761 The Story of the Nativity (with Stephen Mitchell) | The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (#4 Greatest Book of All Time)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

Arts, History, Books

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Stephen Mitchell has translated or adapted some of the world's most beautiful and spiritually rich texts, including The Gospel According to Jesus, The Book of Job, Gilgamesh, Tao Te Ching, Bhagavad Gita, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, and The Way of Forgiveness. In his latest book, The First Christmas: A Story of New Beginnings, he brings the Nativity story to life as never before. In this special episode, Jacke talks to Stephen about his translations, his search for spiritual truths, and his work imagining the story of the first Christmas from multiple points of view. PLUS Jacke continues his way up the charts of the Greatest Books of All Time with a look at #4 on the list, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Note: A version of this episode first ran in December 2021. Join Jacke on a trip through literary England! Join Jacke and fellow literature fans on an eight-day journey through literary England in partnership with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠John Shors Travel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in May 2026! Scheduled stops include The Charles Dickens Museum, Dr. Johnson's house, Jane Austen's Bath, Tolkien's Oxford, Shakespeare's Globe Theater, and more. Learn more by emailing jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or masahiko@johnshorstravel.com, or by contacting us through our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. December update: Act soon - there are only two spots left! 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.
0:06.1	The Xbox Game Pass is giving you more.
0:21.5	Play hundreds of games on any device, anywhere.
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0:27.8	This is how we play now.
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0:31.5	Game library and benefits vary by region, plan and overtime.
0:35.1	Requires compatible device and internet.
1:13.9	Music region, plan, and overtime. Requires compatible device and internet. Hello, welcome to the podcast. I'm Jack Wilson. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. This is Christmas Day in 2025. And so we're going to listen to an interview I did with Stephen Mitchell in 2021 back there in episode 368, I think.
1:21.7	Regardless of your religious affiliation or the depth of it, this is worth your time. It's about narratives and how they develop, how they work.
1:26.0	I read the nativity story as it appears in both, both of its
1:31.1	appearances in the Bible. I was going to say both versions. I guess it is both versions.
1:35.3	It appears twice in the Gospels. I read both of those. I talk a little about my own
1:39.7	Christmases and Christmas Eve's from my past back there in the Wisconsin small town.
1:47.9	Where, yes, we had a stoplight, but no, it didn't have yellow or green lights.
1:53.7	Just flashing red.
1:56.0	That's all we needed.
1:57.3	Thank you very much.
1:58.3	We're also going to have a look at The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.
2:02.4	Salinger, which landed on our list of the greatest books of all time at number four.
2:07.9	We're doing 25 for 25. I think we're going to have our top three in 2026.
2:12.7	But that gives us something to look forward to, doesn't it? I'm not going to view that as a failure.
	...

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