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The Words Matter Podcast

The Words Matter Podcast

By Words Matter

Words Matter is the podcast home of the York St John University English Literature team.

In our 'Pass It On' series, lecturers on the Literature programme at York St John University talk about their research interests and activities, to give you a flavour of the kinds of work they’re producing and the ideas that fascinate them.

In our 'Words Matter Lectures' series, you'll hear members of the team deliver public lectures on their work, and on what the study of Literature means to them.
Currently playing episode

EP7. "Uncut Leaves: On Literature and its Uses" (Words Matter Lecture 2022)

The Words Matter PodcastDec 01, 2023

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56:45
EP7. "Uncut Leaves: On Literature and its Uses" (Words Matter Lecture 2022)

EP7. "Uncut Leaves: On Literature and its Uses" (Words Matter Lecture 2022)

Drawing on his research exploring the role played by print in mediating the relationship between citizens and the state throughout the long eighteenth century, Dr. Adam James Smith (Associate Professor, English Literature) considers the "uses" of literature. Adam introduces a series of case-studies in which literature was "used" for the purposes of propaganda, protest and satire during the eighteenth century, before examining the ways in which this same literature was used (and perhaps also abused) by readers and critics.

Music: "knowing Nothing" by Mid Air Machine (Creative Commons License)

Dec 01, 202356:45
EP6. Cheap Print, Satire and Protest in the Eighteenth Century with Dr Adam James Smith

EP6. Cheap Print, Satire and Protest in the Eighteenth Century with Dr Adam James Smith

This is a podcast in which lecturers on the Literature programme at York St John University will talk about their research interests and activities, to give you a flavour of the kinds of work they’re producing and the ideas that fascinate them.

And it’s a podcast with a twist, because as well as talking about their own work, they’re going to ask their colleagues questions about their work, so we’ll be learning more about what our team is doing alongside you, the listeners.

Our fifth interview is with Dr Adam J Smith, Associate Professor in English Literature at York St John University. Adam is interested in the function of cheap print in the eighteenth century, with a particular interest in propaganda, protest and satire.

Conducting the interview is last time's guest, Jo Waugh.

This episode was edited, produced and presented by Drs Adam Smith and Jo Waugh in association with the English Literature programme at York St John University.

Cover Image: "Books or just art?" by Alexandre Dulaunoy, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Music was written and performed by Ketsa and licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License.

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Jan 16, 202325:57
EP5. The Brontës, Contagion, Science and Literature with Dr Jo Waugh

EP5. The Brontës, Contagion, Science and Literature with Dr Jo Waugh

This is a podcast in which lecturers on the Literature programme at York St John University will talk about their research interests and activities, to give you a flavour of the kinds of work they’re producing and the ideas that fascinate them.

And it’s a podcast with a twist, because as well as talking about their own work, they’re going to ask their colleagues questions about their work, so we’ll be learning more about what our team is doing alongside you, the listeners.

Our fifth interview is with Dr Jo Waugh, Senior Lecture in English Literature at York St John University. Jo's is interested in Victorian contagions and literary representations of those contagions, especially with reference to the Brontës.

Conducting the interview is last time's guest, Dr Alex Beaumont.

This episode was edited, produced and presented by Drs Adam Smith and Jo Waugh in association with the English Literature programme at York St John University.

Cover Image: "Books or just art?" by Alexandre Dulaunoy, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Music was written and performed by Ketsa and licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Jun 05, 202227:49
EP4. Time, Place, Politics and the Problem that is "Now" with Dr Alex Beaumont

EP4. Time, Place, Politics and the Problem that is "Now" with Dr Alex Beaumont

This is a podcast in which lecturers on the Literature programme at York St John University will talk about their research interests and activities, to give you a flavor of the kinds of work they’re producing and the ideas that fascinate them.

And it’s a podcast with a twist, because as well as talking about their own work, they’re going to ask their colleagues questions about their work, so we’ll be learning more about what our team is doing alongside you, the listeners.

Our fourth interview is with Dr Alex Beaumont, Senior Lecture in English Literature and Politics at York St John University. Alex's work is is organized around the intersection of politics and spatiality primarily in British cultural production of the period 1945-present. Conducting the interview is last time's guest, Dr Fraser Mann. 

This episode was edited, produced and presented by Drs Adam Smith and Jo Waugh in association with the English Literature programme at York St John University.

Cover Image: "Books or just art?" by Alexandre Dulaunoy, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Music was written and performed by Ketsa and licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Feb 24, 202224:29
EP3. Music Memoir, Masculinity and War with Dr Fraser Mann

EP3. Music Memoir, Masculinity and War with Dr Fraser Mann

This is a podcast in which lecturers on the Literature programme at York St John University will talk about their research interests and activities, to give you a flavour of the kinds of work they’re producing and the ideas that fascinate them.

And it’s a podcast with a twist, because as well as talking about their own work, they’re going to ask their colleagues questions about their work, so we’ll be learning more about what our team is doing alongside you, the listeners.

Our third episode is a conversation with Dr Fraser Mann, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at York St John University. Fraser works on mid-twentieth century American fiction and its relationship with salient socio-cultural phenomena of the same period. His PhD, which he undertook at YSJU, explored the literary representation of masculine combat experience in twentieth-century war narratives. Fraser currently works on literary responses to the First and Second World Wars and the Vietnam conflict, with a particular focus on the anxiety existing between ideological representations of masculinity and the graphic truth of experience in terms of both the corporeal and psychological self. He also works on American Memoir and autobiographical voice, and has written recently on contemporary music memoirs written by key figures from American punk and indie. Conducting the interview is last time's guest, Dr Janine Bradbury.

This episode was edited, produced and presented by Drs Adam Smith and Jo Waugh in association with the English Literature programme at York St John University.

Cover Image: "Books or just art?" by Alexandre Dulaunoy, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Music was written and performed by Ketsa and licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License.


Jan 20, 202227:53
EP2. Black American Literature, Passing and Popular Culture with Dr Janine Bradbury

EP2. Black American Literature, Passing and Popular Culture with Dr Janine Bradbury

This is a podcast in which lecturers on the Literature programme at York St John University will talk about their research interests and activities, to give you a flavour of the kinds of work they’re producing and the ideas that fascinate them.

And it’s a podcast with a twist, because as well as talking about their own work, they’re going to ask their colleagues questions about their work, so we’ll be learning more about what our team is doing alongside you, the listeners.

Our second episode is a discussion with Dr Janine Bradbury, a Senior Lecturer in American Literature at The University of York who, until November 2021, was part of the team at York St John University. Janine wrote her PhD at the University of Sheffield, where she also taught before coming to YSJU where she then worked for eight years. Janine is a poet and interdisciplinary scholar specialising in African American Literature, American popular culture, and, more recently, the colonial history of Trinidad and Tobago. In the interview you’re about to hear, she’ll talk about Black American Literature and the prevalence of the ‘passing narrative’, as well her interests in genealogy, popular culture and wrestling. Asking the questions will be last episode’s interviewee, Dr Anne-Marie Evans. 

This episode was edited, produced and presented by Drs Adam Smith and Jo Waugh in association with the English Literature programme at York St John University.

Cover Image: "Books or just art?" by Alexandre Dulaunoy, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Music was written and performed by Ketsa and licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Dec 08, 202124:49
EP1. Edith Wharton, Celebrity Autobiography and the Post-Apocalypse with Dr Anne-Marie Evans

EP1. Edith Wharton, Celebrity Autobiography and the Post-Apocalypse with Dr Anne-Marie Evans

This is a podcast in which lecturers on the Literature programme at York St John University will talk about their research interests and activities, to give you a flavour of the kinds of work they’re producing and the ideas that fascinate them.

And it’s a podcast with a twist, because as well as talking about their own work, they’re going to ask their colleagues questions about their work, so we’ll be learning more about what our team is doing alongside you, the listeners.

Our first interview is with Dr Anne-Marie Evans, Associate Head of School for English Literature at York St John University. Anne-Marie joined YSJU in 2011, after working previously at both the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Sheffield. At it was at the University of Sheffield that she also completed her PhD about literature, consumerism and the articulation of female identity in early twentieth century American literature. As you’ll hear in the interview, Anne-Marie has since published on such topics as Edith Wharton, Celebrity Autobiography and the Post-Apocalypse.

This episode was edited, produced and presented by Drs Adam Smith and Jo Waugh in association with the English Literature programme at York St John University. 

Cover Image: "Books or just art?" by Alexandre Dulaunoy, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Music was written and performed by Ketsa and licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License.


Nov 04, 202120:59