Shows
The Trans-AtlanticistLiterature of Chicago: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906)with Andrew Sola, Douglas Cowie, and Dominic Pacyga
This episode is part of the ChicagoHamburg30 podcast series, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of the Chicago-Hamburg Sister-City Partnership.
No industry shaped Chicago more decisively than the meatpacking industry, and no book exposed the rapacious, exploitative and vicious character of the meatpacking industry more than Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906).
In this episode, we explore the origins and explosive growth of the meatpacking industry, the brutal working conditions on the bloody killing floors, the emergence of literature about Chicago in the early 1900s, the importance of Lithuanians in Chicago...2024-06-251h 15The Trans-AtlanticistNovelRomantics: Literature of Chicago Series: The Poetry of Gwendolyn Brookswith Douglas Cowie and Adrienne Brown
In this episode, Douglas Cowie and Adrienne Brown (University of Chicago) discuss the life and poetry of Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks. They talk about her poems that document life in Chicago, "Kitchenette Building," "In the Mecca," "Chicago Picasso," and "The Wall," and unpack the social, economic, racial, cultural, and political history that informs her life and work.
Please see these links for further information about topics mentioned in the episode:
Gwendolyn Brooks and others reading her poetry:
The Library of Congress Audio: https://www.loc.gov/item/85755182/
...2023-05-061h 06The Trans-AtlanticistNovelRomAntics: Literature of Chicago Series: Stuart Dybek's The Coast of Chicagowith Douglas Cowie and Gregory Miller
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Gregory Miller, discuss Stuart Dybek's 1990 book of short stories, The Coast of Chicago. In particular, they place Dybek's depiction of the shifting demographics of the Pilsen neighborhood into broader contexts, and also look at Dybek's lyrical, musical writing style, and the effects it accomplishes.2022-12-2756 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovelRomAntics: Literature of Chicago Series: Carl Sandburg's Chicago Poemswith Douglas Cowie and Michael Coyle
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Professor Michael Coyle, discuss Carl Sandburg's 1919 collection, Chicago Poems. They interpret a handful of poems, including his most famous poem, Chicago, which begins with the memorable lines: "Hog butcher of the World / Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat / Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler / Stormy, husky, brawling, / City of Big Shoulders." Also, they assess Sandburg's place in American poetry more generally.2022-12-2357 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics: Literature of Chicago Series #5: Aleksandar Hemon's The Lazarus Projectwith Douglas Cowie and Robert Eaglestone
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Professor Robert Eaglestone discuss The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon, published in 2008. The conversation looks at the novel's structure, and its development of themes of immigrant and refugee identity, ethnic cleansing, trauma, language, and much more.2022-12-0250 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics: Literature of Chicago Series #4: The House on Mango Street by S. Cisneroswith Douglas Cowie and Alina Borger
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, poet and teacher Alina Borger, discuss The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. They begin by exploring why the novel makes for useful study on a high school curriculum, and move to a wide-ranging discussion of its place as a novel of Chicago, its structure, and the many themes that emerge from its center as a novel about a Latina girl's tentative steps towards adolescence.2022-11-1854 minThe Trans-AtlanticistReading Slaughterhouse-Five on Kurt Vonnegut's 100th Birthdaywith Dr. Douglas Cowie and Dr. Wieland Schwanebeck
The Amerikazentrum Hamburg commemorates Kurt Vonnegut's 100th birthday with a special podcast about his seminal novel Slaughterhouse-Five. The Amerikazentrum will also be hosting a Virtual Vonnegut Birthday Celebration live on ZOOM on Saturday Nov. 19 from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. CET. The expert panel includes Dr. Wieland Schwanebeck, Vonnegut biographer Charles J. Shields, and Jan-Christian Petersen. Please visit our website to register for the event: amerikazentrum.de.2022-11-111h 10The Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics Literature of Chicago Series #3: Nelson Algren's The Man with the Golden Arm (1949)with Douglas Cowie and Mark Blottner
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, documentary filmmaker Mark Blottner, discuss The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren. Published in 1949, it tells the story of a war veteran's struggle with morphine addiction, and in so doing paints a portrait of a marginal neighborhood in Chicago and its people.2022-08-2646 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics Literature of Chicago Series #2: Richard Wright's Native Son (1940)with Douglas Cowie and Ryan Gattis
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, writer Ryan Gattis, discuss Native Son by Richard Wright. Published in 1940, it tells the story of a young Black Chicagoan who murders a White heiress, and the personal, social and political consequences that ensue.2022-08-1256 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics Literature of Chicago Series #1: Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie (1900)with Douglas Cowie and Katie McGettigan
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Dr. Katie McGettigan, Senior Lecturer in American Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London, discuss Sister Carrie, a novel by Theodore Dreiser. Published in 1900, it tells the story of a young woman seduced by the material trappings of Chicago and its men2022-07-2955 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics #10: Yaa Gyasi's Transcendent Kingdomwith Douglas Cowie and Gregory Miller
In the final episode of the first series of Novel RomAntics, host Douglas Cowie and guest Gregory Miller, a Wisconsin-based educator, discuss Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, a novel that, while telling a story of opiate addiction in the USA, contemplates matters of science, faith, race, immigration, and family.2021-12-1057 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics #9: Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archivewith Douglas Cowie and Ryan Gattis
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Los Angeles-based writer Ryan Gattis, discuss Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli, a road novel about a family traveling from New York City to the Mexican-American border. Check out Ryan's novels at ryangattis.com.2021-11-1158 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovelRomAntics #8: Nghi Vo's The Chosen and the Beautifulwith Douglas Cowie and Michael Coyle
In the second of two episodes about reinterpretations of The Great Gatsby, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Michael Coyle, discuss The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, in which Daisy Buchanan's golf star friend Jordan Baker narrates a dark, fantastical and politically-charged version of the same events that Nick Carraway tells in Fitzgerald's 1925 novel.2021-10-1451 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics #7: "No One Is Coming to Save Us" by Stephanie Powell Wattswith Douglas Cowie and Michael Coyle
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Professor of English at Colgate University, Michael Coyle, discuss No One Is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts. This is the first of two episodes in which Douglas and Michael discuss novels that are based in different ways on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby.2021-09-091h 04The Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics #6: Willy Vlautin's The Night Always Comeswith Douglas Cowie and Robert Eaglestone
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Professor Robert Eaglestone, discuss The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin, a novel set in Portland, Oregon that dramatizes the human cost of the economic crash. They also touch on the relationship between Willy Vlautin's fiction writing and his songwriting2021-08-1247 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics #5: Lesley Nneka Arimah's What It Means When a Man Falls from the Skywith Douglas Cowie and Nadifa Mohamed
In this episode, novelist Nadifa Mohamed and host Douglas Cowie discuss What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, a collection of short stories by Lesley Nneka Arimah. They discuss several of the stories, and the overlaps and differences in cultural expectations between the United States and Africa, the pressures of young womanhood, and more. Nadifa Mohamed's latest novel, The Fortune Men, is published by Penguin, and will be available in German from September, under the titel Der Geist von Tiger Bay, published by C.H. Beck Verlag.2021-06-1745 min
Marc's Morning Show MiscellanyIsle of Man top DJ Neil Cowie talks to Marc Tyley.Neil Cowie, the resident DJ at 1886 in Douglas talks to Marc Tyley and chooses for great tracks.2021-05-2039 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics #4: Madeline Miller's Circewith Douglas Cowie and Hannah Bean
In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Classicist Hannah Bean, discuss Circe by Madeline Miller. The novel reimagines and retells the story of one of the characters Odysseus encounters in The Odyssey of Homer, and the discussion looks both at the roots of the story, other tellings of it, and some of the specifics of how Miller imagines these roots into a contemporary novel.2021-05-1351 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovel RomAntics #3: Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Futurewith Douglas Cowie and Adam Roberts
In Episode 3, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, science fiction writer Adam Roberts, discuss The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, an ambitious novel set in the near future that tells the story of a global effort to slow impending environmental collapse.
Please also see Adam Robert's post about the novel here https://sibilantfricative.blogspot.com/2020/10/kim-stanley-robinson-ministry-for.html2021-04-0847 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovelROMANtics #2: Colum McCann's Apeirogonwith Douglas Cowie and Shane Carmichael
March is Irish-American Heritage Month in the United States. In Episode #2 of NovelROMANtics, host Douglas Cowie and his guest Shane Carmichael discuss Apeirogon by Colum McCann, an Irish storyteller living in New York. They discuss the intersection of storytelling, conflict, and global politics with respect to McCann's multifaceted novel.2021-03-1148 minThe Trans-AtlanticistNovelROMANtics #1: Attica Locke's Bluebird,Bluebird and Heaven, My Homewith Douglas Cowie and Oli Belas
February is African-American History month in the United States, and the Trans-Atlanticist is celebrating with a number of podcasts about African-American authors.
For this first episode of NovelROMANtics, host Dr. Douglas Cowie and his guest, Dr. Oli Belas of University of Bedfordshire, discuss a pair of crime novels by Attica Locke: Blue Bird, Blue Bird and Heaven, My Home, both of which follow black Texas Ranger Darren Matthews as he tries to unravel the truth of a complicated set of white-supremacist hate crimes in rural East Texas.2021-02-111h 09
Your Health Hustle ShowYHHS 008 Andy Baston Crossfit and GolffitThis weeks guest Andrew Baston (@ajbaston) is a real rare hybrid, being both a PGA golfer/coach and professional Crossfit coach with bright Nike shoes. We talk about his early life in Gosforth where doing the normal kids approach to sport via football, Andy found his passion for golf which in turn was to become his purpose by accepting the chance at 17 years old of a full golfing scholarship in Columbus, Georgia playing regularly at Bull Creek Golf Course. Returning to the UK to play professionally and coach , the chance youtube viewing of a Crossfit workout inspired him to seek...2019-06-141h 17
Your Health Hustle ShowYHHS 008 Andy Baston Crossfit and Golffit This weeks guest Andrew Baston (@ajbaston) is a real rare hybrid, being both a PGA golfer/coach and professional Crossfit coach with bright Nike shoes. We talk about his early life in Gosforth where doing the normal kids approach to sport via football, Andy found his passion for golf which in turn was to become his purpose by accepting the chance at 17 years old of a full golfing scholarship in Columbus, Georgia playing regularly at Bull Creek Golf Course. Returning to the UK to play professionally and coach , the chance youtube viewing of a Crossfit workout inspired him to seek...2019-06-141h 17
Past ForwardTuna Bora, Douglas Cowie, and Lon KoontzA live recording at The Last Bookstore with Douglas Cowie, Tuna Bora, and Lon Koontz.Producer: Jon-Barrett IngelsHost: Jon-Barrett IngelsGuests: Tuna Bora, Douglas Cowie, and Lon Koontz
2018-03-0424 min
Past ForwardLive at The Last BookstoreToday we're live at The Last Bookstore with Douglas Cowie, Tuna Bora, and Lon Koontz.Producer: Jon-Barrett IngelsHost: Jon-Barrett IngelsGuests: Tuna Bora, Douglas Cowie, and Lon Koontz
2018-03-0424 min
Summer 2011 | Public lectures and events | VideoBerlin, Seventh of November – History in Nonhistorical Fiction: a discussion and readingContributor(s): Dr Douglas Cowie | In this series, an historian, a novelist and a literary critic explore the ways in which memory, literature and history shape contemporary Europe. Douglas Cowie is a novelist and lecturer in the English department at Royal Holloway, University of London. This event is part of the Jean Monnet 'Europe Beyond Governance' Lecture Series.2011-05-171h 10Summer 2011 | Public lectures and events | Audio and pdfBerlin, Seventh of November – History in Nonhistorical Fiction: a discussion and readingContributor(s): Dr Douglas Cowie | In this series, an historian, a novelist and a literary critic explore the ways in which memory, literature and history shape contemporary Europe. Douglas Cowie is a novelist and lecturer in the English department at Royal Holloway, University of London. This event is part of the Jean Monnet 'Europe Beyond Governance' Lecture Series.2011-05-171h 10Summer 2011 | Public lectures and events | Audio and pdfBerlin, Seventh of November – History in Nonhistorical Fiction: a discussion and readingContributor(s): Dr Douglas Cowie | In this series, an historian, a novelist and a literary critic explore the ways in which memory, literature and history shape contemporary Europe. Douglas Cowie is a novelist and lecturer in the English department at Royal Holloway, University of London. This event is part of the Jean Monnet 'Europe Beyond Governance' Lecture Series.2011-05-171h 10Summer 2011 | Public lectures and events | VideoBerlin, Seventh of November – History in Nonhistorical Fiction: a discussion and readingContributor(s): Dr Douglas Cowie | In this series, an historian, a novelist and a literary critic explore the ways in which memory, literature and history shape contemporary Europe. Douglas Cowie is a novelist and lecturer in the English department at Royal Holloway, University of London. This event is part of the Jean Monnet 'Europe Beyond Governance' Lecture Series.2011-05-171h 10