For tens of thousands of years, humans have used fictional devices to create their worlds and communicate with each other. Four thousand years ago, they began writing these stories down, and with them began a golden age of human achievement. We now know it as literature, a term broad enough to encompass everything from ancient epic poetry to contemporary novels. How did literature evolve? What forms did it take? And what can we learn from engaging with these works today?

Moderated by Jacke Wilson, an amateur scholar with a lifelong passion for literature, The history of literature takes a new look at some of the most compelling examples of creative genius the world has ever seen.

Since the release of Little Woman In 1868, millions of readers came to know (and love) Louisa May Alcott through her novels. But in her time, Alcott was known as an essayist who wrote about a wide range of subjects, including her father’s failed utopian commune and her experiences as an army nurse in the Civil War. In this episode, Jacke speaks with Alcott biographer and editor Liz Rosenberg (Doodles, worries and reddish-brown leather boots: The life of Louisa May Alcott) about her new book, A Strange Life: Selected Essays by Louisa May Alcott.

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