The Classic English Literature Podcast

• Nasty, Brutish, and Naturally Free: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and the Social Contract

  Send us a textThe political upheavals of 17th century England demanded new answers for old political questions: what is the purpose of government, how is power legitimated, and who may wield it?  Philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke reasoned from the same premises, but arrived at rather different conclusions.  Balancing those conclusions is the primary task of liberal democracies to this day.Texts:Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes: https://gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm"Second Treatise on Government" by John Locke: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/7370-h/7370-h.htmLeviathan frontispiece: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/18182/leviathan-frontispiece/Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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• Early Science Fiction: Lunar Geese and Blazing Worlds

  Send us a textWe often think of science fiction as a particularly modern genre of storytelling, born of the science and technology of the electronic and digital age.  But speculative fiction goes back centuries, back to the beginning of what we now call the Scientific Revolution of the 1600s.  On today's show, we look at two of the foundational books in the genre: Francis Godwin's The Man in the Moon and Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World.  May the Force be with us!Links to Texts:The Man in the Moon: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/46591/pg46591-images.htmlThe Blazing World: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/51783/pg51783-images.htmlSupport the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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• A Garden and a Coy Mistress: Andrew Marvell

  Send us a textWhich is better: the life of ascetic contemplation or one of passionate sensuality?  Let's see what the last great poet of the Stuart era, Andrew Marvell, has to say about that.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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• The Earliest Tales of Robin Hood (Out of Time Episode 2)

  Send us a textHere's another episode in our foundling series "Out of Time."  Today, I correct an oversight from our 15th century literature discussions and survey the very earliest surviving tales of the outlaw and all-around-swell-guy Robin Hood!  Let's jump in the Wayback Machine!Here's a link to the Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester, where you can find the texts we're discussing today and a wealth of other resources! https://d.lib.rochester.edu/project/robin-hood/about.htmlSupport the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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• To Justify the Ways of God: John Milton's Paradise Lost (episode 2)

  Send us a textWe return to Milton's magnificent octopus today with an eye toward evaluating the epic's success according to its own mission statement: "to justify the ways of God to men."  How does Milton approach the great theological problems of evil and suffering, divine foreknowledge, and free will?Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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