In this clip, we revisit the classic tale of toxic stan culture: Henry James' The Aspern Papers. Ever moved into a dilapidated Venetian palazzo to possibly steal the yellowing missives exchanged between your literary idol and his former flame? Us neither! Join us as we pick apart the narrator's twisted mind.

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Elise Riley, an accessioning archivist at the Beinecke Library, offers us an expert's perspective on In The Freud Archives, Janet Malcolm's nonfictional exploration of archival infighting. The book concerns three psychoanalytic scholars who come to epistolary blows over the scattered remains of Freud's legacy. But unlike most niche academic debates, this one resulted in a $13 million dollar lawsuit. In this episode, we discuss Malcolm's narrative distance, the role of fantasy versus reality, and some things the Sigmund Freud Archives could have done to avoid all this Oedipal drama.

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In this clip, we discuss how Home acts as a "spiritual sequel" to Penelope Mortimer's The Pumpkin Eater, showcasing a more detailed portrait of the narrator's family and how it reflected mid-century British society.

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