Why Jane Austen Still Slaps

Her women speak. What a concept!

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth is joined by culture writer Anna Nordberg to talk all about Jane Austen. The romance novelist may have written her seven books well over a century ago, but as Cheyna and Anna discuss, her work still endures in popular culture. They talk about why Austen’s characters are even more modern than the men and women we see on screen today and why some of the men are kind of meh. Later in the show, they talk about what makes an endearing Jane Austen adaptation, and why Netflix’s Persuasion fails so miserably.

In Slate Plus, are Jane Austen’s proposals feminist?

Recommendations:

Anna: The 1995 Sense and Sensibility adaptation starring Emma Thompson.

Cheyna: The music of Cosmo Jarvis. Plus a dedication to a beloved professor, Dr. Brent Chesley.

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus, Daisy Rosario, and Alicia Montgomery.