Zan’s List (in no particular order):

1. Persuasion (1995). Okay, no particular order with the exception of this adaptation which will forever be Zan’s be-all, end-all.

   

2. Mansfield Park (1999)

3. Northanger Abbey (2007)

4. Emma (2009)

5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

   

Diane’s List (in no particular order):

1. Clueless (1995)

2. Sense and Sensibility (1995)

3. Bride and Prejudice (2004)

   

4. Northanger Abbey (2007)

5. Emma (2009)

   

Do you share any favorites with us? Let us know in the comments below. And now onto some other podcast bits & bobs.

Subscribe now

TTAA About Town

Zan curated an exhibit currently on display at the UVU Museum of Art titled “Seeing Wilde Songs: Charles T. Griffes’ Synesthetic Musical Settings of Oscar Wilde’s Poetry.” For any of you in the greater Salt Lake area, the exhibit runs through May 23, 2026. Learn more here.

In addition to the exhibit, Zan will be giving a curator’s talk on Tuesday, April 7 (next week!). See more details below:

TTAA in the News

We were absolutely chuffed to find out that we (somewhat) recently received some very lovely recognition from both the Audible Blog and The New Indian Express. We don’t always find out about these mentions right when they happen, so this is technically old news, but we still wanted to share them both here.

• “We’re Booked: The Best Literature podcasts for Every Bibliophile” by Emily Martin and Seth Hartman (Audible Blog)

• “The Original Social Observer” by Medha Dutta Yadav (The New Indian Express)

A belated thanks to both the Audible Blog and The New Indian Express for these shout outs!

Friends of the Pod

For those of you who enjoyed Episode 107: The Thing About Manydown Park with guests Prerna Ramachandra and Sarah Rose Kearns, you’ll be excited to hear that production on their film has wrapped. They are currently submitting the film to festivals, and a teaser trailer is now available to watch. You can also learn more at the film’s official website. Congrats to Prerna, Rose, and the entire Manydown team!

If you have ever needed tips on how to best show off your elegant hands and neck, this episode is for you.

Thank you so much to Eleanor for joining us for this episode! You can find her on Instagram @stitchesandseeds.

Subscribe now

Eleanor’s Recommended Reading

These books were recommended by Eleanor as a great place to start for anyone interested in the history of knitting:

• A History of Hand Knitting by Richard Rutt

• Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft by Sandy Black

• This Golden Fleece: A Journey Through Britain’s Knitted History by Esther Rutter

Eleanor also mentioned some historical knitting patterns that are available to view online:

• The practical companion to the work-table : containing directions for knitting, netting & crochet work : Jackson, Elizabeth : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive (p 63)

• The Lady’s Assistant for executing useful and fancy designs in knitting, netting, and crochet work : illustrated by fifteen engravings, showing various stitches in the art of netting : Gaugain, Jane : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive (p 21-22)

• Selections of knitting, netting, & crochet work : Watts, Miss : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive (p 54)

Supplementals

Mrs. Smith’s Knit Items

• Example of a knit pin cushion from the V&A

• Example of a card rack (not knit) from the National Trust

Selected Sources:

• Bailey, Martha. “The Marriage Law of Jane Austen’s World.” Persuasions On-Line 36, no. 1 (2015).

• Blackstone, William. An Analysis of the Laws of England. 1st ed. Clarendon Press, 1756.

• Bradbury, Malcolm. “Jane Austen’s Emma.” Critical Quarterly 4, no. 4 (1962): 335–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8705.1962.tb01434.x.

• Emery, Caroline. “Narrative Patterns of Illegitimacy and Infanticide in the Nineteenth-Century Novel.” Doctoral Thesis, Cardiff University, 2007. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1368988138?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses.

• Foreman, Amanda. Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire. Random House, 1998.

• Gibson, Kate. “Experiences of Illegitimacy in England, 1660-1834.” Doctoral Thesis, The University of Sheffield, 2018.

• Gibson, Kate. Illegitimacy, Family, and Stigma in England, 1660-1834. Oxford University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192867247.001.0001.

• Lank, Edith. “‘The Word Was Blunder’: Who Was Harriet Smith’s Mother?” Persuasions 7, no. 1 (1985): 14–15.

• Mortimer, Ian. The Time Traveler’s Guide to Regency Britain: A Handbook for Visitors to 1789-1830. Pegasus Books, 2023.

• Selwyn, David. Jane Austen and Children. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010.

• Zunshine, Lisa. “Harriet Smith in Brunswick Square: ‘Common Sense’ Bastardy in Jane Austen’s Emma.” In Bastards and Foundlings: Illegitimacy in Eighteenth-Century England. Ohio State University Press, 2005.

  

For anyone who hasn’t listened to the episode yet, we’ll let you guess which Austen character we link to this iconic Mean Girls line.

Thank you so much to Dami for joining us for this episode! You can find her on Instagram [at]BlackGirlLoves76, on X [at]BlackGirlLoves3, and on the Black Girl Loves Jane Facebook page.

Click here to register!

Event Details

• Date: Sunday, January 11, 2026

• Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM (ET) / 8:00-9:00 PM (UTC)

• Location: Online via Microsoft Teams

For more information and to sign up, head over to the registration page.

We’re looking forward to chatting all things Jane with you!

We wanted to take our own moment to celebrate the everlasting wit and wisdom of the incomparable Jane Austen. Here’s to the woman who has given us all so much joy and countless hours of reading pleasure.

And in honor of her 250th birthday, we would love for you to share your own thoughts on why Austen is so important to you and why her books still resonate. Or feel free to simply share your favorite scene from one of her works or share a favorite quote in the comments below. Happy birthday, Jane!

Jane-uary Meet-up

Let’s keep the party going! Don’t forget to sign-up for our Jane-uary Meet-up, taking place Sunday, January 11, 2026. We’re so excited to (virtually) meet listeners and talk all things Jane. For more information and to sign up, head over to the registration page.

Selected Sources:

• Chancellor, Edwin Beresford. The History of the Squares of London: Topographical & Historical. K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company, Limited, 1907.

• Flinn, Laurel J. “Elegant Buildings and Pestilential Alleys: Space, Society, and Politics in London’s West End, 1753-1873.” Dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, 2014.

• Historic England. “Grosvenor Square, Non Civil Parish - 1000807.” Historic England, October 16, 2019. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000807.

• Inglis, Lucy. Georgian London: Into the Streets. Penguin UK, 2013.

• Lupton, Christina. “Notes.” In Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, edited by James Kinsley. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford University Press, 2019.

• Pool, Daniel. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist; the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England. Touchstone, 2007.

• Schlarman, Julie. “The Social Geography of Grosvenor Square: Mapping Gender and Politics, 1720–1760.” The London Journal 28, no. 1 (2003): 8–28. https://doi.org/10.1179/ldn.2003.28.1.8.

• Vickery, Amanda. Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England. Yale University Press, 2009. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300188561.

• Weinreb, Ben, Christopher Hibbert, Julia Keay, and John Keay, eds. The London Encyclopaedia. 3rd ed. Macmillan, 2010. http://archive.org/details/londonencyclopae0000unse_y6d9.

If you want to know why we’re including this clip here, you’ll have to listen to the episode.

Jane-uary Meet-up

Don’t forget to sign-up for our Jane-uary Meet-up! We’re so excited to (virtually) meet listeners and talk all things Jane. For more information and to sign up, head over to the registration page.

Register for the Jane-uary Meet-up

Come and help us celebrate Jane-uary!

Click here to register!

For those who are camera shy, this event will not be recorded or shared out afterwards. And while we would love to “meet” some of you virtually, you can always attend with your camera turned off if that makes you more comfortable.

We’re still working on the agenda, but you can definitely plan on some Q&A, some Austen hot takes, and some general cheeky shenanigans. There’s a comment box on the registration form where you can leave any questions you have for us or share your own Jane Austen hot takes that you would like us to discuss or debate. We would love to hear from you!

Event Details

• Date: Sunday, January 11, 2026

• Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM (ET) / 8:00-9:00 PM (UTC)

• Location: Online via Microsoft Teams

For more information and to sign up, head over to the registration page.

Selected Sources:

• Byrne, Paula. The Genius of Jane Austen: Her Love of Theatre and Why She Works in Hollywood. Harper Perennial, 2024.

• Byrne, Paula. The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. Harper Perennial, 2014.

• Ford, Susan Allen. “‘It Is about Lovers’ Vows’: Kotzebue, Inchbald, and the Players of Mansfield Park.” Persuasions On-Line 27, no. 1 (2006). https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol27no1/ford.htm?

• ———. What Jane Austen’s Characters Read (and Why). Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.

• Honan, Park. Jane Austen: Her Life. Fawcett Columbine, 1989.

• Hussain, Azar. “Jane Austen, Lovers’ Vows, and the Periodic Press.” Persuasions On-Line 43, no. 1 (2022).

• ———. “Performances of Lovers’ Vows in Bath 1801–1806.” Notes and Queries 66, no. 2 (2019): 268–71. https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjz036.

• Inchbald, Elizabeth. “Lovers’ Vows: A Play, in Five Acts: Altered from the German of Kotzebue.” In Mansfield Park, edited by Claudia L. Johnson. A Norton Critical Edition. W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.

• Le Faye, Deirdre. Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels. Frances Lincoln, 2003.

• Newark, Elizabeth. “Words Not Spoken: Courtship and Seduction in Jane Austen’s Novels.” In The Talk in Jane Austen, edited by Bruce Stovel and Lynn Weinlos Gregg, with Jane Austen society of North America. The University of Alberta press, 2002.

• Russell, Gillian. “Private Theatricals.” In The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre, 1730–1830, 1st ed., edited by Jane Moody and Daniel O’Quinn. Cambridge University Press, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521852371.013.

• Worsley, Lucy. Jane Austen at Home. First U.S. edition. St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

Other Relevant Episodes

• Episode 36: The Thing About Regency Theatre with Guest Lauren Wethers

Jane-uary Meet-up

We were originally planning on having a virtual get together in December to celebrate Austen’s 250th birthday (as mentioned in the episodes on the assizes), but as there are already so many great offerings during that time, we decided to instead celebrate Jane in January. We would love to see you there! For more information and to sign up, head over to the registration page.

Register for the Jane-uary Meet-up

If your boyfriend has ever caught you snooping around his mom’s bedroom, this episode is for you.

Thank you so much to Kate for joining us for this episode! You can find the Austen Therapy podcast wherever you get your podcasts and follow them on Instagram @austentherapypodcast. You can follow Kate on Instagram @austentherapy.

Other Relevant Episodes

Check out our past spooky season episodes:

• Episode 98: The Thing About Northanger Abbey’s Bell System (2024)

• Episode 78: The Thing About Catherine and Isabella’s Horrid Novels with guest Dr. Hannah Doherty Hudson (2023)

• Episode 54: The Thing About The Monk (2022)

• Episode 17: The Thing About Catherine and the Black Veil (2021)

  Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support the podcast.

This episode we’re joined by Dr. Emily Davis-Hale of Reclaiming Jane to discuss Lady Catherine, her windows, and why Mr. Collins is obsessed with both.

Thank you so much to Emily for joining us for this episode! You can find Reclaiming Jane online at www.reclaimingjanepod.com and follow them on Instagram @ReclaimingJane and on Facebook @ReclaimingJanePod. You can follow Emily on Instagram @emmakyzar and on Bluesky [@]crawfits.

Other Relevant Episodes

Check out Episode 75: The Thing About Sir Walter’s Looking-Glasses and Episode 104: The Thing About The Crescent for more on the history of glass making and Palladian architecture.

Selected Sources:

• Byrne, Paula. The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. Harper Perennial, 2014.

• Clery, Emma Juliet. Jane Austen: The Banker’s Sister. Bb. Biteback, 2017.

• Cockburn, J. S. A History of English Assizes, 1558-1714. Cambridge University Press, 1972. https://archive.org/details/historyofenglish0000cock/page/132/mode/2up.

• Doody, Margaret Anne. Jane Austen’s Names: Riddles, Persons, Places. The University of Chicago Press, 2015.

• Fenn, Violet. Secrets and Scandals in Regency Britain: Sex, Drugs and Proxy Rule. Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2022.

• Hufstader, Alice. “Family Patterns in Persuasion.” Persuasions 6, no. 1 (1984): 21–23.

• Lynch, Deidre. “Notes.” In Persuasion, by Jane Austen, edited by James Kinsley. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford University Press, 2004.

• Pool, Daniel. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist; the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England. Touchstone, 2007.

• Pugsley, David. “The Trial of Jane Austen’s Aunt Jane Leigh Perrot and the Opinion of John Morris, KC.” Persuasions On-Line 41, no. 1 (2020). https://www.jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/vol-41-no-1/pugsley/.

• Worsley, Lucy. Jane Austen at Home. First U.S. edition. St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

Also, we have to drop a note on a major mispronunciation in this episode, mostly because we say it So. Many. Times. The surname Cockburn is apparently pronounced Coburn, which is something we learned by complete happenstance — after the episode was already published. Anyway, if you want the full backstory on that, we reveal all in our upcoming episode on Lovers’ Vows. Stay tuned!

This scene from Mean Girls feels especially appropriate since the barouche was the convertible of its time. Owning a barouche meant that you had the disposable income to spend on an extra carriage that could only be reasonably used on a limited, seasonal basis. It also meant that you had the leisure time to cruise the countryside in your elegant conveyance in order to “explore the different beauties extremely well”1 or to see and be seen in London’s most fashionable neighborhoods.

For more on the barouche and its many variations (Mrs. Elton has a particular model in mind), you can listen to the most recent episode of the podcast, The Thing About the Barouche-landau.

And because we had to put our own visual spin on the famous Mean Girls scene:

Selected Sources:

• Anonymous. A Short English Answer to a Long Irish Story, Or, A Key to the Mystery of the Barouche & Bank Notes, Proving Brevet-Major Hogan’s Accusations Against His Royal Highness the Duke of York to Be Barefaced Calumnies. C. Chapple, 1808.

• Austen, Jane. The Annotated Emma. Edited by David M. Shapard. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012.

• “Barouche, n.” In Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/8574842483.

• Burgess, James W. A Practical Treatise on Coach-Building: Historical and Descriptive, Containing Full Information of the Various Trades and Processes Involved, with Hints on the Proper Keeping of Carriages, &c. Crosby Lockwood and Co., 1881. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/72016/72016-h/72016-h.htm.

• Ewing, Jennifer S. “As the Wheel Turns: Horse-Drawn Vehicles in Jane Austen’s Novels.” Persuasions On-Line (Williamsburg) 40, no. 1 (2019). https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-40-no-1/ewing/.

• Hogan, Denis. An Appeal to the Public and a Farewell Address to the Army. G. Gorman, 1808.

• Jackson, Ben. “Mobile Man: Travelling in Style.” In Material Masculinities: Men and Goods in Eighteenth-Century England. Manchester University Press, 2025. https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526180612.

• Jackson, Ben. “The Thrill of the Chaise: Gendering the Phaeton in Eighteenth-Century Literary and Satirical Culture, c.1760–1820.” In Character and Caricature, 1660-1820, edited by Jennifer Buckley and Montana Davies-Shuck. Springer International Publishing, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48513-8_7.

• Jones, Hazel. Jane Austen’s Journeys. Robert Hale, 2014.

• Lerner, Sandy. Pen and Parsimony: Carriages in the Novels of Jane Austen. n.d.

• Mortimer, Ian. Time Traveller’s Guide to Regency Britain. Bodley Head, 2021.

• Olsen, Kirstin. All Things Austen: An Encyclopedia of Austen’s World. Vol. 2. Greenwood Press, 2005.

• Somerset, Henry Charles FitzRoy, Duke of Beaufort. Driving. 3rd ed. Longmans, Green & Company, 1890.

• Walrond, Sallie. The Encyclopaedia of Driving. Country Life Books, 1979. http://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofd0000walr.

This episode we are joined by guests Prerna Ramachandra and Sarah Rose Kearns to discuss this crossroads moment in Austen's personal and professional life.

Thank you so much to Prerna and Rose for joining us for this episode! Their Kickstarter campaign for Manydown is now live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theholytheatre/manydown-a-jane-austen-story. Please check it out and consider supporting their work.

You can also follow along with their progress by subscribing to their Substack: https://manydown.substack.com/. You can learn more about Prerna and Rose's other work at https://www.prernaramachandra.me/ and https://www.theholytheatre.org/.

Selected Sources:

• Adkins, Roy, and Lesley Adkins. Jane Austen’s England. New York: Viking, 2013.

• Bannet, Eve Tavor. “The Marriage Act of 1753: ‘A Most Cruel Law for the Fair Sex.’” Eighteenth-Century Studies 30, no. 3 (1997): 233–54.

• Byrne, Sandie. Jane Austen’s Possessions and Dispossessions. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137406316.

• Cross, F. L., and E. A. Livingstone, eds. “Banns of Marriage.” In The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press, January 1, 2009. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780192802903.001.0001/acref-9780192802903-e-637.

• Francis, Keith A. “Canon Law Meets Unintended Consequences: The Church of England and the Clandestine Marriage Act of 1753.” Anglican and Episcopal History 72, no. 4 (2003): 451–87.

• Muir, Rory. Love and Marriage in the Age of Jane Austen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2024.

• Pool, Daniel. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist; the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England. New York: Touchstone, 2007.

• Probert, Rebecca. Marriage Law and Practice in the Long Eighteenth Century: A Reassessment. Cambridge University Press, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511596599.

• ———. “The Impact of the Marriage Act of 1753: Was It Really ‘A Most Cruel Law for the Fair Sex’?” Eighteenth-Century Studies 38, no. 2 (2005): 247–62.

  

  Episode Transcript

If you have ever cried on your piano after a bad break-up, this episode is for you.

Thank you so much to Elly for joining us for this episode! You can find her on Twitter @EllyWeybright.

Episode Transcript

If you have ever been desperately hoping to casually bump into someone, this episode is for you.

Selected Sources:

• Edwards, Anne-Marie. In the Steps of Jane Austen. Madison, Wis: Jones Books, 2003.

• Egan, Pierce. Walks Through Bath, Describing Everything Worthy of Interest. Bath: Sherwood, Neely and Jones, 1819.

• Forsyth, Michael. Bath. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

• Haddon, John. Bath. London: Batsford, 1973.

• Lane, Maggie. A Charming Place: Bath in the Life and Times of Jane Austen. Bath: Millstream Books, 1988.

• ———. Jane Austen’s England. London: Hale, 1996.

• Lowndes, William. The Royal Crescent in Bath: A Fragment of English Life. Bristol: Redcliffe Press, 1981. http://archive.org/details/royalcrescentinb0000lown.

Episode Transcript

Selected Sources:

• Altick, Richard D. The English Common Reader: A Social History of the Mass Reading Public, 1800-1900. 2nd ed. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1998.

• Ford, Susan Allen. “Reading Elegant Extracts in Emma: Very Entertaining!” Persuasions On-Line 28, no. 1 (2007). https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol28no1/ford.htm.

• ———. What Jane Austen’s Characters Read (and Why). 1st ed. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2024.

• Grundy, Isobel. “Jane Austen and Literary Traditions.” In The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, edited by Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster, 2nd ed., 192–214. Cambridge University Press, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCO9780521763080.013.

• Knox, Vicesimus. “On Novel Reading.” In Essays moral and literary, 1:68–71, 1783. http://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_essays-moral-and-literar_knox-vicesimus_1783_1.

• More, Hannah. Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education, with a View of the Principles and Conduct Prevalent among Women of Rank and Fortune. London Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1811. http://archive.org/details/stricturesonmode01moreuoft.

• Price, Leah. The Anthology and the Rise of the Novel: From Richardson to George Eliot. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

  

Episode Transcript

In addition to delving into the history and context surrounding these shawls, Laboni also shares details of her related project from her time as a Reimagine Resident at Jane Austen's House.

Thank you so much to Laboni for joining us for this episode! You can find Laboni's poetry project here and learn more about her other work here.

Episode Transcript