Best Liz Norman Podcasts (2024)

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641 Blood, Guts, and Books - Inside the Medieval Scriptorium (with Sara Charles) | My Last Book with Elizabeth Coggeshall 1:03:33

6h ago1:03:33

1:03:33

Medieval manuscripts are so wondrously beautiful they deserve comparison with the world's finest works of art. But what lay behind the book's production? We might think of rows of monks, patiently toiling away in a hushed chamber - but that would be to ignore the actual conditions of book production. Sara Charles (The Medieval Scriptorium: Making B…

1
640 Chaucer the Merry Bard (with Mary Flannery) 1:00:28

2d ago1:00:28

1:00:28

Yes, he's the father of English poetry, and yes, he's perhaps best known today for bawdy tales like the Wife of Bath. But who was Geoffrey Chaucer? How did he navigate life during one of the most turbulent periods of English history? And how did he become known as "the merry bard"? In this episode, Jacke talks to biographer Mary Flannery about her …

1
639 Immersed in Print (with Geoffrey Turnovsky) | My Last Book with Liz Rosenberg 1:10:50

7d ago1:10:50

1:10:50

Bibliophiles everywhere know the sweet feeling of getting lost in a book. And like all good literary snobs, we tend to think that full immersion requires a distraction-free relationship between reader and text. But was it always so? After examining early modern French literature, Geoffrey Turnovsky (Reading Typographically: Immersed in Print in Ear…

1
Why Does My Weed Smell Like Cheese? and Other Funky Mysteries with Twinkle Paryani of Abstrax Tech 1:28:35

7d ago1:28:35

1:28:35

There is no doubt that when it comes to aroma, the Cannabis plant is LOUD. Depending on the variety, a host of smells can be found in Cannabis ranging from the sweet and floral to the funky, gassy, savory, and beyond. Chemist Twinkle Paryani has been trying to understand the chemistry behind the spectrum of aromas found in Cannabis and recently une…

1
638 Thomas Mann 1:00:04

9d ago1:00:04

1:00:04

For fifty years, Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann (1875-1955) lived his life as Germany's preeminent novelist and one of Europe's most respected intellectuals. In this episode, Jacke examines the truth behind the public image, as the author of Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice, The Magic Mountain, and Mario and the Magician dealt with artistic triumphs, …

1
637 From the Archives - Heart of Darkness (with Mike Palindrome) | My Last Book with Fred Waitzkin 1:21:28

14d ago1:21:28

1:21:28

We asked, you answered! In response to a listener recommendation, we revisit a conversation from 2017 in which Mike and Jacke discuss Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, and Eleanor Coppola's Hearts of Darkness. PLUS novelist Fred Waitzkin (Searching for Bobby Fisher, Anything Is Good) stops by to discuss his c…

1
636 Emily Dickinson's Letters (with Cristanne Miller) 1:05:15

17d ago1:05:15

1:05:15

Who was Emily Dickinson? We think we know her, or at least one side of her, from her poems. But what was she like when she wasn't writing poetry? What was she like with her friends and family? In this episode, we talk to editor Cristanne Miller about her book The Letters of Emily Dickinson, which presents all 1,304 of Dickinson's extant letters. En…

1
Comedian Rodney Norman Explores the Mysteries of the Universe 56:07

20d ago56:07

56:07

In this episode of Isn’t Life Curious? we join comedian and social media sensation Rodney Norman to talk about the meaning of life and what exactly he finds so funny about it all. Throughout the conversation we are joined by some of Rodney’s friends including Leonard, the World’s Worst Motivational Speaker, to unpack some of their most profound ins…

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635 Darwin and Cataclysmic Change (with Allen MacDuffie) | My Last Book with Adelle Waldman 1:08:03

21d ago1:08:03

1:08:03

Dealing with reality can be difficult enough, but when the nature of that reality is completely overturned - as it is in a case like the climate crisis - we're left with a feeling of intense unease. What does this mean for us? How can we absorb a revelation that threatens to undermine everything we believe about ourselves and our place in the unive…

1
9+ Hour Extraction Deep Dive w/ Murphy Murri (CAC Sessions) 9:12:11

23d ago9:12:11

9:12:11

Session Time Stamps 2:17 – Extraction Basics, Hydrocarbon Safety (2019) 1:35:18 – Remediation, CRC, Chromatography (2021) 3:17:16 – State of Industry in 2022, Medusa Stones, Gas Quality 5:40:33 – Lecture: Extraction Fundamentals (2021) 7:38:06 – Lecture: “Liquid Diamonds” and Product Terminology (2024) Turn a long drive or your lab’s downtime into …

1
634 The Bible: A Global History (with Bruce Gordon) | My Last Book with Michelle P Brown 1:00:35

24d ago1:00:35

1:00:35

For more than two thousand years, the Bible has been an essential part of the world's conception of humanity and its relationship to God. But although it is in some sense timeless and eternal - literally the word of God - the Bible has always meant different things to different people, as individual communities have regarded this sacred book throug…

1
633 Hemingway's Letters (with Sandra Spanier) | My Last Book with Andrew Stauffer 1:12:49

28d ago1:12:49

1:12:49

Discussions of Ernest Hemingway tend to focus on the peaks of his career, which are typically centered around his most famous novels. But Hemingway was busy in between those novels too, writing articles, short stories, and letters to friends and professional acquaintances. In this episode, Jacke talks to Sandra Spanier, general editor of the monume…

1
632 Norman Mailer (with J. Michael Lennon) 1:16:24

1M ago1:16:24

1:16:24

For almost sixty years, Norman Mailer was a fixture on the American literary scene, seemingly as well known for his feuds and personal exploits as he was for his prize-winning novels and groundbreaking journalism. But what was the man really like? As the Library of America commemorates the life and career of Norman Mailer with an edition of his ear…

1
631 Shakespeare's Sisters (with Ramie Targoff) | My Last Book with Sarah Gristwood 56:25

1M ago56:25

56:25

Recently, we talked to novelist Jodi Picoult about her contention that many of the works commonly attributed to Shakespeare were actually written by a woman named Emilia Bassano (a.k.a. Aemilia Lanyer). But even as that compelling theory awaits definitive proof, we already know of several women - Shakespeare's contemporaries - who overcame obstacle…

1
630 Queer Shakespeare (with Will Tosh) | Ray Bradbury and the Search for the Mysterious Mr Electrico 1:09:30

1M ago1:09:30

1:09:30

Was Shakespeare gay? Will Tosh, head of research at Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London, says that question has an easy answer - but more importantly, when it comes to understanding Shakespeare's sexuality, it isn't really the right question to ask. In this episode, Jacke talks to Will about his book Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of Wil…

1
Steven Novella MD Provides a Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe 1:23:18

1M ago1:23:18

1:23:18

To kick off the new show, I wanted to re-release my conversation with Dr. Steven Novella, most famously known as the producer and host of The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Podcast and author of The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe book. Dr. Novella is a neurologist and professor at Yale School of Medicine and an advocate of the skepticism movemen…

1
The CAC Podcast is Now “Isn’t Life Curious?” 3:17

1M ago3:17

3:17

The Curious About Cannabis Podcast is now a show on the Isn’t Life Curious? network. Isn’t Life Curious? continues the curious quest of biologist and science educator Jason Wilson, MS as he delves into the complexities and wonders of life on Earth through engaging conversations with a diverse range of guests, including critical thinkers, philosophe…

1
629 Unlocking the Creative Unconscious (with Kate Feiffer) 1:02:10

2M ago1:02:10

1:02:10

For thousands of years, desperate writers have struggled with the condition known as writer's block. In this episode, Jacke talks to novelist Kate Feiffer about her book Morning Pages, in which a playwright on a tight deadline tries Julia Cameron's trick of starting her day with some stream-of-consciousness writing - with results that threaten to b…

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628 Meet the Woman Who REALLY Wrote Shakespeare's Plays (with Jodi Picoult) | My Last Book with Allison Pataki 1:07:58

2M ago1:07:58

1:07:58

Is it really true? Did the Elizabethan poet Emilia Bassano (sometimes known as Aemelia Lanyer) actually write Shakespeare's works? A bestselling novelist thinks so - and she's turned her research-based theories into an entertaining and thought-provoking work of fiction. In this episode, Jacke talks to Jodi Picoult about her new book BY ANY OTHER NA…

1
627 Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" (with Mark Cirino) 1:05:16

2M ago1:05:16

1:05:16

It's one of the most famous and admired short stories that Ernest Hemingway ever wrote - and also one of the most controversial. In this episode, Hemingway expert Mark Cirino (host of the One True Podcast) joins Jacke for a discussion of "Hills Like White Elephants," in which a terse exchange between two lovers in a remote Spanish train station rev…

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626 Mike Recommends... Roland Barthes! | Storytelling for Fun and Profit with Matt Abrahams 1:04:09

2M ago1:04:09

1:04:09

As fans of literature, we all know how powerful and effective storytelling can be. But can we harness that power to help us communicate in our daily lives? In this episode, Jacke talks to Matt Abrahams (Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot) about the lessons we can learn from literature - and how we can …

1
625 Louisa May Alcott - The Essays (with Liz Rosenberg) 1:06:38

2M ago1:06:38

1:06:38

Since the publication of Little Women in 1868, millions of readers have gotten to know (and love) Louisa May Alcott through her fiction. But in her own day, Alcott was well known as an essayist who wrote on a wide range of subjects, including her father's failed utopian commune and her experience as a Civil War army nurse. In this episode, Jacke ta…

1
624 Top 10 Great Performances (with Laurie Frankel) | My Last Book with James Shapiro 1:07:12

2M ago1:07:12

1:07:12

Theater is by nature ephemeral: even the greatest of performances are fleeting, thrilling a single audience before disappearing into history. But what if you could travel through time and space to be present at any production? Where would you go, and what would you see? In this episode, friend of the podcast Laurie Frankel (Family, Family) helps Ja…

1
623 Unpacking a Japanese Masterpiece - The Hakkenden, or Eight Dogs (with Glynne Walley) | Literature and the Olympics 1:03:04

3M ago1:03:04

1:03:04

The Hakkenden, or Eight Dogs is one of the classics of Japanese literature. In this episode, Jacke talks to translator Glynne Walley about this massive - and massively popular and influential - nineteenth-century novel about eight warriors who band together to defend a princess's clan. PLUS Jacke takes a look at the years when the Olympics awarded …

1
622 Lesbians in the Archives (with Amelia Possanza) 1:10:30

3M ago1:10:30

1:10:30

Lesbians have been around for thousands of years (at least!), but their voices have often fallen victim to censorship, oppression, and ostracization. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Amelia Possanza, whose new book Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives describes Possanza's research into seven love stories for the ages. What can these lesbi…

1
621 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 1:30:41

3M ago1:30:41

1:30:41

For Virginia Woolf, Leo Tolstoy was "the greatest of all novelists," and her argument was simple: "[W]hat else can we call the author of War and Peace?" In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Tolstoy's original plans for the novel; the unusual nature of the book, which Henry James called a "loose, baggy monster"; the contributions of Tolstoy's wife…

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620 Necromantics (with Renee Fox) | Herman Hesse on What We Learn from Trees 1:04:34

3M ago1:04:34

1:04:34

What was the deal with the Victorians and their obsession with reanimating corpses? How did writers like Mary Shelley, Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, W.B. Yeats, Bram Stoker, and others breathe life into the undead - and why did they do it? We can attribute their efforts to the present's desire to remake the past in its own image - but what does…

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619 Fred Waitzkin on Kerouac, Hemingway, and His New Novel | My Last Book with Michael Blanding 56:12

3M ago56:12

56:12

Novelist Fred Waitzkin (Searching for Bobby Fischer) stops by to discuss Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemingway, and his new novel Anything Is Good, which tells the story of a childhood friend who was a genius - and who ended up living among the unhoused for years. PLUS Michael Blanding (In Shakespeare's Shadow: A Rogue Scholar's Quest to Reveal the True S…

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