringdon
could actually be the inspiration for mister Darcy. Right, but
if you remember, like, they don't sound anything alike. So
how is that?
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, so the academics admit they don't have any actual
proof of this, Like this Darcy comparison is based mostly
on his appearance, even though the physical description of mister
Darcy in the books is pretty minimal if you remember so.
Austin actually writes quote that he drew the attention of
the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features and
(11:29):
noble maine. Apparently Lord Boringdon had all of those qualities,
and because Jane was good friends with his second wife,
she probably spent time with him and could have used
this experience to inform her depiction of mister Darcy's a lore.
But here's a bonus Darcy fact for all of you
Darcy lovers out there. Colin Firth made a huge splash
literally when he played the role in the nineteen nineties
(11:51):
BBC mini series. There is a famous scene where he
goes swimming in the lake, and just last year, that
same costume he wore in that scene sole at auction
for twenty thousand pounds.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Wow, that's a lot of money for some like wet
used clothes, but just goes to show people are passionate
about these characters. All Right, we have to take a
quick break, but when we come back, we'll talk about
Jane Austen's famous fans, the last piece she wrote, and
so much more.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
So stay tuned, Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where
we're celebrating Jane Austen's two hundred and fiftieth birthday. Yes,
(12:40):
and before we get back into Jane Austin facts, I
want to share one of the greatest facts a listener
just sent us. Remember you can get an official Part
Time Genius membership card for free if you send us
your name, your address, and a fun fact. So Christine
and Washington wrote in to tell us that according to
microbiologist Peter Gurgis, the number of microbes in the world
(13:03):
is ten to the twenty seventh power, and if you
laid them all end to end, they'd be one hundred
and five light years.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Wow, Christine, that's so impressive that you laid them all
in to end.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
That's it. Those numbers are so big they.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Actually kind of make my brain hurt, but I actually
love it when people send us facts and cite their sources,
So so good on you, Christine.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I think the ven diagram of people who've listened to
the show and people who appreciate footnotes is definitely a
total circle. So anyway, Christine, your membership card is on
the way, and if you want one to all you
other listeners, email us at high Geniuses at gmail dot com.
That's Hi Geniuses at gmail dot com. You can also
dm us on Instagram or blue Sky, or leave a
(13:44):
voicemail at three O two four oh five five nine
two five. We cannot wait to hear from you and
will Just so you know, we have friends of the
show in Malaysia who sent us a photo of not
only the membership cards but also the atomic fire we
sent them, oh and they said it was too spicy
for the kids, but.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Made it all the way in Malaysia. That's fantastic. Good job,
and I love fireballs.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
I've ever mentioned that before, I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
All right, So back to Jane Austin. You know, one
of the things that really struck me when I was
doing the research for this episode was that despite her
novel's popularity, she didn't make that much money from book
sales while she was alive. In fact, one scholar estimated
that Austin made around six hundred and thirty one pounds
before tax or five hundred and seventy five pounds after tax,
(14:31):
which would work out to about fifty six thousand dollars
in today's money. Now. Obviously, since then the books have
sold a lot more, but it's safe to say that
writing did not make Jane rich in her lifetime. Part
of the reason for this is that she died quite young. Now,
I remember, she was only forty one, and her debut novel,
Since Insensibility, wasn't published until eighteen eleven, just six years
(14:54):
before she died, and her last two novels were published posthumously,
which means she was only alive to see four books
published over the course of six years.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
You know, I get all that, but I'm still kind
of surprised that there was such little money involved.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yeah. Well, like many writers, she had a couple of
less than favorable deals, particularly for her most popular book,
Pride and Prejudice, which was first published in eighteen thirteen,
and for whatever reason, she agreed to a one time
payment of only one hundred and ten pounds. The publisher,
of course, made a lot more money than that, but
by the time she died, her publisher had made more
(15:28):
than four times what they'd paid for that book. Luckily,
she made better deals with her other novels. Instead of
a flat fee, she was able to get a percentage
of her profits. But there was one other snag to this.
The profits for her fourth novel, Emma, were tied to
a reprint of her third novel, Mansfield Park, and although
Mansfield Park's first edition sold well, the second edition did not.
(15:51):
Because of that, she wound up only making about thirty
eight pounds on Emma, and she died before she could
see any additional money from that.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
That is insane. You know, it's funny. They seem like
such unglamorous and contemporary problems like negotiating contracts and tracking
book sales. But you know, lucky for us, that did
not stop Austin from writing, especially because it's fun to
see how her fan base has grown, Like did you
know that Dwayne Wade, the NBA star is a huge
(16:20):
fan Musician BB King and Kelly Clarkson, they are just massive.
Jane Austin fans. I did not know that. No. Kelly
Clarkson is such a big fan that she bought one
of Austin's rings at auction in twenty twelve, but the
Brits weren't happy about it, leaving the country. In fact,
so much so that after Clarkson won this auction, the
(16:41):
UK government put a temporary ban on the rings export,
which gave enough time for other fans, presumably British ones,
to raise enough money to buy the ring from Clarkson
and give it to Jane Austen's House museum, where it
still is today. You know, it's also impossible to overstate
the impact Jane Austin had on English culture. Her books
were actually given to British soldiers in World War One
(17:03):
to help recover from PTSD. Oh interesting, yeah, and along
similar lines. After Rodyard Kipling's son was killed in the
First World War, he actually read Austin's novels to his
wife and daughter as a bit of levity and solace
during their grief. And in nineteen twenty four Kipling wrote
a short story called The Jay Knights. It's about a
soldier serving in France during World War One. He finds
(17:25):
out about this secret club, the Society of the Jay Knights,
which he can join, but he's only allowed entry after
he reads every single one of Austin's novels. So he
starts reading them, and he really isn't into it at first.
He has this great line where he says her books quote,
weren't adventurous, nor smutty, nor what you'd even call interest in.
(17:45):
But he gets through them all. He passes the Society's
tests and he is officially accepted. But the companionship he
finds in the society, plus all their conversations about Jane Austin,
actually helped him get through the dilace. And then when
their bases attack, the guy gets wounded and he's struggling
to board this crowded hospital train and he meets a
(18:07):
nurse and quotes Jane Austen to her and she recognizes
it and then takes pity on him and gets him
on the train. And so Jane Austen in this book
saves his life. Wow. Yeah. Towards the end of the story,
he says, quote, I read all her six books now
for pleasure. You take it for me, brethren. There's no
one to touch Jane when you're in a tight place.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
That's actually pretty sweet, even though it's a funny quote.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
One of the things that soldiers might have been drawn
to was Austin's distinctive style of writing, especially her use
of something literary scholars call free indirect discourse. You know,
it's one of those styles that you may be familiar
with now you may see it pretty frequently. She didn't
invent this style, but actually she was one of the
first writers to use it, so, you know, consistently and effectively,
(18:53):
and that's when you know it really pulls you into
the inner lives of her characters. Actually read one paper
that described it as kind of like a kind of
ventriloquism by the narrator. So it allows Austin, as the
third person, omniscient narrator, to dip in and out of
the character's inner dialogue and thoughts, which makes you feel
like you understand them and know them a little bit better.
(19:14):
Here's actually an example from Emma, which is about a
young woman who has, you know, shall we say, an
unwarranted confidence in her ability to read a romantic situation.
And so early on there's this scene where Emma and
a guy named Frank are alone together We the readers
already know that Emma thinks Frank is in love with her,
but we also understand Emma may not be seeing everything
(19:35):
so clearly. So Austin, you know, kind of plays with this.
So here's what she says. He stopped again, rose again
and seemed quite embarrassed. He was more in love with
her than Emma had supposed. And who can say how
it might have ended if his father had not made
his appearance.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
So it's kind of subtle, and that bit more in
love with her than Emma had supposed. Like that's Emma's voice,
not the narrators.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
That's exactly right, and like all of our own inner voices,
it doesn't always assess the situation accurately, because later in
the novel, Emma will learn that no, Frank is not
in love with her. And even if we the readers
already know this, we get to be part of the
drama as she starts to kind of figure this out.
Free and direct discourse lets us empathize with a character
(20:18):
but laugh at them a little bit at the same time.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Well, on a sado topic, we should talk about how
Jane Austen died. And the thing is even today, no
one knows the cause. Her sister destroyed most of Jane's letters,
anything that talked about medical stuff, So all we have
to go on are some known symptoms, and one of
them was discoloration of her skin, plus some of the
contextual clues. Over the years, many scholars have aligned with
(20:43):
the belief that she died from Addison's disease, which is
an autoimmune disease that affects your adrenal glands, but other
speculations have ranged from tuberculosis to various cancers including hotgkin
lymphoma or lupus, or even complications from drinking raw milk.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I mean, that's not the laugh at it, but that's
a really wide assortment of potentially fatal conditions here. So
I don't know that we really know.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, we didn't really narrow it down, and these are
obviously all theories. But one possibility that stuck out to
me was arsenic poisoning.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Oh really, all right, like an Agatha Christie novel. So
where does that theory come from?
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yeah, So, about a decade or so ago, the British
Library was given three pairs of Jane Austen's eyeglasses, or
at least the family says they were hers, right, and
they were found in her desk. The library was surprised
to learn that each pair had a different prescription and
quite a bit stronger than the last, meaning if these
are the glasses of one person, it suggests that Austin's
vision deteriorated really rapidly in the last couple of years
(21:42):
of her life. The library spoke to an optometrist who
also took a look and said, well, one reason that
her vision got so bad so quickly could be cataracts,
and that's odd for someone who's so young. And something
that can cause that is arsenic poisoning.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
I mean, I get that, but that also feels like
a lot of hypothesizing.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah, I mean, the library was quick to add that
they weren't suggesting she'd been murdered, but also, arsenic was
found in water and medication, even wallpaper back then, so
arsenic poisoning actually wasn't that uncommon for the time, and
it also comes with unusual facial pigmentation. So it's a theory.
It's not a sure thing. That said, I'm sure it
(22:23):
could inspire like a really great bestseller if someone took
it up.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Yeah, that's true, all right, we got one fact left.
So to close this out, I want to tell you
about the very last thing she wrote. Wasn't a story
or even a letter. It was actually a poem.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
So what was the poem about? All right? Well?
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Jane died on July eighteenth, eighteen seventeen, in Winchester, which
is a town near Chawton. She and her sister had
rented a room there to be closer to medical care.
July fifteenth, just a few days before she died, happened
to be a big day for Winchester. It was not
only the feast day of Saint swithin the patron saying
of winch Chester Cathedral. It was also the Winchester Races,
(23:04):
which sound pretty fun and fancy, and you know, these
folks would come dressed up in their nicest clothes and
parade around town. Besides the horse races, there were fairs,
There were balls, public breakfasts, lots of musical performances, just
this big celebration. But there was also this religious element
to it, and Jane wrote about that juxtaposition in her poem.
(23:24):
She wrote about Winchester's crappy summer weather because there's a
superstition that if it rains on Saint Swithin's day, it'll
rain for forty more days, which sounds very Groundhog Day like,
exactly right, except worse and way more British, I guess. So. Anyway,
in the poem, Saint Swiften shows up in Winchester and
is annoyed that everyone's more focused on the festivities than
(23:45):
on him, so he curses the city with bad weather,
effectively raining on their parade. So I'll read you a
few lines which he writes from Saint Swithin's perspective. All right,
here it is these races and revels and dissolute measures
with which you're debasing a name. Bring Plaine, let them stand.
You'll meet with.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Your curse and your pleasures set all for your course.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I'll pursue with my reign.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
You know, I'd have thought Jane Austen would be more
interested in all the like flirting and fun at the
social festivities than the religious aspect of this thing. Although
I mean, I guess her dad was a clergyman.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Right, Yeah, her dad and her grandfather actually they were
both Church of England clergy so you're right, there's not
much explicitly religious content in her novels, but it was
a big part of her life. Her family went to
church and prayed together. Jane read the Bible and other
common religious texts of the day, and some of the
values she upholds in her novels fit right in with
the Enlightenment era church, things like honesty, charity, duty, and
(24:42):
good character. So if you ever visit Winchester, do Jane
Austin a favor. Don't get so caught up in the
fun that you forget Saint Swiften.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Oh I'll never forget so that either ever. Again. We
are taking a break next week for Christmas, so we'll
be sharing a fun holiday themed episode from the vault,
but be sure to tune in on December thirtieth for
the forty fourth annual Part Time Genius Awards. Forty four. Yeah.
It is one of our favorite traditions and has been
(25:12):
for a very long time apparently, and a great way
to close out the year, so please don't miss it.
This episode was written by the wonderful of Marissa Brown.
Thank you so much, Marissa, and from Will Dylan, Gabe,
Mary and myself. Thank you so much for listener. Part
(25:40):
Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. It
is hosted by my good pal will Pearson, who I've
known for almost three decades now. That is insane to me.
I'm the Utaco host, Mangeshatikular aka Mango. Our producer is
Mary Phillips Sandy. She's actually a super producer. I'm going
to fix in post. Our writer is Gabe Lucier, who
(26:03):
I've also known for like a decade at this point,
maybe more. Dylan Fagan is in the booth. He is
always dressed up, always cheering us on, and always ready
to hit record and then mix the show after he
does a great job. I also want to shout out
the executive producers from iHeart my good pals Katrina and
Norvel and Ali Perry. We have social media support from
(26:25):
Calypso Rallis. If you like our videos. That is all
Calypso's handiwork for more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. Visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or tune in wherever you
listen to your favorite shows. That's it from us here
at Part Time Genius. Thank you so much for listening.
You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio. Guess what, Mango? What's that? Well?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
All right, let's say I invite you over for ice
cream and give you a dessert spoon to eat it with.
I also offer you coffee from a coffee urned. So
who would we be celebrating here?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Mango? Can I have another clue?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Sure, if you don't want a coffee, I'll serve you
tea with a tea ladle, which.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Sounds nice, but I still have no idea what you're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
You get one more clue, Mega, You know I never
get more than three clues. So I'm throwing this party
for someone who's two hundred and fiftieth birthday just so
happens to be on December sixteenth.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Jane Austen nailed at mango, You're so smart.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Austin was the first
person to use these terms in writing. She didn't necessarily
coin them, but she definitely helped codify them. For example,
the dessert spoon first appeared in a letter she wrote
back in eighteen oh eight. Apparently no one had ever
bothered writing about dessert spoons before. In fact, the OED
credits her with around two hundred different words, and they
(01:20):
run the gamut from the verb to chaperone. The noun
existed before that, but she verbed it. Have you ever
verbed something?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I have?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Pretty impressively. So to the phrase if I've told you once,
I've told you one hundred times, which I think is
like the eternal mom phrase. Right, that's pretty amazing that
what Austin actually wrote was if I have spoken once
to Rebecca about that carpet. I am sure I have
spoken at least a dozen times, but you know it's
the gist.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, that carpet. Second, well, thank you to Jane Austen
for all of those terms. But uh, you know, I
definitely used the if I've told you once a bit,
quite a bit, but I don't really talk about coffee
earns something.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
No, not me either, but it's just nice to know
they're out there. But today we have eight more facts
about the Great Jane Austin in honor of her two
hundred and fiftieth birthday, So let's dive in. Hey, their
(02:33):
podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson,
and as always i'm here with my good friend Mangesh
hot Ticketter and over there in the booth just brooding
on a more as our friend and producer Dylan Fagan,
just brooding.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
It is remarkable how you fit that more backdrop into
that booth, and also just how brooding he looks. He
really does it well, so will. Today is a very
special birthday celebration of Jane Austen. And I'm cure, are
you a fan? Like, were you familiar with her work
before we started working on this episode?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Don't you feel like there was sort of mandatory two
three Jane Austen titles in AP English.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I don't know that I could recite much.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
From them at this point, but I know we read
a decent amount, how about you.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, I mean I have definitely skimmed Jane Austen. I
don't know if I've read Jane Austen, but my mom
was a huge fan, so she and my sister had
not only read everything, but like also watched every single
PBS and BBC adaptation and there's so many of them,
and then all the movies of course, and then the
(03:36):
variations like A Clueless and whatever.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, but I do feel like she's one of those
authors that you read too young in life.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Right, Yeah, let's make a commitment.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Let's return to Jane Austin after this episode in our sixties,
right exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
But I actually remember this one time. I was in Washington,
DC and I was riding the Metro and I saw
this guy who had clearly just worked out and was
coming from the gym. And he looked roided up to me,
and he was like wearing a tank top, and he
looked really gruff, and he was like tatted up, and
he seemed so intimidating. But I could tell he was
(04:11):
reading a book. And you know, I'm a curious cat.
There are also like so many people on the train
that I was like kind of like poking around trying
to figure out what he was reading. And I finally
caught a glimpse of the cover and it was Emma.
But it's perfect. You're totally profiling this guy a picture.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
You actually like climbing up over his muscles to see
the book.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I remember thinking I like this guy more now. Yeah,
you know, anyway, let's get back to the fact. So
one thing I did not realize is that Jane Austen
only completed six novels in her lifetime, oh way, and
four of these were actually published anonymously, but she finished
all her books in the same location, a place called
(04:51):
Chotten Cottage. Chotten Cottage is located, unsurprisingly in Chotten, Hampshire,
which is a small village. It's around fifty miles or
so sod of London, and Jane lived there with her mom,
her sister and her friend for eight years. This was
from eighteen oh nine until she died at the age
of forty one in eighteen seventeen.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Now I noticed you said finished her novels there. Does
that mean she started them somewhere else?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
She did. She wrote the first drafts of three of
her novels, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility in north
Anger Abbey at Steventon House, the country home where she
was born, but she finished those and also Mansfield Park,
Persuasion and Emma all at Chotten and Shotten is actually
a must visit spot for Austin fence. It is maintained
(05:35):
as her house museum and much of it has been
restored to look like it would have been in the
early eighteen hundreds. The museum also holds many of Jane
Austin's possessions like her jewelry, the first editions of her books,
and one of my favorite things is the twelve sided
wooden table where she worked at.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Gotta Love a Good Dodeca Gone Right, And besides writing
these novels and letters at that she probably also used
it to copy down some of her favorite piano scores.
You know, the Austin family and especially Jane, they were
super into music. In twenty fifteen, scholars at the University
of Southampton digitized most of the Austin family music books
collection and made them available to the public. So they're
(06:17):
around twenty volumes of music, and seven of them belonged
specifically to Jane, including titles like Songs and Duets and
Juvenile Songs and lessons for young beginners who don't know
enough to practice. That sort of reminds me of Derek
Zulander's Well was School for kids who don't read good
sort of thing. This one's probably a little better than that.
But she actually copied out by hand.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
That's amazing. So this means she actually played piano.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
She did, and this was a pretty common thing at
the time, like the piano was considered an instrument that
a woman of certain statures should know how to play,
you know, to entertain a husband or potential guest. Jane, however,
did not play for company, but she did like to
practice in the morning before anybody else woke up.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
So what sort of stuff was she jamming on before
anyone could wake up to hear it? Well?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
The family collection includes a lot of popular composers at
the time, like friends Joseph Hayden, as well as you
know folk songs like the Groves of Sweet Myrtle with
lyrics by Scottish poet Robert Burns. There's also some naval songs,
which makes sense. Jane had two brothers who served in
the British Navy, and a song called Crazy Jane that
scholars believe may have been actually a family joke. Now,
(07:28):
Jane may have played nursery rhymes for her nieces and
nephews and sang for them too. According to her family,
she had a really nice singing voice, so even if
she didn't perform them in public, music was a big
part of her life. Some experts actually say it influenced
her writing too, like the rhythm of her language. You
can imagine that being the case.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah, I believe that it's so funny though, like that
she has a nice singing voice, like I've never thought
about Jane Austen's voice. Yeah yeah, And she could have
like a terrible singing voice or ara, like, it wouldn't
have been something I thought about. Worn out. But you know,
I'm going to dedicate this next fact to Dylan, who's
still over there rooting bad. It's terrible, But it turns
(08:08):
out that mister Darcy, the love interest of Elizabeth Bennett
and Pride and Prejudice, may have been inspired by a
real life nobleman that Jane knew. So as a side note,
I know mister Darcy is a beloved figure, So let
me just issue the big caveat that all of this
is conjecture and it's really on the part of Jane
Austen scholars. So I should also say there have been
(08:31):
many possible contenders for this honor through the years, including
a young, good looking and absolutely broke Irish law student.
His name was Thomas Lefroy, whom Jane met in the
late seventeen hundreds. It is unclear if they ever dated
in the current sense of the term, like they made
have gone on walks with things like that, but they
definitely exchanged flirtatious letters, and whatever their situationship was. It
(08:56):
ended when Lefroy married a rich heiress instead.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Oh wow, Well, I'm not sure he deserved her anyway.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I know I don't think you did. More recently, doctor
Susan Law, a writer and Austin aficionado, came to believe
that Darcy may have been based on a guy named
John Parker, more commonly known as Lord Boringdon. Now Jane
knew Lord Boringdon through his second wife, Francis, who was
a close friend of hers, but the word, at least
(09:23):
in Southern England was that everyone kind of knew Lord
Boringdon because of his very scandalous first marriage.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Okay, so you're saying Lord Boringdon was actually pretty interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
He definitely had a reputation as a ladies man. Before
he got married, he had a long and open affair
with a married woman named Lady Elizabeth Monk, but she
wouldn't leave her husband for him. So Boringdon, who was
in his thirties at this point, went ahead and married
an eighteen year old named Augusta Faine. But after a
couple of years he started cheating on Augusta with a
(09:54):
ballerina he'd met, and meanwhile, Lady Elizabeth was also back
in the picture because she was still unwilling to fully
cut things off with Lord Boringdon.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Man, that's pretty juicy, And.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
It actually gets juicier because young Lady Augusta, she's aware
her husband is, you know, Tom catting about, so she
starts having an affair with a guy named Sir Arthur Paget.
And in a weird twist, Paget's brother is married to
one of Lady Elizabeth's daughters. But even more scandalous than
that is that Paget is a college buddy of Lord Boringdon's.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Now I'm trying to keep up with this and to say, like,
how weird that twist is, But I gotta be honest,
I'm getting a little bit lost here. So how about
you just tell me if there's a happy ending to this?
There is?
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Okay, good, Well, after finding out about Augusta's affair, Lord
Boringdon divorced her, which was fined by her. She actually
got married to Sir Paget three days later, and a
couple of months after that, Boringdon marries Jane's friend Francis,
and to everyone surprised both of these marriages actually last.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
All right, so you were talking about how Lord Boringdon
could actually be the inspiration for mister Darcy. Right, but
if you remember, like, they don't sound anything alike. So
how is that?
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, so the academics admit they don't have any actual
proof of this, Like this Darcy comparison is based mostly
on his appearance, even though the physical description of mister
Darcy in the books is pretty minimal if you remember so.
Austin actually writes quote that he drew the attention of
the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features and
(11:29):
noble maine. Apparently Lord Boringdon had all of those qualities,
and because Jane was good friends with his second wife,
she probably spent time with him and could have used
this experience to inform her depiction of mister Darcy's a lore.
But here's a bonus Darcy fact for all of you
Darcy lovers out there. Colin Firth made a huge splash
literally when he played the role in the nineteen nineties
(11:51):
BBC mini series. There is a famous scene where he
goes swimming in the lake, and just last year, that
same costume he wore in that scene sole at auction
for twenty thousand pounds.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Wow, that's a lot of money for some like wet
used clothes, but just goes to show people are passionate
about these characters. All Right, we have to take a
quick break, but when we come back, we'll talk about
Jane Austen's famous fans, the last piece she wrote, and
so much more.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
So stay tuned, Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where
we're celebrating Jane Austen's two hundred and fiftieth birthday. Yes,
(12:40):
and before we get back into Jane Austin facts, I
want to share one of the greatest facts a listener
just sent us. Remember you can get an official Part
Time Genius membership card for free if you send us
your name, your address, and a fun fact. So Christine
and Washington wrote in to tell us that according to
microbiologist Peter Gurgis, the number of microbes in the world
(13:03):
is ten to the twenty seventh power, and if you
laid them all end to end, they'd be one hundred
and five light years.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Wow, Christine, that's so impressive that you laid them all
in to end.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
That's it. Those numbers are so big they.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Actually kind of make my brain hurt, but I actually
love it when people send us facts and cite their sources,
So so good on you, Christine.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I think the ven diagram of people who've listened to
the show and people who appreciate footnotes is definitely a
total circle. So anyway, Christine, your membership card is on
the way, and if you want one to all you
other listeners, email us at high Geniuses at gmail dot com.
That's Hi Geniuses at gmail dot com. You can also
dm us on Instagram or blue Sky, or leave a
(13:44):
voicemail at three O two four oh five five nine
two five. We cannot wait to hear from you and
will Just so you know, we have friends of the
show in Malaysia who sent us a photo of not
only the membership cards but also the atomic fire we
sent them, oh and they said it was too spicy
for the kids, but.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Made it all the way in Malaysia. That's fantastic. Good job,
and I love fireballs.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
I've ever mentioned that before, I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
All right, So back to Jane Austin. You know, one
of the things that really struck me when I was
doing the research for this episode was that despite her
novel's popularity, she didn't make that much money from book
sales while she was alive. In fact, one scholar estimated
that Austin made around six hundred and thirty one pounds
before tax or five hundred and seventy five pounds after tax,
(14:31):
which would work out to about fifty six thousand dollars
in today's money. Now. Obviously, since then the books have
sold a lot more, but it's safe to say that
writing did not make Jane rich in her lifetime. Part
of the reason for this is that she died quite young. Now,
I remember, she was only forty one, and her debut novel,
Since Insensibility, wasn't published until eighteen eleven, just six years
(14:54):
before she died, and her last two novels were published posthumously,
which means she was only alive to see four books
published over the course of six years.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
You know, I get all that, but I'm still kind
of surprised that there was such little money involved.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yeah. Well, like many writers, she had a couple of
less than favorable deals, particularly for her most popular book,
Pride and Prejudice, which was first published in eighteen thirteen,
and for whatever reason, she agreed to a one time
payment of only one hundred and ten pounds. The publisher,
of course, made a lot more money than that, but
by the time she died, her publisher had made more
(15:28):
than four times what they'd paid for that book. Luckily,
she made better deals with her other novels. Instead of
a flat fee, she was able to get a percentage
of her profits. But there was one other snag to this.
The profits for her fourth novel, Emma, were tied to
a reprint of her third novel, Mansfield Park, and although
Mansfield Park's first edition sold well, the second edition did not.
(15:51):
Because of that, she wound up only making about thirty
eight pounds on Emma, and she died before she could
see any additional money from that.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
That is insane. You know, it's funny. They seem like
such unglamorous and contemporary problems like negotiating contracts and tracking
book sales. But you know, lucky for us, that did
not stop Austin from writing, especially because it's fun to
see how her fan base has grown, Like did you
know that Dwayne Wade, the NBA star is a huge
(16:20):
fan Musician BB King and Kelly Clarkson, they are just massive.
Jane Austin fans. I did not know that. No. Kelly
Clarkson is such a big fan that she bought one
of Austin's rings at auction in twenty twelve, but the
Brits weren't happy about it, leaving the country. In fact,
so much so that after Clarkson won this auction, the
(16:41):
UK government put a temporary ban on the rings export,
which gave enough time for other fans, presumably British ones,
to raise enough money to buy the ring from Clarkson
and give it to Jane Austen's House museum, where it
still is today. You know, it's also impossible to overstate
the impact Jane Austin had on English culture. Her books
were actually given to British soldiers in World War One
(17:03):
to help recover from PTSD. Oh interesting, yeah, and along
similar lines. After Rodyard Kipling's son was killed in the
First World War, he actually read Austin's novels to his
wife and daughter as a bit of levity and solace
during their grief. And in nineteen twenty four Kipling wrote
a short story called The Jay Knights. It's about a
soldier serving in France during World War One. He finds
(17:25):
out about this secret club, the Society of the Jay Knights,
which he can join, but he's only allowed entry after
he reads every single one of Austin's novels. So he
starts reading them, and he really isn't into it at first.
He has this great line where he says her books quote,
weren't adventurous, nor smutty, nor what you'd even call interest in.
(17:45):
But he gets through them all. He passes the Society's
tests and he is officially accepted. But the companionship he
finds in the society, plus all their conversations about Jane Austin,
actually helped him get through the dilace. And then when
their bases attack, the guy gets wounded and he's struggling
to board this crowded hospital train and he meets a
(18:07):
nurse and quotes Jane Austen to her and she recognizes
it and then takes pity on him and gets him
on the train. And so Jane Austen in this book
saves his life. Wow. Yeah. Towards the end of the story,
he says, quote, I read all her six books now
for pleasure. You take it for me, brethren. There's no
one to touch Jane when you're in a tight place.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
That's actually pretty sweet, even though it's a funny quote.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
One of the things that soldiers might have been drawn
to was Austin's distinctive style of writing, especially her use
of something literary scholars call free indirect discourse. You know,
it's one of those styles that you may be familiar
with now you may see it pretty frequently. She didn't
invent this style, but actually she was one of the
first writers to use it, so, you know, consistently and effectively,
(18:53):
and that's when you know it really pulls you into
the inner lives of her characters. Actually read one paper
that described it as kind of like a kind of
ventriloquism by the narrator. So it allows Austin, as the
third person, omniscient narrator, to dip in and out of
the character's inner dialogue and thoughts, which makes you feel
like you understand them and know them a little bit better.
(19:14):
Here's actually an example from Emma, which is about a
young woman who has, you know, shall we say, an
unwarranted confidence in her ability to read a romantic situation.
And so early on there's this scene where Emma and
a guy named Frank are alone together We the readers
already know that Emma thinks Frank is in love with her,
but we also understand Emma may not be seeing everything
(19:35):
so clearly. So Austin, you know, kind of plays with this.
So here's what she says. He stopped again, rose again
and seemed quite embarrassed. He was more in love with
her than Emma had supposed. And who can say how
it might have ended if his father had not made
his appearance.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
So it's kind of subtle, and that bit more in
love with her than Emma had supposed. Like that's Emma's voice,
not the narrators.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
That's exactly right, and like all of our own inner voices,
it doesn't always assess the situation accurately, because later in
the novel, Emma will learn that no, Frank is not
in love with her. And even if we the readers
already know this, we get to be part of the
drama as she starts to kind of figure this out.
Free and direct discourse lets us empathize with a character
(20:18):
but laugh at them a little bit at the same time.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Well, on a sado topic, we should talk about how
Jane Austen died. And the thing is even today, no
one knows the cause. Her sister destroyed most of Jane's letters,
anything that talked about medical stuff, So all we have
to go on are some known symptoms, and one of
them was discoloration of her skin, plus some of the
contextual clues. Over the years, many scholars have aligned with
(20:43):
the belief that she died from Addison's disease, which is
an autoimmune disease that affects your adrenal glands, but other
speculations have ranged from tuberculosis to various cancers including hotgkin
lymphoma or lupus, or even complications from drinking raw milk.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I mean, that's not the laugh at it, but that's
a really wide assortment of potentially fatal conditions here. So
I don't know that we really know.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, we didn't really narrow it down, and these are
obviously all theories. But one possibility that stuck out to
me was arsenic poisoning.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Oh really, all right, like an Agatha Christie novel. So
where does that theory come from?
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yeah, So, about a decade or so ago, the British
Library was given three pairs of Jane Austen's eyeglasses, or
at least the family says they were hers, right, and
they were found in her desk. The library was surprised
to learn that each pair had a different prescription and
quite a bit stronger than the last, meaning if these
are the glasses of one person, it suggests that Austin's
vision deteriorated really rapidly in the last couple of years
(21:42):
of her life. The library spoke to an optometrist who
also took a look and said, well, one reason that
her vision got so bad so quickly could be cataracts,
and that's odd for someone who's so young. And something
that can cause that is arsenic poisoning.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
I mean, I get that, but that also feels like
a lot of hypothesizing.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah, I mean, the library was quick to add that
they weren't suggesting she'd been murdered, but also, arsenic was
found in water and medication, even wallpaper back then, so
arsenic poisoning actually wasn't that uncommon for the time, and
it also comes with unusual facial pigmentation. So it's a theory.
It's not a sure thing. That said, I'm sure it
(22:23):
could inspire like a really great bestseller if someone took
it up.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Yeah, that's true, all right, we got one fact left.
So to close this out, I want to tell you
about the very last thing she wrote. Wasn't a story
or even a letter. It was actually a poem.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
So what was the poem about? All right? Well?
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Jane died on July eighteenth, eighteen seventeen, in Winchester, which
is a town near Chawton. She and her sister had
rented a room there to be closer to medical care.
July fifteenth, just a few days before she died, happened
to be a big day for Winchester. It was not
only the feast day of Saint swithin the patron saying
of winch Chester Cathedral. It was also the Winchester Races,
(23:04):
which sound pretty fun and fancy, and you know, these
folks would come dressed up in their nicest clothes and
parade around town. Besides the horse races, there were fairs,
There were balls, public breakfasts, lots of musical performances, just
this big celebration. But there was also this religious element
to it, and Jane wrote about that juxtaposition in her poem.
(23:24):
She wrote about Winchester's crappy summer weather because there's a
superstition that if it rains on Saint Swithin's day, it'll
rain for forty more days, which sounds very Groundhog Day like,
exactly right, except worse and way more British, I guess. So. Anyway,
in the poem, Saint Swiften shows up in Winchester and
is annoyed that everyone's more focused on the festivities than
(23:45):
on him, so he curses the city with bad weather,
effectively raining on their parade. So I'll read you a
few lines which he writes from Saint Swithin's perspective. All right,
here it is these races and revels and dissolute measures
with which you're debasing a name. Bring Plaine, let them stand.
You'll meet with.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Your curse and your pleasures set all for your course.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I'll pursue with my reign.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
You know, I'd have thought Jane Austen would be more
interested in all the like flirting and fun at the
social festivities than the religious aspect of this thing. Although
I mean, I guess her dad was a clergyman.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Right, Yeah, her dad and her grandfather actually they were
both Church of England clergy so you're right, there's not
much explicitly religious content in her novels, but it was
a big part of her life. Her family went to
church and prayed together. Jane read the Bible and other
common religious texts of the day, and some of the
values she upholds in her novels fit right in with
the Enlightenment era church, things like honesty, charity, duty, and
(24:42):
good character. So if you ever visit Winchester, do Jane
Austin a favor. Don't get so caught up in the
fun that you forget Saint Swiften.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Oh I'll never forget so that either ever. Again. We
are taking a break next week for Christmas, so we'll
be sharing a fun holiday themed episode from the vault,
but be sure to tune in on December thirtieth for
the forty fourth annual Part Time Genius Awards. Forty four. Yeah.
It is one of our favorite traditions and has been
(25:12):
for a very long time apparently, and a great way
to close out the year, so please don't miss it.
This episode was written by the wonderful of Marissa Brown.
Thank you so much, Marissa, and from Will Dylan, Gabe,
Mary and myself. Thank you so much for listener. Part
(25:40):
Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. It
is hosted by my good pal will Pearson, who I've
known for almost three decades now. That is insane to me.
I'm the Utaco host, Mangeshatikular aka Mango. Our producer is
Mary Phillips Sandy. She's actually a super producer. I'm going
to fix in post. Our writer is Gabe Lucier, who
(26:03):
I've also known for like a decade at this point,
maybe more. Dylan Fagan is in the booth. He is
always dressed up, always cheering us on, and always ready
to hit record and then mix the show after he
does a great job. I also want to shout out
the executive producers from iHeart my good pals Katrina and
Norvel and Ali Perry. We have social media support from
(26:25):
Calypso Rallis. If you like our videos. That is all
Calypso's handiwork for more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. Visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or tune in wherever you
listen to your favorite shows. That's it from us here
at Part Time Genius. Thank you so much for listening.
Part-Time Genius News
Hosts And Creators
Will Pearson
Mangesh Hattikudur
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