The Scholar's Armchair

What RILKE can teach us about attention

Have we lost the inner life? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I speak with author and cultural critic Lesley Chamberlain about her book Rilke: The Last Inward Man and the enduring relevance of one of Europe’s greatest poets, Rainer Maria Rilke. Chamberlain argues that Rilke stood at the end of a long tradition of inwardness: a tradition that saw the inner life as a source of meaning, creativity, and spiritual depth. At a time when religion was losing its authority and modernity was transforming society, Rilke sought to discover whether poetry and art could preserve a sense of transcendence in an increasingly fragmented world. In our conversation, we discuss Rilke’s childhood, his relationship with Lou Andreas-Salomé, his transformative journeys to Russia, the influence of Auguste Rodin, the Duino Elegies, the Sonnets to Orpheus, and whether art can replace religion as a source of meaning. Most importantly, we explore a question that feels increasingly urgent today: What happens when a culture loses faith in the value of the inner life? ⸻ Topics discussed: * Rilke and the meaning of inwardness * Attention, solitude, and modern distraction * Poetry, spirituality, and transcendence * Lou Andreas-Salomé and Russia’s influence on Rilke * Rodin and the discipline of attention * The Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus * Art after the decline of religion * Why Rilke still matters today ⸻ Links: Lesley’s book Rilke: The Last Inward Man: https://pushkinpress.com/book/rilke-the-last-inward-man/ Lesley’s Novel The Mozhaisk Road: Russian Heart of Darkness: https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/the-mozhaisk-road _____ If you enjoyed this conversation, please like, subscribe, and share the video. It helps more people discover thoughtful discussions about literature, philosophy, history, and culture. #Rilke #Poetry #Philosophy #Literature #TheScholarsArmchair #LesleyChamberlain #Reading #Culture #Attention #InnerLife #Books #LiteraryCriticism #Modernity #Spirituality #ArtAndMeaning

Why we are still telling the Odyssey story | Prof Joel P Christensen

What makes Odysseus the most enduring figure in all of literature? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I’m joined by Joel P. Christensen to explore one of the most fascinating characters ever created: Odysseus. From Homer’s Odyssey to modern films, novels, and even war narratives, Odysseus has never stopped changing. He is a hero, a liar, a survivor, a strategist, and perhaps one of the first true antiheroes in Western literature. But why has this figure endured when so many others have faded? We explore how Odysseus has been reimagined across history, from ancient Greece to Dante Alighieri, and into modern culture, where he increasingly appears as a traumatised veteran struggling to return home. Along the way, we ask whether the Odyssey is not just a story about adventure, but one of the earliest explorations of identity, storytelling, and survival. If Achilles represents glory, Odysseus represents something closer to us: adaptability, contradiction, and the cost of making it back alive. Why do we keep returning to Odysseus? And what does that say about us? Topics include: The meaning of “the man of many ways” Odysseus as hero vs antihero How different cultures reinvent him Trauma, nostalgia, and the idea of home Why the Odyssey feels more modern than the Iliad Subscribe for more conversations with leading scholars bringing great literature to life. ================== Links: Joel's book Why Odysseus?: https://link.springer.com/book/9783032209863 Joel's profile page: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/people/joel-p-christensen

Why the Victorians Needed Jane AUSTEN | Prof Cheryl Wilson

What did the Victorians really think of Jane Austen — and how did they reshape her legacy? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I speak with Prof Cheryl A. Wilson, author of *Jane Austen and the Victorian Heroine*, about the surprising afterlife of Austen in the nineteenth century. We often think of Austen as timeless — but as Dr Wilson shows, the Victorians didn’t just admire her. They *used* her. Through the figure of the heroine, Austen became a tool for thinking about reading, gender, class, and even national identity. We explore how Victorian writers: * turned Austen into a guide for “good reading” and moral taste * rewrote and adapted her heroines for a changing world * struggled with complex characters like Emma * used Austen in debates about femininity and the New Woman * transformed her into a cultural icon: “England’s Jane” We also discuss Dr Wilson’s fascinating work on *Persuasion*, where she argues that Austen structures the novel like a dance — even without a ballroom scene — revealing new insights into desire, movement, and social mobility. This conversation reveals a different Austen: not fixed, but constantly reinterpreted — and still shaping how we read today. --- Links: Cheryl's book Jane Austen and the Victorian Heroine: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-62965-0 Cheryl's article on dance and Persuasion: https://jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number25/wilson.pdf --- **Subscribe for more conversations with leading literary scholars exploring the big ideas behind classic literature.** #JaneAusten #VictorianLiterature #LiteraryCriticism #Persuasion #ClassicLiterature #Books #TheScholarsArmchair

Virginia WOOLF’s Philosophy of Reality | Prof Thomas Nail

What did Virginia Woolf really mean by her famous “moments of being”? Were they simply flashes of heightened consciousness… or was Woolf trying to reveal something deeper about reality itself? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I’m joined by philosopher Thomas Nail to discuss his fascinating new book The Philosophy of Virginia Woolf: Moments of Becoming. Nail argues that Woolf was not just a novelist of inner life, but a philosopher in her own right — one who saw reality not as made of fixed things, but of movement, flow, and interrelated processes. Together we explore: * Woolf’s “moments of being” * Why Nail calls them “moments of becoming” * Time, perception, and the unstable self * Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and The Waves * Woolf’s relevance to modern philosophy and new materialism * Whether literature can actually change how we perceive reality If you enjoy Virginia Woolf, modernism, philosophy, literary theory, or process thought, this conversation offers a fresh and deeply thought-provoking way into her work. ======================== Links: Thomas’s book: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/philosophy-of-virginia-woolf-9781350526051/ Thomas’s university profile: https://liberalarts.du.edu/about/people/thomas-andrew-nail #VirginiaWoolf #Modernism #Philosophy #Literature #LiteraryTheory #ThomasNail #MrsDalloway #TheWaves #ToTheLighthouse #TheScholarsArmchair

What SHAKESPEARE really teaches us about how to listen | Prof Kent Lehnhof

What if ethics begins not with understanding… but with listening? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I’m joined by Professor Kent Lehnhof to explore his book Voice and Ethics in Shakespeare’s Late Plays — a fascinating rethinking of how we relate to one another through literature, philosophy, and everyday life. Drawing on the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, Lehnhof argues that Shakespeare’s plays are not just about misunderstanding or miscommunication, but about something more fundamental: our failure to truly hear one another. Moving beyond the traditional focus on sight and interpretation, this conversation explores the ethical power of the human voice — not just what is said, but the act of speaking and listening itself. Through plays like King Lear, Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest, we examine how voices can dominate, deceive, disrupt, and ultimately restore human connection. From the collapse of language in tragedy to the redemptive power of listening in Shakespeare’s late romances, this interview uncovers a quietly radical idea: 👉 Ethics begins in the ear, not the eye. This episode will change the way you think about Shakespeare — and perhaps the way you listen to others. Topics discussed include: Why listening is central to ethical life William Shakespeare and the power of voice in drama Levinas, responsibility, and the encounter with the Other The breakdown of language in King Lear The redemptive voice in Pericles Paulina and the ethics of difficult speech in The Winter’s Tale Voice, power, and colonialism in The Tempest ======================================== Links: Kent's book Voice and Ethics in Shakespeare's Late Plays: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/voice-and-ethics-in-shakespeares-late-plays/FEC6657771A30ED5A765AD89AE37C4A2 Kent's profile page: https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/kent-lehnhof.aspx 🎧 Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts