We've all been introduced at school, at the movies, or by accident, to a world as far from our own as seems possible.

Carriages, bonnets, large estates. A lot of this is the doing of Jane Austen, the irresistible author of

works, including pride and prejudice. But there's also a reason why she's not only a great read,

but a proto-feminist, and we're about to show you why. Have a cup of tea and stay with me, Meg Wallitzer.

Jane Austen turned 250 on December 16, 2025. She was a woman of modest means who lived in an era, known as the Regency era, with sharp social divides that she both endured and reflected brilliantly in her work.

In her short life, she died at 41. She created works with a lasting legacy, both artistic and social.

Her six books have been adapted numerous times into radio programs, miniseries, and films.

Many writers have devoted followings,

but Austin has a huge fan base of people who want to inhabit as well as read about her world.

There are, of course, Jane Austen societies

with annual conferences,

but for her 250th, they went all out

with balls, parades, and exhibits.

But the thing is, Austin was not just a writer of romances.

She was a social critic with an ear attuned to social ambition, hypocrisy, called can't in her day,

and the ways in which women were forced into foolishness and bad marriages.

So on this program, we give you a glimpse of the

many sides of a great writer. Imagine that you are at one of the crowded salons she depicts so

acutely, and that you have the good fortune to take a stroll around the room with her. She might mention

the youthful work that is our first story, note without vanity that she has the ear of an advisor to the regent,

to whom she is recently written with a quill pen,

and confide that she has an idea for a new story

...