Alexandra Urakova joins me for a deep dive into “The Man of the Crowd” and her Gargano-Award-winning essay “‘Penetrating into the Secrets of the Afflicted Heart’: ‘The Man of the Crowd’ and Antebellum Philanthropic Discourse,” published in The Edgar Allan Poe Review in 2023. We discuss Alexandra’s Poe scholarship (1:31), the critical framework of her essay (7:55), her interpretation of the story in relation to philanthropic discourse (13:56), the way her essay departs from notable previous readings (20:21), how teachers could (and why they should!) bring “The Man of the Crowd” into the classroom (29:26), and her current Poe-related works-in-progress (40:10).
