The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio. The Hello we're kicking things off with some fanfare today because this is episode 600 and man

man oh man the more we clock these big numbers ticked them off march past

them the prouder I am that we're still rattling along with this humble little podcast.

You might think it's the opposite.

You might think I'm thinking, well, wow.

Or you might be thinking, wow, 600 episodes, haven't you come to your senses yet?

Far from it, haters. Far from it.

And why would we stop now when we have so many excellent guests who love literature

at literary culture and great books and great writers,

they make the job easy and a lot of fun and enlightening. Today's guest is no exception.

Phil Jones has written a book

and his people politely reached out to see if I might be interested in talking to Phil about it

and by the way they said the book is called Reading Samuel Johnson

would I? Yes please. That good doctor a hero of mine as long time

listeners will know.

I'm not sure why exactly.

I have such a fondness for Dr. Johnson.

We don't have that much in common,

but he's one of my heroes, nevertheless we do have in common an absolute love of literature so maybe that's enough

So we will have Phil Jones here today to go into the good doctor and then well I was saving this one

but I'm going to add this to the mix in honor of episode 600 it's a very special

my last book one of the best.

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