Jane Austen's Paper Trail

Latest episode

28 Jan 2026 · 31 min

Q&A: experts answer your Jane Austen questions

In this special Q&A episode we've asked a panel of Jane Austen experts to answer your questions! We’ve received a virtual sack full of letters from you, ranging from questions about Austen’s religious beliefs to her grasp of contemporary science, and even what she might have made of social media. Unlike Jane’s sister Cassandra Austen, however, we have no intention of throwing your letters into the flames. Joining host Anna Walker to discuss your questions are Emma Claire Sweeney , a senior lecturer in creative writing at the Open University, John Mullan , professor of literature at…

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Earlier episodes 7 most recent

1. 

   E6 · 9 Dec 2025 · 35 min

   The happy ending

   In the sixth episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore whether Jane was happy, using her last published novel, Persuasion, as our guide. Given that happy endings in Jane Austen's novels chiefly revolve around a love match with the desired hero, some might conclude that as Austen remained a lifelong spinster, happiness must have eluded her. But this groundbreaking writer was a woman who filled her life with meaning through interests, friendships, socialising, travel, and most of all, a purpose. In this episode, Jane Wright is joined by Nada Saadaoui of the…

2. 

   E5 · 2 Dec 2025 · 35 min

   The writer

   In the fifth episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we look what kind of author Austen was, and what Northanger Abbey reveals about her view of her profession. Austen's grave in Winchester Cathedral makes no mention that she was a writer. Publishing anonymously and disliking literary celebrity, she remained largely unknown as a writer in her lifetime despite occasional, reluctant contact with London’s literary circles. Her fifth novel, Northanger Abbey – written in 1799 but published posthumously – clearly reveals her views on writing and reading books. In this episode,…

3. 

   E4 · 25 Nov 2025 · 35 min

   The friend

   In the fourth episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore who Austen made friends with, and ask what we can learn about friendship in the pages of her fourth novel, Emma. We explore who Austen’s friends were, the significance of these relationships in her life, and how she depicted female friendship in her novels. The Conversation's Jane Wright visits Box Hill in Surrey – site of an infamous picnic in Emma – with Emma Claire Sweeney , senior lecturer in creative writing at the Open University and expert in Austen's friendships. Later on, Anna Walker sits down with…

4. 

   E3 · 18 Nov 2025 · 39 min

   The political being

   In the third episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore Jane's politics, and her views on slavery through the pages of Mansfield Park. There are no strident political takes in Jane Austen’s novels, but many subtle and carefully crafted signals. Slavery was one of the biggest and most urgent public debates of Austen's times. It’s an issue most modern readers would like to see her coming down on the right side of. But she only ever wrote one black character, Miss Lambe in the unfinished work Sanditon, and her book which deals most with issue, Mansfield Park, only…

5. 

   E2 · 11 Nov 2025 · 37 min

   The romantic

   In the second episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore romance in the world of Jane Austen through the pages of Pride and Prejudice. Every heroine in a Jane Austen novel ends up married. It is the bow on the end of every story that ties up all the loose threads – seemingly the ultimate happy ending. However, while marriage is an conclusion she chose for her characters, it is not one she chose for herself. It seems likely that Austen chose her singledom, even though she was clearly preoccupied with romance and marriage. Many readers consider her one of history's…

6. 

   E1 · 4 Nov 2025 · 35 min

   The gossip

   In the first episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we're delving into Austen's first novel, Sense and Sensibility where gossip – and the fear of it – plays a central role in the story. Through the rumours that swirl within its pages, we’ll find out what Austen herself thought about gossip, and the people who spread it. Along the way we travel to Sally Lunn's tearoom in Bath, where Austen herself often took tea – with Andrew McInnes of Edge Hill University. And then we dive into the role of gossip in Sense and Sensibility with Lucy Thompson , a lecturer in 19th-century…

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