On Herman Melville's "Moby Dick"

It makes sense that historian Nathanial Philbrick calls Moby-Dick the “American Bible.” Along with being a story of adventure and danger, it’s also a celebration of pluralism and a critique of social and religious hierarchies. In this episode, Yale professor John Peters takes a deep dive into the many facets of this iconic tale. John Durham Peters is the María Rosa Menocal Professor of English and of Film & Media Studies at Yale University. He is the author of Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication, Courting the Abyss: Free Speech and the Liberal Tradition, and more. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

There’s more to a book than what’s written on its pages: a book can change the world. In each episode of Writ Large, host Zachary Davis talks with one of the world’s leading scholars about one book that shaped the world we live in—whether you’ve heard of it or not. These conversations go beyond the plot summaries to unpack each book’s context and creation, and reveal its lasting influence on the ideas of today. Learn more at writlarge.fm