In Episode IV of Jane Austen and the Future of the Humanities, I talk with writers, scholars, and artists as we discuss how Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility models a vital humanities experience: the messiness of human relationships. We think through how Austen’s first published novel helps us to ask questions about, build connections between, and precisely observe the various messes of our lives, including our family relations, our sexual relations, and the processes of engaging with new relations.

Guests include Soniah Kamal, author of Unmarriageable, a postcolonial retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Pakistan, Dr. Claudia L. Johnson, Murray Professor of English at Princeton University, Francine Mathews, author of the longstanding Jane Austen Mystery Series, Dr. Olivia Murphy, author of Jane Austen the Reader: The Artist as Critic, Maan Jalal, a Dubai-based writer and journalist, Dr. Mandakini Dubey, faculty member at Ashoka University, and Dr. Meenakshi Bharat, faculty member at University of Delhi.