Let Genius Burn

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Let Genius Burn

A podcast mini-series that examines the life and work of Louisa May Alcott from every angle. Created by Jamie Burgess and Jill Fuller.

14/04/2025

My weekend reading included this new Little Women retelling by , , and . We've got refreshing and original q***r narratives, explorations of women's health and friendships, and an extremely relatable mother-daughter relationship unlike any I've read in an LW take before. The authors pulled from extensive research on Louisa's sisters, coupled with key details from Little Women to reimagine new stories for the other Marches. Highly recommend! If you've read it already, what did you think?
~ Jill
***rliterature ***rfiction

22/03/2025

My shelf of women's history books to celebrate Women's History Month. The harder and darker that things get lately, I find myself turning to the examples of my historic heroines, including Louisa and Abigail Alcott, as guideposts. Here's Abigail in 1846: "Truth never is popular...we want the Poem but we must have the Protest too. Declare the truth tho' it bring the condemnation of the whole world on your head..."

Here's to declaring our truths. To the Poem and to the Protest.
~ Jill

08/01/2025

"She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain." Know which Alcott book that's from? (The photo is from shelving books at work the other day. One perk of being a librarian is that I have a lovely view.)
~ Jill

28/12/2024

Happy Holidays, Louisa friends! There were several Alcott books under the tree for me this Christmas: Work, my newest favorite Alcott book, and a boxed set of the Little Women trilogy published in 1946. Did you have an Alcott holiday? You still have time to celebrate by listening to our newest holiday bonus episode!
~ Jill

16/12/2024

Get your cocoa and your earbuds ready... our Let Genius Burn holiday episode drops in ONE week! The holidays won't be the holidays without Little Women, so we're reading and discussing the first chapter of Louisa's iconic novel to kick off the festive season.

As we plan our spring bonus ep, tell us... what would YOU like us to read, discuss, share?

P.S. Can you spot Jill's owl ornament?

25/10/2024

I opened my mail the other day to find this sweet little owl inside, a copy of the one May painted for Louisa. A postcard from someone we've met through Let Genius Burn, wishing our family good luck after our new house move. Isn't life extraordinary like that? Louisa has brought so many people into our lives, strangers who are now friends, connecting through words. We're grateful for you.
~ Jill

18/10/2024

I've always said Hospital Sketches is my favorite adult novel by Alcott. Then I finally read Work. I had heard this was a good one, but I was not expecting to love it as much as I did. The Bronte references! The incisive social commentary! The female relationships! The portrayals of health and mental illness! There's so much to unpack in this book and I am Here. For. It. Have you read Work? Tell us what you think!
~ Jill

27/09/2024

On a work trip this week, I visited the site of the first kindergarten in the United States, started by Margarethe Meyer Schurz in 1856 in Watertown, Wisconsin. Did you know there's an Alcott connection to this story? Schurz learned about the concept of play-based learning for young children from Friedrich Froebel in Germany. After living and teaching in Wisconsin, Schurz moved to Boston with her family where she met Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, who had once taught with Bronson Alcott and was interested in educational reform for children. Schurz taught Peabody the Froebel concepts of kindergarten; Peabody went on to found a kindergarten in Boston and promote the idea of kindergarten throughout her life. Even Louisa taught a kindergarten when she was living in Boston in the 1850s. (Hear more about Peabody's kindergarten in Season 3, Episode 1 of Let Genius Burn). From Wisconsin to Boston, it's great to trace the connections to Louisa!
~ Jill

17/09/2024

"I have a serial in mind, gently simmering, and I hope to steal a week now and then in which to get my scaffolding up if no more." ~ Louisa May Alcott

After a few stressful weeks, I treated myself to a visit to the Special Collections at one of the UW-Madison libraries, which has an Alcott letter to Mary Mapes Dodge from 1884. I don't think I'll ever stop getting slightly emotional to see her handwriting.
~ Jill

07/09/2024

What do you do when you're not finished editing the final episode of Season 3 and it airs in only a few days?? You spend a few hours at the public library and hope it's enough time! I snapped a quick selfie when working on our latest episode, Alcott As Ecofeminist, as a small way to document this moment and this project I love so much. Jamie and I talk often about how grateful we are for this journey. Thank you for coming along. We're not done yet.
~ Jill

All Season 3 eps are now available on your favorite podcast apps. Give them a listen and please leave a review!

31/08/2024

In our latest episode, Alcott in the Archives, we discuss many of our favorite thrillers from Louisa's written work with guest . You can find most of them in this enormous collection: Louisa May Alcott Unmasked, edited by Madeleine Stern. Do you have a favorite Alcott thriller or short story? Tell us which one!

26/08/2024

🎉 Thank you for listening, sharing, commenting, and supporting Let Genius Burn! I remember launching in 2021 and wondering whether we'd even get 100 downloads. Jamie still teases me about that. And now we hit 10,000 downloads today. Louisa May Alcott for everyone!

Want to help us celebrate? Could you leave us a review on iTunes? Reviews help more listeners find the show. Thank you! 🎉

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