694 Apocalyptic Literature (with Dorian Lynskey) | My Last Book with Charles Baxter

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For some reason, human beings don't seem to be content just thinking about their own death: they insist on imagining the end of the entire world. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Dorian Lynskey (Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World), who immersed himself in apocalyptic films and literature to discover exactly what doomsday prophets have been saying for the past few millennia - and what that can tell us about the people and cultures that listened. PLUS Charles Baxter (Blood Test: A Comedy, The Feast of Love) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Additional listening: 63 Chekhov, Bellow, Wright, and Fox (with Charles Baxter) 652 Writing a Comic Novel (with Charles Baxter) 277 George Orwell 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

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and Lit Hub Radio.
0:09.5	Sitting quietly once you've made the house all shiny.
0:13.2	Down time can be just fine, plain bangers from them 90s.
0:17.4	Tea break.
0:18.4	Lunch break.
0:19.5	Maybe listen to the outbreak.
0:23.5	Sometimes it's not time for some tombola right It's enjoying lasagna time
0:25.7	chilling with a book time
0:27.4	Or time to visit your nan time
0:29.4	Go on play some other time
0:31.6	Put your phone down
0:32.8	Tombola
0:33.6	Open for fun
0:35.4	Terms apply 18 plus gambleaware.org. Hello. Today on the podcast, we talk to
0:41.3	Dorian Linsky, author of Everything Must Go. And by everything, he means everything. Our world,
0:48.4	our universe, us. He's been looking at literature of the apocalypse and he'll tell us what he's found. Plus, we look at
0:57.3	the life of Richard Blair, the 80-year-old man who's been living with the legacy of his famous father,
1:03.8	the author George Orwell. And finally, because even apocalypses and dystopias have to have
1:09.7	their moments of uplift, We'll talk to friend,
1:13.1	mentor, and guest Charlie Baxter, who will stop by to discuss his choice for the last book
1:18.9	he will ever read. That's all coming up today on the history of literature.
1:24.4	Music of literature.
	...

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