Jo's Boys: A Little Women Podcast

Peyton Thomas
Jo's Boys: A Little Women Podcast

Jo's Boys is a podcast for little women, little men, and everyone in between! We'll be reading through "Little Women" chapter by chapter, pulling out rainbow threads as we go. Our guests include best-selling authors, legendary activists, and veteran Alcott scholars. Your host is Peyton Thomas, author of the award-winning novel "Both Sides Now," whose non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times and Vanity Fair.

  1. 12/15/2023

    Chapter 42: All Alone with Christine Jacobson

    In the wake of her sister's death, Jo decides to take up Beth's mantle and become the angel of the house. When that doesn't work, she heads over to Meg's place to hear the pitch for motherhood. When that doesn't work, she wonders if she made a mistake turning down Laurie's proposal. (Little does she know that Laurie and Amy are presently boning down in a rowboat in the Alps.) Whose path will she choose: Beth's, Meg's, or Amy's? Or is there another, weirder fourth option involving a verbally abusive German professor?  Here to track Jo's Career Day journey with us is Christine Jacobson! Christine is the associate curator of modern books and manuscripts at Houghton Library, Harvard University’s rare book and manuscript library. She helps to steward, develop, interpret, and teach from the collections from 1800 through the present day, including the archives of one Louisa May Alcott. She holds a bachelor of arts in political science and Russian studies from Stetson University, a master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from Harvard University, and a master’s degree in library and information science from Simmons University. Our cover art is by Mattie Lubchansky. It interpolates the cover art for Bethany C. Morrow's book "So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix," with permission from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. It also interpolates the cover art for Hena Khan’s book “More to the Story,” with permission from Simon & Schuster. Our theme music is Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major. This episode was edited by Antoinette Smith.

    56 min
  2. 11/17/2023 · BONUS

    Scrap Bag: Bringing Beth Back to Life with D.L. Mayfield

    As we mourn our dear, sweet Beth, we sit down with author and journalist D.L. Mayfield to discuss what her story means. Why does Alcott portray Beth as "a little saint" and "the angel of the house?" What message is she sending? Is it anything like the messages little girls hear in high-control evangelical Christianity?  D.L. Mayfield is an author and journalist who writes about neurodivergence and healing from high-control religion. They’ve written three books, including Unruly Saint: Dorothy Day’s Radical Vision and its Challenge for our Times. They also write a newsletter called Healing is my Special Interest and they co-host This is the Bad Place, a re-cap podcast on The Good Place, with their partner, Krispin Mayfield. Right now, they’re working on a book about evangelical parenting methods. Memorial Fund for Ryan Carson, partner of friend and former guest Claudia Morales: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ryan-carson  Peyton's Speech at Celebrating Louisa May Alcott 2023, Sunday, November 26 at 3:00 PM EST: https://tinyurl.com/LouAlcott23  Our cover art is by Mattie Lubchansky. It interpolates the cover art for Bethany C. Morrow's book "So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix," with permission from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. It also interpolates the cover art for Hena Khan’s book “More to the Story,” with permission from Simon & Schuster. Our theme music is Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major. This episode was edited by Antoinette Smith.

    1h 8m
4.8
out of 5
48 Ratings

About

Jo's Boys is a podcast for little women, little men, and everyone in between! We'll be reading through "Little Women" chapter by chapter, pulling out rainbow threads as we go. Our guests include best-selling authors, legendary activists, and veteran Alcott scholars. Your host is Peyton Thomas, author of the award-winning novel "Both Sides Now," whose non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times and Vanity Fair.

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