Best Matthew Lech Podcasts (2025)

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41 - Areopagitica by John Milton (1644) 2:13:18

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4y ago2:13:18

2:13:18

Grace (@GraceJackson) and Alex (@Alecks_Guns) join Matt once again to discuss John Milton as a polemicist over John Milton as a poet. Milton's family background. Charles Deodati. Anti-Popery; the Gunpowder Plot, The Fatal Vespers. Virginity. The Trip to Italy. The English civil war and censorship/openness. Epic Poet tradition. Divorce Tracts. Areop…

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40 - The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon by John Filson (1784) 2:43:17

4y ago2:43:17

2:43:17

Alex, Grace, and Matt discuss The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon by John Filson, the seminal text in the creation of the Daniel Boone myth of the American hunter. Who underwrote Boone's expeditions? This bas relief of Boone and why the US state would memorialize him as an "indian killer." Also this is Lord Dunmore. Intro song: Daniel Boone by Pixie…

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39 - The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover (1712) 50:25

4y ago50:25

50:25

Matt goes solo to finish off the first Byrd diary with the year 1712. Also, Michael Shermer's disgusting views on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings. Buzzfeed article on Michael Shermer (see Jefferson comments here) Brown, Kathleen M. 2012. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia. Chapel Hill…

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38 - The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover (1711) - Tuscarora War/Rebellion, Colonel Parke's Estate 1:39:10

4+ y ago1:39:10

1:39:10

Get episodes a couple weeks early @ patreon.com/literaryhangover Hey everyone! Before we get to Boone, Matt is going to finish William Byrd II's first diary, this time the year 1711. The Tuscarora War, to be viewed as both an indian war *and* a slave rebellion, looms large as does the assassination of Byrd's father-in-law/Governor in Antigua, Colon…

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37 - The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover (1710) 1:40:31

5y ago1:40:31

1:40:31

Alex, Grace, and Matt return with year 1710 in the diary of tobacco plantation master William Byrd II, a year marked by spooky mystical dreams, increasing attempts at escape from slaves, and Whig vs Tory political battle. Sources The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover, 1709-1712, ed. Louis B. Wright and Marion Tinling (Richmond: The Dietz Pre…

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36 - The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover (1709) 1:40:39

5y ago1:40:39

1:40:39

Hello all! In this episode, we begin with Matt telling Grace and Alex about two books, Colonel Parke of Virginia: "The Greatest Hector in the Town" by Helen Hill Miller on Byrd's incredible father-in-law, Daniel Parke, and Perry of London: A Family and a Firm on the Seaborne Frontier, 1615–1753 on the Perry tobacco merchant family. Then, a discussi…

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Welcome to Season 2! William Byrd II Introduction, Historical Fiction, and Future Subjects 1:02:26

5y ago1:02:26

1:02:26

Hey everyone, Alex, Grace, and Matt have a catch up chat to kick off the new season. We discuss William Byrd II's secret diaries and example as a Virginia colonial gentleman, historical fiction, and preview what titles we'll be covering this year.

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UNLOCKED Orwell|er - 5 - 'England Your England' - The Lion & The Unicorn Part 1 (1941) 2:27:34

5+ y ago2:27:34

2:27:34

Originally released for patrons March 14. Part two will be unlocked soon and part three is available now for members at patreon.com/literaryhangover Hey patrons! Social distancing has upended our scheduled plans for Aphra Behn's "Widow Ranter" with Grace, so Alex and I decided to return to Orwell|er with the first installment of Orwell's "The Lion …

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35 - 'A Journal of the Plague Year' by Daniel Defoe (1722) 1:08:20

5+ y ago1:08:20

1:08:20

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Also subscribe to twitch.tv/literaryhangover for the study hall sessions! Hi everybody, Alex, Grace and I are back with an episode that will not really help you get your mind off …

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34 - 'The Widow Ranter, or, the History of Bacon in Virginia' by Aphra Behn (1689) 1:38:00

5+ y ago1:38:00

1:38:00

Best wishes to everyone dealing with pandemic bs. Full play text here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27273/27273-h/widow.html Grace, Alex, and Matt are back with another Aphra Behn work, this time her posthumously performed 1689 play "The Widow Ranter, or, the History of Bacon in Virginia." We discuss her role as a tory propagandist and as a spy …

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33 - 'The History of Colonel Nathaniel Bacon's Rebellion' by Ebenezer Cook (1728) 2:27:20

6y ago2:27:20

2:27:20

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Alex and I return with another poem from the poet laureat of colonial Maryland, Ebenezer Cook, this time his narrative of Bacon's Rebellion(pdf). How memory-holed is Bacon's Rebel…

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Reading 'The Sot-Weed Factor' by Ebenezer Cook (1708) 32:34

6y ago32:34

32:34

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Here's my reading of the satirical poem, The Sot-weed Factor: or, A Voyage to Maryland, by Ebenezer Cook (1708), as discussed in episode 32. Thanks for your support.…

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32 - 'The Sot-Weed Factor: Or, A Voyage To Maryland' by Ebenezer Cook (1708) 1:33:04

6y ago1:33:04

1:33:04

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Alex and I discuss Ebenezer Cook's 1708 poem "The Sot-Weed Factor." The scant documentation we have for Cook's life. Cooks use of hudibrastic tetrameter and couplets. Who were the…

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31 - 'The Pilgrim's Progress' by John Bunyan (1678) 2:05:55

6y ago2:05:55

2:05:55

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Alex and Matt return this week to discuss John Bunyan's 1678 work of allegorical fiction, 'The Pilgrim's Progress.' The significance of Pilgrim's Progress in anglo mythology. Buny…

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30 - 'The Crucible' by Arthur Miller (1953) 2:42:00

6y ago2:42:00

2:42:00

Today, Alex, Grace, and Matt talk about Arthur Miller's 1953 play 'The Crucible' and its Salem Witch Trial and McCarthyite contexts. Miller in 1992 on why the market is failing theater and why the state needs to sponsor it. Arthur Miller, fellow-travelling and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Early witch culture that likely influenced th…

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29 - 'Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave' by Aphra Behn (1688) 1:54:22

6y ago1:54:22

1:54:22

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Grace joins Alex and Matt once again to discuss Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave, published in 1688. The eponymous hero is an African prince from Coramantien who is tricked into slav…

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28 - The Salem Witch Trials 2:13:32

6y ago2:13:32

2:13:32

Alex and Matt return, this time to discuss the social, political and material origins of the Salem Witch Trials. Indian and imperial war trauma in the late 1600s. The Glorious Revolution and the coup of Andros by puritan leaders in Massachusetts. The economic divide between mercantile Salem Town and the agricultural offshoot that was ground zero fo…

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27 - 'Hobomok: A Tale of Early Times' by Lydia Maria Child (1824) 1:31:02

6y ago1:31:02

1:31:02

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Hey LitHangers! Matt's solo this week with an introduction to the first novel by one of the 19th century's "social justice warriors" named Lydia Maria Child. Hobomok can be seen a…

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26 - 'The Pioneers' by James Fenimore Cooper (1823) - Part 2 1:45:59

6+ y ago1:45:59

1:45:59

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Alex and Matt return to finish James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pioneers." The relationship between colonization and racism. Submerged nobility in Cooper's fiction. How American colon…

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25 - 'The Pioneers' by James Fenimore Cooper (1823) - Part 1 2:18:08

6+ y ago2:18:08

2:18:08

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Alex and I discuss the underrated first novel of James Fenimore Cooper's 'Leatherstocking Tales,' ***The Pioneers, or The Sources of the Susquehanna; a Descriptive Tale. ***We dis…

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24 - 'Utopia For Realists' by Rutger Bregman (2016) 2:18:02

6+ y ago2:18:02

2:18:02

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover This week, Chris and I take a look at Rutger Bregman's "Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World." We revisit Bregman's two viral moments: telling Davos the answer is…

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23 - 'The Blithedale Romance' by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1852) 2:47:19

6+ y ago2:47:19

2:47:19

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Alex and Matt discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne's third major novel, inspired by his time at the Transcendentalist/Fourierist Brook Farm Commune in West Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1841. …

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22 - 'Woman in the Nineteenth Century' by Margaret Fuller (1845) 2:01:18

6+ y ago2:01:18

2:01:18

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and access the premium episodes on George Orwell (Orwell|er), become a Patron at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Alex, Grace, and Matt are back to discuss the extraordinary (for structural reasons!) life of Margaret Fuller, a feminist and later socialist who is often mentioned in relation to…

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21 - 'The Song of Hiawatha' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1855) 1:50:46

6+ y ago1:50:46

1:50:46

This is the free Literary Hangover feed. To support the show and get occasional premium content, become a member at patreon.com/LiteraryHangover Alex and Matt are once again joined by Grace, this time to discuss 'The Song of Hiawatha' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an epic poem published in 1855. We discuss: trochaic tetrameter!, Native American Ch…