{"podcast":{"title":"The History of Literature","slug":"the-history-of-literature-743083","podcast_index_feed_id":743083,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/history-of-literature","website_url":"https://historyofliterature.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/7b1b0608-0ffd-11e8-b20f-bbbb64158369/image/uploads_2F1593209082240-p4u278lci1e-275beae2da7edda326775394b3d990c8_2Fhistory-of-literature.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Jacke Wilson","episode_count":785,"summary":"Amateur enthusiast Jacke Wilson journeys through the history of literature, from ancient epics to contemporary classics. Episodes are not in chronological order and you don't need to start at the beginning - feel free to jump in wherever you like! Find out more at historyofliterature.com and facebook.com/historyofliterature. Support the show by visiting patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. Contact the show at historyofliteraturepodcast@gmail.com.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-20T08:22:17.158365+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-literature-743083"},"episode":{"title":"792 Death and Decay in Early Modern Lyric Poetry (with Eileen Sperry) | My Last Book with Bruce Gordon","slug":"792-death-and-decay-in-early-modern-lyric-poetry-with-eileen-sperry-my-last-book-with-bruce-gordon","published_at":"2026-04-13T04:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-literature-743083/792-death-and-decay-in-early-modern-lyric-poetry-with-eileen-sperry-my-last-book-with-bruce-gordon","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-literature-743083","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/swap.fm/track/tcQd6Q6C0RUUlOHq1Ytj/mgln.ai/e/51/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TPG4887000428.mp3?updated=1775396817","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/swap.fm/track/tcQd6Q6C0RUUlOHq1Ytj/mgln.ai/e/51/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TPG4887000428.mp3?updated=1775396817","summary":"In this episode, Jacke talks to author Eileen Sperry about her book This Body of Death: Form and Decay in Early Modern Lyric, which examines how the lyric poetry of Shakespeare and his contemporaries shaped our understanding of what it means to be mortal. PLUS a skeleton discovered under a collapsed church floor in the Netherlands might answer a longstanding literary mystery. AND Biblical scholar Bruce Gordon discusses his choice for the last book he will ever read. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/literature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"In this episode, Jacke talks to author Eileen Sperry about her book This Body of Death: Form and Decay in Early Modern Lyric, which examines how the lyric…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3691,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-history-of-literature-743083/episodes/792-death-and-decay-in-early-modern-lyric-poetry-with-eileen-sperry-my-last-book-with-bruce-gordon/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-literature-743083/792-death-and-decay-in-early-modern-lyric-poetry-with-eileen-sperry-my-last-book-with-bruce-gordon.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}