Let Genius Burn

Jamie Burgess & Jill Fuller
  • 5.0 (37)
  • History
  • Weekly Series

Louisa May Alcott may be best known for the beloved book Little Women, but her story doesn’t begin or end with her famous novel. On Let Genius Burn, we separate the layers of Louisa’s life to learn more about who she really was--and all the ways her legacy continues to resonate today. We’ll explore the traumatic year of her childhood spent in an experimental utopian community, her service as a Civil War nurse, her final years of wealth and celebrity as a children’s author--and more intimate details and little-known stories of Louisa’s life. Instead of a retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s biography, each episode in the 8-part series examines Louisa's life through a different lens--Louisa as a celebrity, writer, activist, daughter, and more-- highlighting her complexity as a person, woman, and historical figure. Ahead of her time, Louisa railed against the limitations of her gender and fought for women’s suffrage. She craved literary greatness, but was weighed down by the financial needs of her family. Through writing scandalous Gothic thrillers, she found a way to voice her own inner turmoil. In the end, she achieved extraordinary financial success, but creative fulfillment remained elusive.We’ll examine all of this and more on Let Genius Burn. Find more on Instagram and Facebook @letgeniusburn or at letgeniusburn.com. 

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  1. Episode 1

    Alcott in the World

    In this special anniversary episode of Let Genius Burn, Jamie and Jill reflect on the past five years of creating this project and what it has meant to them. They also discuss current events in Alcott, including recent Little Women adaptations and the meaning of Little Women today. Jill gives a detailed reading of Alcott's unfinished book, Diana and Persis, discussing its queer themes and characters, as well as the tension between art and domestic life.

    Alcott in the World

  2. Episode 2

    Little Women In Love

    Lauren M. Gunderson’s adaptation of Little Women is still in draft form, though it is already being staged by theaters across the country. This new play version offers an innovative use of a small cast and a single setting, yet it still captures the great breadth of the story. With a focus on relationships and an original use of narration strategy, Gunderson sheds new insight on the inner lives of the characters. In this interview, we sit down with Gunderson to discuss how to develop a successful adaptation and how a new version of Little Women holds up under bright stage lights. Lauren M. Gunderson is one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015 topping the list 4 times including 2025/26. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in Theater Award, the Lanford Wilson Award, the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, The Jeff Award for New Plays, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Arthur L. Weissberger Award, and John Gassner Award for Playwriting. Her musical adaptation of The Time Traveller’s Wife premiered on The West End, and her anthology of five plays, Revolutionary Women, was published by Bloomsbury in 2023. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her play The Catastrophist premiered digitally in January 2021 and is now in The COVID Art Capsule in the Library of Congress. She co-authored the Miss Bennet trilogy with Margot Melcon. The Half-Life of Marie Curie premiered off-Broadway and at Audible.com. Her work is published at Playscripts (I and You; Exit Pursued By A Bear; The Taming and Toil And Trouble), Dramatists Play Service (The Revolutionists; The Book of Will; Silent Sky; Bauer, Natural Shocks, The Wickhams and Miss Bennet) and Samuel French (Emilie). She is the book writer for musicals with Dave Stewart and Joss Stone (The Time Traveler’s Wife), Ari Afsar (Jeannette and I and You), Joriah Kwamé (Lady M), Kira Stone (Built for This and Pride & Prejudice) and Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk (Justice and Earthrise). She is a former board member of The Playwrights Foundation, and a member of the Aspen Institute Science and Society cohort, and hosts the podcast How to Playwright. LaurenGunderson.com

    Little Women In Love

  3. Episode 3

    Alcott on the Stage

    Louisa May Alcott loved the theatre: she wrote and staged plays both at home and with amateur theatre groups; she attended plays and recorded her thoughts about them in her journals; she aspired to be an actress herself. And while there is much we can know about her personal world, it is more difficult to place her in the context of the 19th century theatre world from her primary source works alone. Dr. Amy E. Hughes is a 19th century theatre scholar who joins Let Genius Burn to describe the culture of performing arts, the life of working actors as Alcott aspired to be, and how audiences experienced plays two centuries ago. Amy E. Hughes (she/any) is Professor of Theatre & Drama (SMTD), a Faculty Associate of American Culture (LSA), and a Faculty Affiliate of Comparative Literature (LSA) at University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. She also serves as a Faculty Associate Director for U-M ADVANCE. Dr. Hughes is a theatre historian who researches US popular performance during the nineteenth century. BroadwayWorld.com included her latest book, An Actor's Tale: Theater, Culture, and Everyday Life in the Nineteenth-Century United States (University of Michigan Press, 2025), in its "25 Theater Books for Your Fall 2025 Reading List," and American Theatre magazine published an excerpt from the book’s introduction. Useful links and resources mentioned: Amy's book (open access): Amy E. Hughes, An Actor's Tale: Theater, Culture, and Everyday Life in the Nineteenth-Century United States (University of Michigan Press, 2025)(open access) Charlotte M. Canning, "We the (Theatre) People," American Theatre, Summer 2026(open access) Anna Cora Mowatt, Autobiography of an Actress; or, Eight Years on the Stage (Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1854)Lisa Merrill, When Romeo Was a Woman: Charlotte Cushman and Her Circle of Female Spectators (University of Michigan Press, 2000)(open access) Amy E. Hughes and Naomi J. Stubbs, eds., A Player and a Gentleman: The Diary of Harry Watkins, Nineteenth-Century US American Actor (University of Michigan Press, 2018)(open access) The Diary of Harry Watkins: Digital Edition, co-edited by Amy E. Hughes and Naomi J. Stubbs Bernth Lindfors, Ira Aldridge, 4 vols. (University of Rochester Press, 2011-15)

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About

Louisa May Alcott may be best known for the beloved book Little Women, but her story doesn’t begin or end with her famous novel. On Let Genius Burn, we separate the layers of Louisa’s life to learn more about who she really was--and all the ways her legacy continues to resonate today. We’ll explore the traumatic year of her childhood spent in an experimental utopian community, her service as a Civil War nurse, her final years of wealth and celebrity as a children’s author--and more intimate details and little-known stories of Louisa’s life. Instead of a retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s biography, each episode in the 8-part series examines Louisa's life through a different lens--Louisa as a celebrity, writer, activist, daughter, and more-- highlighting her complexity as a person, woman, and historical figure. Ahead of her time, Louisa railed against the limitations of her gender and fought for women’s suffrage. She craved literary greatness, but was weighed down by the financial needs of her family. Through writing scandalous Gothic thrillers, she found a way to voice her own inner turmoil. In the end, she achieved extraordinary financial success, but creative fulfillment remained elusive.We’ll examine all of this and more on Let Genius Burn. Find more on Instagram and Facebook @letgeniusburn or at letgeniusburn.com. 

Information

  • Creator
    Jamie Burgess & Jill Fuller
  • Episodes
    40
  • Seasons
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Let Genius Burn
  • Show Website
    Let Genius Burn