Reclaiming Jane

We're back for a new season with brand new material: adaptations! In this episode, we're segueing directly from our last readings with the TV show Sanditon. Lauren and Emily will also give you a multi-pronged glimpse into some of the controversy surrounding the first season's fandom...

Short and sweet and silly – our favorite way to wrap up a season! Our listener-suggested topics this round:

• Hot air balloons

• 90s Saturday morning toy commercials

• Plant parents

• Colonizing Mars

We will, of course, rarely take the direct route... because it's just more fun.

Here we conclude both Sanditon and our longest season yet – and boy, does it have EVERYTHING. Impossible coincidences, tantalizing suggestions, hypochondria... and a couple of connections to wealth and its effects!

Miss Charlotte Heywood is part of Sanditon now – which means she gets to learn everyone's opinions on everything! And, for better or worse, so do we. Let's explore the town, the empire, and the behavior of certain young gentlemen.

Who's ready for a beach vacation?! Our newest heroine is whisked away by wayward travelers in these first 4 chapters – and of course, we can't let them get away without a little class analysis across time.

Our heroine is plagued by solicitous young men! This second half of "The Watsons" sets up myriad potential plot threads. We lament their lack of resolution, but we'll comfort ourselves (and you?) with some exploration of 18th-century religious revivals and "nice" guys.

Who's that girl? ...It's Emma Watson.

In the first part of this unfinished manuscript, we meet the new girl in town on her way to a perfectly uneventful ball and learn about one of Georgian England's most popular pastimes.

It's a grand finale for our favorite female manipulator! What can she salvage from the remains of her plans? Please also enjoy your hosts' single shared brain cell and some pointed historical critiques.

(Note: we are aware of the issues with Lauren's audio!)

New year, same drama. Lady Susan flaunts her mastery of the gaslight/gatekeep/girlboss creed and flouts feminine convention... but is it going to pay off in the long run?

Do you love mess? Lady Susan Vernon sure does - and so do we, let's be honest. Our final episode of 2024 takes us into a familiar world of high-class drama, plus bite-sized historical and pop culture connections!

The second half of Catharine’s story brings us a new banner entry into the annals of the Austen Character Hate Club! Let’s talk about the follies of young men and why anyone puts up with them…

Not a bad text to bring to an internet culture that's currently a little obsessed with girlhood...

Discover Kitty's joys and sorrows with us in the first part of this story, where we'll also dive into the fates and fancies of her friends.

God grant us the confidence of a mediocre white man.

Join us this time to enter the mind of a rare male Austen protagonist, the luckiest guy in the world. We'll also take you through some of the historical and psychological context that may have gotten him to this point...

Who needs enemies?! The catty denizens of Lesley Castle (and “friends”!) take us through a tragically incomplete story, with guided detours by your hosts into the letter-writers’ educational background and some surprisingly salient parallels from women’s basketball.

(sic)

Every teen's favorite pastime is getting questionable advice from their parents' childhood friends, right? Of course! Join us and poor Marianne as Laura's captive audience for the woeful tale of her youthful adventures, and then become our captives to hear about the Scottish highlands and female coming-of-age stories.

It's a two-for-one special! We're covering the bite-sized works "The Beautifull Cassandra" and "The Visit," while of course finding ways to talk about commerce and literary craft.

Thank you so much for your patience with the delay on this episode!

Eliza: Is it me? Am I the drama?

We are bringing you PLENTY of drama in this episode, from crime to fanfic, as we read Austen's 1788 work "Henry and Eliza."

Our next entry into Austen’s Juvenilia takes us a few years down the road into her teenagehood with “Jack and Alice,” a wild tale of neighborly debauchery, light stalking, and eventual murder (many such cases). We’ll also be talking colonialism and drag, because we have a brand and we intend to stick to it.

We are still wrestling with some technical issues during the transition to remote recording—please bear with us as we work to achieve the best audio quality possible with the available resources.

Content warning: Discussion of suicide from 28:53 to 33:27.

We're entering unexplored territory for both hosts as Lauren and Emily launch into Jane Austen's Juvenilia with "Frederic and Elfrida," written 1787. There's petty drama! There's attempted murder! There's a surprising amount of parallel to 2000s satire!

We are still wrestling with some technical issues during the transition to remote recording—please bear with us as we work to achieve the best audio quality possible with the available resources.

Reclaiming Jane is coming back! Catch up with Lauren and Emily on Wednesday, August 14 as we return to our usual broadcast schedule.

Launch into Season 7 with Jane Austen's Juvenilia. Our first reading will be "Frederic and Elfrida" - as always, we'd love for listeners to read along!

Connect with us on...

We're here for a good time, not for a long time. The topics our audience chose:

• The Office
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Waffles
• Time travel
• Renaissance faires
• Mardi Gras

This episode marks the end of "Phase 1" of Reclaiming Jane! We're taking a few months off to doctorize a host and will return in summer 2024 with new readings, discussions, and shenanigans.

It's our traditional book wrap-up episode, where we reminisce, give advice, and get a little tipsy – now with some unplanned additional reading recommendations?

It's our final reading episode of Northanger Abbey! Not even Catherine's wild imagination could have predicted these anxiety-inducing events... 

Catherine is seeing a little sunlight after the confrontation in a previous chapter, but conses are quencing elsewhere. There are choices and there are CHOICES, just like there's romancing and there's romanticizing...

Catherine's imagination has kicked into high gear – perhaps to the detriment of her relationship with the Tilneys. Join us for a discussion of her particular self-casting as Gothic heroine and a look at who's really working around Northanger Abbey.

Gothic shenanigans are officially afoot as Catherine and the Tilneys make their way to Northanger Abbey! Pay no mind to that mysterious furniture, look at these renovated windows and spontaneous dance numbers instead.

You can't keep Catherine Morland down for long. Despite certain disappointments - and alarming developments - it's more important to remember that wishes do come true... While we talk about legal topics and early 2000s dramas, of course.

Catherine is finally standing up for herself and getting her way - much to John Thorpe's displeasure. There are still plenty of shenanigans afoot, though... Give in to all kinds of temptations in this episode, from the pedantic to the musical!

Red flags abound as we follow Catherine deeper into the ever-more-Gothic novel of her life in Bath! An episode featuring some of our favorite subjects: friendship, fashion, and... a little light kidnapping?

We have almost as much to say as John Thorpe does. Catherine's social circle is expanding with characters new and old – plus we'll take you on a shopping spree, a desert vacation, and an extremely targeted new campaign.

Catherine Morland makes a friend! Catherine Morland had better not even THINK of betraying that friend. We've got authorial tangents, boiled egg water, and infamous rom-com (not Gothic) betrayals in this second episode on Northanger Abbey.

We're starting our final novel with gusto! What exactly is the deal with Austen's first and last heroine, Catherine Morland, and why is she unfit for the job (in her own opinion)?

Your regularly scheduled guaranteed chaos episode is here. The contenders this time around:

• Dungeons & Dragons
• Food Network
• Charles Darwin
• lesbians
• magical realism
• Barbie

Despite our best efforts, we've made it to the end of Persuasion. This time we're sharing our final thoughts and the traditional tipsy advice for certain characters.

We stretched it out as long as we could, and we still weren't prepared for this book to end. Join us for the final chapters of Persuasion, some overdue historical questions, and deliciously painful fiction tropes.

Certain characters really leaned into the episode theme of "generosity"... Anne is finally trusting her own intuitions while we enthusiastically cheer her on. Plus, Italian translation and a little Swiftie moment (accidentally anticipating the week's news again, oops!).

Okay, maybe moderation isn't everything. Anne continues to have a mediocre time in Bath as expected, but there are some very unexpected events brewing... We're also brewing beauty content and a little Downton Abbey moment!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? Join us in following Anne from old haunts to new neighborhoods while she grapples with her own perceptions and those of everyone around her (but especially the other Elliots). Plus, for your entertainment, a bit about Bath and an impromptu book review!

This episode's theme of "completion" is mostly notable in its absence, but we're covering plenty of drama: from the text itself, to an infamous historical figure, to the things that linger uninvited...

It's a contemplative kind of episode - let's talk about the exquisite agony of estrangement and Mary Musgrove's chronic FOMO.

The landscape is changing for Miss Anne as the other Elliots leave for Bath. We're talking about the things that contribute to feeling secure in life – and how that gets interpreted differently depending on gender.

Welcome to a new season! Let's meet the Elliots... Vanity, mortality, and haunting the narrative are the orders of the day.

It's the wrap-up of (spoiler) one of our favorite Austen novels! Listen to find out where Emma stands in our estimation, what we'd say to the characters, and our biggest takeaways from this delightfully infuriating book.

We've reached the final section of Emma! In this episode we're sharing our thoughts on happy endings, some colorful history, and a few last jabs at Mrs. Elton. 

It's the last episode of 2022 and THINGS. ARE. HAPPENING. Dreams destroyed! Wishes fulfilled! New information comes to light! Join our discussions of fancy funerals and secret relationships in this penultimate, hopeful section of Emma.

The characters of Emma decide to make some courageous decisions in these chapters, while your hosts courageously decide to share opinions on fictional characters and celebrities who will never respond. It's basically the same thing. 

In this episode, we're discussing moments of character growth, what makes Knightley's strawberries so exciting, and why the Don't Worry, Darling drama is actually an example of being courageous. 

These chapters feel like balancing on a precipice. While we wait for the next bomb to drop, we're talking about Romanichal history in England and some very distressed damsels.

New challenger approaching... The Eltons are shaking things up in Hartfield! Will Emma stand her ground and assert her place in the hierarchy?

Join us for mail talk and a healthy dose of intersectional feminism.

Emma is beginning to suspect there's something Frank Churchill isn't telling her. We are beginning to suspect there's something Frank Churchill isn't telling anyone. 

We're using our theme of beginnings in this episode to talk about the Regency gentleman's Grand Tour, connect K-pop debuts to young ladies coming out in society, and debate exactly why Frank Churchill made such an extravagant trip to London. (P.S. -- if any generous donors would like to sponsor a Reclaiming Jane 2023 grand tour, we are available. You know. For research.) 

Links to topics discussed in this episode: