Why Should I Read This?
Alternate Wednesdays during Morning Edition and All Things Considered
In "Why Should I Read This?" professors from the Wichita State English Department have just 60 seconds to explain why listeners should read their favorite works of literature.
Latest Episodes
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Wichita State English professor Adam Scheffler is an Emily Dickinson superfan. But he thinks that’s a bit ironic since Dickinson cherished anonymity, not popularity. He explains in today’s Why Should I Read This? -
Why read a book whose ending gets spoiled on the first page? For eighteenth-century readers, there were plenty of reasons, especially if they were reading Daniel Defoe. Katie Lanning tells us more on today’s Why Should I Read This. -
Kerry Jones is an English professor and time traveler. Sort of. Today, she takes us back to the dawn of the 20th century on Why Should I Read This? -
Most readers probably associate Nathaniel Hawthorne with Hester Prynne and her scarlet ‘A’; but Wichita State English professor Rebeccah Bechtold thinks a later Hawthorne character is also deserving of fame. She tells us why in today’s Why Should I Read This? -
Ulysses is one of those books that people want to say they’ve read – but haven’t. In today’s Why Should I Read This, Fran Connor tells us why you shouldn’t be intimidated by it and why it’s actually worth your time. -
Wichita State English professor Adam Scheffler loves romance… but also values a good reality check. He explains how Shakespeare’s Sonnet 65 offers both, in today’s Why Should I Read This? -
This is 89-1, KMUW. Nineteenth century American writers were notoriously rigid in their gender expression, or so we thought. Wichita State English professor Rebeccah Bechtold challenges that myth in today’s Why Should I Read This. -
Kerry Jones is an English professor who wishes she lived in England. She'll take us there, along with a proper butler, in today's Why Should I Read This? -
Christopher Marlowe was an atheist, a counterfeiter and a possible spy – a Renaissance rebel. Fran Connor tells us how this informed his most famous character, Dr. Faustus, in today’s Why Should I Read This. -
The phrase “armchair detective” wasn’t around in the 1800s – but if it was, it would apply to this mystery by one of the era’s most scandalous writers. Katie Lanning explains on today’s Why Should I Read This?
