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.

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! 🎉

18/08/2024

"Jo played male parts to her heart's content, and took immense satisfaction in a pair of russet-leather boots given her by a friend..."

Little Women, like Louisa's short stories, are full of scenes where the characters shift and q***r their identities. You can even see how Louisa did this in her own life when reading her letters and journals. What can this tell us about how Alcott understood gender and expressed identity? Our conversation with Peyton Thomas explores this question and reexamines our favorite Alcott works to help us understand our favorite writer better, so make sure to take a listen!

27/07/2024

Spending Saturday morning at my favorite local library, , to put finishing touches on Season 3 Let Genius Burn episodes. Our first ep airs Tuesday! Will you be tuning in?
~ Jill

10/07/2024

"Let's count how many connections we can find to Louisa," Jamie said when we went to the . Challenge accepted! Within a few minutes, we found a bronze cast of a sculpture of Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French, whose teacher was none other than May Alcott. A few Mary Cassatts and a painting with Big Jo Energy also made our list.

06/07/2024

Jamie and I had a writing retreat last week to carve out space for our creative pursuits and dive into the vortex, Louisa-style. Endless cups of coffee and tea, long walks in the woods, and writing by a crackling bonfire with your best friend makes writing even better. We even got to visit the friendly goats on the property! Did we finish prepping Season 3 of Let Genius Burn during our time away? You bet we did! Stay tuned for news of the Season 3 launch date, coming soon.

03/05/2024

It's always a good day to start a new journal! I picked this one out especially for the owl on the cover, as an homage to our Louisa.

02/04/2024

In December 1862, wounded Union soldiers from the battlefield in Fredericksburg, Virginia arrived at the Union Hotel Hospital in Washington, D.C. Louisa May Alcott was one of the nurses who received them and went to work caring for the wounded.

I stopped at the Fredericksburg Battlefield during my spring break trip. After reading about this battle many times and understanding the effect Louisa's nursing experience had in her life, seeing the actual location made it all more vivid. It was humbling to be on the same ground where this battle took place and remember John Suhre, Louisa, and my own ancestor, who fought here with the 20th New York Infantry. Want to learn more? Check out Louisa's book Hospital Sketches or John Matteson's book A Worse Place Than Hell!
~ Jill

13/03/2024

We're in our Editing Era.

05/03/2024

There's Amy and Jo, Alf and Louisa...and of course Jill and Jamie. We had a whirlwind Wisconsin weekend when Jamie came for a visit! We saw the sights in Madison, including the and . We did some serious Season 3 planning too. As Louisa said, "Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen."

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Our first bonus episode of season 2 is live! Travel with us through Concord in this episode. Jill sees Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House for the first time. We walk the grounds of Fruitlands and imagine Louisa’s experience there. We also taste pickled limes, made with an authentic 19th century recipe by a season 2 guest, Lauren Stern! As Louisa sent missives home from Washington, DC during her time as a nurse, we are sending you these dispatches from our time in Concord this summer. We hope you enjoy them. #concordsketches #concordma #concordmassachusetts #louisamayalcott #littlewomen #littlewomenmovie #orchardhouse #fruitlands #pickledlimes #amymarch #historypodcast #biographers #literature #literarypodcast #bookstagram #concordauthors #victorian

Pauline’s Passion and Punishment! A short story I have written about extensively in the last many years. I love thjs story for its strong female lead, highly stylized gothic setting, and fierce revenge plot! Tell us what you think— #louisamayalcott #suspense #thriller #littlewomen #littlewomenmovie #biography #biographypodcast #history #historypodcast #womenshistory #literature #americanliterature #gothicliterature

Reading tonight from “A Pair of Eyes, or Modern Magic,” about mesmerism, which was popular in the 19th century. Opiates, wine, and mind-reading abound! I love the way Louisa sets mood and tone in these thrillers… #gothic #gothictale #gothicstory #americaliterature #concordma #concordauthors #littlewomen #louisamayalcott #alcott #history #historypodcast #biography #biographypodcast #reading #shortstory #thriller #spooky #spookystory

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