Get Lit Podcast

Ever wonder when American schools started using textbooks? Curious as to why and how they shaped our education system? Have a burning desire to learn more about early textbook company monopolies? Then do we have a Little Lit episode for you! Join us to explore the answers to all these questions and more in this month's Get a Little Lit episode! 

Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can! This week on Get Lit, we’re revisiting our favorite Old Sport, and author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald! Join us for a deep(er) dive into this iconic author as we unpack the myths and legends that surrounded his life, searching for the proverbial green light amidst the chaos of the 1920's and beyond. 

We're gearing up for lit fest this week! Join us for a beautiful biography of American poet May Swenson, a literary philosophy update, and some classic literary trivia selected and read by our co-co-host, Jack! Learn about all sorts of new ideas in this episode from Swenson on writing, poetry, and living, along with exploring the 'sacred' nature of the recurring text! 

This week, we're featuring playwright/actor Harold Pinter and joined by Pinter enthusiast and literature teacher, Brian Hardie! Stories abound as we cover this prolific playwright, his theatre career, political endeavors, and more. Head across the Atlantic with us for this .... .... .... .... riveting... episode! 

Just in time for the school year, we're profiling Lord of the Flies author William Golding! Join us and learn more about this curious author and the even more curious inspirations for his works! We're also going to crash land in an exploration of processing war through literature and the wild circumstances around the 1960's film version of his first novel! 

We've got a back-to-school special episode for you this week: A Brief History of Pencils! We're investigating the origins of this very humble utensil and answering all the questions you never asked! Why are they called 'Number 2' pencils? What's that metal thing at the end called? How is Henry David Thoreau connected to all this? Find out in this month's Get a Little Lit episode! 

We're kicking off our series celebrating authors who were also teachers with Ida B. Wells! Known for her extraordinary activism in the face of hatred and racism, Wells used her powerful voice as a journalist, lecturer, and teacher to advocate for anti-lynching reform, rights for women, and for Black Americans. This week, we celebrate her life and honor her legacy as a critical voice in American history! 

This week, we're back with an episode on the remarkable Mary Chase. Known for her Pulitzer Prize winning play, Harvey, Chase wrote so much more than she gets credit for. She was a groundbreaking journalist, labor activist, children's book author, playwright, and more. Her perspectives are as refreshing as her work - we promise you'll get just as excited about her as we did! 

We're headed way back to the 10th century this week to discuss the incomparable Hrotsvitha! Her plays help us reconsider the ways women were represented in her time (and beyond) and her robust histories and other work provide us an entirely unique perspective on these topics! Also ft. a not so new, newly discovered clue about medieval comedy. 

Jon takes over hosting this week to bring us a biography of acclaimed playwright Noël Coward. Coward wrote some of the most well-known and frequently produced plays in the Western theatre canon. He helped modernize comedy while acting and directing in the West End, Broadway, and Hollywood! Join us for this star-studded, witty episode we hope does him proud! 

This week, we discuss Emily Barrett Browning's husband, Robert Browning! Also a poet and writer, Browning experimented with the dramatic monologue and wrote a variety of compelling work as he traveled and lived around Europe. His progressive beliefs and willingness to live his life in a way that wasn't entirely conventional make him a figure interesting enough to have his own society of fans even before his death! 

We're back for our 3rd Get a Little Lit Episode, just after the 4th of July: The American Revolution in Print! We take a closer look at the role of the printing press, ink, and paper and their roles in the early American colonies! Plus, there's a National Treasure reference... 

Research and editing by Get Lit Intern Jack Repak!

This 4th of July, we salute the incredible Catharine Maria Sedgwick. Sedgwick chronicled the voices of those not often represented or heard in America in the 19th century. Her work was wide-ranging in subject and style, and she was among the most prolific women writers of her time! She also prolifically turned down marriage proposals... Like we said, incredible! 

This week, Dan Esquivel guest stars during Pride month to feature Howard Ashman, the iconic lyricist, playwright, director, and more behind many of our favorite Disney classics. We have Ashman to thank for things like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and even Little Shop of Horrors. We honor his legacy and celebrate the joy he brought and continues to bring to so many children and adults today.