A rigorous, erudite series from the London Review of Books' Close Readings strand, in which host Adam Shatz engages three leading scholars—Judith Butler, Pankaj Mishra and Brent Hayes Edwards—in extended, one-on-one conversations on landmark 20th-century texts. Each guest guides listeners through four foundational works by writers such as Sartre, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Arendt, Du Bois, Césaire, Baraka and Lorde, tracing intellectual and artistic responses to colonialism, racism, exile and oppression. The tone is discursive and academic yet accessible, blending literary criticism, political theory, and cultural history with close textual analysis. Episodes explore how literature, poetry and philosophy became tools of liberation and self-definition amid political upheaval, touching on jazz, négritude, feminism and diasporic identity. Ideal for listeners interested in postcolonial studies, critical theory, and the history of ideas, the podcast rewards those seeking deep, scholarly engagement over casual listening—an intellectual companion to 20th-century thought and its ongoing relevance to contemporary politics and culture.
A rigorous, erudite series from the London Review of Books' Close Readings strand, in which host Adam Shatz engages three leading scholars—Judith Butler, Pankaj Mishra and Brent Hayes Edwards—in extended, one-on-one conversations on landmark 20th-century texts. Each guest guides listeners through four foundational works by writers such as Sartre, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Arendt, Du Bois, Césaire, Baraka and Lorde, tracing intellectual and artistic responses to colonialism, racism, exile and oppression. The tone is discursive and academic yet accessible, blending literary criticism, political theory, and cultural history with close textual analysis. Episodes explore how literature, poetry and philosophy became tools of liberation and self-definition amid political upheaval, touching on jazz, négritude, feminism and diasporic identity. Ideal for listeners interested in postcolonial studies, critical theory, and the history of ideas, the podcast rewards those seeking deep, scholarly engagement over casual listening—an intellectual companion to 20th-century thought and its ongoing relevance to contemporary politics and culture.
