Thinking Aloud

Audio interviews with BYU Humanities Faculty, originally broadcast on the KBYU 'Thinking Aloud' Program.

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• Power of Tolkien's Prose, Steven Walker and Jay Fox

  Steven Walker and Jay Fox discuss how and why Tolkien is not generally accepted by critics as on of the "great works" of English, but why in their mind his style of allowing his readers to help create this new world and the intense creation he has already done make him one of the most influential authors in English.

• The Cult of the Literary Pilgrimage, Paul Westover

  This broadcast discusses why people return to the places where authors or famous composers have lived. What are their motivations and hopes in what they will find? It speaks of places from the Midwestern United States to the beauties of Europe.

• American History through Literature, Keith Lawrence

  This broadcast looks at the different lenses that you can use to look at American history. They specifically look at how literature plays a role in studying history. They look at some non-fiction works, but primarily they look at fiction books and look at it as part of history.

• Macbeth on Stage at BYU, Bruce Young

  Our world of the 21st century probably resembles the world of Shakespeare far more than the world of Shakespeare fits the world of Macbeth. If ever there was a usurpation, this is it. This new story has essentially become the only real Macbeth to us. And as it happens, the story is currently on stage at BYU.

• Poet Lance Larsen, Lance Larsen

  Lance Larsen's poetry has been published far and wide, garnering several awards. His recent collection of poems, Backyard Alchemy, is very much grounded in the real world but filled with highly imaginative language that challenges readers to reconsider, and delight in, the quotidian. Today, Larsen gives voice to these new poems, presenting the unique experience of an author reading his own work out loud.

• Vernice Wineera, Jay Fox

  Vernice Wineera is part Maori, part British. She's a painter, a poet, and an educator. We're pleased to introduce Vernice Wineera to you, a day before she delivers the Nan Osmond Grass Lecture at the BYU Department of English. Pacific Perspectives on how literature helps shape cultural identity, on today's Thinking Aloud.

• Black History Events, Chris Crowe

  As Black History Month comes to a close, we are taking a few moments to reflect on significant events that have shaped time. We are Thinking Aloud about a history that deserves recognition.

• The History of the Life and Adventures of Mr. Anderson, Nicholas Mason

  The title of today's show comes from a novel written by a British explorer in 1754. This transatlantic tale offers a unique and compelling perspective on American life in the expanding Atlantic world of the mid 18th Century. Although popular during its time, the book slipped into obscurity for 250 years. Nick Mason and Matt Mason recently discovered the text and argue for its importance in a new critical edition. Our guests make the case for a progressive author and the idea that this book, although written by an Englishman, could represent the first American novel.

• The Robert Burns Collection at the BYU Library, Matthew Wickman

  He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language and regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic Movement. Poet and lyricist Robert Burns is a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world. A celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. On today's Thinking Aloud, Marcus Smith hosts Matthew Wickman and Maggie Gallup Kopp. The two collaborated on an exhibition at the BYU Harold B. Lee Library titled: Robert Burns and the Poetic Image.

• American History Through Literature, Keith Lawrence

  On this Thanksgiving Day, when you're spending time with your family, think about American history and the different events that shaped the United States. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he discovered something he wasn't looking for ? the Americas. But some people say American history didn't begin with Christopher Columbus, and one thing we know for sure is that we make history every day. We're talking to Keith Lawrence of the BYU English Department about American history from the pages of literary works.

• Essayist Ian Frazier, Patrick Madden

  Ian Frazier has been called one of America's greatest living essayists. With over thirty years experience as a writer and humorist for The New Yorker, Frazier is a distinct and insightful voice in American literature. Whether he's writing about New York, the great plains, or the odd things he says to his children, Frazier always reveals something new in the familiar, something funny in the mundane.

• Poet Idris Anderson, Jesse Crisler

  Idris Anderson is the 2008 recipient of the May Swenson Poetry Award, a significant national award for poetry in the English language. Her publisher describes her poetic voice as having little interest in ideology, but great concern for lived experience in all its richness. Eminent literary critic Harold Bloom says Anderson's "grave, measured poetic voice" won him over instantly. Anderson visited BYU last week and stopped by to talk to English faculty memmber Jesse Crisler.

• Poet Robert Wrigley, Lance Larsen

  Robert Wrigley is a much published contemporary poet, author of Lives of the Animals, Reign of Snakes, and In the Bank of Beautiful Sins. He's winner of a long litany of national awards and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Idaho State Commission on the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In this interview with English faculty member Lance Larsen, we'll talk part theory, part method, part motivation, and of course, we'll ask the poet to read some of his work.

• The Essential Themes of C.S. Lewis, Bruce Young & Steve Walker

  Let's take a walk with C.S. Lewis through the back of a commonplace wardrobe. "A step further in ? then two or three steps?" What do we find? The novels of C.S. Lewis guide us into worlds often laced with themes. Our guides Bruce Young and Steven Walker lead us through the themes and positions of C.S. Lewis.

• Presidential Rhetoric, Gary Hatch

  At the height of the 2008 presidential campaign, we Americans have a love-hate relationship with the candidates and the political process. We love to hate them, and then somewhat schizophrenically hate loving them as much as we do. Don't be disillusioned into believing that Thinking Aloud will jump on the national bandwagon of mudslinging and partisan analysis; we'll be treating the current presidential campaigns through the lens of a venerable, timeless discipline-not one bit sensational-the discipline of rhetorical analysis. Join us for compelling ideas you'll be able to use long after people have completely forgotten the names Obama and McCain.

• A Metaphorical God with Poet Kimberly Johnson, Kimberly Johnson

  Poet Kimberly Johnson joins host Marcus Smith to talk about her recent collection of poetry titled: A Metaphorical God. Johnson is a poet, translator, and Renaissance scholar who currently teaches creative writing at BYU. Johnson is the author of a previous collection of poetry titled: Leviathan with a Hook, and a translation of Virgil's Georgics. Her poems appear widely in such publications as The New Yorker, Slate and The Iowa Review.

• Great Works: A Raisin in the Sun , Kristin Matthews

  A Raisin in the Sun is a phrase from a Langston Hughes poem titled Harlem, or A Dream Deferred. Lorraine Hansberry borrowed the phrase as the title for her own classic play. In the play and later movie A Raisin in the Sun, we engage with a plurality of dreams, an abundance of personal and collective visions. Kristin Matthews helps us engage with this American classic.

• Feminazis or Ardent Advocates? , Kristine Hansen

  When tracing the genealogy of human rights activism, it's hard to know precisely where to begin. But in the English-speaking world, the lineage of human rights as it relates to women can almost certainly be traced back to one Mary Wollstonecraft. We'll examine a tradition of rhetorical prowess, from Wollstonecraft to Virginia Woolf, with our guest Kristine Hansen.

• Young adult literature, Chris Crowe

  Think back to your high school days. Who ever really wanted to read the Scarlet Letter ? More tellingly, did reading the Scarlet Letter at that age make you want to read? We live in a new age of literary legitimacy, with room for more than the established classics. We'll look (perhaps in vain) for the boundary between serious reading and guilty pleasure, as we discuss Young Adult Literature with New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale.

• Philanthropy in British and American Fiction, Frank Christianson

  BYU English Professor Frank Christianson discusses his book Philanthropy in British and American Fiction. His book explores the relationship between philanthropy and literary realism in novels by Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, George Eliot, and William Dean Howells. We'll discuss the subsequent influence these writers had on the rise of modern philanthropy. Edinburgh University Press published the title as part of their Edinburgh Studies in Transatlantic Literatures Series.

• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard Duerden

  What happens when you take an Amazonian warrior queen and an Athenian ruler, introduce an ever-shifting love-quadrangle, throw in a quarreling worldly king and queen and their earthy servants, add an Indian changeling, and toss in a lovably pompous troupe of British clowns. You get a "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Our guests on today's Thinking Aloud know this play inside and out.

• Cliché and Collusion, Danette Paul

  On today's Thinking Aloud we talk about "Cliché and Collusion," an exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art.

• Shakespeare with Brandie Siegfried, Brandie Siegfried

  On today's Thinking Aloud, we're discussing Shakespeare with BYU English professor Brandie Siegfried. Siegfried investigates not only our own views, but also historic perspectives about the locus of an experience we call Shakespeare.

• The Christian Eye, John Bennion

  We're devoting ourselves to reflection, to thoughts and ideas, particularly self-expression while we follow some BYU students on a hike across England. We're talking with two BYU students and their professor about a new documentary titled The Christian Eye: An Essay Across England. This documentary aired on BYU-TV in February.

• African-American Food Cultures, Jill Rudy

  Psyche Williams-Forson is a faculty member in the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland. She teams up with Jill Rudy of BYU's English department To talk about foods influenced by African-America culture.

• Black Mormon Pioneers, Margaret Young

  Darius Gray and Margaret Young are Thinking Aloud about the influence of early Mormon Pioneers. Both are historians and have co-authored the book, "Standing on the Promises," a compilation of stories about black LDS pioneers, their struggles, and their faith.