What Would Jane Do?
31 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsJulia Golding, author and a Jane Austen fan, is joined by guests to discuss early nineteenth perspectives on issues in modern life through the lens of the wit and wisdom of Jane Austen. Perfect for fans of Jane Austen or anyone wanting to take a little break from the twenty-first century.
#Jane Austen #PrideandPrejudice #Regency
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Episodes
Season 5 Ep. 1 - What would Jane do...about Mr Darcy's Wet Shirt?
March 09, 2024 12:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBIn a world exclusive the What would Jane do? team interview the person who bought that shirt - yes, you can meet the person who won the auction and find out the plans for it going forward. In the same auction was the yellow pelisse worn in the 2020 Emma - find out where that is going as well. We also talk about Jane and celebrity culture, Byron, Nelson and much more. #JaneAusten Here are the links we mention: Bringing a piece of television history to Calderdale | News Centre - Official n...
Season3 Ep. 13 What would Jane Do...about AI?
December 08, 2023 14:00 - 53 minutes - 36.7 MBIn our seasonal round up of the year we take Jane Austen to confront that theme of the year - artificial intelligence. What are the parallels in her era? Would she embrace change or hate it? Learn about frame breaking and factory reform. Has technology always been coming for our jobs? And stay tuned for some excruciatingly funny Ai attempts at writing in the style of Jane Austen. #Jane Austen To book Chawton House: https:/www.airbnb.com/chawtonhouse To find out about becoming a Jane Auste...
Jane Austen 'Who do you think you are?' - meet her fifth great-niece, Caroline Knight
June 21, 2023 15:00 - 54 minutes - 37.3 MBWhat would Jane do about 'Who do you think you are?' Today we have a very special guest, Caroline Jane Knight, descendent of Jane Austen's brother Edward. Caroline devotes much of her time to the legacy of her famous fifth great aunt, running the Jane Austen Literary Foundation and supporting Chawton House. Find out what it was like to grow up in the family's ancestral home - a Tudor mansion - what it takes to come to terms with losing that home, and the return to enjoying the family associ...
Season 3 Ep. 12 Jane Austen 'Who do you think you are?' - meet her fifth great-niece, Caroline Knight
June 21, 2023 15:00 - 54 minutes - 37.3 MBWhat would Jane do about 'Who do you think you are?' Today we have a very special guest, Caroline Jane Knight, descendent of Jane Austen's brother Edward. Caroline devotes much of her time to the legacy of her famous fifth great aunt, running the Jane Austen Literary Foundation and supporting Chawton House. Find out what it was like to grow up in the family's ancestral home - a Tudor mansion - what it takes to come to terms with losing that home, and the return to enjoying the family associ...
Season 3 Ep.10 Jane Austen and First Impressions
January 28, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 47.6 MBOn the 210th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Julia and Kate discuss first impressions (also the first title of P&P). We run through how first impressions were created in Regency England so if you wanted a quick guide to the society of Jane's era - here it is! We then discuss social mobility and what Jane made of that. Could Jane be understood as an author whose plots are about first impressions? We go on to draw out lessons for today, appoint a Darcy and Wickham of thi...
Season 3 Ep. 9 Jane Austen and Christmas Presents
December 17, 2022 11:00 - 40 minutes - 27.6 MBRecorded on Jane Austen's birthday Julia and Kate turn our attention to the giving and receiving of presents! First we stop by Georgian Christmas traditions and then think about how Jane's presents are like bombs going off in the narrative. Stay tuned for the news and the Darcy and Wickham of the week!
Season 3 Ep 8 Jane and the Darcy Effect (leadership matters)
November 11, 2022 16:00 - 52 minutes - 36.4 MBWe've just come through a period of changing leaders, from the passing of Queen Elizabeth and the changing of Prime Ministers in the UK, to American midterm elections. What would Jane do when it comes to leaders? We look at the range of leaders in her time from royals to military, and then go on to think about her leading men (and ladies). Is the secret of why Mr Darcy is a character who gets into all our hearts because of his leadership qualities? Stay for Austen news including a new book f...
Season 3 Ep. 7 Jane Austen and Adaptations (Persuasion episode!)
July 30, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 42.7 MBWere you delighted or outraged by the recent Netflix adaptation of Persuasion? Well then, this is the podcast for you to vent your views! Julia Golding and Kate Macfarlane take a look at the 18th century tradition of adaptations that Jane Austen herself would have known and in fact uses in her own writing. They then go on the discuss what was right (and wrong) about the 2022 Persuasion, comparing it to previous attempts in 2007 and 1995. Find out which one they think got it right. Do you agr...
Season 3 Ep. 6 Jane Austen and War
June 10, 2022 12:00 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBRecent events have brought war back to the forefront of our minds. Jane Austen lived during a period of almost constant war. It was the background to her life with a huge proportion of the population, including two of her brothers, in the armed services. What was war like in her day? Kate Macfarlane joins Julia Golding to discuss this. Kate has impressive expert knowledge thanks to her time with the 33rd Foot Regiment, a re-enactment group. This really is a must-listen if you want the nitty...
Season 3 Ep. 5 Jane Austen and bookclubs
February 18, 2022 09:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBWho would you like to come to your bookclub? We are guessing many of us would pick Jane Austen. In this episode Julia Golding (Jane Austen Investigates) and Kate MacFarlane, Jane Austen super fan, discuss what were the equivalent in Jane's day, where she got her reading material from, how publishing worked, and we even pause for some short tasters of the kind of books that were best sellers in her day. Prepare to have goosebumps with The Castle of Otranto and some impassioned poetry from Co...
Season 3 Ep. 4 Jane Austen and Masculinity
January 14, 2022 11:00 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBJulia Golding and Kate Macfarlane take a light-hearted look at the questions of what kind of man you should aspire to be! Reviewing the models available in Jane Austen's era, from the 1770s fop to the Byronic heroes of the 1810, they discuss what qualities were expected of men. They then turn to Austen's works and see what she admired - and disliked - in men of her era. Why is there very little description of what people look like in her works? What would she make of our Romance Novel front ...
Season 3 Ep. 2 Jane Austen and What to Wear to the Christmas Party?
December 08, 2021 12:00 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBIn this episode, Julia Golding is joined by Katherine MacFarlane, expert on Regency fashions thanks to her participation in the re-enactment world of the 33rd Foot. (There is also a version of this on YouTube if you want to see the visuals referred to during the discussion.) Where would Jane get her fashion news from and how were clothes bought and designed? Was there such a thing as fast fashion or 'the little black dress'? It is a wide ranging discussion in which they only have time to scr...
Season 3 Ep. 3 Jane Austen and What to Wear to the Christmas Party?
December 08, 2021 12:00 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBIn this episode, Julia Golding is joined by Katherine MacFarlane, expert on Regency fashions thanks to her participation in the re-enactment world of the 33rd Foot. (There is also a version of this on YouTube if you want to see the visuals referred to during the discussion.) Where would Jane get her fashion news from and how were clothes bought and designed? Was there such a thing as fast fashion or 'the little black dress'? It is a wide ranging discussion in which they only have time to scr...
Season 3 Ep. 2 Jane Austen and Oversharing
November 16, 2021 16:00 - 29 minutes - 20.2 MBIt's a modern day epidemic on social media. Suggested by an audience member at the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, Julia Golding takes a look at oversharing in the era of Jane Austen, from letters, to memoirs, to roman à clef, to cartoons, her time was not without its places to spill the beans. Who is the worst oversharer in Emma (there are lots of them!) and what is wrong with being too reticent? Have a listen and then add your thoughts. Also mentioned in this episode is Miss Austen by Gill...
Season 3 Ep. 1 Jane Austen on location in Bath
September 21, 2021 12:00 - 15 minutes - 11 MBJulia Golding and Zoe Wheddon take the podcast to that most Jane Austen of cities: Bath! On the occasion of the Jane Austen Festival, they visit the main sights from Pump Room to Royal Crescent, reflecting on what Jane would make of the city as it is today and what it would have been like when she lived there. To see Julia and Zoe on location, you can watch the podcast here: https://youtu.be/QIy_FcTCp68
Season 2 Ep. 8 Jane Austen and Sport
July 12, 2021 13:00 - 51 minutes - 35.1 MBHang on, there's no sport in Jane Austen surely? Can't remember that tennis match between Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy or Ann Elliott running laps with the Musgroves? True - but once you start looking, there is much more than you think! Zoe and Julia take a quick look at sport at the turn of the nineteenth century from boxing to battledore, and then trace its presence in Jane Austen's life and novels. Discover how she used sporty activities as a metaphor for things going on in the plot, and ponde...
Season 2 Episode 7 Jane Austen and Love Island
June 04, 2021 13:00 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBHave you ever thought about casting Jane away on an island - Love Island to be exact? In this episode, we have a look at the dating culture in Jane's day and compare it to our own version in Love Island and The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Which heroine would not find herself in a thong bikini by the pool and who would love the gossip? Why does Mr Collins deserve his own season of The Bachelor and can you imagine getting the rose from Mr Darcy? What about Captain Wentworth being pursued by the Mu...
Season 2 Episode 6 Jane Austen and #MeToo
June 01, 2021 11:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBHow would Jane Austen fit in with our modern #MeToo movement? It's an interesting question which led us, in this episode, to look at Jane Austen and the #MeToo, breaking it down into terms which make sense in her era: the context of feminist thought and sexual harassment in the late 18th and early 19th century. We discuss the shockingly unequal legal framework in which women lived, early feminists and empowered women such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Caroline Herschel, and then go on to discus...
Season 2 Episode 5 Jane Austen and Childhood
April 17, 2021 14:00 - 54 minutes - 37.2 MBIn this episode Julia Golding and Zoe Wheddon look at Jane Austen and childhood. We investigate how her era invented our modern idea of childhood as a time of innocence. But how was she raised? Did new ideas of Rousseau and natural education make it to the parsonage at Steventon? There were many children in her adult life and she was a much loved aunt to her brothers' children. What games and stories did she play with them? We then go on to look at her novels - there are more children than w...
Episode 4 Jane Austen and Friendship
March 27, 2021 15:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBThis week Zoe Wheddon and Julia Golding discuss what would Jane do about modern friendship, look back at Jane's friendships in real life and in her fiction, as well as swap Jane Austen news and award this episode's Lizzy and Lady Catherine. Would Jane fit in with Taylor Swift's pack or a Facebook fan group? What role does messaging (or old fashioned letter writing) play in creating strong female networks of friends? And is it friendship rather than romance that is the key to understanding...
Season 2 Episode 4 Jane Austen and Friendship
March 27, 2021 15:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBThis week Zoe Wheddon and Julia Golding discuss what would Jane do about modern friendship, look back at Jane's friendships in real life and in her fiction, as well as swap Jane Austen news and award this episode's Lizzy and Lady Catherine. Would Jane fit in with Taylor Swift's pack or a Facebook fan group? What role does messaging (or old fashioned letter writing) play in creating strong female networks of friends? And is it friendship rather than romance that is the key to understanding...
Season 2 Episode 3 Jane Austen and Sex (the Bridgerton episode!)
January 23, 2021 14:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MB*Contains mature content* In this episode, inspired by the Netflix series, Bridgerton, we discuss Jane Austen and sex. What did Jane know about it? What role does it play in her novels? Then we widen the discussion to look at the Georgian world on such matters as contraception, pornography and prostitution. We then discuss Bridgerton - the successes and failures in the series, talk a little about what might be in series 2, and round off with our Darcy and Wickham of the week and Jane Austen...
Season 2 Episode 2 Jane Austen and Christmas
December 16, 2020 12:00 - 29 minutes - 20.1 MBJulia Golding and Zoe Wheddon discuss what would Jane do at Christmas. Find out about Regency traditions, turkeys, snapdragons and much more. We also award our Lizzie and Lady Catherine of the week and catch up on Jane Austen news in an episode recorded on her birthday. For details of the books recommended, here is a list: Jane Austen's Christmas by Maria Hubert, AJane Austen Christmas by Carlo DeVito and Regency Christmas Traditions, Jane Austen Christmas by Maria Grace and also of note is...
Season 2 Episode 1 Jane Austen and the pandemic
November 21, 2020 12:00 - 39 minutes - 27.1 MBFor the second season of What would Jane do? The author and original host, Julia Golding, is joined by Zoe Wheddon, teacher, researcher and writer. They discuss how Jane and her characters would respond to a pandemic, the nature of illness in the early nineteenth century and what treatments were available. Stick around to hear who is this week's Darcy (hooray!) and this week's Wickham (boo!), Jane Austen news and what we will be watching.
Ep 7 - Jane Austen and the Theatre (with Dr David Taylor)
July 03, 2019 10:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBEver wanted to time travel back to the theatre in Jane Austen's time? Find out in this podcast with world expert, Dr David Taylor of St Hugh's College, Oxford, what Jane Austen would have seen when she entered a theatre in the 1790s. Who was there and what did it look like? What plays were on offer? Which writers inspired her? Were there special effects and what were they like? Turning from this, we go on to discuss the influence on her work, particularly looking at Northanger Abbey and Mans...
Ep 6 - Caricature and Political Satire with Dr David Taylor
June 26, 2019 12:00 - 19 minutes - 13.5 MBWhat surprising room might Mr Darcy and guests retire to after dinner? What exactly was Admiral Croft looking at in the shop window in Bath? Where did Jane and Cassandra get their ideas from for their youthful collaboration on The History of England? You can find out the answers to these questions and much more when you listen to Dr David Taylor, St Hugh's College, Oxford, and expert on the political cartoon culture in Jane Austen's era. He can also tell you about how Austen's work has provi...
Ep 5 - On location at Chawton
June 17, 2019 12:00 - 20 minutes - 14.2 MBA very special episode recorded on location at the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton. Listen to Julia Golding in conversation with the museum director, Mary Guyatt and find out how Jane's last home became a museum open to the public. What was daily life like in this home for Jane, her mother and her sister Cassandra? Who made the breakfast and dealt with the tea? What objects in the house feature in her novels? What do visitors learn by coming here that they can't get from books or adaptat...
Ep 4 - Super Heroes
May 27, 2019 15:00 - 26 minutes - 12.4 MBMarvel or DC universe? Iron Man or Batman? Wonder Woman or Black Panther? Our cinema culture has for over a decade been dominated by our love of super heroes. Julia Golding explores how each era makes the heroes suited for its own day. She goes back to the novelists writing before Jane Austen to look at the big rivalry: Richardson Universe v Fielding Universe. Following their negotiation about the nature of the hero, Austen picks this up when she explores what it means to be a heroine in her...
Ep 3 - Gender Identity
May 18, 2019 19:00 - 18 minutes - 8.66 MBQuestions about gender identity may seem to be characteristic of our time, but others have gone before us in challenging societal roles. From Harriet Freke in Maria Edgeworth's Belinda (1801) to the real life Chevalier d'Eon, men and women have been pushing the boundaries of what it means to be male and female. Where does Jane Austen come in this debate? How would she negotiate current questions about how we engage with our gendered social roles? We go from Lady Susan to Persuasion in our qu...
Ep 2 - Jane Austen v Game of Thrones
May 10, 2019 13:00 - 19 minutes - 9.19 MBAre you a GoT fan and/or a Jane Austen one? Can you describe GoT and Jane Austen in 3 little words? Take the challenge and find out what would Jane Austen have made of the cult TV hit. Going back in time for an early nineteenth century perspective, Julia Golding takes a tour of the gothic in fiction and fact, touching on the scandalous hit of the 1790s, The Monk, and the gothic-lite of Ann Radcliffe. Next stop is Lord Byron and his GoT-worthy life. And what would a mash-up of Austen and Thr...
Ep 1 - Social Media
May 04, 2019 12:00 - 19 minutes - 8.82 MBJulia Golding turns to Jane Austen for help with understanding how to handle social media. She first takes a look at the world of eighteenth century society, the networking via letters, and the public disasters that can fall in such a gossipy world. What can we learn today about keeping a balance between our private and public selves and who is handling it in our times with a discretion Jane Austen would've appreciated? Stay tuned to the end of the episode to find out!