{"podcast":{"title":"Close Readings","slug":"close-readings-6008264","podcast_index_feed_id":6008264,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LRB7524563961","website_url":"https://lrb.me/closereadings","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/8048b732-4c5a-11f0-b296-b352f3a58800/image/5fa291b4c093e3f1c80cfc2115b27a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"London Review of Books","episode_count":221,"summary":"Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books. Two contributors explore areas of literature through a selection of key works, providing an introductory grounding like no other. Listen to some episodes for free here, and extracts from our ongoing subscriber-only series. How To Subscribe In Apple Podcasts, click 'subscribe' at the top of this podcast feed to unlock the full episodes. Or for other podcast apps, sign up here: https://lrb.me/closereadings RUNNING IN 2026 'Who's afraid of realism?' with James Wood and guests 'Nature in Crisis' with Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith 'Narrative Poems' with Seamus Perry and Mark Ford 'London Revisited' with Rosemary Hill and guests Bonus Series: 'The Man Behind the Curtain' with Tom McCarthy and Thomas Jones ALSO INCLUDED IN THE CLOSE READINGS SUBSCRIPTION: 'Conversations in Philosophy' with Jonathan Rée and James Wood 'Fiction and the Fantastic' with Marina Warner, Anna Della Subin, Adam Thirlwell and Chloe Aridjis 'Love and Death' with Seamus Perry and Mark Ford 'Novel Approaches' with Clare Bucknell, Thomas Jones and other guests 'Among the Ancients' with Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones 'Medieval Beginnings'…","last_synced_at":"2026-09-07T22:19:04.019785+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264"},"episode":{"title":"Narrative Poems: ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ by John Keats","slug":"narrative-poems-the-eve-of-st-agnes-by-john-keats","published_at":"2026-08-03T10:10:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/narrative-poems-the-eve-of-st-agnes-by-john-keats","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB5124187138.mp3","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB5124187138.mp3","summary":"According to legend, a young woman who observes certain rites on 20 January, the Eve of St Agnes, will see in her dreams the man she is going to marry. When John Keats found himself in Chichester on that day in 1819, he was inspired to write his own account. In this episode, Seamus and Mark discuss Keats’s talent for sublime banality, the competing readings of the lover, Porphyro, and the poem's repurposing of Spenserian allegory for a contemporary love story. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://lrb.me/applesignupnp⁠ Other podcast apps: ⁠https://lrb.me/scsignupnp Read more on Keats in the LRB: John Bayley: https://lrb.me/npep801 Barbara Everett: https://lrb.me/npep802 Helen Vendler: https://lrb.me/npep803 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"According to legend, a young woman who observes certain rites on 20 January, the Eve of St Agnes, will see in her dreams the man she is going to marry. Wh…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1013,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/close-readings-6008264/episodes/narrative-poems-the-eve-of-st-agnes-by-john-keats/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/narrative-poems-the-eve-of-st-agnes-by-john-keats.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}