First Impressions: Why All The Austen Haters Are Wrong

We're delighted to welcome our guests Maya and Christian of Manners and Madness, a Jane Austen and David Lynch podcast, to join us for this movie review episode! This time we're tackling the recently released movie Modern Persuasion, starring Alicia Witt and Shane McRae as our stand-ins for Anne and Wentworth. Despite some hiccups with the pacing and chemistry, overall we enjoyed this adaptation as some fluffy summer fun. Check out our thoughts, and be sure to give Manners and Madness some love by checking out their Persuasion episodes! You can also find Christian and Maya at @MannersandMadnesspod on Instagram and @MannersMadness on Twitter!

[Episode recorded 5/15/21] Welcome, gentle listeners, to our review of the 2008 miniseries Sense & Sensibility, written by Andrew Davies and starring Hattie Moran as Elinor and Charity Wakefield as Marianne. While it's not easy to make a new version of S&S with the specter of the 1996 Ang Lee movie in the background, this game adaptation has some enjoyable points, especially with regard to the Willoughby/Marianne pairing. And Maggie is back to share her witty repartee and sing us a song! Note, as usual, this episode has some commentary that is not suitable for little ears.  Movie IMDB Link here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847150/ The intro includes a clip of Peggy Lee's performance of Why Don't You Do Right? From this YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uTcw_A80Bo

In this episode we welcome special guest Bianca Hernandez-Knight to talk about current affairs in the Jane Austen fandom, including the push that dedicated Janeites are making to foster inclusion in our online community. Join us to hear about the barriers that BIPOC and other marginalized Janeites continue to encounter in Austen fan spaces, and why representation in Austen adapations is so important to growing a diverse Janeite community. Finally, learn about her upcoming Virtual Jane Con event on May 1-2, 2021!   You can find Bianca online at Bookhoarding on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and check out her new patreon!

In this episode, we're thrilled to welcome special guest Sarah Rose Kearns, actor, playwright, and consummate Janeite! We chat with Sarah Rose about her new adaptation of Persuasion, which will be staged (hopefully) in New York this fall. We also discuss her one-act play Manydown, which will be included as part of UNC Chapel Hill's Jane Austen Summer Program. Join us to learn how Sarah Rose interprets key aspects of Persuasion, and discover the fascinating challenges of making Austen come alive onstage. [Note: since recording this podcast, JASNA announced that their 2021 Annual General Meeting will indeed be held in person!]

In this episode we're thrilled to have guests Lauren and Emily of the Reclaiming Jane podcast! Reclaiming Jane was started as a podcast for fans on the margins, and creates a welcoming space for those whose identities are not reflected in Austen's original text, and may not be well represented in the current world of Austen fandom. Join us to learn what it means to read Austen through a modern lens, and how breaking down Austen's works and examining them thoroughly can help reclaim Austen for the readers on the margins. [Episode recorded 2/13/21]

Gentle listeners, we present a review of Austenland (2013), a movie that skewers Austen-addict Jane (Keri Russell) as she goes on a Regency roleplaying retreat and meets a real life Mr. Darcy (JJ Feild). Directed by Jerusha Hess, this movie might be considered the "Napoleon Dynamite" of Austen-related media, winning you over with its broad yet quirky humor. It's getting hot in here... let's take off all our clothes and hope Brett Mckenzie doesn't have to deliver a newborn foal at an inopportune moment. [Episode recorded 1/2/21 so there is no discussion of recent US current events]   Full credits for the movie can be found at its IMDB entry.

[Note: File updated 12/20 with a small fix to the movie clip used in the intro - it was cut off in the first version of this episode!]. Time for the perfect Christmas movie review! We're taking on the beloved classic Bridget Jones's Diary, one of Kristin's favorite movies of all time. This "lean" adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with a very sexy Wickham, a very perfect Darcy, and a man we all call Mr... Mister...MISTER... FITZHERBERT! Because that is his name. Songs featured in the podcast include Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman  and Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross's duet Stop Look Listen (To Your Heart). At one point in the podcast Kristin misidentifies Marvin Gaye as Al Green - we apologize for the mix-up.

(Note: This episode was recorded on November 1st 2020, so there is no discussion of the US presidential election or its outcome.) Join us, gentle listeners, for our movie review of the effervescent Bollywood P&P adaptation Bride and Prejudice, directed by Gurinder Chadha. This movie ports Austen's classic tale to modern-day India for an east-meets-west story of cultural misunderstandings, sharp social commentary, and ultimately, true love. Fantastic performances and Bollywood musical numbers make this movie a real treat, and Austen's story becomes a clever template to tease out issues of pride and prejudice among Indians, Americans, Brits, and expats.

IT'S HERE. Thanks to all our amazing listeners who contributed to our fundraiser! We hit our goal, and as promised, we're bringing you a review of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, the 1992 movie starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche (note, we tried to get those two dots over the "e" in Bronte, then decided we have our lives to live). Join us as we give this difficult text a second look, reframe our understanding of the story, and try to find a rainbow out on those stormy moors. And stay tuned after the Wheatsheaf mailbag portion of the show for some vanity bonus content!

Another movie review! Maggie and Kristin tackle the delightful 1940 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Greer Garson and Sir Laurence Olivier. We adored this absolute gem of a movie for its light tone, its fantastic performances, and its imaginative departures from the original story. We also reference information from a book we previously reviewed, The Making of Jane Austen by Devoney Looser, which contains a ton of valuable background information and insight into how this movie was made. For more information on this book, check out episode 35 of our podcast!

Please join us for an interview with debut author Natalie Jenner, whose delightful book THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY was released in May 2020 from St. Martin's Press (NA) and Orion (UK). The book follows a group of unlikely Janeites in postwar England who come together to save Chawton cottage, and wind up saving themselves instead (through reading Jane, of course!). We discuss Natalie's personal relationship with Austen, her connection to Chawton, and what inspired her to create her story and characters. We also delve into some fascinating insights about Austen's work that are woven into the book. As a meditation on what Austen can mean to us through difficult times, The Jane Austen Society is the perfect book for First Impressions listeners, especially those ready to experiment with reading Austen-related fiction. SPOILER NOTE: Although we attempt to avoid major spoilers in this podcast, we do discuss the book's characters and relationships in depth. If you like to be completely unaware of these details when you

And now for something completely different! Once again we have another just *slightly* off-topic minipod for a little extra fun in these crazy days. In this episode, Maggie, Kristin, and Special Guest (TM) Kevin take on hit Star Wars universe series The Mandalorian. Plus, you get bonus Bay content, as he keeps us on track when our Star Wars knowledge fails us. SPOILER ALERT: This episode includes details about Season 1 of The Mandalorian. But don't you deserve to be spoiled? After all, you work hard.

Maggie and Kristin welcome Sarah Pesce of Lopt & Cropt to continue our exploration of the wonderful world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction, this time from an editor's perspective! In our lively discussion, Sarah explains how reading JAFF can provide new insight into Austen's original works. She gives us a tour of the JAFF universe with an overview of online archives, an explanation of common tropes used in the romance world, and a fantastic list of recommendations that will keep us busy for quite some time! Have you ever wondered what Jane Austen's works have in common with science fiction or fantasy? Join us to find out! And for more on JAFF or to get an author's perspective, check out episode 36: Writing Jane Austen Fan Fiction with Lona Manning!

Big news! Maggie and Kristin are back to review the 2005 movie version of Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen and directed by Joe Wright. Knowing that this adaptation has generated some controversy in the Austen community, the girls attempt to tread lightly over difficult ground, acknowledging where this movie shines while also attempting some thoughtful critique. While we'll never be able to love this version wholeheartedly, we fully support and respect our fans that do! We hope you enjoy our thoughts on the movie, the direction, the performances, and the "Brontefication" of Jane Austen. For purists, please note that Kristin says something historically inaccurate in this podcast: by 1797 there was a trend toward natural hair color because of the 1795 hair powder tax. So please disregard her assertion that all the men would have had powdered hair!

Hi y'all! We're back with another fluffy minipod for those of you who need extra podcasty-goodness during this time while we're all staying home. In this mini-episode, Kristin and Maggie talk about something ENTIRELY unrelated to Jane Austen - the recent theatrical release of Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. Despite not having even a whiff of Jane Austen about it, Maggie and Kristin greatly enjoyed this darkly funny superhero movie from the DC-comic universe, and highly recommend it.

Okay, we know, it's been out for months. But we asked ourselves, did we REALLY understand the new Emma movie on our 3rd, 5th, or even 8th viewing? Of course not! It darted through us with the speed of an arrow that we had to do a second EMMA podcast! Here are all the things we SHOULD have said, all the things we FORGOT to say, and all the things that were too brilliant to burst upon us until our brains had marinated in this movie for weeks. Join us for our laughing, crying, singing, essential second podcast on the movie EMMA.

Maggie and Kristin bespeak your indulgence as young performers, because they've decided to amuse themselves with a mini-podcast format during this time of social distance! Today, they're tackling a duologue from Rosina Fillipi's collection, first published in 1895. For the history of these duologues, check out the book The Making of Jane Austen by Devoney Looser, which explains the cultural significance of this collection, which was intended for drawing room performances. In honor of our current obsession of the moment, we've chosen a selection from Emma!

The wait is over! At long last, we're back to talk about the new movie EMMA. directed by Autumn de Wilde, screenplay by Eleanor Catton, and starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Johnny Flynn. This totally bonkers adaptation subverted our expectations at every turn, yet still managed to be wonderfully faithful to the source material. The movie's score is inspired, the sets and costumes are divine, and every cast member is downright fantastic! We loved the deft insertion of slapstick comedy, the honest exploration of Emma's relationship with Harriet Smith, and also the butts. If you want to listen to two dorks rave about something for an hour, this is the podcast episode for you.

[UPDATED 11/29/2020: This episode was updated to remove an extended discussion of medical and pharmaceutical research practices which we feel is no longer appropriate in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the record, we have full confidence that the pharmaceutical companies who are developing COVID-19 vaccines are doing rigorous medical research according to best practices]. First Impressions fans, we're back with a discussion of Jane Austen's Sanditon, the unfinished novel fragment, now a major motion picture! (Uh, make that a BBC miniseries written by Andrew Davies). In this podcast, we examine Jane Austen's opinions on medical science, her feelings about her own illness, and the question of whether the Sanditon enterprise was ultimately destined to succeed or fail. We also include a discussion of the first three episodes of the miniseries that have so-far aired in the US. Jane Austen may have died before she could render her verdict on capitalism, but we like to think she would appreciate our... spe

We're ringing in a new decade with a very special movie review episode! Hardcore Austen fans out there may be aware of the delightfully weird 1987 BBC adaptation of Northanger Abbey, starring Peter Firth and Katharine Schlesinger. Despite "missing the joke," this bizarre adaptation throws the viewer many delightful curveballs, including the surprise new French characters, the steamy Roman baths, and the unexpected saxophone solo! We review the movie, discuss our thoughts, and take a look at the year ahead. (Sadly, since finishing this episode, the white rosebush has died of grief.)